Getting feedback becomes more important the tighter the competition gets with in an industry. Your customers are the reason you are still in business are they not?
The savvy businesses will be finding out all the key information from their customers about where they are succeeding and where they are not, helping to foster a leaner product/service offering to maximise their return.
There are, however, some considerations on ways to do this, here we focus on online surveys which offer the greatest return and immediate actionable feedback for a business. Some basic ground rules have to be in place in order to get it right and make it count for you.
1. Target the right people – Surveying your customers to find out who they are is the key here, what demographic, annual spend, location, media usage, social media usage etc.. Stick to finding out the information that you NEED to use to build your marketing strategy going forward.
2. Say my name! – Personalisation always works, and also reduces barriers to people offering opinions. The email invite should incorporate their name and company name or any other personalisation that is relevant, e.g. naming the event they went to, on which day.
3. Offer an incentive to participate – Sometime you will need to do this to bump up the response rates. This can be in the form of a straight forward cash payment, discount code for a further event, or a simple prize draw for an iPhone/iPad. Sometimes the basic report into the survey finding is sufficient and doesn’t cost you anything.
4. Short and Sweet - Make the introduction page of the survey short and succinct but also ensure you cover privacy of the data. The first question should only be viewable once the respondent has decided to click to continue past the introduction statement. Its good practice and very good manners, and also acts as a double opt-in.
5. Chunk it down - Section your questionnaire and add page breaks to minimise scrolling as much as possible. Scrolling through a survey allows less survey logic to be implemented and also raises the possibility of the respondent missing questions only to be fed an error message, leaving them to scroll up and down to find out where they went wrong! You have to make the experience as easy as possible for the respondent.
6. Go easy on the respondents - Only make the most essential questions mandatory, obviously this is discretionary based upon the subject and focus of the survey itself.
7. Branding – Use your logo, and try and configure your survey to adhere to your marketing and branding standards, for after all, this survey IS A MARKETING COMMUNICATION from your company. Leverage their engagement with your brand to good effect. And with this comes the importance of selecting the right survey tool as you may not want your branded survey attached to something that has the word “Monkey” in the URL.... ;-)
8. Say thank you – Simple! Add a final page similar to the introduction reiterating your gratitude for their valuable time, complete with your contact details, an email address for any questions, and any instructions to do with the incentive offered. And have this page redirect to your company website upon completion.
Following these points should keep you well clear of respondent fatigue and the adverse effects on your brand of less well prepared research whilst giving you more insightful data. Are you asking the right questions the right way now?
Crunch
Monday, 21 June 2010
Monday, 26 April 2010
Simple data that can improve your next exhibition
Exhibition organisers have got it tough! Their event is a massive project, they have to deal with bigger venues, bigger numbers, more exhibitors, more logistical issues, more legal concerns, greater awareness of the locale and transport links, a bigger demographic spread attending, from a wider area, and tons more data to analyse. Any way to make next year’s event an easier experience is always on the agenda. One way to do this is to use that data you already have. Here is just some of the info you have at your disposal:
Number of attendees – use a spreadsheet as a replacement for an abacus not rocket science.
Number of non attendees – Useful information to know, badge scanners linked to a database of registration information. Excellent and simple metrics to get a very basic understanding of your market
Badge scanners – great way to gauge entrance numbers, broken down per hour, giving you optimum time to plan next year’s seminars and event opening closing times, should they need a tweak. Hidden bonus, you can figure out who are the smokers, any smoking cessation hypnotherapist will be heavily interested in that information!
Seminar attendances – often the big draw for a section of the attendees, always remember “Content is King”. Alongside the marquee signings of a high profile celebrity or business guru, a great way to add significant value and boost attendances of delegates and exhibitors.
Badge tracking – Now it gets interesting, chips can be used in badges to track the length of time a person stayed in the exhibitor hall, map which stands they went to, how long they were there, when they had lunch, did they attend the networking functions etc. Not used extensively as yet due to cost of investment by the organiser and/or the venue and the ease of extracting the real valuable data from this kind of analysis.
Post event feedback – only the only real qualitative analysis that asks for the thoughts of the market you are targeting. Linking registration information to this gives you a complete view of who the attendees were, when they came, where from, how they got there, and how they rated every aspect of your exhibition. Wouldn’t it be great to know that the people at the back of the seminars couldn’t see the visuals very well, or the networking session was too short, or that the exhibitors weren’t easy to find with the current layout?? This is where you can enhance next year’s offering even before you’ve decided on its venue.
