Survey Advantage CEO Michael Casey tells us how comprehensive market intelligence can pay off for you in terms of company performance and better relationships with your customers.
This is an interesting topic for anyone who needs to know more about what customers want. This company has been in business since 2001, starting out with a focus on training. By 2005, surveying took over as the interest on establishing customer loyalty took over.
From there, Survey Advantage began working with ABBRA and other marine businesses. The company has quite a range of customers including both large and small boat yards, builders, marinas, and maritime insurance. “Think of any form or survey that you want to do, and it should be online now,” says Casey.
The shift to smartphones is important, too, and best practices are now dictating that everyone needs to have a good handle on customers for quick contact. “This is even true of marinas and transients. People want more contact,” he says. Still, since this is an “older” industry, some boatyards are missing opportunities to communicate via new technology. If boatyards don’t put out the message, people won’t find them.
Survey Advantage offers a number of different tools. One is “Market Pulse” which works well for builders and yards who need to get information from customers. Usually these surveys only take about five minutes to complete, and the data provides a roadmap for the next year or two. You can look at the data with your team and take care of many of the items that customers want.
Often, there can be just a simple thing, like putting more clothes hooks in a shower room or making sure that rest rooms are cleaned regularly. Associations can also use the data to help board members focus on what is most important in setting priorities for strategic planning and other long-range programs.
Surveys can look at facilities, teams, maintenance, and other topics. It’s important to break it down to help in setting goals.
One of Survey Advantage’s clients in Charleston City Marina which uses a product called “Customer Pulse” that gives management almost immediate feedback. “We really frown on including marketing questions on surveys, like the ones you might get in a motel. They just turn people off.”
Some of the tips are to realize how much you can ask, and being sure to use the customer’s “language” so they can tell you the most important information.
With a marina, they want to know how transients liked their stay, so the survey is immediate. With a yard, it’s more likely to want until once a year, or after a major service such as commissioning or de-commissioning.
Most surveys are aimed at existing customers, and they are meant to be early warning systems so businesses don’t lose customers. “Once a customer is gone, it’s really hard to re-connect,” says Casey. “You have to have a relationship in place.”
It’s also important to act quickly on customer comments. Is there a problem with invoicing? Take a look! Put up those hooks on the shower room!
A lot of people use tools like “Survey Monkey” but don’t necessarily get the 30 percent response that is typical of a Survey Advantage product. “If you know how to leverage information, that’s fine. Use an online tool. But if you need help in setting up a process, that’s where we come in. It’s ‘build’ versus ‘buy.’”
In terms of analysis, Survey Advantage can also offer insight about strengths, weaknesses, and threats. Surveys can also highlight opportunities where you could be making more money. “Threats” let you know that you are about to lose a customer, and why. Sometimes having a third party look at data is very valuable to give you a new perspective.
Threats and weaknesses may be cousins, but sometimes a threat will really leap out, especially when you have surveyed a thousand or so customers and get 300 responses back. Then you can really look at trends.
Some of the trends appearing throughout the yards now people’s dissatisfaction with follow-up on maintenance, especially when things change. Sometimes it’s just an unavoidable delay, but no matter the cause, customers want to know immediately about it. “Often the solution is just to send the customer an email or make a phone call to let them know about a problem,” says Casey.
Once a survey is complete, Casey’s company can provide a report card or benchmark, but that’s not always necessary. “The goal is to use the information and really look at the result as a gift. Don’t look at them as complaining customers. In fact, most are positive and will include testimonials,” he says.
When the feedback really is positive, it helps, too, to post remarks where the team can see that their work is appreciated.
In terms of CSI (Customer Satisfaction Index) or NPS (Net Promoter Score) to find out how many of your customers will recommend you. “There’s been a shift from customers who are satisfied to those who are loyal,” says Casey. He also recommends that people read The Ultimate Question by Fred Reichheld. The question is, “Would you recommend us to someone else?” Then the follow-up question should be, “Why?”
People have gotten used to clicking online to show “likes” and “dislikes” but the difference with a survey can be the follow-up. “It’s a breath of fresh air for most people to get a follow-up phone call to talk to them more about what they said on the survey,” says Casey. “Leverage that! Use the survey as a tool to keep moving in the right direction.”
Most of Casey’s customers pay an average of $49 a month. Setting the process up in the beginning costs about $200. After that, we may get a list from a customer once a month, once a week, or once a day depending on their needs. The return on investment is immediate. “It’s a no brainer,” says Casey.
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