Boost sales with surveys

Surveys are a great way to find out more about customers, their wishes and needs.

Surveys have a wide range of uses: In politics, in research, and as a means of measuring customer satisfaction in companies, for example. The latter is particularly interesting for the eCommerce sector, because surveys may provide information about customer experiences. Companies can use this feedback to improve their processes, products and services. In doing so, they show an interest in their customers as well as awareness of their needs. Customers reward these efforts with customer loyalty, which is reflected in sales.

Finding and motivating participants

Many questionnaires begin with the sentence “Your opinion is important to us.” to signalize that you are interested in the customer’s opinion. Customers know that they are contributing to the company’s success. In some cases, this is a motivation in itself. At the same time, customers realize answering a questionnaire requires a certain amount of time. Therefore, most need a little more incentive to participate in a survey, especially if it involves answering more than just three questions.

A nice incentive for participation is a small reward for everyone who fills out the form completely. Those who also leave their e-mail address could receive an additional reward, such as a voucher valid for a limited time or only for certain items.

As determined by Elterngeld.de, companies pay an average of 1 euro for a ten-minute survey participation. Industrious participants thus earn 200 to 300 euros per month – and that is a good motivation for many people.

The mastery of creating an online survey

To begin, companies need a platform on which they can conduct their survey. There is a large number of providers. Taking a close look at all the providers would be quite time-consuming. A program that develops surveys for multinational companies, for example, is less suitable for a start-up.

The next step is to create the survey design and content. It should not be too text-heavy, because answering the questions would take too long. It is important to have a headline that briefly explains what the survey is about. The aim is to keep survey participants focused so they do not abandon the survey prematurely.

Offering attractive rewards ensures that enough survey participants are found. On the one hand, a large number of participants entails costs for companies. On the other hand, the more participants are involved, the quicker companies can create a large response database from which they can generate more accurate data. With a smaller number of participants, the data becomes more inaccurate.

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What do the customers want?

Companies can use online surveys to easily find out what types of goods their customers want. This data can help steer product lines or add new products to the assortment. By asking specific questions, companies can find out:

• What price range do the customers want to shop in?
• What features do the customers expect from certain products?
• What additional services do the customers want?

Identifying service problems at an early stage

Some retailers regularly conduct surveys among their existing customers – for instance, just after they have made a purchase. These surveys might include questions about the online buying experience:

• How do customers feel about page load times?
• Is the display of the mobile page good?
• Did the transactions run smoothly?
• Are there suggestions for improvement?

Surveys are an excellent tool for identifying weak points in the service.

Also suitable for small online stores

mall companies in particular seldom have the budget needed to conduct a large-scale market research study. This is where an online survey is the perfect tool for conducting market research. It allows companies to find out in which sectors they can best deploy their marketing resources. A small survey in which customers are asked how they know a brand and how they became aware of it can be of assistance. Marketing efforts there can then be expanded.

Answers can also be analyzed according to the age or gender of the participants. According to business-wissen.de, the results can be used to better target a specific group and put together special offers.

Surveys can also ask why customers are loyal to a brand rather than migrating to a competitor. Many small measures can be derived from the answers, for instance to increase sales, such as word of mouth and pricing.

Companies can also use the answers to identify trends and tendencies, or better understand consumers’ mindsets. For example, a customer who only buys because there is no other option on the web is likely to be gone as soon as a competitor appears. The more satisfied customers are, the more likely they are to recommend the store, which helps to bring in new customers.

Customers are happy to help

Online surveys are a good and inexpensive means of gathering information about your own customers. Based on the information, you can improve eCommerce sector processes, adjust the product range, optimize the customer approach and optimally design the customer journey. Of course, this requires both time and effort. The objectives should be clearly defined before launching a survey campaign. This can then be used to develop informative questions. A well thought-out survey gives customers the feeling that the company is interested in them and their opinion — so they will be happy to answer a few questions.

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