Posts published by Dayne Shuda

How to Use QR Code to Get People to Your Survey URL

How to Use QR Code to Get People to Your Survey URL

Survey Tips

You’re ready to send a survey to your restaurant customers, and naturally you want as many responses as possible. You know the more responses you receive, the more valuable your data.

So, how can you increase your survey response rates? The answer is to send your survey out in as many digital ways as possible. (tweet this) Many people send out their survey link (URL) via email, SMS text messaging, social media and their website. Yet, there’s another way.

This unique way is using a QR code, and it makes survey responses super easy for your customers.

Let’s look at how to use a QR code to get people to your survey URL. First, let’s define the QR code.

What is a QR code?

A QR code is a code the camera on your smartphone reads. It consists of an array of black and white squares. Store within these squares is your chosen URL or other information.

QR stands for quick response.

Basically, they’re a two-dimensional barcode that stores information. Many marketers use them to direct customers and their target audience to online content. You can use the QR code to direct customers to your survey link.

When someone scans your QR code with their camera smartphone, it will bring up your survey form. People can then fill it out and submit their response.

You can store up to about 7000 digits or 4200 characters, including punctuation marks and special characters on your QR code. This means you can use words, phrases, and internet addresses, too.

How Do I Create a QR Code?

It’s easy to create a QR code.

You simply need to find a company online that generates QR codes. Generally, you’ll want to pay for this service, especially if you’re generating a lot of clicks.

You choose the type of code you want, enter your data, and select “create QR code.” Then, the system asks you what format for your QR code, and you download the file.

Afterwards it’s easy to share your QR code on receipts in your restaurant, flyers, emails, text messages, and more.

How Does a Customer Use the QR Code?

Again, this is easy.

Your customer just scans the code with the camera on their smartphone. Most phones these days don’t need a scanner app because their camera is fully capable of reading the code. If they have an older phone, they can download an app.

Once your customer scans the code, the link to the restaurant survey opens up.

Now let’s explore some best practices for telling your customers about the QR code.

How Do I Share the QR Code?

You’ll find multiple ways to share the survey link to your customers through your image code.

First, you can add it to your printed receipts. Just be sure to add a bit of text with it to tell your customers why it is there.

You can always add the code to your table tents. This gives you ample space to provide a nice background image with your code. You can also use this space to tell customers why you are surveying them. In addition, you can tell them about the perk they get for completing the survey.

Next, you can include the code on your to-go menu or even your to-go packaging. This helps you send your survey to customers who aren’t dining in.

Tell People What the Code is For

You wouldn’t welcome guests into your restaurant and not provide them a menu. So, you don’t want to throw out a code without telling people what it’s for.

Your restaurant guests should know exactly why you want them to scan the code. This is important because your guests can’t look at those squares and know what you want of them.

Tell your guests to snap a photo of your code to take a quick survey.

You may even offer them a coupon for a free appetizer or other sort of discount or reward for taking your survey. This gives them an extra reason to take the survey.

Make Sure Your Survey is Mobile Friendly

Your restaurant diners are scanning your survey on a mobile phone, so make sure your survey is responsive to screen size as well.

You definitely don’t want to send your mobile guests to a survey built for a desktop computer.

The response rates will most certainly be better if your survey is mobile friendly. If not, you risk rapid dropout rates.

Don’t Resize the QR Code

You really don’t want to adjust the image size of your QR code, or you may break it. When you resize it, you change the dimensions of those little white and black squares, and you also reduce the white space between them, leaving your code unreadable.

Many generators will let you pick image size, and this is your best bet.

Test Your Image

Before you send your survey through a QR code, you want to test the code on multiple devices.

What if you found out it works on Android devices but not iPhones? Test your image to make sure it works on different devices and different browsers.

Final Thoughts

Gathering feedback about your restaurant has never been easier than using a QR code to get people to your survey URL.

As with any surveys, do make sure to thank your customers, send them their promised reward, and follow up with your results.

One of the most important aspects of collecting survey data from your restaurant guests is reporting on the data and then telling your customer what you’re going to do about it.

For example, if the majority of your customers tell you your service is bad, send out an email to your respondents and tell them how you are going to change it, asking them to give you another chance.