The exhibition organiser has so much data at their disposal, but by using the right mix, and employing the right analysis, could save you a lot of time in the coming year targeting the right exhibitors, or picking the best media channel for PR, now that you know what works best.
You have lots of data, so make sure it’s used wisely and used well.
Crunch
Sunday, 11 April 2010
Measure before you manage: 6 steps for improved customer satisfaction (and revenue).
Picture the scene, small to midsized restaurant experiencing a drop in revenue for the past two quarters, and things need to pick up and fast. There are a number of options available to the ownership to try and turn thing around. They could spend more on advertising, targeting more affluent media and getting higher spenders in. Redecorate and refurbish, to give the place a fresher feel and lighter vibe, change the menu, or even go the whole hog and rebrand. All of these choices cost money and lots of it.
So although there are options to consider, most of them are an investment and not for the faint hearted. - I hear you saying. Great idea, and I like the way your mind works. But who are you targeting in your strategy? And this is the crux of the matter; do you know where your customers actually come from? They come to you, to your location, sit at your tables and all you have to go on is anecdotal fleeting conversations and judgements based on attire and other non-verbals cues.
Do you know their demographic information? How they found you? Were you recommended by a previous customer. Are they the type to recommend you in the future? Is this their one and only visit? What is important to them when visiting a restaurant, food service, décor, reputation? You need to know all of this (and more) for long term security of your business.
What the owners want is to be looking at a full restaurant most nights, waiting staff buzzing around with plates in both hands, chef barking orders, making sure courses delivered on time, knives and forks and dessert spoons all adding to the cacophony of sound, punctuating the hum of engaging conversation taking place in an relaxed atmosphere and comfortable surroundings. But where do you find out how it got full in the first place? You do your research!
Measure before you manage!
1) Get rid of comment cards! –Yes you read that correctly, get rid of them all. All you really need is an email address, asking the customer to provide it so you can ask them about their experience to help you improve your service FOR them. You could do that instead of comment cards, people have the fill them in at the time, not when it’s convenient for the customer. There have been numerous examples of establishments migrating from comment cards to online satisfaction trackers found that only people who were extremely happy or irate filled in comment cards. And you don’t get much in terms of identifying your core market from them. Over 80% of people who weren’t motivated enough to stay the extra 5 minutes and fill in the card, thought the establishment/service was average. Now as a business person, wouldn’t you want to know why they thought you were just average and not exceptional? Click here for a blog on this point
2) Send them your survey – Using this method, the customer will be able to answer your questions when it suits them, and in the comfort of their own environment. This simple factor gives you a greater level of response, and more honest appraisals of your service. This insight is where you get your golden business intelligence from.
3) Cover all your bases – Ask to be rated on whatever you think is relevant: location, staff greeting, venue layout, speed of service, quality of service, problem resolution, responsiveness of staff. And then there is the food itself, size of the starter, quality and quantity satisfaction, and the same for mains and desserts. So many areas where you might be excelling or failing, and yet you do not know this, card don’t cover these topics.
4) Ask the right questions the right way – Feedback like this isn’t just asking a lot of questions, get some advice on how to do this. Research is a science, and has differing methodologies for different applications. You are asking for your customers’ time AFTER they have spent their money with you at your establishment. The least you could do is offer a survey that flows seamlessly from one topic to another, that’s easy on the eye, and is engaging. Besides there’s no harm in having your branding at the top of their computer screen for a few more minutes is there?? ;-) The act of asking for their opinion shows you care, that’s a good way to be perceived is it not?
5) Get the results – This goes back to point 4 above, the survey should be designed with getting results out in the best possible format. It should be easy to isolate demographics of customer base, and tally that up against different ratings of your services and work from there.
6) NOW plan how to get more business – Little did you realise that 60% of the restaurant goers were of average income who wanted to taste a bit of the high life, or wanted to impress on a date or were celebrating an occasion. They weren’t the richer sections of society at all, but everyone looks so well dressed? Maybe they made an effort that night for the special occasion!
That should have shaved a chunk off your planned marketing spend targeting the right people, I guess you can afford to offer a free meal for two every month for the next quarter while you get more business in. The wisest business will employ a program like this when they are doing well, not before it gets too late. Never a bad time to check your pulse is it?
As for the ongoing marketing strategy, it should be a lot easier now that you know who, what, how, when, where and why, I’ll leave you to search the internet and find someone who knows how to help you with your social media strategy, there are a few around!
