Applications

• Customer satisfaction surveys: You need to understand how happy your customers are with your offer. Don't assume that just because you don't get complaints that they're completely satisfied – you need to check how much they're spending with your competitors and why, whether your competitiors are doing something better and what else they'd like to buy from you;
• Customer journeys: Make sure you understand what it is that has brought your customer to you – their needs, their buying process, where they go for information, who is making the decisions;
• Pricing: Make sure you're not charging too much – or too little. You need to know the most you can charge without being too expensive and the least you should charge before losing credibility;
• Marketing effectiveness: You need to know how customers are finding you – where they go for information at each stage of their buying cycle and what information they're looking for. Make sure your messages are getting through to the right people at the right time and that your spending your precious marketing budget wisely;
• Website survey: Find out what people think of your website – what they think is missing, the information they're looking for , the ease with which they can navigate it, their prupose in coming to your website and whether they achieve it;
• Ex-customer research: Finding out where you ex-customers have gone and why they've stopped buying is an exercise that will often pay for itself immediately. You may be doing something wrong that can be easily fixed, or you may find out that your competitors have a new initiative you can combat;
• Failed quote survey: It's easy to find out why you didn't make the sale. Adjusting elements of your offer is often easy and quick and can result in major changes to your success rate in winning new business;
• Brand awareness: Understanding how well people know your brand and what they think of it will help you fine-tune your marketing messages and target the most important segments. If youre' planning new campaigns, then pre- and post- campaign research will tell you what you got right and wrong;
• Packaging design: Before committing, check your package is attractive to your target market. Make sure it will stand out and convey the right message about your product and your company;
• Advertising testing: Make sure your message is interesting to your target market and clearly understood. Understanding this will help to prevent wasting your precious marketing budget;
• Staff surveys: anonymous surveys among your people will reveal what's really concerning them, how loyal they're feeling, how long they ;plan to stay with you, and what's bothering them – and it's a much better way of offering a 'Suggestion box'.