On the other hand, if you send a link to a Net Promoter Score survey, and your results are very positive, send an email thanking your customers for their loyalty.

By using a QR code, you increase your chances of more survey data so you can respond to the needs of your customers, increase retention, and the profits of your restaurant.

Surveys help you make the best decisions for your business. Are you ready to get started with your free Survey Town trial? Start with your free account today, and you can upgrade at any time.

Images: Mitya Ivanov on Unsplash

The Most Important Metric You Should Be Focusing On

The Most Important Metric You Should Be Focusing On

Survey Tips

In the 21st century, the key to your success is customer loyalty. It’s never been more essential to provide the best customer service possible.

To help you achieve this, we look at the most important metric you should be focusing on. This is the NPS Score.

What is the NPS Score?

The NPS Score stands for Net Promoter Score. It allows you to measure customer loyalty, and it shows you how well your brand is performing.

You get this score when you send customers a survey with just one question, “How likely on a score of 0-10 are you to recommend us to family, friends, and co-workers?”

The score is important as you work to improve your processes to provide customers with a good experience. The NPS Score also helps you find your most loyal customers. You can then use them as a model when thinking about your ideal customer.

We recommend checking your NPS Score by sending surveys on a regular basis.

You calculate this score using the following measurements:

  • 0-6 are your detractors
  • 7-8 are your passives
  • 9-10 are your promoters

You don’t need to factor your passives into the calculation. Then subtract the percentage of detractor responses from the percentage of promoter responses to get your Net Promoter Score. Your score will range from -100 to 100 being the absolute best.

Now that you know what it is, let’s look at why you should be focusing on it.

The Cheapest Marketing

You probably already know that word of mouth marketing is cheap and invaluable.

More people trust their friends over any type of advertising. This is why word of mouth is so important to you.

Since you can’t track your word of mouth traffic like other forms of advertising, you’ll never know how likely people are to recommend your business to others if you don’t know your NPS Score.

Know your score over time. Look for signals your service could use some work.

Customer Loyalty Matters

The loyal customer is invaluable to your business. In fact, you’ve probably heard the saying that it’s more cost effective to keep a current customer than it is to get a new one.

For this reason, along with the fact that your loyal customers are your brand ambassadors, you have even more proof that the NPS Score is your most important metric.

Happy Customers Come from Happy Employees

The circle of customer service is constantly moving and evolving. For example, if your employees are happy with their jobs, your customers are more likely to have good feelings about your business because they get better service.

In turn, when your customers are happy, your employees feel good about providing excellent service.

One way to help your team work together for a common goal is to set the NPS Score front and center. Make sure everyone knows improving your goal is your aim.

Then, align your mission, vision, and objective to making your NPS Score better. Whether you need to improve by a lot or a little, this one goal can unite your team.

The end result is a team that is fulfilled on the job, and customers who remember that great service.

The last question you want to ask each of your staff member’s at the end of the day is, “Did each of your customers leave here pleased with their experience?”

Really dive into the experience with your team members and help them see all the ways they can improve their service.

Final Thoughts

If you’re ready to improve the overall customer experience at your company and propel your business over the competition, it’s time to consider the Net Promoter Score.

Use the score as a jumping off point for your overall marketing strategy. It’s the pinnacle of your objectives.

Remember, it’s one thing to have a customer buy from you once. It’s entirely something different when they do it again. And, you know you’ve done a whole lot right when your customer picks nine or 10 on the NPS survey, and says, “Yes, I’ll recommend you to friends.”

If you’re ready to utilize the NPS to evaluate your customers’ experience with your business and improve your overall customer relationships, the best place to start is with a survey. (tweet this)

Surveys help you make the best decisions for your business. Are you ready to get started with your free Survey Town trial? Start with your free account today, and you can upgrade at any time.

Images: Saketh Garuda on Unsplash

How to Successfully Incorporate Remote Employees into Your Startup

The Importance Of Employee Reward And Recognition

Survey Tips

You know the importance of sending surveys to your customers. Most likely you do this because you are dedicated to improving your customer service.

