Best practices for customer surveys - Step 3: Get buy-in from mangers

When a company contacts us about conducting a customer survey, it is often because one visionary person or a small group of people understands the importance of gathering customer feedback. The critical task then becomes convincing senior management of the need for a customer survey process.

Without this buy-in from senior management, the chances that the survey will produce meaningful change in the organization are greatly reduced. The challenge can seem formidable, but by following a simple 3-step process, you can enlist the support you will need from the management team. Here’s how.

Step 1: Present the need

Every company struggles with how to allocate resources to maintain satisfied and profitable customers. In the absence of information about how customers view the company, important business decisions are often based on little more than anecdotal evidence or historical impressions. As a result, companies often either ignore significant problems or waste valuable resources trying to solve problems that don’t exist. A well-planned, well-executed customer survey process can ensure the optimal allocation of limited resources.

Step 2: Present the benefits

Are your customers satisfied? Are they more satisfied today than they were last quarter or last year? In today’s market where competition for customers is fierce, the answers to these questions may make the difference for your brand. That’s why customer satisfaction research is so important. In a competitive marketplace, customer satisfaction is a key differentiator and significant component of a successful business strategy. The most effective means of achieving these benefits are a well-planned, well-executed customer survey process.

Step 3: Present the objectives

Setting proper expectations is a key component of a successful customer survey process. To this end, it is imperative that the top decision-makers understand and agree to the specific objectives of the research. Now is the time to share the list of objectives you developed in Step 1: Determine Objectives.

Getting buy-in from managers is a critical step in developing an effective customer survey process. To avoid problems and surprises, make sure every key decision-maker agrees with the need, benefits, and objectives of the research.