Ask Mark Answers Your Question
ATSI Marketing Committee
 February 17, 2009
Q:I am looking at doing a customer survey. What questions should it include?
We are revamping our rather lame marketing efforts here and want to start by surveying our existing customer base. Our intent is to have the customer state why they use us and what value they receive (which may or may not be monetary.)

I assume that others out there have done something like this. Would anyone be willing to share their survey?

Clint Ryle
Santa Cruz Answering Service
What Method would you use to survey your clients?

 The ATSI Marketing Committee suggests you use


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A: Surveying your own clients for information can yield some very valuable information.
 
Many surveys ask clients to rate the level of service using a variety of questions:

Rate on a scale of 1-10 the following:
  • Speed to answer
  • Courtesy of staff
  • Accuracy of message
  • Timeliness of dispatch
  • Response of customer service to an issue
  • Etc. Etc.
 
These are great questions to ask and the information from the responses will certainly be very helpful.
            However:
 
Who are the most qualified people to answer these questions? The CFO? The CEO? The On-Call staff? The receptionist? Might each of these people have different responses to the same questions based on their personal interaction?
                       
Perhaps More than ONE survey should be sent.
  • One to the operations manager who would hear feedback from staff
  • One to a specific On-Call person
  • One to a C level employee who might or might not have a daily interaction with your company but who you would like to impress the value of your services on.
 
Asking the CEO to rate on a scale of 1-10 the friendliness or courtesy of your staff may be a waste of their time.


When we consider a vendor, don't we ask ourselves THREE questions?
  • Will they make me money?
  • Will they save me money?
  • Will they save me time?
 
Why not ask our clients the same 3 questions?

1.      Do we make you Money?
For Example:
  • Take orders
  • Referrals
  • RSVP's
  • Make appointments
  • Ad response
  • Correctly dispatch emergency service personnel after hours
Give you the 24 Hr presence necessary in today's business and up selling/cross selling your products
 
2.      Do we save you Money?
For Example:
  • Allow your office to operate efficiently and effectively with less staff through remote receptionist services.
  • Make sure On-Call personnel are dispatched for true emergencies and/or regular clients.
  • Quickly dispatch emergency situations to prevent further damage to property
  • Answer calls during business hours when a staff person calls out sick, eliminating the need to call a temp agency.
  • Dispatch visit cancellations correctly so staff can be routed to other customers/Clients/Patients
We are your backup
We never call out sick
Never go on vacations
Available around the clock to assist your customers
 
3.      Do we save you Time?
For Example:
  • Provide information on calls received the previous business day in a clear and concise format for follow up
Texting Messaging instead of you having to write the call information down providing value added resources for your other telecommunications needs.

 
There may be other questions to include and other examples to present, but a CEO or CFO who gets this questionnaire will now think about the services and solutions being provided in a new light.

If you get a response from someone who can't think of one of the above things that you do for them you can now educate them, build value, and increase the opinion of a person who has influence.

Now when they are out and about and someone asks them who they use as an answering service and why, they will be able to say, "I use ..... Because they save me money; Save me time and/or make me money", which would be a much different response than," I use ... because they have nice people or because they are the least expensive."
gt new ad.