Yet, the only way your business will shine is if customer service is part of the very fabric of your company. For this to happen, it must start with you, and your employees must buy in. (tweet this)

In other words, you can do all the advertising in the world, send surveys on a regular basis, and if your team isn’t on board, things will be tough.

One way to encourage your staff to provide the best service is to incentivize your managers and your team for good reviews. Let’s look at the importance of employee reward and recognition.

Reward Employees Named in Surveys

Let’s say a survey respondent names one of your employees positively in a survey. Consider rewarding your team member for the mention.

For example, you might give them a gift certificate, Friday afternoon off, or a small bonus.

Set Goals

If your first survey garnered less than perfect results, set a goal for your staff.

For example, if you send a Net Promoter Score survey, and it comes back on the low-end, set goals for each quarter. Your goal might be to raise your score by one-two points each quarter.

Then, if your team meets the first quarter goal, they get a reward. If they meet the second quarter goal, they get another, and the same for quarters three and four.

If all four goals were met, consider a bigger reward and recognition at the end of the year.

Get creative. Ask your employees what might motivate them, and then set the rewards in motion.

Final Thoughts

Providing the best customer experience possible is what sets businesses apart in the 21st century, and surveys help you uncover valuable data to do this.

Get your employees on board by rewarding and recognizing them for your positive surveys.

Because the happiness of your customers stems directly from the contentment of your employees, you’ll find that actively engaging them in the process helps drive business and your overall growth.

Surveys help you make the best decisions for your business. Are you ready to get started with your free Survey Town trial? Start with your free account today, and you can upgrade at any time.

Images: rawpixel on Unsplash

Comparing Your Industries NPS - What It Means for Business

Comparing Your Industries NPS – What It Means For Business

Survey Tips

Your Net Promoter Score (NPS) tells you about your customers’ experience with your business and measures their loyalty. It can also predict your company’s potential for growth.

Yet, the NPS is much more than just a measurement of customer loyalty. It’s a tool you can use to see how you rank among your competition. For example, if out of 10 competitor’s you’re at the top, great. But, if you’re below anyone, there’s always room for improvement.

You can use the industry comparison to drive your business to the top.

In this article, we look at comparing your industries’ NPS and what it means for business.

What is a Good NPS Score?

Let’s break down the score and see what’s actually a good score. First, any score below zero is a bad score and means you’re in big trouble.

Next, if you score between 0 and 30, that’s a good starting point. You’ve got a lot of room for growth, but things look okay.

If you score higher than 30 but less than 70, you’re doing terrific. Rest assured that the majority of your customers are happy. But, does this mean there’s no room for improvement? No, you do have room to grow.

Finally, if your NPS is higher than 70, you knocked it out of the ballpark. You can assume your highly loyal customers are sharing their good news with all of their friends, family, and co-workers.

Let’s take the example of business A that has a NPS score of 0, and business B that has a NPS of -30. Is business A doing better than business B? Of course. But, in the scheme of things, neither of them can rest on those scores.

While it is nice for business A to know they’re on top of their competition, it’s not going to be good enough. Both businesses will want to improve their customer experience in order to improve their scores.

It is worth noting, though, that you want to be aware of your industry benchmarks because there are some industries that could never realistically reach that 70 mark because no one does. For example, the internet service industry average benchmark is two.

Benchmark Net Promoter Score

You want to compare more than simply numbers. You want to compare your score to the score of your competition.

You can see industry benchmarks, so you know what to compare your number against. Without knowing your industry average as well as the scores of your competition, it’s hard to gauge your standing.

According to Satmetrix, your NPS score can vary not only by industry but by region and customer demographics such as age, income level, and the number of years they’ve been shopping with you.

To accurately measure your score, you want to compare it with your industry and your direct and indirect competitors.

When your score is consistently higher that that of your direct competition, you can count on business growth.

To help you, here are a few industry average benchmarks:

  • Automotive dealers: 32
  • Major Appliances:  31
  • Computers and Tablets:  8
  • Investments:  30
  • Grocery Stores:  20
  • Insurance: 19
  • Hotels: 4
  • Retailers: 1
  • Fast food: -1
  • Credit Cards: 13
  • Utilities: 5
  • TV Service: -5

Where does your business fall in this list? If you fall under retailers, again, you’ll want to consider things such as your size (don’t compare yourself directly to the Gap if you’re a small boutique), demographics, and region.

