You
want
to
stay
on
your
customers'
and
prospects'
radar
screens.
You
never
know
when
they'll
have
a
need
for
what
you
do,
and
you
want
to
be
the
company
at
the
front
of
their
mind
when
that
happens.
Simply
stated,
you
want
your
brand
and
logo
in
front
of
customers
regularly,
and
email
is
the
cheapest,
fastest
way
to
make
that
happen.
We've heard a lot about newsletters as a front-of-mind vehicle. Many business owners find themselves grasping for content, asking, "How can I come up with things my readers can use?"
Here's an idea -- Rather than telling or teaching your customers something, you can ask them something and get the same front-of-mind effect. And then you have a second excuse to communicate -- when you tell them what they and everyone else had to say on the subject. The key ingredient? Online surveys.
This idea surfaced in a Chief Executive Boards International meeting, and then several free or nearly free online survey tools were mentioned. Specifically, http://www.questionpro.com/ and http://www.surveymonkey.com/ . Either of these tools allow you to construct reasonably sophisticated online surveys. The huge benefit is they also roll up the results into either spreadsheets or graphical reports that you can immediately use.
And
here's
a
bonus
idea
--
If
you
want
to
increase
response
to
a
customer
survey,
one
member
suggested
offering
a
$5.00
donation
to
the
respondent's
charity
of
choice.
Easy
deal
--
at
the
end
of
the
survey,
put
a
text
box,
asking
them
for
their
chosen
charity
(might
not
be
a
bad
idea
to
ask
for
its
address
or
URL
as
well).
Finally, you'll want to remind respondents that you'll give them the results in exchange for their input. Either post the results as a page on your website and send them the link by email or send them the results in the email itself.
A
second
use
for
online
surveys,
of
course,
is
surveying
customer
satisfaction
on
a
"per-transaction"
basis
--
each
time
you
ship
something
or
each
time
you
pass
a
milestone.
That
way,
you
begin
collecting
a
running
scorecard
of
your
company's
performance.
The
same
tools
are
useful
for
that
purpose.
