Who Knew? It Pays to Ask

Have you ever thought of conducting a survey for your company?

Do you think surveys and market research are a waste of time?

Is the whole idea of research just too confusing and too costly?

Well, I have good news for you.

Research from Houston's Rice University, cited in a Harvard Business Review article, tells us that simply ASKING customers their opinions can increase their profitability over the long run. Customers who had been surveyed were:

• Three times more likely to buy more,
• Were half as likely to defect, and
• Were more profitable than those who hadn't been surveyed.

Even as much as a year later, those customers who had been surveyed - whether satisfied or dissatisfied - were still buying more and defecting at a lower rate.

We know that learning what our customers think about our products is a good thing. If we want our businesses to succeed, we need to make sure that customers are satisfied with what we have to offer and that we offer products that provide value.

But who knew research could serve another purpose, as well?

Why Does This Work?

In order to understand how and why this happens we need to turn to consumer psychology theories for some possible answers. Here are three potential reasons:

1. Surveys appeal to a customer's desire to be coddled - reinforcing positive feelings they may already have about the company,
2. Surveys increase awareness of the company's products - thereby encouraging future purchases since that company is now top-of-mind,
3. Surveys cause folks to form a judgement about the company - and that alone encourages behavior that confirms its validity (walking the talk - in layman terms!).

Are you composing your survey questions, yet?

Use This Knowledge Wisely

A word of caution to anyone considering using a survey as a pure marketing tool!

The research is still not conclusive in all of its findings. For example, although initial data suggests the opposite, surveying dissatisfied customers might conjure up and strengthen negative opinions - reducing purchases and decreasing profitability.

AND…selling under the guise of conducting a survey (called "sugging") is not only ethically unprofessional, it is also ILLEGAL.

The Bottom Line

If you have legitimate reasons to conduct market research for your company, do so with a happy heart. Not only are you getting your money's worth of valuable information that will empower you to make smarter business decisions in the future, you will also be creating and strengthening relationships with customers.

Who knew? It's a WIN-WIN!

Need help with market research and building surveys? Give me a call, let's chat!

Remember, Mosaic creates customers for business-to-business companies through specific project work, on-going retainer assignments or marketing coaching sessions.

Until next time...

Rosemary Walter
847-483-5018
Rose1Walter@MosaicMM.com

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© 2005 Rosemary Walter, all rights reserved. You are free to use material from Mosaic's Monthly Marketing Tips in whole or in part, as long as you include complete attribution, including a live website link. Please also notify me where the material will appear. The attribution should read:

"By Rosemary Walter of Mosaic Marketing Management, Inc. Please visit Rosemary's web site at http://www.MosaicMM.com for additional marketing articles and resources on marketing for business to business companies."