Industry Average Comparison

Let’s say you are a toy manufacturer. If you want to understand your NPS, you want to first compare it with the average scores in your industry. Then, compare to your direct competition.

This allows you a better marker than comparing it to what experts agree is a “good” score.

You also want to consider your market. Are you an online retailer, or do you sell in a small town or a large metropolis? Some markets have a more positive image than others, so be sure you are comparing against the right set.

In addition, just compare yourself to other toy manufacturers. It doesn’t do you any good to compare yourself to restaurants.

The Regional Comparison

We’ve mentioned that the NPS can vary greatly by industry, but they also vary by region. You might expect a toy company in New York City to have a vastly different NPS than a toy company in a small town in North Dakota.

Different areas of the country are populated by unique demographics. Make sure you know these differences before looking at industry benchmarks.

Your Survey Channel

Another factor that can affect your NPS is your survey channel. It pays to know if the channel you are using is similar to that of your competitors.

For example, you might be surveying all customers, but your competition may only survey customers who’ve purchased in the last six months. You’ll find this can affect the data.

In addition, how you conduct your survey can change data, too. Test different channels – email, SMS, on your website, through social media, etc.

Try to conduct your NPS survey through the same channel as the competitor you want to benchmark so you’ll have something static to base your results on.

Final Thoughts

As you compare your industries’ Net Promoter Score (NPS), you want to keep one thing top of mind: your “good” number is the number that’s better than your previous score.

For most businesses, this is the most important benchmark. Over the course of your NPS surveys, you want to ensure continual improvement.

For example, if you survey customers four times this year, make sure you increase each time. If this is happening, you’re doing great. You can then look at industry benchmarks and comparisons.

If you’re not improving, your company most likely isn’t growing. And, whether or not your score is higher than your competitor’s, if you aren’t scoring better, you’ve got a lot of work to do.

Use your NPS score to drive growth and encourage customer loyalty. Continue on an upward trajectory, and you’ll soon naturally rise above the competition.

Surveys help you make the best decisions for your business. Are you ready to get started with your free Survey Town trial? Start with your free account today, and you can upgrade at any time.

Image: Felix Mittermeier on Unsplash

Why the Survey Channel Impacts Your NPS Score

Why the Survey Channel Impacts Your NPS Score

Survey Tips

The Pew Research Center says that sending online surveys is one of the cheapest, most convenient means of data collection for businesses today.

Not only can you send product and customer service surveys, but you can send Net Promoter Score surveys and more with a full-service online survey software.

While sending surveys is the easy part, getting responses can be a bit more challenging. One way to get more responses is to have an effective plan for the distribution of your surveys.

In this article, we look at why the survey channel impacts your NPS score.

Texting Your Survey

If you use SMS (text messaging) to send your NPS survey, you’ll find it’s an easy way to send a survey. Simply craft a text, insert a link to your survey, and send it.

Although, with this channel, you have to have an SMS service for your business, and there are legal limitations. For example, your customers have to opt-in to receive your messages.

Because you have less likelihood to reach all respondents, text messaging should be a supplementary channel for your NPS surveys.

Emailing Your Survey

This is the single best channel for sending your surveys, and it impacts your NPS score because you’re more likely to see a higher response rate.

If you look at your customer database, you’ll find that you have an email for nearly all of your customers, while you may not have opt-ins for all of them when it comes to text messaging.

Emailing your survey is the best way to distribute your survey online. You can target customers for the most accurate data.

Because you’re sending an email to your customers who have already opted in and want what you have to offer, you have a better chance of getting high-quality responses.

Final Thoughts

The survey channel does impact your NPS score, so choose wisely.

In addition to email and texting options, consider sharing your survey through social media, putting it on your website, and including it in blog posts.

Ultimately, the more ways you get it out there, the more responses you’ll get.

Surveys help you make the best decisions for your business. Are you ready to get started with your free Survey Town trial? Start with your free account today, and you can upgrade at any time.

Image: rawpixel on Unsplash

5 Ways You Can Make Your Survey Attractive to Your Customers

5 Ways to Make Your Survey Attractive to Your Customers to Increase Response Rates

Uncategorized

While some people enjoy taking surveys and sharing their opinions, there are others who don’t feel quite as compelled to complete your survey.

