Why should you bother?

Good customer service is the life blood of any business. Although you should try and attract new customers good customer service will help generate customer loyalty and encourage repeat business. With each satisfied customer your business is likely to win many more customers through recommendations and remember, if you are not taking care of your customers, your competition will.

A customer satisfaction survey will help by not only identifying problem areas but will also demonstrate to your customers that you care and are proactive in looking for ways to improve the service that you provide.

Where do you start?

Objective – Before you start compiling your survey you should first consider what the objectives of the survey are, in that way you will remain focused and find it easier to decide what questions to ask.

Analysis – In addition to the objectives consider how you will analyze the answers having completed the survey.

Bare in mind that ‘closed’ questions (where the respondents are asked to choose from a limited number of responses) are easier to analyse than questions that are ‘open’ (where the respondent can reply in anyway they want).

Much will depend on the predicted volume of respondents, the higher the volume the more important it is to have an easy method of analysing the results.

Opportunity – Keep in mind that as well as obtaining valuable market research data customer surveys are also a good way to advertise aspects of your service that your customers may not be aware of.

Before publishing the survey read through the survey from a market research view point to confirm that you are asking the right questions in the right way and that your chosen answer format will provide you with feedback that will allow you to make informed decisions.

Next, read through the survey from a marketing view point, check that you have phrased each question so that every opportunity has been taken to promote your business?

The ideal question will perform the following three functions:-

• Market research – provide valuable feedback to help you improve your customer satisfaction levels and in turn your business
• Marketing – promote aspects of your business
• Information/Education – advertise a service that you provide that your customers may not have been unaware of

For example:- Do you find the in-store baby changing facilities useful?

In asking this question the store will hopefully not only receive useful feedback on the baby changing facility but they will also promote the store as being child-friendly even beyond the customers who actually require the facility.

Warts and all – to benefit most from a customer survey you need to avoid the temptation, in any way, of attempting to sugar coat the survey.

A customer satisfaction survey should be designed to highlight problems so that they can be addressed; regular customer satisfaction will prevent complacency and will also give early warning on where your competitors initiatives may be losing you business.

What are the questions you should ask?

Although it is a given that each business is likely to have specific and unique factors that are important in providing good customer services there are common areas that are relevant to all businesses be they a physical store, online internet store or a service industry. The following are some key areas to providing good customer service.

Communication – What do you do to help your customers communicate with you?

When a customer telephones is the phone answered promptly; are enquiries about products or services properly handled? A good business will make every effort to ensure that whatever the customers query it is resolved by the right person, quickly, politely and fairly.

If a problem is not resolvable immediately do you promise to respond in a given time period and do you deliver on your promise?

Use a customer satisfaction survey to check that your customers find your staff to be helpful, courteous and knowledgeable.

Location – Are you doing everything you can to ensure that your customers find it easy to visit you, if a physical store, does it have good access and is it conveniently located?

Making it pleasant, making it easy – For an internet business it is important to ensure that your website is aesthetically pleasing and easy to use.

Regardless of the store being a bricks and mortar or purely an online internet store, is the store properly laid out, can your customers find what they need and is there sufficient information and help on hand to explain how a particular product works?

The right quality products – In addition to measuring the quality of the service that you provide you should ensure that the products and services that you provide do fully match your customers’ requirements.

Value for money – Cheap or expensive is rarely a good measure, value for money is.

Is your business associated with value for money by your customers, if not, why not?

Speed and attention – No matter what the business, the majority of customers will want to be dealt with quickly but attentively.

Are you doing everything you can to avoid any delay?

A good business will try to treat each customer as an individual, does yours? Customers appreciate attention but only if it leads to a quick and satisfactory resolution of the query.

Demographics and Specific issues – Take the opportunity to profile your customers, for example what is their age group and where do they live?

The more knowledge you have of your customers the better you will be able to target your business.

Within the survey allow customers to highlight specific problems and provide contact details.

What is next?

Having completed the survey analyze the results.

Trends – Look for common and specific areas where the customer service is found wanting.

Ask yourself honestly if any criticism that you receive is valid and if there anything that can be done to resolve or minimise the problem?

Training – Are the staff properly trained and do they have sufficient knowledge?

Where employee training programmes have been implemented have they had a positive impact on the business?

