Customer surveys might want to bow out gracefully for a bit. Customer experience pros can get a bevy of insight from a few other unique sources these days.
Don’t get us wrong: Customer surveys will always be a valuable source of feedback and insight. But many more sources are at your fingertips and can be tapped for some new insights and outlooks, according to marketing expert Andy Sernovitz.
Try these readily available sources for new or additional feedback so you can make the next best decisions in your customer experience journey:
1. Colleagues
The people around you — many of whom talk to customers every day, some who witness customers’ behaviors through their job functions — have interesting insights. For instance, your accounts receivable personnel would have valuable insight on payment options for the next product campaign. In fact, tapping that resource helped John Deere create a payment option that worked well for customers: A clerk suggested one that reflected the growing season so farmers could pay more when their crops come in, less when their farms aren’t very busy.
2. Fans
You probably tap your fans for insight already because they’re easy targets. Because they already like you, they’re more likely to fill out surveys or be part of forums.
Take it step further, and invite them to be part of product and service development. GE created spaces called GE Garages, where super fans can come share their ideas and inventions using GE’s hardware and software to build and test those ideas. What’s more, the fans aren’t just asked to work on their own projects, but also to find ways to make GE’s products better for customers and the environment.
3. Your experts
Your in-house experts can open and enlarge conversations with customers beyond what any marketing, sales or customer service representative could do.
That’s what Lexus found out when it had its chief engineer field questions about its newest SUV from customers. The face behind the machine helped customers open up even more, and show what they really cared about.
4. Customers
You can get even more intimate feedback from customers if you see them on their turf.
Sage Software used an RV to travel the country and visit customers at their places of business. Representatives from nearly every function – from the CEO to the service staff – jumped on the RV for a few days at a time to visit customers. In the end, they had ideas on how to create better products, services and customer satisfaction.
