Survey your customers

One of the easiest ways to conduct market research is one that many companies choose to ignore – the old-fashioned customer survey.

But a simple and cheap web survey is a great way to quickly take the temperature of your clients, find out what they like and don’t like about your business and make some solid improvements.

If you are looking to keep costs down, a great place to start is a free online survey tool such as Web Monkey. Get an account, take a look at how it all works and you are away.

A good tip is to keep your survey short and focus on one area, such as customer support, your website or your logistics. Ask a few basic questions that give customers the chance to rate you and provide more detailed comments (particularly on problems or issues they may have noticed).

Another great tip is to offer some sort of incentive – a discount, a freebie or a prize all work well.

Finally, once you’ve analysed the info, send out an email sharing some of the results and the actions you plan to take. That way, the customers will know their opinion really matters.

It’s cheap, easy and potentially extremely valuable.

So get it done – today!