Thinking about the benefits of conducting user and customer surveys?

1. 39 Wrentham Drive Medford, NJ 08055  609-636-9893  HarryHecht@gmail.com  www.linkedin/in/harryhecht
The Leader. The Expert. The Source.
5 Reasons Why Surveys Should Be On Your
To-Do List
Feedback goes a long way toward helping your business growand improve. If you think your organization is serving
your clients well, and want to be sure of that fact, there is no need to guess. But before you put togethera focus group,
post a few questions on social media or create one of those cutesy ‘tell us what you think’ cards – stop! The
information you need is literally a phone call away.
If you really want to improve all areas of your business – from marketing to operations – put a systemin place to get
continuous feedback(aka research). Everyone in your organization should be involved in insuring total customer
satisfaction,not just your service department. Surveys are a great tool for business growth because they help you:
 Stay in contact with yourcustomers. A phone call asking for feedback demonstrates you care and value your
customers. You get information, they feel appreciated. It’s a win-win.
 Avoid the “see you in 3 years” syndrome that many office equipment dealers fall into. Having a new rep
make contact prior to lease renewal is not the best definition of “staying close to you customer”
 Test a new product or service. Thinking about adding Managed Print or IT services to yourarsenal? Survey
your clients and see if there is a void or need for these services and if they would be interested in a program
offering from yourorganization. Don’t make an investment in a new service or product just because your
friends are doing it or you heard about it at a seminar or convention.Test, survey,and test again before
spending valuable time and resources that could take you away from a betterROI in your business.
 Learn from yourmistakes. No matter how good you think you are, mistakes will happen.Most customers
won’t bother to tell you – unless you ask. Your concern should be in they do not voice their concerns. We
can only learn and fix mistakes we know about!
 Identify possible problems. Many big problems, the kind that cost you customers and profits, start off as
smaller issues that were unidentified or ignored along the way. It could be response time, rude customer
service … Flagging problems early saves you time, money and your valuable reputation.
 Get testimonials, letters, online reviews and referrals. This is easy and most dealers do not do it enough.The
best time to ask for these is when customers are singing your praises and have just contracted with you. You
may even uncoversome gems you didn’t expect to find. Sometimes these are little things we take for granted
– but customers don’t and they notice.
 Quantify your quality. If you build scoring within your surveys,you now have the ability to track
improvements and support claims – in your marketing and sales. Others may claim great service, on-time
delivery or quality – you can back yours up with metrics that matter. Think out of the box on this one!
While written and electronic surveys are better than doing nothing at all, oral or phone surveys work best for three
reasons. First, since they are conversational,people tend to open up and reveal more information. Second, they leave
less to interpretation and guess work. If you are not sure what they mean, ask another question for clarification. Third,
the tone of the message is often more telling than the words. It’s not what you say,but how you s ay it. This is lost on
written and online surveys.
Over the years,I have done surveys and tracking with plenty of clients in the office equipment and imaging
industry. They work. Put surveys on your priority list, and you too will see performance improvements in all areas of
your business.
HarryHecht, Business Coach and Consultant, has more than 32 years of Business Technology/BusinessImaging industryexperience.
His extensive business experience includesa 22 year distinguished career as the Vice President US Dealer Sales for Konica Minolta
Business Solutionsand 5 years as VP/ General Manager for Global ImagingSystems, a Xerox Company. HarryHecht is a member of
the MPSA has been activelyinvolved for over 10 years in the development, creation, implementation and growth of Managed Print

2. 20 Railroad Avenue  Hackensack, NJ 07601  201-488-0404  sales@buyerslab.com  w w w .buyerslab.com
Services programs throughout the independent dealer channel. harryhecht@gmail.com and www.linkedin/in/harryhecht P: 609-636-
9893