Analyze the user
The objective, beyond delving into the profile and behavior of the public, is very specific: analyze their experience as a user and, from there, develop the most appropriate marketing and product development strategies to increase their satisfaction. "Knowing how our clients perceive the treatment they are given, the quality and range of our products, the after-sales service and other variables in the commercial and marketing field, is a key issue", highlights Josep M. Altarriba, director of the Master in Marketing and Commercial Management from EAE Business School.
"These surveys are of indisputable importance" and are useful "for all businesses in which customer satisfaction conditions future sales, regardless of their activity or channel, both in industrial and consumer markets," says Altarriba.
According to this expert, the main motivation to carry out these studies should be the existence of "a marketing or sales problem that we have identified and can improve." Although they are also often used "in situations of change such as the beginning of a new project, product launches or the redesign of the web," says Sonia Rodríguez, innovation & UX research lead at Gowex Mobile-ideup. "If the study is done well, the results can be spectacular," explains Ylla:
Loyalty. “The company will be able to develop actions to increase satisfaction, improving the quality of the product and service, the shopping experience and the value offered. This will result in an increase in loyalty and positive recommendation ”.
Cost reduction. "If it is detected that the company is spending money on attributes that the customer does not value, it can be decided to eliminate the associated activities."
Scientific method
It is true that, on occasions, the objectives are not achieved due to errors in the design of the questionnaire, the sample and the analysis of the data. It happens "in surveys launched en masse, without controlling the number or profile of respondents: we cannot be sure that the results represent our users," says Rodríguez.
In order to obtain reliable results, external experts can be used, or else documented on the sampling and measurement methods, a task that the EAE professor encourages, since “the statistical analysis used by the online applications for creating the surveys is simple. and it can be found in any manual ”.
However, the Gowex-ideup expert recommends complementing these studies with “other online techniques that help us infer behavior patterns, especially in the case of an e-commerce, such as Google Analytics (number of visits, navigation flows, unique visitors, bounce percentages), MouseFlow and Clicktale (average time and percentages of scroll, mouse movements and click) ”.
In many cases, problems arise when drawing conclusions and taking appropriate action. Sometimes, "because companies do not know how to link the results of the studies with their processes," considers the Avantium manager, who recommends, in these circumstances, commissioning the research to experts who design an action plan. On other occasions, the fault is that "there is no real will to improve or change and the reports with the results remain in a drawer."
What should always be clear is that "if we do a survey it is because we have identified a problem and we have the desire and resources to improve it: not to simply know the opinion of our customers," recalls Altarriba. As Ylla explains, by asking for the collaboration of consumers in the survey, “an expectation of improvement is created. Therefore, the worst mistake is not to take any further action, as they will see that the time they have dedicated to answering has been wasted ”.
Which clients do we ask?
It is advisable to target clients with different experiences and behaviors.“Of the good guys, we will be able to know how they perceive us and why they think we do it well. Of the bad guys, in addition to how they see us, why they are unhappy and those things that we often overlook because we believe we are the best ”, advises Altarriba.
B2B business. In these cases, it is easier to carry out surveys because "there are customer lists and because their number is usually less," which means that the possibility of talking to everyone can be considered, explains Altarriba. Regarding the format, "it is possible to dispense with closed questionnaires and opt for a technique with open questions in which clients can explain themselves without limit."
ANDread the format. The way to contact the respondents and collect their responses will depend on factors such as their number and geographic location, the budget allocated to the survey and, above all, the data we have about customers.These are the most recommended formats:
- Face-to-face They have a higher response rate and do not require customer identification data. Its cost is higher.
- On line. Altarriba opts for this option “if we do not have the resources to pay for a face-to-face survey”. Ylla highlights the good cost-benefit ratio.
- Other Telephone companies are expensive and their response rate is low. The postcards "are longer in time," adds Altarriba
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