The “Drop Dead” Question for a Customer Survey

What a great test. It reminds us that our customers, especially early adapters, must want to continue to use our products to the extent that they “would be very disappointed” if unable to do so in the future.

What other questions could we wrap around this critical one to form a great survey that is both short enough and powerful enough to be relevant to our marketing effort, let alone our R&D and production efforts?

Using Sean again as a source, we might ask: “How did you discover our company?” and provide several checkbox answers, including ‘friend or colleague.’ Again, it is a sign of a viral marketing effort to get more than 40 percent checking that box. Then “Have you recommended our company to anyone?” Use just ‘yes’ and ‘no’ as possible answers, and look for more than 50 percent ‘yes’ responses.

And there is always the great open door question: “Would it be OK if we followed up by email to request a clarification to one or more of your responses?” If more than 50 percent say “yes” you have a real hit on your hands. It means you can use this respondent as a resource for case studies and marketing quotes in the future.

Keep your survey very short to insure a large number of responses. But do include at least one specific question about your product to be sure the respondent is an actual customer.

This article was originally published by Berkonomics