5 Advantages of conducting surveys in real-time
It is now well accepted that customer feedback is essential for any business – how else will you know what you’ve done right, what you’ve done wrong, and how your customers feel about the service you provide. And it’s proven too. 70% of companies that deliver best in class customer experience use customer feedback.
But we also know that real-time surveys conducted as close to the “event” as possible, gives the most unbiased results compared to other delayed poll and survey methods! When sending the survey, on the channel on which you were contacted, whether it is an SMS, phone, email or online, it is essential it is done immediately after the event occurred, if you want unbiased and accurate feedback.
There are a whole host of advantages of doing surveys in real-time and on the same channel. When used properly, real-time tools can improve all of the following;
• customer satisfaction
• increased revenue
• increased customer retention levels
• reduced operating expenditure
• improved agent satisfaction and retention.
Improved consistency
Collecting customer feedback in real-time means that customers are not relying on recalling their memories of the experience long after the event, as it is still fresh in their minds. Capturing the customer’s experience immediately after the event are much more accurate and reliable. You will capture consistent, accurate and pure feedback results using real-time surveys.
Resolve issues quickly and efficiently
According to thinkJar, 85% of customer churn due to poor service and this is preventable. Real-time satisfaction surveys also allow you to identify and rectify any problems quickly, efficiently, and whilst they are still relevant to both you and the customer. A problem that festers and grows out of proportion is known to be more difficult to resolve and once resolved, satisfaction levels will not necessary increase. Fixing any negative issues quickly will restore your customers’ confidence in your organisation, avoid any further escalation of the issue, and potentially help to save your on-going customer relationship.
Better response rates
One of the advantages of real-time customer surveys is that response rates will be considerably higher if you can get the invitation to the customer, moments after the “event”. You already have a captivated audience who is engaged with your brand and still thinking about their experience. They are naturally much more likely to be receptive to your survey than someone who has moved on to tending to another aspect of their busy life.
Improve the overall customer experience
We know customer expectations are higher than ever. After all 67% of customer churn is preventable if the customer issue is resolved at the first engagement. Therefore if a customer is asked for their feedback immediately after their interaction with your business, you will not only appear efficient, but also genuinely interested in their opinion and their feedback. If you make the survey relevant to their experience and short, they will even accept surveys again in the future.
Improved staff quality and retention
As Tempkin’s 4th law of customer experience says, unengaged employees don’t create engaged customers. Providing your staff real-time feedback on their performance allows them to improve the service they provide and become increasingly competent and confident in their role. It is highly recommended that you use real-time alerts to get the positive feedback that is left by a customer straight to your staff immediately after the customer contact. In this way the feedback has been left will have nothing but a positive effect on their feelng of engagement and commitment to customer service. If the alerts include valuable verbatim comments or recordings, nothing is better for ensuring your staff really relate to your customers by hearing the true Voice Of The Customer™. Also, unlocking real-time feedback allows you to instantly reward an employee for their excellent performance, or nip any training issues in the bud before any serious damage is done.
Conclusion
Forrester calls this the age of the customer. We are undergoing a paradigm shift with empowered customers who want things faster, cheaper and with better service. And if they don’t get it they will use technology and the power of social media to tell others of their experience.
Implement real-time feedback tools and processes, and ensure that your customers tell you that they’re unhappy before they tell someone else!
Additional Information
For additional information visit the VIRTUATel Website