Crunch
So although there are options to consider, most of them are an investment and not for the faint hearted. - I hear you saying. Great idea, and I like the way your mind works. But who are you targeting in your strategy? And this is the crux of the matter; do you know where your customers actually come from? They come to you, to your location, sit at your tables and all you have to go on is anecdotal fleeting conversations and judgements based on attire and other non-verbals cues.
Do you know their demographic information? How they found you? Were you recommended by a previous customer. Are they the type to recommend you in the future? Is this their one and only visit? What is important to them when visiting a restaurant, food service, décor, reputation? You need to know all of this (and more) for long term security of your business.
What the owners want is to be looking at a full restaurant most nights, waiting staff buzzing around with plates in both hands, chef barking orders, making sure courses delivered on time, knives and forks and dessert spoons all adding to the cacophony of sound, punctuating the hum of engaging conversation taking place in an relaxed atmosphere and comfortable surroundings. But where do you find out how it got full in the first place? You do your research!
Measure before you manage!
1) Get rid of comment cards! –Yes you read that correctly, get rid of them all. All you really need is an email address, asking the customer to provide it so you can ask them about their experience to help you improve your service FOR them. You could do that instead of comment cards, people have the fill them in at the time, not when it’s convenient for the customer. There have been numerous examples of establishments migrating from comment cards to online satisfaction trackers found that only people who were extremely happy or irate filled in comment cards. And you don’t get much in terms of identifying your core market from them. Over 80% of people who weren’t motivated enough to stay the extra 5 minutes and fill in the card, thought the establishment/service was average. Now as a business person, wouldn’t you want to know why they thought you were just average and not exceptional? Click here for a blog on this point
2) Send them your survey – Using this method, the customer will be able to answer your questions when it suits them, and in the comfort of their own environment. This simple factor gives you a greater level of response, and more honest appraisals of your service. This insight is where you get your golden business intelligence from.
3) Cover all your bases – Ask to be rated on whatever you think is relevant: location, staff greeting, venue layout, speed of service, quality of service, problem resolution, responsiveness of staff. And then there is the food itself, size of the starter, quality and quantity satisfaction, and the same for mains and desserts. So many areas where you might be excelling or failing, and yet you do not know this, card don’t cover these topics.
4) Ask the right questions the right way – Feedback like this isn’t just asking a lot of questions, get some advice on how to do this. Research is a science, and has differing methodologies for different applications. You are asking for your customers’ time AFTER they have spent their money with you at your establishment. The least you could do is offer a survey that flows seamlessly from one topic to another, that’s easy on the eye, and is engaging. Besides there’s no harm in having your branding at the top of their computer screen for a few more minutes is there?? ;-) The act of asking for their opinion shows you care, that’s a good way to be perceived is it not?
5) Get the results – This goes back to point 4 above, the survey should be designed with getting results out in the best possible format. It should be easy to isolate demographics of customer base, and tally that up against different ratings of your services and work from there.
6) NOW plan how to get more business – Little did you realise that 60% of the restaurant goers were of average income who wanted to taste a bit of the high life, or wanted to impress on a date or were celebrating an occasion. They weren’t the richer sections of society at all, but everyone looks so well dressed? Maybe they made an effort that night for the special occasion!
That should have shaved a chunk off your planned marketing spend targeting the right people, I guess you can afford to offer a free meal for two every month for the next quarter while you get more business in. The wisest business will employ a program like this when they are doing well, not before it gets too late. Never a bad time to check your pulse is it?
As for the ongoing marketing strategy, it should be a lot easier now that you know who, what, how, when, where and why, I’ll leave you to search the internet and find someone who knows how to help you with your social media strategy, there are a few around!
Crunch
Saturday, 10 April 2010
7 Reasons to shred comment cards forever
We all know about comment cards, we get them pushed our way by eager businesses who want to know what we thought about the restaurant/hotel/course we just attended. But I have my coat, stuff packed and car keys in my hand, trust me it really isn’t something I want to be doing right now.
What would be better? When I get home, then let me do it in my own time but I don’t want to be filling it in and then posting it back though, that's too much effort. It was on a review site that I found that restaurant (and wanted to be the 4sq mayor of), found that hotel on Google maps in close proximity to the conference I am attending which I signed up for on my mobile, and booked that training course on social media on the internet as well.