Follow-up – If a customer has raised a specific issue through completing a survey ensure that they are contacted and that their complaint is properly addressed.

Don’t lose an opportunity to resolve a problem and keep a customer.

Continuously Monitor – Make changes based on the survey results and then re-measure by issuing follow up surveys.

If you are concerned about customer satisfaction and would like to view a sample survey for a store that will demonstrate some of the above advice please view the Sample Customer Survey

They are affordable, convenient and are one of the most preferred fun ways to visit Caribbean islands. Caribbean cruises have stricken it strong with sun seekers regardless of age, be it young couples on a holiday to families who want to freak out on islands instead of getting stuck on a ship for several days at a stretch. These enormous ocean liners, holding a maximum of 3,000 passengers, visit the major western caribbean cruises ports, such as Aruba, Barbados or The Bahamas. It offers the respite of a resort getaway, pampering service, opportunities to meet like-minded folk and the chance to visit a new place almost every day. Indeed, Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), which represents 24 cruise lines in the North American market, reports that as many as 15 percent more singles sailed in 2003 than in 2002.

A cruise, depending on its duration, allows you to visit different parts of the world and staying in a 4 or 5 star ship. Cruise liners are like floating hotels and offer something onboard the ship for everyone and while cruising the sea there is always something to do on a cruise ship. Otherwise you will not get to your destination on time and why should the guests who arrived on time get a shorter visit at the first port of call because of the people who arrivedlate. The cruise care insurance that is available is not Royal Caribbean. In this way you have all the information on all the eastern caribbean cruise at your fingertips and you can easily balance which ports you want to visit with which activities you want to enjoy. There are cruises for people who just want to soak up the sun, and cruises for people who want take jungle expeditions, romantic cruises and family cruises.

Mexico cruises offer a variety of activities, dependent upon the package and the cruise line. Some activities that you may find are gambling, swimming, dancing, organized games, and lavish Vegas-style shows. From Topolobampo, guests can opt for the full-day excursion to Mexico’s spectacular Copper Canyon, accessible only via the Chihuahua Pacifico railway which travels from sea level to 7,200 feet. In Loreto they can visit the Bahia de Loreto Marine Park for scuba diving, fishing and wildlife watching, go climbing and biking in the mountainous terrain of the Sierra la Giganta with mexican cruise or absorb history at the two oldest Jesuit posts in the region: 1697 Nuestra Senora de Loreto Mission and 1699 San Javier Mission. Mexico cruises are usually opted by those who like leisure with fun. These Mexican cruises may be very costly but then the services offered like dinning, shopping, beauty, spa and many more activities may be according to the client’s convenience.

About the Author :- Jim Campbell is a successful businessman and author who has worked with a wide and varied range of subjects, from balloons to drug and alcohol abuse and Wedding gifts for the Groom

Promotional balloons are a wonderfully cost effective way to get the name recognition you’re looking for, Advertising balloons are a great way to bring your brand, message or products to everyone’s attention. Advertising balloons are a cost effective medium to satisfy your promotional needs. Promotional balloons are undoubtedly one of the most widely used promotional tools on the market because of their ease of use, and that’s not just a bunch of hot air. Promotional Balloons are great for decorating your trade show booth, you will find that custom promotional balloons will make your trade show more successful by generating additional booth traffic. Promotional balloons are also absolutely wonderful for special occasions and celebrations because everyone loves balloons.

Promotional balloons can come in different sizes and can be printed to meet your specifications. Advertising and promoting are two of the most important tasks that a businessman needs to do to attract the customers so using printed balloons will be very effective and will offer superb value for money. Advertising balloons are very appealing and attractive to look at, whether you’re looking for personalised balloons for an important birthday celebration, graduation ceremony or advertising campaign, you’ll not do better than to use printed balloons. If you are using your balloons for business purposes then purchasing in bulk can ensure you have an ample supply of advertising balloons in stock to attract more customers. Personalised balloons are lightweight, easy to take to a trade show or anywhere you want to do some quick advertising and blow up on demand. Custom printed balloons can be used outdoors as advertising to draw attention to your event, indoors to add colour and a festive atmosphere, and when the event is over you can make sure all the children at your event take one home with them. Your balloons will be in high demand and so will be advertising your products or services with very little cost or effort on your part.
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