Collecting together website feedback is an important way to determine customer engagement with your site, but it can also be implemented poorly. Some of the more common methods to collect feedback are by including feedback links on your site, doing visitor intercepts, or in-page surveys. No matter which method, it should give you the information you need to provide engaging content, and great products or services.
Before you gather feedback on your website, read this first. If you do it wrong, it may result in wasted time and effort.
1. Timing is essential. Have you ever visited a website only to be presented with a customer survey in the first five seconds? Don’t do that. Not only will your visitors get annoyed, they may just fill out the survey and give false or wrong information. How can you expect a customer to provide feedback when they have only seen your site for a few seconds? Instead, add your survey pop-up to the bottom of the page.
2. Having extremely long surveys. Ten minutes may not seem like a lot of time to the web guru who spends all day online, but your average consumer is not going to want to spend ten minutes of their valuable time doing someone else’s job for them. Instead, let them know the survey will take thirty seconds—that’s time that most of us are willing to invest in giving our opinions.
3. Not offering an incentive. Usually it’s the more valuable customers who are willing to fill out an online survey. They may have visited your site several times in one month. Today may be the day that they decide to fill it out. Once they have done so, a coupon or offer may be of benefit to them. They choose whether to accept or not. But do give your best customers something for their time.
4. Discarding the surveys, without ever reading them. Sure, your day is busy and full of things to do. Be sure to assign time on a weekly basis to read through the online surveys. If a customer has provided their email address, shoot them off an email saying that you appreciate their business. Let them know that you value their feedback, and perhaps you may even give them a telephone call if you feel that you need to collect more information about a particular sales experience.
5. Don’t berate your employees. Remember that there are easy customers, and there are difficult ones. People will seek the negative. They may have complained about one of your employees. Be sure to ask their side of things, and offer support, not punishment. Remember that unhappy employees are also likely to provide employee feedback survey on your website.
A website survey may be one of the cheapest, yet most effective ways to open up a direct channel to your customers. You can immediately start incorporating their suggestions into your business, so they can see that you are serious about providing the best products and services possible.
Before you gather feedback on your website, read this first. If you do it wrong, it may result in wasted time and effort.
1. Timing is essential. Have you ever visited a website only to be presented with a customer survey in the first five seconds? Don’t do that. Not only will your visitors get annoyed, they may just fill out the survey and give false or wrong information. How can you expect a customer to provide feedback when they have only seen your site for a few seconds? Instead, add your survey pop-up to the bottom of the page.
2. Having extremely long surveys. Ten minutes may not seem like a lot of time to the web guru who spends all day online, but your average consumer is not going to want to spend ten minutes of their valuable time doing someone else’s job for them. Instead, let them know the survey will take thirty seconds—that’s time that most of us are willing to invest in giving our opinions.
3. Not offering an incentive. Usually it’s the more valuable customers who are willing to fill out an online survey. They may have visited your site several times in one month. Today may be the day that they decide to fill it out. Once they have done so, a coupon or offer may be of benefit to them. They choose whether to accept or not. But do give your best customers something for their time.
4. Discarding the surveys, without ever reading them. Sure, your day is busy and full of things to do. Be sure to assign time on a weekly basis to read through the online surveys. If a customer has provided their email address, shoot them off an email saying that you appreciate their business. Let them know that you value their feedback, and perhaps you may even give them a telephone call if you feel that you need to collect more information about a particular sales experience.
5. Don’t berate your employees. Remember that there are easy customers, and there are difficult ones. People will seek the negative. They may have complained about one of your employees. Be sure to ask their side of things, and offer support, not punishment. Remember that unhappy employees are also likely to provide employee feedback survey on your website.
A website survey may be one of the cheapest, yet most effective ways to open up a direct channel to your customers. You can immediately start incorporating their suggestions into your business, so they can see that you are serious about providing the best products and services possible.