Lets think of it the other way round for a minute; let’s say every customer fills in a comment card, some poor underling employed by that business will have to collate them all and either pass them on or even more unfortunately be tasked with inputting the data in a spreadsheet AND carrying out the normal duties of their role. The staff might even have a bonus attached to comment card ratings. All in all, given that society is increasingly referring to online resources, why would they want to get a pen out for any of this?
7 Reason to get the shredder out:
1) Convenience of online feedback – it can be done whenever it is convenient for the customer, not when it’s convenient for you.
2) Higher response rates – would you rather have 20 scribbled notes or 100 comments on a screen that can be analyses within a few clicks? I thought so!
3) Richer feedback – the person giving feedback is in their own environment, comfortable and more likely to give an honest opinion. Writing a dissatisfied comment is way easier when people aren’t watching you.
4) Quicker feedback – you get the results the moment they have been posted. If the comments refer to facilities in need of repair like a leaking tap, it’s there on your screen to action, rather than when the comment cards box is emptied every week
5) Additional service to your customers – you can ask for contact details for upcoming offers, newsletters or even a call if they want to discuss your service on the phone for the sake of being immediate in your problem resolution.
6) Chance to promote your brand – Your logo is prominent on the screen in their own home during the process of giving you feedback. Now that’s never a bad thing!
7) Consistent online presence - every other step in them from finding you to becoming your customer was done online, no need to ask them to step into the last century right at the end of the process is there??
Disclaimer: I apologise to the stationery industry in advance for my comments. If there are corporate issues with this post, please remember that I didn’t invent the internet or computers, its not my fault, everyone already uses them. If pen and paper corporates would like to contact me about this, please do so by letter, my address is....
Crunch
What would be better? When I get home, then let me do it in my own time but I don’t want to be filling it in and then posting it back though, that's too much effort. It was on a review site that I found that restaurant (and wanted to be the 4sq mayor of), found that hotel on Google maps in close proximity to the conference I am attending which I signed up for on my mobile, and booked that training course on social media on the internet as well.
Lets think of it the other way round for a minute; let’s say every customer fills in a comment card, some poor underling employed by that business will have to collate them all and either pass them on or even more unfortunately be tasked with inputting the data in a spreadsheet AND carrying out the normal duties of their role. The staff might even have a bonus attached to comment card ratings. All in all, given that society is increasingly referring to online resources, why would they want to get a pen out for any of this?
7 Reason to get the shredder out:
1) Convenience of online feedback – it can be done whenever it is convenient for the customer, not when it’s convenient for you.
2) Higher response rates – would you rather have 20 scribbled notes or 100 comments on a screen that can be analyses within a few clicks? I thought so!
3) Richer feedback – the person giving feedback is in their own environment, comfortable and more likely to give an honest opinion. Writing a dissatisfied comment is way easier when people aren’t watching you.
4) Quicker feedback – you get the results the moment they have been posted. If the comments refer to facilities in need of repair like a leaking tap, it’s there on your screen to action, rather than when the comment cards box is emptied every week
5) Additional service to your customers – you can ask for contact details for upcoming offers, newsletters or even a call if they want to discuss your service on the phone for the sake of being immediate in your problem resolution.
6) Chance to promote your brand – Your logo is prominent on the screen in their own home during the process of giving you feedback. Now that’s never a bad thing!
7) Consistent online presence - every other step in them from finding you to becoming your customer was done online, no need to ask them to step into the last century right at the end of the process is there??
Disclaimer: I apologise to the stationery industry in advance for my comments. If there are corporate issues with this post, please remember that I didn’t invent the internet or computers, its not my fault, everyone already uses them. If pen and paper corporates would like to contact me about this, please do so by letter, my address is....
Crunch
Thursday, 8 April 2010
One difference between good and excellent event planning
Every decent event planner must have a whole array of skills. Got to be good at sales, be very marketing minded, brand aware, very organised, store lots of information for quick retrieval from the mental database, calm under pressure, problem solving and the list goes on. Multitasking mayhem, and not to be taken lightly, definitely not a job for a man, some of my female colleagues would say.
So what is this hidden secret? The best event planners use all of these skills AFTER the event. Suppose you could call it “Post-Event Planning” which is a paradox and a half. Just because the event is over, the job hasn’t quite finished.
So how does a good event planner get better? Here’s how...they carry out post event feedback, simple! Not just comment cards or asking for the odd anecdotal quip, but measuring the performance of the event thoroughly. A real valuable insight as to how every facet of the event was perceived by the customer.
