We hear it again and again in retail: “It’s all about the customer;” “The customer is king;” “Connect with your customer.”

Clearly, in order to do this, you must know quite a bit about this crucial target. In order to make someone happy, you need to know what they expect and value. While most shoppers have strong opinions, few go out of their way to share complaints or compliments. So, you must reach out to get their opinions by asking questions, then listening carefully to and acting upon their answers. Don’t make the terrible mistake of thinking you’ve spent years in our industry, understand your customers and don’t need customer insight.

Market Research and Customer Satisfaction Research are two sides of the same coin. MARKET RESEARCH is the study of groups of people you would like to sell your products/services to. It is usually conducted BEFORE opening up a business, adding a new product or service, changing store hours, etc. It is conducted in order to minimize risk and cost, discover hidden niche opportunities and meet true customers needs. It is not necessary to hire a professional, though such help would be invaluable. You can use SECONDARY RESEARCH that’s already been collected and provides broad knowledge about your question. (For example, you can find information about your competition in published studies available online or at your library.) And, use PRIMARY RESEARCH gathered first-hand by talking to people in the marketplace such as current customers, potential customers, employees, vendors, family members.

CUSTOMER SATISFACTION RESEARCH looks at actual customers and attempts to quantify how well you’re doing with them. It should be conducted after every single sale and as soon as possible after the sale. You must survey ALL customers; not pick and choose among them. You’re only going to hear back from a sampling of those to whom you reach out, so the only shot at getting a representative sample is to make sure that EVERYONE is given an opportunity to provide feedback. Its purpose is to fix mistakes before they fester, improve service, develop loyal customers, encourage positive Word-of-Mouth advertising, and target specific staff skills needing improvement.

Both types of research use many of the same methods. Techniques for both include utilizing online surveys, phone interviews, focus groups, mailed survey forms and Mystery Shoppers. The good news is that there are now more options than ever for doing either type. You can be as formal or as informal as you wish or can afford. What hasn’t changed is the need to recognize the benefits of doing so and buckle down and do it.

ADVICE ON CREATING SURVEY QUESTIONS

Whether your survey is conducted on-line, on the phone, or in person, it needs to be designed carefully.

1. Short is best, keep it to one page.
2. Work out how you’ll record and track the information you gather. If on the phone, will you take notes? If so, you’ll need a form to use as you conduct the survey orally. If conducting a focus group, be prepared to tape record or video it in addition to taking notes.
3. Ask direct, unambiguous questions, one at a time.
4. Use either a three, five or nine point scale consistently throughout and always keep respondents moving in the same direction, i.e. don’t do one going positive to negative, left to right and another, negative to positive, left to right. It’s not necessary to anchor or define all points on the scale. You can just indicate that 5 is excellent, 1 is poor, and ask them to pick either those numbers or any in between.
5. Provide an opportunity for writing in detailed answers. Not everyone will take advantage, but those who do sometimes provide the most valuable feedback of all.
6. If using multiple choice for demographic information, include a “Prefer Not to Answer” option.
7. If using multiple choice for demographic information, be sure to give mutually exclusive choices. For example, don’t use these options when asking for age: 0 – 10, 10 – 20, 20 – 30, etc.
8. Include a brief introduction requesting feedback and a sign-off thanking respondents for their input.

Sample Optical Questions

1. How satisfied overall are you with your recent purchase or experience at ___________?
Completely Dissatisfied	Somewhat Dissatisfied	Neutral	Somewhat Satisfied	Completely Satisfied
1	2	3	4	5
2. High likely are you to recommend _________________ to your Family and Friends?
Completely Dissatisfied	Somewhat Dissatisfied	Neutral	Somewhat Satisfied	Completely Satisfied
1	2	3	4	5
3. How likely are you to return of purchase again?
Completely Dissatisfied	Somewhat Dissatisfied	Neutral	Somewhat Satisfied	Completely Satisfied
1	2	3	4	5
4. How satisfied were you with the variety and quality of our frame and lens selection?
Completely Dissatisfied	Somewhat Dissatisfied	Neutral	Somewhat Satisfied	Completely Satisfied
1	2	3	4	5
5. How satisfied were you with the product knowledge of the staffer/s who assisted you?
Completely Dissatisfied	Somewhat Dissatisfied	Neutral	Somewhat Satisfied	Completely Satisfied
1	2	3	4	5
6. How satisfied are you with the price paid for your service or purchase?
Completely Dissatisfied	Somewhat Dissatisfied	Neutral	Somewhat Satisfied	Completely Satisfied
1	2	3	4	5

Sample Open Ended Questions

1. What did you like best about your shopping experience with us? Why?
2. How could we improve our shopping experience?
3. Is there a staffer you’d like to commend? Name_______________ WHY?

Acting on What You’ve Learned

While customer satisfaction surveys seem to be plentiful, actual changes based on those surveys seem to be in short supply. Make this process worthwhile by ACTING ON WHAT YOU’VE LEARNED.

Set goals to reach for and regularly review scores in staff meetings. Create contests in which progress is rewarded as well in a positive and public way to recognize and thank staffers mentioned positively in customer responses. While one bad response is not worth getting worked up about, multiples demand your attention. Remember that a dissatisfied customer is likely to be more vocal in sharing his/her negative experience than a satisfied customer. And, in our age of social media with the ability to instantly share feedback and opinions with anyone who’s listening, it’s REALLY important that you find out who’s dissatisfied and listen actively to their complaints.