So, how do you reach these people and encourage them to move forward and complete your survey?

In this article, we look at five ways to make your survey attractive to your customers to increase response rates.

#1: Disguise Your Survey

People love to complete quizzes which is why you see them so often in your social media news feeds.

For marketing gurus, quizzes are interactive content that works. They prompt people to take action, and they enable you to get responses.

According to the Content Marketing Institute, nearly 90% of marketers believe interactive content grabs more attention than static content.

This is why, from time to time, you should disguise your survey as a quiz. Not only does it take the perceived responsibility off the respondents’ shoulders, it makes them think taking your “quiz” will be fun.

A marketing tip is to use a subject line in your email. When sending out your quiz through email, use “Take Our Quiz” in the subject line instead of “Take Our Survey.”

As always, keep your quiz short and ask only the survey questions that matter most.

You can also ask a rating question at the very end because by this time, your respondents are invested in your quiz. This allows people a chance to compliment you or share their concerns.

Be sure to follow regular survey protocol and reach out to the negative commenters. And, always share your results with your customers.

#2: Gamify Your Survey

No, this doesn’t mean creating a survey that would be at home in Minecraft.

What it does mean is using game thinking and game mechanics in your survey. Use these tools to engage your respondents so they think they’re helping you solve a problem.

Usually this means changing the way you word your survey questions. Doing this helps make your survey more attractive and increasing response rates at the same time.

You want your survey to engage your customers, so making your survey more game-like allows them to feel like they’re playing a game while answering your survey. (tweet this)

Consider these game-like elements:

  • Make it competitive. For example, ask: “What are your favorite things to eat on our menu? Click as many as you can in 30 seconds.”
  • Offer a reward. For example, say: “If you complete the survey in less than five minutes, we’ll give you a coupon for 20% off.” You of course aren’t timing it, but you are offering a coupon at the end.

By gamifying your survey, you are creatively taking the burden of the survey off your respondents. This way, the survey doesn’t feel like something they have to do but something they want to do.

#3: Create an Exchange

Another way to get people to take your survey is to use a bit of psychology. There is a long-standing theory that if someone does something good for you, you’ll be happy to return the favor. This plays on a human’s need to do the next right thing.

If you give your customers something, they’ll feel morally compelled to give something back which for you is completing your survey.

So, let’s say you sell vacuums. Your customer purchases a vacuum from you. Typically, this is the act that would trigger the survey.

Instead of sending it after the purchase, send your customer something worthwhile to them in their email. You might send them several videos on how to use their vacuum, how to set it up, and how to troubleshoot issues.

After this, you send out your survey. Because you helped your customers by providing them information, they’ll feel the need to reciprocate. One good deed does indeed encourage another, and you’ll find you have a better response rate.

#4: Make Your Survey Customer-Centric

Your customers are more likely to complete their survey if it’s of interest to them.

By making the topic of your survey interesting, your customers find it more relevant, and will be more likely to complete it.

From the email subject line to the brief description, make sure your customers know the survey is directly related to their purchase and their experience. Your customers should know the purpose of your survey from the very beginning.

By segmenting your list, you can tailor surveys to specific customer populations. You can also alter your language slightly, so that customers feel like you’re talking directly to them. Use quality questions that pertain specifically to their experience.

Instead of saying something like, “Help us make the customer experience better,” say, “Improve your customer experience by taking this survey.”

Don’t forget to use conditional logic when appropriate to again improve the survey experience for your customers and keep them more engaged. The more specific the survey, the better your responses.

#5: Respect Their Privacy

In today’s digital age, you’ll find that people are more reluctant than ever to share their personal information.

To encourage a higher response rate, be upfront about the data you are collecting.

In addition, just like on your website, include a privacy disclaimer to help encourage people to take your survey. You’ll want to include the following:

  • Why you’re conducting a survey.
  • What personal data you are collecting.
  • How you’ll use the data.
  • If you’ll disclose the data to anyone else, and if so, to whom.
  • How respondents can contact you with questions.
  • How they can delete or not give you their personal information.