Here are the things to consider when doing post event research:
Do it online! – which is easier? Piles of paper or cards, or a easy to configure excel chart? Easier time-wise and skills wise. No brainer. All data is there for you instantly, and already aggregated, and it can be passed quickly to stakeholders and clients with ease. It does away with manual intervention, someone has to collect the comments (who might well have a bonus based on those very scores) and someone has to plough through them. There are plenty of online survey tools available to make this happen for you.
Do it as soon as possible – The largest hotel chain in the UK instigated a group wide guest satisfaction program across over 450 hotel sites in 2006. Three months into year the long program they had started to instigate a number of changes, some small details, some major undertakings. As part of the team that worked on this, the biggest most significant factor in gaining business intelligence from this was the timing of the survey, with the survey arriving in the customers inbox the day after the stay. The surveys answered the day after the hotel stay were more insightful and detailed, with cleaner data than those answered 2-3 days later. Be quick with this, while the event is fresh in their minds, you get the richest data this way.
Learn something new – Most companies allocate their marketing budget once a year. Marketing managers spend this budget in their heads within 3 mins of learning the amount they have (made-up statistic!). That's it, they know where its going. By doing post-event feedback, a happy side effect is that if you get to profile your customer base to a greater degree. You might find that the most satisfied customer to one of your events might be the ageing hippy regaling you with tales from Woodstock, as opposed to the SATC generation. What were the key drivers for you getting the business in the first place? This is where research makes your head spin. Have you already used 3 minutes spending your whole marketing budget targeting the wrong demographic, uh-oh!
Make the changes – So you know who to target, how to target them and where they hang out (virtually). Take the learnings from your customers, listen to them, treat them like your advisers, and accommodate them next time. Always keep one eye on the long term!
So that's the secret to going from a good event planner to an excellent one, just the fact that the planning for the next event starts when the last person leaves your current event. One merges into the other and makes it easier for your business to evolve.
Crunch
p.s. there is another secret, post event research the most underused sales and marketing tool in the toolbox, more on that in a another blog.
So what is this hidden secret? The best event planners use all of these skills AFTER the event. Suppose you could call it “Post-Event Planning” which is a paradox and a half. Just because the event is over, the job hasn’t quite finished.
So how does a good event planner get better? Here’s how...they carry out post event feedback, simple! Not just comment cards or asking for the odd anecdotal quip, but measuring the performance of the event thoroughly. A real valuable insight as to how every facet of the event was perceived by the customer.
Here are the things to consider when doing post event research:
Do it online! – which is easier? Piles of paper or cards, or a easy to configure excel chart? Easier time-wise and skills wise. No brainer. All data is there for you instantly, and already aggregated, and it can be passed quickly to stakeholders and clients with ease. It does away with manual intervention, someone has to collect the comments (who might well have a bonus based on those very scores) and someone has to plough through them. There are plenty of online survey tools available to make this happen for you.
Do it as soon as possible – The largest hotel chain in the UK instigated a group wide guest satisfaction program across over 450 hotel sites in 2006. Three months into year the long program they had started to instigate a number of changes, some small details, some major undertakings. As part of the team that worked on this, the biggest most significant factor in gaining business intelligence from this was the timing of the survey, with the survey arriving in the customers inbox the day after the stay. The surveys answered the day after the hotel stay were more insightful and detailed, with cleaner data than those answered 2-3 days later. Be quick with this, while the event is fresh in their minds, you get the richest data this way.
Learn something new – Most companies allocate their marketing budget once a year. Marketing managers spend this budget in their heads within 3 mins of learning the amount they have (made-up statistic!). That's it, they know where its going. By doing post-event feedback, a happy side effect is that if you get to profile your customer base to a greater degree. You might find that the most satisfied customer to one of your events might be the ageing hippy regaling you with tales from Woodstock, as opposed to the SATC generation. What were the key drivers for you getting the business in the first place? This is where research makes your head spin. Have you already used 3 minutes spending your whole marketing budget targeting the wrong demographic, uh-oh!
Make the changes – So you know who to target, how to target them and where they hang out (virtually). Take the learnings from your customers, listen to them, treat them like your advisers, and accommodate them next time. Always keep one eye on the long term!
So that's the secret to going from a good event planner to an excellent one, just the fact that the planning for the next event starts when the last person leaves your current event. One merges into the other and makes it easier for your business to evolve.
Crunch
p.s. there is another secret, post event research the most underused sales and marketing tool in the toolbox, more on that in a another blog.
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