The importance of the customer satisfaction survey

Retaining customers is an art. Customer satisfaction surveys are crucial to that end.
Why is that?
No customer satisfaction = no retention.

Unfortunately, most businesses are not giving customer satisfaction the attention it deserves, as it is one of the most important indicators of consumer purchase intentions and loyalty.

What is a customer satisfaction survey?

Before we answer this question, let us take a step back and better define customer satisfaction itself. Customer satisfaction measures how products, services, and overall experiences provided by a company fall short, meet, or exceed customer expectations.

A customer satisfaction survey (also known as CSAT survey) is a questionnaire designed to help a business understand how its customers feel about their overall experience with their products, services, or experiences. It is one of the easiest and most reliable methods for getting an overview of satisfaction levels regarding a particular element or aspect of your business (your products, your customer service, and so on). Popular methods of conducting the survey include:

• Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT) – measures customer satisfaction on a particular interaction.
• Customer Effort Score (CES) – examines the ease with which customers had their issue successfully resolved or completed an action (like making a purchase).
• Net Promoter Score (NPS) – asks how likely customers are to recommend your business to someone else.

By evaluating how your products and services perform with your customers’ expectations and their level of trust and loyalty to your business, customer satisfaction surveys can help your business increase loyalty, productivity, and profitability.

How can the customer satisfaction survey help your business?

Increase customer loyalty

According to the White House Office of Consumer Affairs, loyal customers are on average worth up to 10 times as much as their first purchase. However, customer loyalty does not come easily.

Customers nowadays have way too many options and they can leave you for your competitor in the blink of an eye. An excellent way to retain your customers is to often deploy customer satisfaction surveys in order to immediately address issues as they arise. Offering a survey to customers sends a message that your team is working to overcome any issues.

Your customers feel appreciated, respected, and recognized as individuals, not just dollar signs. That gives them satisfaction and helps in your battle for retention, while also giving you concrete data in order to make good business decisions.

So, look out for your loyal customers by regularly asking questions, offering support on a regular basis to discover pain points, and collect insights.

Differentiate your brand from the competition

Customer satisfaction is a differentiating factor that helps your brand stand out from your competition. Conducting surveys can help you build and maintain this competitive advantage. It allows you to understand first-hand “from those who buy from us” what they expect from you and to work towards that.

After all, there is always room for improvement. Even when business is good and loyalty is high. If you want to ensure smooth business operations and an excellent customer experience, your ultimate goal is to make sure that customers are delighted.

Your competitors are waiting around the corner for you to make the wrong move. However, with surveys, you can constantly look for and provide your customers with amazing customer service. The feedback obtained from the survey results gives you the information you need in order to make changes in the company and invest in improvements in specific areas.

Build brand value

The importance of customer satisfaction in your marketing efforts cannot be doubted. It plays an essential role in planning your marketing strategy, and especially branding.

As customers have gone digital, irrespective of their age, they are now free to express their views on a number of different platforms, making them accessible to millions of people. A negative review or feedback can do incredible damage to your brand. Therefore, it is extremely important for your organization to spot unsatisfied customers before they make their comments public for the world to see. It is crucial to always have an eye on the quality of customer service you provide. A good way to do this is through customer satisfaction surveys.

Besides, by keeping your customers satisfied, they will more likely interact with your posts, share your content across social media and leave pleasing comments. Customers' positive feedback on your surveys can also be used in testimonials, case studies and success stories, in order to promote your brand.

Maintain business growth

This will not come as a surprise, but the effect of customer satisfaction can also be reflected in your revenue. Makes sense. Happy customers do not look at your rival brand, happy customers will return to your brand.

Once you meet all of their expectations, deliver quality services, and satisfy all their needs, they will happily interact with your brand again and again with repeat purchases. The statistics are here to prove it, a 5% increase in retention can increase profitability by as much as 25-95%.

Loyal and satisfied customers will not only return and purchase from your brand, but they will also spread a positive word of mouth, acting as customer advocates, recommending products and services to friends and family.

Make customer experience more personal

Personalization is one of the most powerful ways to increase customer satisfaction and maximize customer retention. If your team wants to better understand your target customer and the different personas within this audience, customer satisfaction surveys are essential. They can give you sufficient data to help you create reliable buyer personas, which you can tailor your marketing efforts towards with personalized content. Customers are more likely to be comfortable with businesses that know them and address their needs.

Furthermore, through surveys, you can better identify unhappy customers. If you care about them, you can personally contact them in an effort to resolve any issues. These personal contacts let customers know their opinions are valued and taken seriously, repairing any damage done.

Gain valuable feedback and inspiration.

Your customers’ needs are changing fast. Are you keeping up with them? It is important to gain insight into your customers’ potential needs and advance your offerings in order to meet them. For example, if you are considering providing new products or improving an existing product line’s functionality, give your clients some choices and ask which one they should likely purchase.
Instead of anticipating to see how your customers’ needs are changing, you can be proactive and understand through your survey results what new products, services, or experiences your customers are looking for.

Survey your customers. Now is a good time!

If your business cares about its customers, then it is necessary to regularly deploy customer satisfaction surveys. Measuring customer satisfaction should be a habit, not an option. Go ahead collect and analyze data on customer satisfaction for every stage of their journey, every interaction, every product launch, you name it. Do not overdo it of course, as no one wants to be bombarded with surveys.

A reliable survey tool is an easy and cost-effective way to find out if you are meeting your customers’ expectations and their level of satisfaction. Surveys are a necessary tool for your growth and improvement, as well as a superb way to track and preserve loyalty within your customer base.