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5 Strategies for Getting Market Feedback (While Effectively Marketing Yourself) By Tatiana Velitchkov © 2002 Running a successful business doesn't simply involve selling or providing a great product or service. It also means knowing exactly how your clients feel about your current offerings, so you can change the way you do things and better serve their needs. The beauty of the Internet is that it makes this necessary feedback mechanism more speedy & convenient for both the business owner and the surfer -- especially when conducted over a dynamic business website. So why are many companies still in the dark about what their customers REALLY want, and end up saying goodbye before they can even ask why? If you're the kind of business owner who wants his current clients to stay, then consider these 5 strategies for getting their valuable insights & feedback... while endearing yourself to them as someone who actually listens and cares: 1) Polls / Surveys Most people want their opinions to count. That's why most surfers are inclined to cast their votes whenever a website politely asks them to. You can use this to your advantage by using polls & surveys to know your potential clients' preferences, particularly when it comes to your products & services. When conducting any kind of poll online, just remember 3 things: 1. Make it QUICK. Keep in mind that your surfer has other things to do (like fill out your order form), so limit most polls to just one question each. 2. Make it CONVENIENT. Create drop down menus or radio buttons for your surfer to click on, so they won't have to waste time typing in the whole answer. 3. Make it WORTHWHILE. If you want the most number of feedback in the shortest possible time, offer a prize for specific "lucky voters," within the range of respondents that you expect for your survey. If you have 1,000 prospective voters, for example, you can award voter number 500 with your premium service package at half the price, and grant voter number 1,000 the entire package for free! Just make sure you have all the contest rules clearly stated before you ask for their votes... or they might vote against you & your business forever. 2) Message Boards Message boards hold their own appeal for surfers truly interested in the topics your website usually covers. When moderated properly & promoted regularly, they can become "virtual hangouts" where people: - share their knowledge & opinions - offer advice / ask for help - or simply meet other people with the same interests. Although some clients with tight surfing schedules find that "having to go online and visit a specific URL" is rather taxing, you can make the idea more attractive by: - stimulating dynamic discussions in your board by raising current & compelling issues - regularly telling your casual surfers about the hottest ongoing debates & topics in the forum - and directly asking people to offer their own insights, while providing an easy-to-click link or URL. 3) Mailing List The mailing list is very similar to the message board, in that it encourages discussions among your clients & would-be clients. The only difference is that everything here is done through email, and members aren't required to go online to interact. Just like the message board, however, there are 3 secrets to effectively using mailing lists to gain useful feedback: 1. Keep all discussions FOCUSED on the same general topic -- preferably the field/industry you're doing business in. Often, your own members' posts will be enough to keep you updated about the major issues that affect your business, saving you time and money on reading and research. 2. Allow members to mention your COMPETITION'S products & services; let them even make personal comparisons. These posts will give you valuable insights for improving YOUR OWN products & services... and how you can convince even your competition's clients to change their minds and trust YOU. 3. Finally, remain VISIBLE in your own message board or discussion list. Give helpful comments, offer positive feedback, and praise every real effort made by members to share what they know. This is your chance to establish a real, ongoing relationship with the people who frequent your website... and turn most of them into friends, or clients or (if you're lucky) both. 4) Chat Event If you're just starting your own business, however, you probably won't have the time to manage a message board or mailing list just yet. What you CAN do is promote & hold a regular chat event on your site each month, inviting both regular and potential clients alike. To make each chat event worthwhile, remember to: - Focus on a specific topic, preferably something your surfers will be very interested in. - Set a definite schedule and time limit. Be aware of the time differences among your surfers, and try to set a schedule that is convenient for everyone. - Promote the event well in advance. Tell as many people about it as you can (just make sure your servers can handle them). And finally - - Give everyone clear & concise directions on how they can participate. Minimize their chances for getting errors or getting lost during the event, so they can focus on what they want to say -- which is exactly the kind of feedback you need. 5) Feedback Forms Of course, the feedback collection process won't be complete without the familiar online form. Although these forms are common, not all of them work as well most business owners need them to. To set up the kind of form that's easy to send & easy to reply to, observe the following DOs & DON'Ts: - DON'T just invite them to send all queries & requests to the same email address. - DO create a drop-down menu for the "Recipient" field listing the different departments in your company, so each email will be instantly routed to the right person or mailbox. - DON'T just use a generic form mailer for your "contact us" page. - DO use a drop-down menu for the "Subject" field, listing the most common reasons people have for wanting to email you. Aside from helping your client/surfer focus his reason for contacting you, it also helps you categorize each request quickly so you can deal with each batch of email more promptly. The truth is, feedback is important not only in business, but also in our dreams, and our everyday lives. Some feedback will be good, and some of it will be bad. Some will encourage us, some might crush us, and some might even have the chance to totally disillusion us. But the important thing to look forward to is that feedback will always CHANGE us... and WE decide if we're going to be better because of it. © Tatiana Velitchkov About the Author: Tatiana is the publisher of: http://www.TheFortunesEzine.com, the FortunesEzineWeekly at http://www.TakeYourFortune.com, and owner of the traffic-solution slam advertising sites http://www.Guaranteed-Hits.com and http://www.Guaranteed-Hits.net |