A good rule of thumb is to only collect the information you absolutely need to encourage a higher response rate.

To Conclude

We’ll leave you with two final tips, so you can make your survey more attractive to customers:

  • Consider sending a pre-survey email to let your customers know it’s coming. Explain why you’re sending them a survey and what you will do with their responses. Tell them you care about their privacy as well as their comments.
  • Always say thank you. You want to tell your respondents thank you for their time, for participating in your survey, and for helping you make their experience better.

Wish your customers well at the end of the survey, and you’re on your way to creating loyal customers who don’t mind answering your questions.

Surveys help you make the best decisions for your business. Are you ready to get started with your free Survey Town trial? Start with your free account today, and you can upgrade at any time.

Image: Charisse Kenion on Unsplash

What to Do If Your NPS Is Below 0

What To Do If Your NPS Is Below 0

Survey Tips

So, you sent out a Net Promoter Score (NPS) survey, and you got a zero. First, all is not lost. It’s only hopeless if you choose to do nothing about it.

Getting a number that’s at or below zero is a unique situation. It tells you that your customers care enough to complete your survey. At the same time, they’re sending you a very clear message. This message says they want to shop with you, but they’re sending a fair warning that you aren’t doing something right.

Ultimately, they have no reason to shop with you or recommend you to anyone, so it’s time to make some changes.

In this article, we look at what to do if your NPS is below zero and look at how you can recover from it.

The Point of the Score

First, the NPS is not a score to hang on your wall. When it’s low, it tells you that something is amiss, and you have a great opportunity for improvement.

Since the Net Promoter Score is the measurement of your customers’ loyalty to your company, a low score tells you they’re unhappy, and they are not going to recommend you to others.

Once you send out your first NPS survey, you can use this initial score as your baseline. If you get a zero, great, you aren’t in the negative numbers, but you do know you have a long way to go to get to 100. If you get below a zero, that’s negative territory, and the climb is longer.

On the positive side, your zero or negative zero may even be well above the competition. But that doesn’t mean you rest there. It’s time for some strategizing to improve your score over time.

Now let’s look at how to improve your Net Promoter Score if it’s below zero.

Get Your Employees on Board

If your score is low, it’s time for a team meeting. It’s important that everyone at your company understands your NPS score is too low, and you must improve.

Your staff should understand that improving your score means making your currently unhappy customers happy. Anyone who has direct contact with your customers needs to understand this. (tweet this)

Converting unhappy customers into your loyal promoters is going to take everyone, not just your marketing team.

Give Your Customers a Hand

Your social media pages come into play here.

Find your happy customers and ask them to share their good experiences on your social media pages. You might ask for good reviews. Or, you can ask them if they’ll do a video testimonial as this really helps legitimize the review.

Don’t get into paid reviews as this can end up causing you problems in the long run.

To encourage customers, make sure they feel appreciated and do what you can to make leaving a good review easy for them.

Be Responsive

Have you gotten complaints in the past and ignored them? Do you have un-responded-to negative (or positive) Google reviews?

One of the most important things you can do with customers is to respond quickly. Communication is key to a great relationship. When customers are angry, respond with empathy and find them a solution.

Always respond to all feedback in a timely manner. By actively engaging with your customers and cultivating relationships, you’ll make great inroads improving your NPS.

Listening to your customers and making effective changes is key to improving your score.

Offer Training

Oftentimes your NPS score is low because of how your customers were treated when working with your staff.

Be sure to offer comprehensive and ongoing training to your team. You also want to ensure they understand their responsibilities when it comes to providing excellent customer service every time.

Final Thoughts

When it comes to your net promoter score, you want to stay on top of it. Make a plan for improving your score and stick to it.

When six months have passed, send another NPS survey, and see if your score improves. If it does, super. Keep up the good work to keep improving.

If it doesn’t, revisit your plan and implement new strategies to increase your score.

The NPS isn’t a once and done. You want to keep making improvements in your customer experience, so you can increase customer loyalty, your NPS score, and ultimately your profits.

Surveys help you make the best decisions for your business. Are you ready to get started with your free Survey Town trial? Start with your free account today, and you can upgrade at any time.

Image: rawpixel on Unsplash