How Survey Tools Build Customer Connections

Vistors Crave Interaction
Survey tools are simple to use, inexpensive and deliver excellent results in several areas. One of the chief areas of focus for survey tools are in building customer connections. The website itself has transformed from being a basic bulletin board of static information, to being a much more highly interactive site that closely serves the rapidly-changing needs of customers. Corporate websites have become highly personalized, often tailoring landing pages and portals so that the interface and information presented will vary depending on the individual visitor. Today, customers want more than information—they want to interact with a website.

What happens in a basic informational website? Customers glean whatever information they can, and then move on. There is no active incentive for them to stay on the site or return to it later. Furthermore, there is no way for the customer to interact with the basic static site to let the webmasters know what they need that’s not being delivered, or how satisfied or dissatisfied they may be with the information, the website, or the company’s product itself.

Survey tools help to promote this heightened level of interactivity, and help build more solid customer connections. An online survey is a simple way to engage visitors in a dialog. The customer, presented with a brief survey about their experiences, their wants, and their needs, is no longer a casual visitor and onlooker. They are now a participant.

There are multiple results from using survey tools to build customer connections. First, the online survey engages the visitor immediately with a participatory experience. Beyond that though, it encourages a return visit, as customers check back later to view the results of the survey. The information gathered in the survey can be quite valuable in determining customer needs and potential problems, but even beyond the information itself, the survey is valuable just as a tool for generating customer interest. The questions themselves are in a sense secondary. Just the fact that the survey is there, and customers are interacting with it, is generating more traffic, encouraging people to stay on the site longer, creating an environment where customers feel like they are a greater part of the company, and creating an environment where customers feel as though the company cares about their feedback.

Building connections can be enhanced as well by incorporating the survey tools with a mailing list. While most online surveys are web-based, it would also be possible to send an email to all clients or potential clients on an email list, directing them to a URL to generate more traffic. Alternately, the online survey tool could also be used to capture email addresses for future marketing initiatives.