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Data driven: online surveys give companies access to instant information

Pool & Spa News, May 8, 2006 by Becky Mollenkamp

Honest customer feedback may not always be pleasant to hear, but it is one of the most important tools at a business' disposal. Finding out what is going well and, more importantly, what needs improvement, is the best way to strengthen service and boost the bottom line. These days, more pool and spa professionals are turning to online options as a high-tech means to get customers to share their comments.

Online surveys and polls are effective and affordable market research devices. With just a few clicks of the mouse, a customer rates his or her purchase or experience, and firms get an instant picture of their performance.

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"We're excited about it," says Don Gwiz, vice president of Lewis Aquatech Pool & Supply in Chantilly, Va. "These online surveys do all the dirty work for you, and the cost is so nominal that it's almost foolish if someone doesn't use it."

Smart strategy

There are myriad uses for online surveys in the pool and spa industry. They can be used to collect trend data, establish brand awareness, or by human resources departments to conduct exit interviews or gauge employee satisfaction. The most popular reason to conduct a survey, however, is to measure customer satisfaction.

"Ultimately, satisfaction is the best predictor of success," says Larry Freed, president/CEO of ForeSee Results, a market research company based in Ann Arbor, Mich. "If I have satisfied buyers, they are going to be advocates for me and return customers. If I don't meet their needs, they won't come back, and they'll tell others about me."

Sending a generic survey to all customers each quarter or yearly is a good way to rate overall satisfaction with your products and service. Many companies go even further, however, by conducting surveys after each customer transaction or interaction. That means each time customers make a purchase or have a service call, they receive an e-mail directing them to an online survey inquiring about the experience.

"It's a great way of communicating and getting answers," says James Atlas, president of Platinum Aquatech Pools in Wheeling, Ill. He recently filled out an online survey and now plans to use them for his firm. "I now know from the consumer's side that this is the most efficient way of getting answers," he says.

New marketing tool

The best surveys usually are those created in conjunction with a marketing expert. But new technology allows any business to create its own online survey. Several Web-based marketing companies, such as SurveyMonkey and QuestionPro, offer simple survey templates that can be easily manipulated and sent to any customer list.

Atlas plans to use a similar service, Zoomerang, when he surveys his customers about product and service satisfaction. He's used the site once previously to send a questionnaire to members of an advisory council and says the process was easy enough for any novice to comprehend.

"You can set it up with any questions and in any format," he says, "When the survey is ready, you put in e-mail addresses and hit one button to send it to everyone."

These online services are becoming more popular because of their low cost and ease of use. The most basic surveys tend to be free or, for a small one-time or annual fee, the service provider will share a database of names and detailed statistical analysis.

The right stuff

An inexpensive, do-it-yourself marketing tool that provides valuable insight into customer preferences may sound too good to be true. While there is a slight learning curve, with a little education most anyone can create a survey that will yield business-boosting results. Before sending your first online survey, consider these 10 tips:

1 Set a goal.

A survey is most effective when it is designed for a specific purpose. Whether you want to learn about customer preferences on a specific product or find out how your service stacks up, be clear about your objective before starting.

"Keep the survey focused on one topic," says Dana Meade, general manager and vice president of Zoomerang by MarketTools Inc. based in Mill Valley, Calif. "Try not to stray off into other areas." Attempting to cover too much ground in one survey will overwhelm respondents, and you won't garner enough useful information to make it worthwhile.

2 Target your audience.

Sending a survey about spa satisfaction to your entire database may annoy customers who don't own spas and likely will result in inaccurate statistics. Marketing experts say it's wiser to poll fewer people more frequently. Survey 100 customers per month, rotating the list so that no one is surveyed more than once a quarter, for example.

"When it comes to online surveys, you have to be judicious. Choose a smaller cross section every time so you don't burn your customers out," says Steve Yastrow, president of Yastrow Marketing in Deerfield, Ill., and author of Brand Harmony: Achieving Dramatic Results by Orchestrating Your Customer's Total Experience (SelectBooks Inc., 2003).

Data driven: online surveys give companies access to instant information

Pool & Spa News, May 8, 2006 by Becky Mollenkamp

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