One in five customers stop doing business with you because of your research

If your organization sends surveys, is used to sending surveys, or plans to send surveys, then you should read this article.

Some customers refuse to fill out customer satisfaction surveys. Their excuses range from surveys being too long or too frequent to, well, pointless because customers feel their opinions aren’t valued. Others are ready to fill out a survey, but you have to do it right. Almost one in five (19%) customers have stopped doing business with a company because their research took too long.

In our annual Customer Experience (CX) survey (sponsored by RingCentral), we asked more than 1,000 US consumers their opinions on satisfaction surveys. Here are some of the more compelling findings about customers’ willingness to comply (or not):

· Most people are willing to complete a satisfaction survey under the right circumstances. Only 14% say they rarely take surveys, and only 4% say they never.

· As mentioned above, surveys that are too long can cause close to 20% of your customers to stop doing business with you – and the odds of a long survey being completed aren’t good either. Almost seven in 10 customers (67%) will not complete long surveys.

· If you want to lose customers, send them a lot of surveys. While “too much” is subjective, 23% of customers say they stopped doing business with a company because it kept sending out too many surveys.

· If the experience is good, you have a better chance of getting a completed survey. In other words, good service leads to completed surveys – at least 74% of the time.

· If the experience is bad, 42% of customers say they choose not to complete a survey to avoid further interactions with the company or brand.

· Time is important. You don’t want to wait a week to send a survey. If you send the survey soon after a purchase or interaction, 84% say they are more likely to complete the survey.

In addition to the above, we dug a little deeper to understand why some customers don’t complete surveys. One of the main reasons customers tend not to complete a survey is because they don’t believe their feedback and opinions are valued. If you ask for a customer’s phone number or email address and they give it to you, it’s important to follow up. At a minimum, an automated confirmation lets customers know that their feedback has been received. At its best, a personalized follow-up shows appreciation and that you’re “listening.” Consider the following:

· After completing a survey, 72% said they never hear back from the company.

· Feedback is a gift, but many companies don’t recognize it. Seven in 10 customers (71%) agree that the company will not make changes based on their feedback. Once again, no endorsement detracts from the research experience. Even worse, 37% feel their feedback is not taken seriously.

Studies can have at least two outcomes. Done right, they give you the information you need to move your business forward. But if you get it wrong, you can lose more than valuable feedback. You may lose customers.

If you want your surveys to strengthen customer relationships rather than strain them, think of them as part of the customer experience. Keep it short, send them quickly, and make them count. As you move forward, consider not only how you ask questions, but also how you acknowledge and act on the answers. Every survey is a chance to show customers how much you value their input and their business. Surveys are more than a way to get feedback. They can encourage positive engagement, build better relationships and create customer loyalty.