How Surveys Can Increase Client Retention & Revenue Growth

I love surveys! No, not taking them. As a business executive, you can learn a lot from a good survey.

The reason most people do not enjoy taking surveys is that they never hear back from the company or learn how taking the survey is going to improve the customer experience. Personally, I know it is indeed rare to hear from a company after I take their survey. However, that is where the real power is.

Most of what you need to make customers happier, increase their success, and grow your business is in your customers’ heads. You just need to ask! And the best way I have found to do this is with a Closed Loop Customer Survey. Closed loop means you take action on what you learn in the survey.

This is what will measurably change your customer experience.

Here is a model that I created to show exactly what you can get through listening to the Voice of the Customer through surveys. It is a bottom-up way to increase client retention and revenue growth.

From the sales side, you can generate incremental customer sales. You better understand their needs and their challenges. Then, you can let them know about existing products or services that meet their needs, or you can create new ones.

And that leads to product development. If you are curious about the next challenge or problem you should solve, your customers will tell you. They are happy to do so.

Service improvements is the next area where feedback can help. If you are doing something right, your clients will tell you. If you are doing something wrong, they will definitely let you know. With that information, you can take the experiences of your happiest customers and use the information to improve the experience of your least happy customers. Plus, it helps you see how you can take your service to a whole new level.

Your customers will let you know their title, position, type of company, why they are happy or not so happy, and how they get value out of your product or service. This can guide your marketing strategy to find more customers that fit the same profile as your happiest customers, which leads to faster sales cycles and happier customers overall.

And happy customers lead to more customer referrals. They are probably already talking about you in the marketplace. And if you are diligent about asking for referrals to other companies that could benefit from your product or service, you will create more revenue for your company with the right type of new customers.

So, incremental customer sales, product development, service improvements, marketing strategy, and customer referrals can all be improved by listening to the Voice of the Customer through a survey. And when your customers see that you are acting on the data gathered from the survey and improving their experience, they will continue to respond to your survey requests.

And what do all of these things contribute to? Customer Success! When their lives are getting better, it improves customer retention, which creates a great baseline for revenue growth for your business.

So, consider using a survey to listen to the Voice of the Customer. When done properly, it creates tangible results for your clients and your bottom line.

If you would like some help with a survey, let’s talk. We have created a streamlined process to get great customer response rates and help your organization implement what you learn from the survey. Just send us an email or give us a call at (858) 863-9913.