I want to give you a question – just 15 simple words – but if you use this question consistently, it has the almost magical power to strengthen your customers’ loyalty dramatically, increase the number of referrals you get and give you great new ideas to improve your business. Are you up for that?
Here’s the question:
“How would you rate us as your _________ on a scale from one to 10?”
Simple, right? After you ask, encourage your customers to give you the straight scoop. Say something like:
“I want you to be honest. A 10 is perfect – you just love everything we do; a 1 means you think we were awful. Don’t sugar coat it, I want you to tell me what you really think.”
Whatever number they give you, write it down and thank them. Don’t argue, don’t make faces.
Now ask this simple followup question.
“What do you think we need to do to be a 10?”
Write down whatever they say. This is important. It shows them that you are really listening. Again, don’t argue or be defensive, just listen and ask questions to be sure you understand. Then thank them for their input. You’ll learn lots of ways to improve your business by asking this followup question.
After you hear their feedback, it’s important to let them know what you plan to do. That doesn’t mean that you have to do everything they suggest, but you need to take their input seriously and let them know how you plan to resolve any problems that they raised or how you will use feedback and suggestions that they gave you.
Now, I know that asking your customers for honest feedback may feel a little uncomfortable, but here are four great reasons why you should suck it up and ask anyway:
- First, it tells your customers that you have high standards and it lets them know that you’re only going to be happy if they’re completely happy.
- Second, it allows you to identify and resolve problems before you lose the customer for good. When I was head of market research at Courtyard Hotels, we learned that by finding a problem and resolving it, we actually made our customers more satisfied than if they never had a problem to begin with! The fact that you care enough to go the extra mile to make sure that they are completely happy is a big thing. And, if they have a problem and it never gets resolved, it festers and your customer may end up leaving you in the end.
- Third, research has shown that only customers who rate you an 8, 9 or 10 on a 10-point scale will be your advocates and gladly refer you. So by ferreting out problems, resolving them, and making your customers happy, you can improve customer loyalty and generate more referrals.
- Finally, ferreting out the problems helps you find better ways to meet your customer’s needs, which will have a positive impact on all of your customers and help you grow your business!
Great results from one simple question, right? Imagine how much you could improve your business this year by asking just one customer a day!
So here’s what I want you to do: Make a commitment to ask this question of five customers in the next week – just one a day for the next week. I guarantee that you’ll find the feedback that you get so helpful, that you’ll make asking this question at the end of every job a regular part of the way you do business!
