We’ve all been there as a customer – had a digital survey emailed through to us after a brand interaction. Those “how did we do today?” survey messages that we’ve just mindlessly ignored and let sink down through our inbox. From a business perspective, customer survey postcards are a great way to bypass the effort being wasted.
There’s much to consider when it comes to understanding customer sentiment and getting direct feedback for the service and experiences you provide. Sometimes, an email sent to your customers just won’t do. As an alternative, surveys are useful for gaining a thorough understanding. For the first time in a long while, digital formats may not be the answer here.
What are customer survey postcards?
These forms of retrieving customer feedback are conducted physically. They especially come in handy in brick-and-mortar stores, where there’s no chance of the survey getting lost in a ‘junk’ folder. Customer survey postcards are best described as an offline satisfaction measurement tool.
The primary goal of customer survey postcards is to capture perspectives based on a customer’s experience. These can either be sent out to customer homes or handed out after the experience. You can also find these survey and comment cards in places easily accessed by customers naturally. This can include at reception desks, waiting rooms, and on dining tables.
In a digital world, customer survey postcards still count on physical customer experiences where they can encounter consumers face-to-face. A similar example and form of these are comment cards, which are open-ended surveys. These typically aim to capture customer perspective in the moment – when it is still fresh in customers’ minds.
In both instances, you can typically see these forms of survey cards ask these formats of questions:
- ‘How likely are you to return to this store?’
- ‘How satisfied were you with your experience in-store today?’
- ‘How likely are you to recommend the experience to a peer?’
Answers for these are typically seen on a rating scale, making it quicker and easier for customers to answer. Examples include:
- ‘Rate along this scale:
- Not very
- Somewhat
- Definitely’
- ‘On a scale of 1-10 how likely are you to …’
Or sometimes, you may even see a simple ‘Yes or No?’ question rating system.
Some forms of comment cards and survey postcards may also find it useful to include an optional ‘additional comments’ section. There are many ways consumers can answer, and help to direct your business growth.
Key considerations with customer survey postcards
As mentioned previously, one of the great benefits of these forms of gaining customer sentiment is the ease. A key factor is usually in the brief, simple-to-answer questions. Then, easy-to-provide answers, especially when selected on a pre-designed rating scale, can be given quickly. You’re already given your customer options to choose from, rather than expecting them to write in-depth feedback and perspectives.
When customer survey postcards are used in-store, there’s also the added benefit of anonymity. Customers are often keen to provide insight into how they feel, but can be worried of backlash or follow-up. With anonymous customer survey postcards, however, they will feel more free to comment on what they’re feeling. With this, you will gain raw, authentic feedback. Everyone wins!
To make sure you’re acting on the feedback provided through customer survey postcards, it’s ideal to check these on a regular basis. If you have a clear box or area where survey cards are submitted, make sure you have someone on hand to go through and retrieve them regularly. Not only will this decrease the chance of a pile-up and influx of cards, but you will be able to act on any feedback quickly.
Why do we still need customer survey postcards?
This might be a question that you’re asking yourself as you’re considering everything in this piece. We’re in such a digitally-advanced world and have many other methods to gaining customer perspectives. Almost everything is online now, so why implement this physical element to understand voice of the customer (VoC) in such a different way?
Helping the customers with a quieter, non-digital voice
Well, the fact that everything else does function online and in a digital way may be the reason why. Not everyone is aligned with technology and the latest digital methods. The more advanced digital tools that come out, the more you may see issues of accessibility pop up.
A common example is your elderly customers who may not own any digital devices. They could be eager to let you know how you’re doing and provide comments, either good or bad. The problem is – they don’t own a device to submit feedback through emails, and don’t feel comfortable speaking up to someone physically.
Not only do customer survey postcards serve the ability to give all of your customers a voice, but they can do comfortably. They will be able to speak up where they couldn’t before, and feel safe while doing so. Through this, you’re also able to hear another customer voice that would have previously been silenced by digital platforms.
Bringing back the physical customer experience
In recent years, there’s been a new focus on perfecting digital customer experiences. This shift was accommodated by the face-to-face restriction that the pandemic brought along to society. As a result, physical customer experience has sat on the back benches for a while now.
By re-shifting focuses onto physical CX with customer survey postcards, you will be able to strengthen this aspect of your customers’ experiences once again. With these forms of feedback comment cards that are filled in directly after an in-store experience, those physical interactions need to count. They will still be at the forefront of customers’ minds – either for good or bad reasons.
With this in mind, your employees will be more focused on ensuring great in-person customer experiences. Your physical experiences will be made even more special with the thought of customer survey postcards in the back of their minds.
Understanding customer sentiment and what they truly feel about the experiences your organisation can provide are integral for business growth. Hand out your customer survey postcards, start setting them up in-store or at your reception desk. Either way, the feedback you gain will be invaluable.