How to Collect Feedback During COVID-19

The year 2020 has been challenging from the very start and continues to test our resilience and patience. While COVID-19 has altered our lives in so many ways, there are numerous other consequences that are yet to play out. 

During the lockdown, while we were unable to acquire new buyers, we truly understood the importance of our loyal customers who were willing to buy and also recommend us to others. It’s a common observation that in times of need, people do not experiment trying out new companies. They rely on their friends and relatives’ personal experiences when considering to do business with someone. 

That being said, we know how important it is to win customers over and have them on board to share their experiences with us first. If they’ve had an unpleasant experience, we correct it and make up for it before they turn to the public and share their sub-standard experiences with the wider public. 

On the other hand, collecting customer feedback reminds customers that we genuinely care for their experience and are determined to provide them with the best. It also shows them that we’re aspiring to improve continuously. This improves the brand image and builds up a foundation for customer loyalty. 

P.s here’s how customer feedback can become actually be an effective marketing channel for your business…

Feedback during COVID-19

Feedback during times like these is even more important since companies have adopted many different strategies in their operations and customer service. It’s good to know whether these changes are working well for your clientele or further sending them away.

Apart from having their opinions, you can get their suggestions as well that will help you shape your future policies and strategies. It will strengthen your relationship with customers and make them believe that their voices are being heard and acted upon. 

Since the old-school way of filling out printable forms is now obsolete, companies have shifted to digital survey forms that are comfortable for customers to fill, less time-consuming and easy to analyse.

Here’s how to collect feedback during COVID-19

Ask focused and relevant questions

This one’s no secret that when wanting to know about user preference, you wouldn’t be interested in knowing their place of birth. Be focused. Be relevant. Ask questions that you truly require in order to enhance the customer experience.  

Asking irrelevant questions will only de-track participants and increase their chances of abandoning the survey altogether. 

Maintain a logical order

Ask all personal information in one go, then move on to service/product related questions and then finally ask if the respondents would like to add something in the end in open text space. Swaying from one question type to another is a big NO. 

Include a mix of question types

We all know how boring it is to keep rating questions on a scale of 1-5 for a whole five minutes. It’s mentally draining and exhausting. Consider providing a mix of question types where respondents can answer in a rating format, MCQs, short answer types or even radio buttons. 

Having a balanced mix of questions breaks the monotony and gives freshness to the mind when moving on to the next questions. 

Test your survey

Just like proofreading is essential before that final thesis submission, testing your survey is as important before sending it out to the public. 

Make sure a couple of colleagues fill out the survey form so that they can report a possible bug, typo, loophole or technical difficulty while filling out the form. Make the corrections based on the peer review and then send the final version to the customers. 

Keep it result-focused

Since many things are new with your company as well as on the consumer end, your feedback needs to include all the necessary details needed to fulfil customer needs and expectations. Only ask questions that you really need in order to improve. The feedback should be result-focused. 

Communicate the results

Many of your employees will be working remotely and they need to be taken in the loop so that a collaborative effort be made to improve the overall working. Hence, it’s even more important to communicate the results across all team members.

Don’t forget the detractors

Till now, we have established how important it is to take promoters into the feedback loop. (Don’t know who the promoters are? Take a look here to know!) They not only give sincere advice but also help companies cut on switching and new acquisition costs. 

In the times like these when companies can’t really take out budgets for fancy marketing campaigns, it is important to engage the detractors and know the reason for their bad experience. Getting your detractors to speak will give you an opportunity to apologise to them and find the exact cause of their abandonment. 

Once you identify the pain points, resolving them would help convert your detractors into promoters and also ensure that the same doesn’t happen with other customers.  

Keep it short and sweet

The COVID situation is already very overwhelming for all of us. Make sure your survey doesn’t feel like a burden when sent across. Make it light, entertaining, short and sweet to fill in. Don’t make all questions compulsory to answer. Those red stars in the corner only add more stress. Be flexible with survey format and give people the space they deserve. 

Be Omni-Channel

Make your survey form available across as many media as you can. Send out emails, SMS, Whatsapp, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Linkedin…

The channels are as many as you can create. Make sure not to spam your users or else they’ll just turn around their faces. Your aim should be to assure the survey form reaches to all your existing and potential customers without frustrating them. 

How we can help you!

The situation is stressful but we’ve got your back in these difficult times. GroHawk can share your burden by conducting automated surveys from your clients and give you results ready-to-see and act-upon. 

Schedule a free demo or talk to our experts for a free consultation today!