Chapter 3: Getting Customers to Provide Feedback

In the last two chapters of our playbook, we covered why customer feedback is important and how to write questions to maximize the impact of that feedback. For the third chapter, we’re going to discuss how to get your customers to answer those expertly crafted questions. The question I hear most frequently in the customer feedback industry is ‘ how many surveys will I get?’ And that’s a good question – the quality of the insights you get from your survey heavily depends on the amount of feedback you receive. The answer to that question depends on two things: The quality of your incentive, and the level of awareness of your survey. Offering a good incentive is instrumental in this process – they can be financial, or even a donation to charity. The key is this: Not having an incentive isn’t an option. Then comes the second part – raising awareness. In this chapter, we’ll discuss many ways you can invite your customers to take your survey using tools you already possess. Enjoy!

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Let’s create a better experience

What we’ll explore:

ü  Selecting the right incentive ü  Inviting customers to

provide feedback ü  Driving awareness for your

survey

Sole property of Elevate | October 2014

-Joe Stanton CEO - Elevate

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Selecting the Right Incentive

Selecting the right incentive

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Pros And Cons Of Different Incentive Types

Incentive Type Pros Cons

Free Products or Service

•  Highest response rate •  Incremental visits

•  Customers may not spend money when they return to receive free product/service

•  Variable cost associated with free product

Discounted Products

•  Good response rate •  Customers must spend to

receive

•  Variable cost associated with discounted product

Sweepstakes •  Reward is less costly, as not everyone gets a ‘prize’

•  Fixed cost

•  Lower response rate •  Additional laws to follow

regarding sweepstakes

Donation to Charity

•  Good response rate •  Fixed cost •  ‘Feel Good’ Factor/PR

Selecting the right incentive

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Case Study: No Incentive Is Not An Option

Surveys Completed Per location in 30 days

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$1 off coupon No incentive

Completion rates improve significantly when incentive is offered

Objective Increase the number of completed surveys per location.

Solution Offered $1 off coupon incentive for anyone who completed the survey.

Results Completed surveys went from about 4 surveys per location/per month to nearly 30 surveys per location/per month – a 650% increase in survey responses.1

}

Selecting the right incentive

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It’s Not Just About The Money

Donations to charity can drive similar response rates to other types of incentives.

Establish a fixed cost to a customer feedback program when donation to charity is used as an incentive.

To ensure the most success with using a donation to charity as an incentive, be sure to align the charity with the brand.

A donation to charity incentive generally results in more realistic scores, since it appeals to a more broad customer base.

-  59% of surveys will have perfect score with charity incentive versus 65% from coupon incentives.1

-  13% of surveys with charity incentive will have neutral scores, compared to 7% for coupons.1

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Inviting Customers to Provide Feedback

Inviting your customers to provide feedback

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More Is Better

Invite your customers to provide feedback through as many channels as possible.

Your customers use a variety of means to learn about your store or restaurant, so it’s imperative to meet them where they are.

Invite customers to take part in your customer feedback program using: -  Receipts. -  In-store signage. -  On-premise tablets. -  Email.

You can also reach them through integrated platforms such as: -  Mobile pay. -  Online reservations. -  Shopping cart (checkout).

Inviting your customers to provide feedback

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Using Receipts

Printing your survey invitation on a receipt lets your customers relay important information when it’s convenient for them.

-  Print the invitation on every receipt, every time. You don’t want to run the risk of missing an opportunity for feedback.

-  Call out your survey link by highlighting it or asking your staff to circle it while they tell the customer about the survey.

-  Your receipt usually contains all of the pertinent information your customer needs to take a survey (e.g. when they visited, who helped them, the specific products they encountered, etc.).

Your Restaurant Location: Anytown, USA Server: John Smith Time: 12:30pm Total Food: $30.99 Total Bev: $21.49 Subtotal: $52.48

Tip: _________________

Total: _________________

Signature: _____________________________

We want to hear from you! Tell us about your experience at:

www.talk2us.co/YourRestaurant

Inviting your customers to provide feedback

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Can’t Print on a Receipt? Try These In-Store Options

Stickers In-store signage Guest check presenters

Inviting your customers to provide feedback

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Using On-Premise Tablets

vs.

Transactions Resulting in Completed Survey1

Best-in-Class Mobile Survey Program

On-premise Feedback Program

Transaction

Invitation Server Hands Tablet to Customer & Runs Card

Feedback Customer Takes Survey at Table

Incentive Email Coupon,

Sweepstakes, or Donation to Charity

Thanks Server Takes Tablet

and Gives Back Credit Card

The benefits of on-premise tablets include:

-  Immediate feedback.

-  More responses, which leads to greater accuracy.

-  More second chances when things go wrong.

-  Better opportunity to channel feedback into the organization versus onto review sites.

Inviting your customers to provide feedback

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Using Email Invites

A well executed email invite campaign should yield a 20-30% response rate.1

There are several factors and best practices that should be followed, including:

-  Include an incentive.

-  Send at least one reminder.

-  Branded, short message. Include only one call-to-action in the email.

-  Invite people only as often as it makes sense.

-  For example, a coffee shop should invite high volume customers once per week versus every visit.

- Give customers the time to have a full customer experience prior to emailing the invite.

Inviting your customers to provide feedback

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Integrating With Other Platforms

Invite customers through the technologies they’re already using.

Your customers are using a variety of technologies to interact with your business. Meeting them where they already are will make giving feedback more convenient, and ultimately result in more completed surveys and a better experience.

For a restaurant, integrate your program into mobile pay and mobile order systems, as well as various reservations platforms.

In the retail space, using the existing checkout or shopping cart to invite customers to share feedback.

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Driving Awareness of Your Survey

Driving awareness of your survey

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Tell Your Customers You Have A Survey

It’s hard to find something if you don’t know to look for it.

Customers will not find your survey on their own, you must inform them. The easiest way to get more completed surveys is to proactively let customers know how to take your survey.

-  Highlight or circle the information on receipts.

-  Simply ask them!

-  Use in-store signage or eClubs to highlight improvements and be transparent about scores.

-  Talk about it on your website.

-  Send out invites in post-purchase or purchase confirmation emails.

Driving awareness of your survey

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Case Study: My Burger Business Card Invites

Objective Increase the number of survey responses per location by creating additional awareness of the customer feedback survey program.

Solution My Burger created business cards to hand out with each transaction.

Results Survey responses jumped from 20 surveys per location/per month to 150 surveys per location per month – a 650% increase in survey responses1

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Coming Next

In Chapter 4, we’ll explore …

ü  The importance of a champion. ü  Establishing the right culture.

ü  Aligning with current programs and processes.

ü  Motivating for success.

Chapter 4 coming soon!

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Learn more about Elevate…

Sources:

1.  Elevate Customer Data

Elevate is the easiest and most affordable way for restaurants and retailers to survey customers who recently dined in one of their restaurants or shopped in one of their stores. It allows all sizes of restaurants and retailers to: -  Get immediate feedback from real customers; -  Follow up with upset customers to get them to come back; and -  Have better conversations about performance. -  Channel feedback into the organization versus onto review sites. Start your free 30 day trial today. There are no setup fees and no contracts. Learn more about Elevate by visiting www.elevateresearch.com. Connect with us:

Sole property of Elevate | October 2014

let’s create a better experience

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