Many customers complained about the taste of the bean cakes of a particular seller in my neighborhood. I’ve also experienced her customer relationship. 

This woman isn’t doing anything significant until another seller started the same business a stone throw from her. 

In less than two weeks, she lost almost all her customers and learned her lesson the hard way.

Some business owners think that their large sales translate to a good customer experience. They fail to realize that the fact that they’re making money could be because the buyers have no options just yet. Once they do, they will immediately port to another service.

As a business owner, you must know what your customers are thinking about your product and/or service. 

In this article, you will learn how to identify what your customers are thinking so that you can use it to your business’s advantage.

1. Use Online Survey And Questionnaire

Your questionnaire shouldn’t be as long as school exam questions that should last an hour. Those who will give you insightful and critical feedback are mostly busy. 

So, a good survey should not take more than 5 minutes. Also, avoid surveys that will make your customers write too many notes. Instead, make them be in the form of options so they don’t have to spend their whole day filling out a questionnaire.

Make the questions in your questionnaire as succinct as possible, and the questions should revolve around the outcome you hope to achieve. Graham Van Der Linde in the Eclipse said:

“If they’re too vague you’ll not get the kinds of information out of them you need.”

2. Meet Your Customers In Person

Invite your customers over lunch to discuss what they feel about your product or service. This discussion could be likened to a physical survey. This is possible via phone calls.

For instance, if your company produces sobo drinks, you shouldn’t expect your local customers to understand how to go through online forms. So, meeting them physical could be an awesome idea.

So many wholesalers and retailers are not educated so, you’d have to help them fill in the survey. They receive complaints from the final consumers. They know what they feel and what they want. 

3. Social Information Gathering

Social media apps like Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn are good tools to use when conducting polls. Conduct polls and see what they are saying about your products on social media. It is here that most online users freely express their feelings.

Irate customers are always on Twitter to pour out their dissatisfaction. Be proactive and conduct polls to gather their feelings in one bucket.

4. Use Your Front-Line Staff

One of the cheapest ways to know what your customers are thinking is to use your front-line staff. They are always in contact with your customers.

They should build a good relationship with the customers and must be trained to ask the right questions and feedback should get to the management. 

Front-line staff should not assume that they are providing the best service. They should ask if the customer is satisfied with the service.

But then again, the welfare of your front-line staff should be given attention so they can be dedicated to doing their job.

5. Be The Customer

It can be funny how a business owner would go to patronize another business owner doing his or her kind of business. 

Imagine owning an eatery but decide to eat somewhere else. You walk into the place as an ordinary customer, order your food and eat. There must be something to learn from the point of entry into the restaurant to the point of closing the exit door behind you.

How were you treated? 

How was the food served?

Did you like the taste of the food?

Did the sitting arrangement?

These are some questions that will give you a first-hand experience of what your customers are thinking about your own business. Another way is to ask a stranger to act as a customer.

Eric Garner in the Business Know-How suggested that you can even act as one of a special group of customers – such as a person in a wheelchair.

Now that you can turn your business around for better using these tips, reach out to CashDrive team to discuss how to fund your business.