It’s always a good idea to consistently ask your customers for feedback.
After all, customer feedback will help to provide fresh insights into your business, which is useful whether the feedback is good or bad!
Getting third-party opinions is always informative. And for businesses, there’s no feedback that’s more valuable than the customer’s.
Still, asking the right questions is important. The questions must be engaging yet brief, and carefully worded so that the answers you receive are as informative and useful as possible.
Whether you plan on handing out a survey or creating an online questionnaire, the following are the best questions you should ask for customer feedback.
How Did You Hear About Our Business?
This is a simple question that can be answered easily, either by letting the customer write their answer or choose from a selection of answers.
Knowing how your customers discovered your business is important since it can provide vital insights into your marketing efforts and general reach - whether that’s online or through word of mouth.
Since this is a straightforward question, it’s a great question to ask first.
How you order your questions is just as important as the questions you ask, so it’s a good idea to not scare customers away by not giving them a long-winded or detailed question to answer first.
Why Did You Choose Our Business?
Why the customer chose your business could be due to a specific product or service you offer, the appeal of your website or social media, a recent marketing campaign, or even the reviews you have received from other customers.
Whichever it might be, asking customers this question can not only help you to specifically understand why your business is appealing, but how it compares with your competitors.
The answers you receive can also help you to understand what customers in your industry value and look for.
What Do You Look For When Buying Products/Services Like The Ones We Sell?
Asking your customers what they look for before buying a product/using a service can be highly insightful - especially if your business provides a specific range of products or services, or is part of a specific industry.
For example, answers might include great customer service, fast delivery, high-quality craftsmanship, or even a specific product, service, or menu item.
Whichever it is, this is a great way to find out what customers in your industry look for when choosing a business, as well as what they might particularly like about your business itself.
How Satisfied Are You With Our Products/Services?
This is another straightforward question that can be answered by letting your customers provide a written answer or select from a list of answers.
Overall, it will help you to get a general idea of whether or not your products or services are satisfying customers.
Knowing whether or not customers are satisfied with your products/services is crucial. But what’s equally as important is knowing why.
You can add this as a sub-question to understand what your customers like exactly and where your business is succeeding and/or failing.
How Can We Improve?
Asking customers how and where your business can be improved is arguably the most important question you should ask them.
The answers you receive will highlight areas of your business that need improvements, which, if put into action, will ensure your business is constantly improving for existing and new customers.
A sub-question you can ask is: What would have made your experience with us better?
This is worth asking even if the customer’s experience was positive, since it will provide an insight into what your customers want - generally as well as specific to your business.
How Was Your Experience With Our Employees/Website?
It’s not just about your business’s products and services, but the experience your customers have before and during the buying process.
This includes their experience with your employees (in-store, over the phone, or online) and, if purchased using the internet, their experience with your website (e-commerce store) and payment gateway.
Of course, employees should always be a pleasure to deal with and online payments should feel smooth and secure.
If this isn’t the case for your customers, then you need to know.
How Likely Are You To Deal With Us Again?
This question might seem redundant, especially as the other answers that a customer has provided can give you a general idea as to whether they might deal with you again.
However, it’s still worth asking since it not only gives you a clear answer, but can incite the customer to consider your business again in the future.
Another similar question you can ask is: How likely are you to recommend us?
It’s also worth asking why/why not, which you can include as a sub-question to get a more informative, beneficial answer.
Is There Anything Else You Would Like Us to Know?
Asking this question, typically last, is a great way to let the customer voice their thoughts and opinions openly.
It also allows your business to receive feedback for things that your other questions did not give the customer the opportunity to express.
Needless to say, this question should be followed by a blank box, with ample space, to allow the customer to express themselves.
Letting your customers express themselves is just as important as asking the questions you want to know the answers to, so don’t leave it out!
Reviews Are Also Valuable Customer Feedback
Like survey handouts and online questionnaires, reviews are another way you can receive valuable customer feedback from your customers.
In fact, this is the most beneficial form of feedback, since customer reviews will improve your online reputation and inspire more customers to use your business.
Of course, it’s never easy to request feedback from customers - especially when it comes to reviews.
Not only is manually requesting reviews time-consuming, but often ineffective. After all, it’s similar to asking for a favor!
The key is to streamline the review writing process for your customers. And ReputationStacker is a tool that does it all for you.
Fully automated from start to finish, ReputationStacker sends your customers a single-question survey asking about their experience, and directs them to the reviews sites of your choice to post a review.
The result? More reviews on the sites that matter most for you business - with no need to create a survey or questionnaire.
Put simply, getting your customers’ feedback will become easier than ever once your business starts using ReputationStacker.
