The mantra of 99.999% of the world’s companies is ‘the customer is king’. And rightly so, as their fees pay the bills. No customers mean no company.

However, when budgets are tight, as they are now, finance managers will be asking staff to reduce their spending. Do you know if you are on your customer’s kill list? Can they live without you or do they not feel you offer anything special, prompting them to allocate their precious budget elsewhere?

There are multiple ways to understand how your customers feel about you. For example, using MixPanel to analyze their behavior. In this article, we focus on surveys, as this is the most common and easiest way to gather information.

The Devil Is in the Detail

Our response to this is that the devil is in the detail. When it comes to surveys, getting your hands on the right data is crucial.

When auditing our clients’ customer retention survey strategies, we examine:

• Frequency: How often is the customer asked about the company and its products/services?
• Timing: When in the customer lifecycle are the questions asked, and do they change over time?
• Question Quality: How are the questions asked (the answer is only as good as the questions asked)?
• Data Segmentation: How do you overlay this data with customer segments (engaged, lapsed, inactive, etc.)?
• Statistical Representation: Is the data statistically representative (did enough people respond) to be usable?
• Data Types: Does the data include a combination of qualitative and quantitative data?

The value of a survey is directly related to the quality of the questions you ask and how you compare it to data sets. Additionally, when and how the question is asked is crucial to getting actionable insights.

A company that ensures their customer retention survey strategy is a mix of quantitative and qualitative surveys will get the best results.

We Are Obsessed with Quantitative Surveys

We are huge fans of quantitative surveys. It is here that you start to fully understand your value and how loyal a customer they are. It can also be the perfect opportunity to upsell or find new product ideas.

There is a knack to a quantitative survey. How you conduct it is just as important as how you ask a question.

When working with clients, we recommend sending the survey to customers in advance. There are a few reasons for this:

1. The customer is more likely to answer truthfully if there is no one there to offend.
2. The customer is more likely to think about their responses as they know you will be discussing them.
3. It gives the company time to review the answers and then chat them through internally.
4. This approach allows for a more meaningful conversation when you better understand the answers.

The best way to conduct a quantitative survey is over lunch, dinner, or drinks. The human connection in real life goes a long way. If face-to-face is not possible, Zoom is the next best option. The main thing is you have to see each other—put a face to the name.

When it comes to selecting where to go, ask your customer what restaurant, bar, etc., has been on their must-go list and book there. They are less likely to cancel and more likely to feel valued as it’s about them.

What Should I Be Asking Them?

That depends on your company, where you are in your strategy, and the customer journey. What you ask them will also depend on what type of customer they are (lapsed, active, etc.), their behavioral patterns, and how long they have been a customer.

We will be writing another article on this topic in the coming weeks. However, three essential questions you should always include in your survey are:

1. Have you considered canceling our product/service in the last 6 months? If yes, please explain why. If no, please explain why.
2. Would you recommend us to a friend? If yes, please explain why. If no, please explain why.
3. If we could offer or change anything in our products/services, what would it be and why?

We see your current customers as the real kings. By focusing on them, you will be able to improve your acquisition strategies and keep the lights on a little longer.

Need help creating surveys and process that drive customer retention? Contact Candy Draw to start discussing your requirement today.