Increasing the bottom line takes guts

Increasing the bottom line takes guts with no glory.

Businesses want to increase sales and retain market share in order to be successful. Surveys, evaluation forms, Email feedback and focus groups are ways to gauge consumer opinions to confirm your organization is on target. Receiving constructive feedback takes guts and sometimes difficult for others to critique your organization.  There is no glory in having guests critique your organization.  But, if done correctly, the business will receive qualitative data to make significant impro. As a veteran public relations and marketing professional here are my tips:

1.      Craft questions for constructive feedback-You want information about what they think about your product and how they obtain knowledge of the company. Survey questions should change based on the target audience and the survey tool being used. The right questions can provoke further analysis on consumer buying-habits or media-habits. The analysis will provide a general snapshot of the marketplace. Caution: Do not focus unfavorable comments. 

2.      Provide background information-Surveying your customers is a great way to remind them about your business’s mission and core values. Often times, customers will learn about current products or services when taking the survey. Give them the bullet points.

3.      Be open to their ideas and perspective- Be willing to accept the good, bad or the ugly.  Listen with an open mind and note all ideas.  As owners, you spend countless hours brainstorming realistic solutions to enhance products or services. You know the best business practices and cash output. Only YOU know what will work for your business. However, it starts with one new idea to change perspective.

I highly recommend offering frequent surveys to improve business practice. After all, it is your customers that can make or break the bottom line. What do your customers say about your business?

Jennifer R. Bushong, M.A. www.jenniferbushong.com