The fundamental reason for undertaking research of any kind is to understand the market. Understanding your target market and how your products and services are rated by your customers, past and present, is essential to your business and marketing planning. Considering what your customers’ want and need is vital when planning expansion into a new territory or before launching a new product or service. Without the feedback from your market or potential market you would not be able to meet the needs of your customers and your new marketing efforts would have a greater chance of failure after what could be a substantial investment by your business.
Competitor Analysis
Feedback from your customers enables you to understand how they rate your products compared to your competitors. What makes your product or service unique in comparison to similar organisations? In other words, what unique selling points (USP’s) can you make the most of in your marketing efforts in order to attract your target market? This type of customer survey is essential in amending and tailoring your products and services and claiming a bigger slice of the market.
Enhancing Your Strategy
How can your products or services be improved? Is your customer service up to scratch? These questions are key to staying one step ahead of the game to guarantee consistent sales. Ensuring that your customers are happy with your products, services and policies will keep then coming back time and time again. Repeat business and referrals are the backbone of the success of any business. Ensuring your products and services are better than your competitors will encourage loyalty. Continually measuring the efforts of your workforce and the reactions of your customers will keep your finger on the pulse of your industry and the market place. This will allow you to modify what your organisation offers to ensure you lead the way. A different offer might attract a new audience or demographic you didn’t realise would be interested, therefore increasing your market share.
Help Keep Customers and how to Win them Back
Don’t wait until you have experienced a drop in sales or a downturn in requests for your services. Don’t forget that it is easier to retain customers than to try to win them back. Undertaking market research when business is good by using state of the art customer satisfaction survey software, such as KeyPoint, will help you find out how your business compares with your competitors. This type of software can capture valued information online, on paper, or on mobile devices such as smart phones or tablets allowing you to securely obtain and manage the data in an easy format for analysis. Showing that you care about what your customers think will have a positive effect on your levels of retention. Thanking them for participating and letting them know what changes will happen as a result feels inclusive and will help earn their loyalty.
Discovering Market Trends
In this fast moving market place, your business, with the right choice of questions can identify market and industry trends via your customers. It will become an additional way to keep your finger on the pulse. Are there any products out there to rival yours? Is there a new technology becoming more popular in the market place that your organisation needs to keep up with? If your customers are showing allegiance to another product, service or brand, it’s time to make the change before your business is left behind.
Transparency is Key
When your customers have taken the time and effort to complete your survey, make sure you act on the results. There is no point investing time and effort in all this activity to read it and then not act on the valuable insight it has given your business. Not only that, your customers need to see that you have listened to them and are committed to undertaking any action necessary to improve your service to them. Ensure the results or a summary of the results are available for them to view and be sure to shout about the improvements you intend to make. Keeping your customer base informed will not only encourage their loyalty but will enhance your organisation’s reputation as one that listens, cares and offers the best service.