Customer satisfaction surveys combined with review websites can help you build up a solid picture of how you’re serving your customer.
Review sites like Yelp and TripAdvisor have changed the way people choose where they spend their money.
Whether it’s a restaurant or an online DIY store, review websites can make or break a business.
That means any business or organisation should be actively managing their online reputation – because it’s highly likely there is a discussion going on about your services that may affect your revenue.
But where does that leave customer satisfaction surveys?
If people leave online reviews, do you need to take the time to encourage direct feedback from your customers?
The answer is yes. Here’s why.
The problem with relying on review websites for your business
The reasons you shouldn’t rely solely on review websites as a feedback method include:
- It’s not easy to collate feedback and use that data to make improvements
- You cannot control what the reviewer will talk about
- Direct feedback is faster, allowing you to act quicker if necessary
- You may not be able to authenticate website reviews (i.e. reliable reviews)
If you can’t control what the reviewer discusses, you may get unhelpful comments that don’t really offer enough information such as “I didn’t like the lighting” or “it was great”.
Many reviews aren’t constructive enough to offer insights that can drive change.
Review websites can be a great marketing tool because it’s your chance to show off your customer service.
By responding gracefully to positive feedback – and helpfully to negative reviews – you show prospective customers that you care what your customers think.
Even negative comments can be spun into a positive light by offering to rectify the situation.
There are many positives to review websites, but as a feedback tool, it’s not something you can solely rely on.
Customer surveys offer a much better solution for targeted feedback that can drive change.
Why it’s important to use customer satisfaction surveys
Customer satisfaction surveys are important because they:
- Reduce the likelihood of public negative reviews without your knowledge
- Offer you the chance to offer a private solution
- Faster resolution of complaints as the feedback is given directly
- Let you ask specific questions that reviews may not touch upon, such as what food customers would like to see on a menu or how much the weather affects their choices
- Allow you to engage directly with the customer and build rapport
- Find out what you’re doing well
- Learn more about your customers’ needs, helping you identify opportunities to expand your services or products
- Asking for an NPS score 0-10 gives you a clear benchmark against prior and future scores – building up a picture over time of how customers rate you
By engaging directly with the customer you can control the conversation a lot more than just relying on review websites.
While online reviews can serve as a very useful marketing tool, customer surveys can provide consistent feedback that prompts meaningful change.
Put your customers first with our pre-built solution
Our ready-to-run Customer Satisfaction solution has everything you need to put your customers first.
- Up to 17 attitude questions to evaluate your Customer Happiness Index
- NPS (Net Promoter Score) measures how highly your customers value you
- In-built reports that summarise your data for fast action
- Easy set up, ready to run in a few minutes
- Full privacy policy included
- GDPR data compliance
- All data securely stored on UK servers
We’ve done all the hard work for you! So click below to learn more about the Customer Satisfaction Solution.
