Think consumer surveys belong to the Stone Age? Think again. Here are a few research inferences on the efficacy of consumer surveys today:
- Data-driven organizations that leverage customer data are growing at an exponential rate annually: 30% to be precise, according to Forrester.
- Highly data-driven organizations are 3X more likely to report significant improvement in decision-making.
- According to Mckinsey Global Institute, data-driven organizations are 23X more likely to acquire customers, 6X as possible to retain customers, and 19X more likely to be profitable.
Gathering customer insights and leveraging said data can boost your bottom line and lead to happier customers simultaneously.
This blog will look at how four established brands drove strategic customer surveys to gather real-time insights into customer behavior and buying patterns and ultimately developed more customer-centric products. Let’s jump right in.
Top Brands that Successfully Developed User-Centric Products Using Surveys
1. Nike’s Customized Surveys that Align with the Brand’s Style:
Nike’s customer surveys get it right on multiple accounts:
The brand asks users specific (possibly business goal-aligned) questions about how in-store greetings affect their purchase decision.
Two, it allows participants to rate their experience as well as add relevant comments. This mix of multiple-choice questions and open-ended questions makes the survey holistic and complete. Plus, the textual answers serve as a gold mine for customer information related to sentiment analysis.
Third, the brand ensures that the survey follows the same branding protocols for the customized design and the brand’s overall aesthetic.
The Learning: Brands should first outline the end goal of the survey to ensure that the questions are useful and offer deep insights into the customer experience. This data can then enhance the user experience and make changes to the product as needed.
2. Walmart’s Detailed Surveys for the Win:
Not all your customers might have had the opportunity to fill out a survey in the past. To guide customers right and make the process easier for them, Walmart provides quick tips and directional instructions on how they want the participant to respond:
This small-yet-effective strategy ensures greater answer accuracy and helps participants to answer with greater clarity and honesty.
Furthermore, the brand makes it a point to specifically quiz respondents on the product quality so that it can compare the in-store experience and the product quality in one go:
The Learning: As a best practice, brands should focus on creating questionnaires that offer enough guidance and help to the user–by way of clearly defined questions or simple-to-follow instructions that are outlined at the start of the survey.
3. McDonald’s Integrated Approach to Customer Surveys and Marketing:
If there’s one brand that makes a serious effort to capture the customer’s voice seriously (and routinely), it is McDonald’s. The brand has a dedicated online portal, “McDVoice,” where customers can leave their feedback and voice their opinions at the click of a button:
All they have to do is enter the survey code located in the receipt. If they do not have the survey code, they can still provide their inputs via a separate link. This approach allows the brand to filter the responses and obtain a 360-degree view of the data. Here’s a sneak peek into their survey:
The questions follow a logical sequence and allow users to answer quickly:
The Learning: It is not enough for brands to gather user feedback and call it a day. The real work begins after the survey responses. It would be best to have a dedicated analytics team in place to analyze the survey, extract insights, and use those insights to improve the product or drive innovation. As shown above, the company can also use the data to showcase the brand’s USPs/offerings via a well-conceptualized end-to-end marketing campaign.
4. Gillette’s ‘Region-Specific’ Customer-Centric Strategy Boosted its Loyal User Base:
Traditionally speaking, Gillette has always relied on extensive market research to create a singular product meant for global audiences–not in India. The brand took a ‘road less taken’ approach for the Indian market by tailoringits marketing and advertising to better suit the Indian sensibilities and invent a new product development process in the process.
Despite boasting key features such as ‘PowerGlide’ smoothness, ergonomic handles, pivoting precision heads, Gillette’s product–at 10X the market price–was considered too ‘premium’ for the Indian men. Shaving, an everyday, activity did not justify such a high premium. Here’s what the brand did:
It did extensive research on what would cater to the Indian men’s shaving needs. The result was Gillette’s Mach3 value proposition that was based on three central concerns men had about shaving:
One, it was time-consuming.
Two, it caused skin irritation.
Three, it was generally unpleasant.
The Mach3 was positioned as the best brand for “the closest shave ever in fewer strokes and with less irritation.” The result? Its sales and market share grew by 38% and 35% eventually.
The Learning: Research and development, when done right, can augment product development and your marketing initiatives. Gillette reacted in a timely fashion and leveraged customer research to deliver the ‘promised performance.’ Remember that there are millions of ways to gather user feedback on various touchpoints related to the brand’s evolution. As long as the questions are simple, straightforward, and in sync with your business goals, you’re golden.
The Takeaway
Customers today want brands to proactively reach out and listen to their opinions, thoughts, and feedback. Furthermore, they want brands to integrate customer feedback into their products and services so that the customers feel valued, heard, and tangibly appreciated by the brand. This is where organizations need to ensure that their data-mining efforts are on-point and timely to gain real value from the survey initiative.
So, take a cue from the surveys demonstrated above and supercharge your brand’s marketing, sales, and customer care initiatives like never before. Make customer surveys the highlight of your customer experience, and you will exceed expectations in no time.