Humans naturally dislike making decisions. We tend to regret buying things that have more than one options because we believe we should have bought the other product. This is called buyer’s remorse in marketing language. Buyer’s remorse is generally associated with purchases that are high value, high risk items.
This is a phenomenon well understood by the marketing departments of almost every corporation that sells to customers. After buying something, customers tend to justify their decision by mentioning it to someone. They seek feedback and need to be assured that their decision was wise. The implications could be extremely big if customers are not happy with their purchase. They will tend to stay away from purchasing from the same company in the future if they are not satisfied.
To quell feelings of buyer’s remorse, businesses employ a host of options to bring satisfaction to their customers. One of the simplest things any business can do is to send out a letter assuring people that their choice was good. Even a phone call would suffice in these situations. Consumers are just looking for assurance that they were correct in the decision they made.
Sadly, this practice of dealing with buyer’s remorse is not common amongst small businesses. They simply do not understand the principles of marketing well enough. Marketing is not just selling to the customer, it is also part Psychology and Sociology.
Asking questions through surveys
Engaging the consumer in any way is good, especially after they have made a high profile purchase from you or your company. The only thing left for you to ensure that the customer keeps coming back for more is tell them that their decision was perfect. One of the best ways to do this is by sending a letter thanking them for their purchase. This lets them know that you or your company cares. Include a survey in the same letter and ask them to answer the questions if they have time. Make sure that you have included a stamped envelope. The point is to make it as easy as possible for people to answer and return it to you. Asking people to go out of their way to do something that benefits you directly is asking too much. Normally, these customers will just ignore the survey but they will definitely take note of the thank you letter you sent them, assuring that their purchase was wise.
You can make it even easier on consumers by telling them to visit your website in order to take the survey. The answers would be instant and it takes less effort on the part of your customers. They simply can log on and answer the questions you have for them. It also cuts down on your costs of sending prepaid envelopes and human resources to deal with the incoming mail.
Questions to ask in the survey
The more information you have about your customers, the better. By having information about who your customers are, what their needs are, what other similar things they usually buy, what they avoid, etc., you can adjust your business accordingly.
Keeping all the possible inventory at hand that you will ever need is going to cost you. By figuring out the buying habits and other related things, you can simply get rid of products that you know will not end up selling. In contrast, you want to only keep things on hand that will fly off the shelves almost as soon as they arrive.
That is the purpose of your survey questions. Although the questionnaire will be labeled “Customer Satisfaction,” you are trying to get as much information as possible with this opportunity.
Some of the general questions you can ask include:
- Have you bought from us before? This helps you figure out how many of your customers are repeat buyers and how many of them are coming back. A significantly low amount of repeat buyers should signal to you that something needs to be done in order to increase the retention of your existing customers. A small increase in customer retention can increase your profits by large amounts.
- On a scale of 1-10, how satisfied are you with your purchase? This question is a no-brainer. You want to know how you are doing in regards to customer satisfaction. This feedback will directly help you figuring out whether you need to do more or if you are hitting your customer satisfaction mark.
The type of questions you ask will generally be related directly to the type of product or services you offer.
Marketing and advertising is almost common sense. The only thing it requires is that you think outside the box and make sure you are connecting with your customers. Not only do you want to attract new clients, you want to retain the ones that have bought from you. Do this through customer satisfaction surveys and other options available to you.