Is there such a thing as too much of a good thing? There is – and there is also such a thing as too much of a bad thing, and when it comes to surveys at the end of interactions with companies, we believe the best thing may be allowing software to do the work for the customer by collecting information about the call passively and automatically.
Life today is busier than ever, and what customers are appreciating is getting the answers to their questions and resolutions to their issues in fast and friendly ways. Time spent struggling through lengthy and often confusing contact center menus, and waiting to speak to the right agent who has expertise in a specific area has been addressed successfully over the last decade by software that includes well-designed chat bots, enriched continuously with increasing knowledge, with better Computer Telephony Integration (CTI), and will highly intelligent routing capabilities.
In fact, “customer service” has been improving, and for all the right reasons.
The Temkin Group found that companies that earn $1 billion annually can expect to earn, on average, an additional $700 million within 3 years of investing in customer experience.
For SaaS companies in particular, they can expect to increase revenue by $1 billion.
Based on their research, investing in CX initiatives has the potential to double a company’s revenue within 36 months.
The report added:
- 86% of buyers are willing to pay more for a great customer experience
- 73% of buyers point to customer experience as an important factor in purchasing decisions
- 65% of buyers find a positive experience with a brand to be more influential than great advertising
At Activus Connect, we invest in the latest technologies enabling an “elevating experience” that is so well designed, delivered and analyzed that surveys are no longer necessary.
We believe the best service is delivered by our Ambassadors who have at their fingertips the information about the customer and the customer’s purchases and previous experiences, so when they do contact our clients, they are met with personalized, precise and efficient help that requires less effort on the customers’ part.
No longer do customers need to repeat information as they move from one channel to the next, or when they are transferred to a specific expert when that expertise is required from another Ambassador.
With our big data analytics platform, and the insights the data delivers, including tracking the exact outcomes of every conversation, we provide valuable information to our clients without having to ask the customer to take a survey at the end of a conversation. We provide that information in near-real time and over time we are confident this “feedback loop” is much more accurate and helpful than surveys. Many studies show that when answering surveys, customers often don’t honestly answer, often abandon and generally would prefer to skip altogether.
When our clients do wish to include surveys, we support them, while also guiding them with a few simple principles:
- Keep surveys short
- Ask direct questions – “yes or no” rather than “multiple choice”
- Let customers know how long the survey will take
- Allow customers to skip to the next question
- Provide a reward – a future discount on their next purchase for example
- Use mobile applications with a simple interface aligned with omnichannel platforms
While surveys can be useful at certain times (for example, after introducing a new product or service), surveys should be used sparingly and ultimately not at all, as long as there are new ways, using software and AI to do the work of gathering sentiment, tracking behavior and correlating both with positive or negative outcomes.
Best of all – systematically and enthusiastically provide amazing experiences with every interaction, which will leave no question in the customers’ mind how much a company cares about them – their time – and their loyalty.