May 2004

Hello!

Superb customer service is key to make loyal advocates out of your customers.

Customer Servings focusses on value-adding customer service articles, a Customer Service e-zine delivered free to your mailbox every month!

In this issue:

1. Article: Customer Service Surveys 101 (part II)
3. Review of Elementool Pro web based help desk solution
4. Customer Service Point.com info

Customer Service Survey 101 (part 2)

Sometimes customers are asked to answer many delicate questions without a clear purpose for these questions. Or they are confronted with a question list longer than their arm, where you have to have a Phd to even be able to under- stand the questions, let alone answer them!

When done right, customer Service surveys can be a great tool to enhance customer satisfaction. Make sure you plan your way through a survey, or your customers are at peril. Don't underestimate how annoying a bad survey can be.

In the first part, I outlined how you can perform a successful survey, from setting a goal for it through analyzing the results and follow-up on it.

In this second part we will take a look at actually writing surveys.

Writing Customer Service Surveys

So please read on!

1. Types of questions you can use
When writing customer service surveys, you can choose from the following types of questions (I've added an example for each one):

• Closed question (1 possible selection, radio button type)
  
  Please state your marital status:
  O Single
  O Married
  O Divorced
  O Rather not say*
  
  *) Note: for privacy related questions I often add a "rather not say" choice, unless of course it's essential for the survey.
  
• Open question (text field type)
  
  Describe one function you would like to see in our software:
  __________________________________________________
  __________________________________________________
  __________________________________________________
  
• Identification (Identifying the customer)
  
  Please state your full name:
  __________________________________________________
  
• Multiple Choice (more possible selections, checkbox type)
  
  Please select the newsletters you want to receive:
  O Customer Servings
  O Help desk software tests
  O Associate Programs
  
• Valuation scale (very bad--very good)
  
  What do you think of the newsletter?
  Very bad <-----> Very good
  1----2----3----4----5----6 **
• Importance scale (Not important--very important)
  
  For me, status is...
  Not important <-> Very important
  1-----2-----3-----4-----5-----6 **
  
  **) Often I see a 5 scale, but this opens up a "safety choice", where the customer can choose safe middle ground. With a 6 scale, the customer must choose (in those cases) either a slight positive or slight negative angle. Knowing the nuances is often as important as learning the extreme choices.

2. Sequence of the questions
Putting the questions in a good order is also important for the success of the survey.

• The questions should invite the customer into the survey. So, always start with the easy questions, as starting with difficult questions can easily scare her off.
  
• Put identification questions at the end of the survey.

3. What to avoid
When writing surveys, some mistakes are made that result in a greatly reduced return ratio. Please learn from these mistakes, and don't:

• ... create extremely long surveys. If answering the survey is not in line with the reward for the customer, she will not bother to fill it in. A lengthy survey takes a lot of time, so there must be a great "reward".
  
• ... ask privacy related questions if not absolutely necessary. Customers are protective of their privacy, and rightfully so. Most customers frown on having to answer many privacy related questions. If you really want to know (f.i. salary level) make sure you have an opt-out choice in the question. If you don't, reassure the customer about how you handle these questions.
  
• ... create a survey that's difficult to answer. A customer willing to answer your survey, will eventually abandon it if it's incomprehensible.
  
• ... (DON'T!) forget that a bad survey will make your business look bad :-(

4. Closing up

• Don't forget to thank the customer for answering the survey
  
• Inform the customer what you will do with their answers (and don't forget to follow-up if you promised that!)
  
• If you offered an incentive, remind them of what and when they will get it.

Even with these tips you'll find that it won't ever be easy to write succesful surveys. So keep track of the return ratio, and learn what's working...
and what's not. With good planning and good writing, you will get to the invaluable information in your customers heads, and build your business at the same time.

Review of Elementool Pro

Elementool has made a hosted help desk solution, which has a well thought out set of functions. I really enjoyed working with it. If you're looking for an easy to use and affordable hosted web help desk solution, I can recommend Elementool Pro.
***** I give Elementool's help desk web based solution 5 stars out of 5.

Read the complete test results here:
Elementool Pro test results

CustomerServicePoint.com Info

New section added
When I surf the Net, I come along some great customer service articles authored by others. When allowed, I put up these articles in the Article Vault so others can enjoy these articles too! Why not check out the Article Vault and bookmark it? I will grow it constantly.

A special request from me to you...
If you like the Customer Servings newsletter, I would really appreciate it if you forward it to others (don't spam them, of course!).

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Customer Servings is the monthly e-zine for www.customerservicepoint.com, your resource on improving customer service.

Customer Servings is for you!

If you have any suggestions for subjects you would like to see in future issues, or have comments in general on Customer Servings or Customer Service Point, please e-mail me at customer_servings@customerservicepoint.com.

I welcome your remarks!

(C) 2004, Erwin Steneker