Xigaware

Companies that are part of the supply chain such as manufacturers and wholesalers can often benefit enormously by conducting their own b2b customer satisfaction survey.

Improving the relationship between wholesalers and their suppliers and also between wholesalers and retailers brings potential benefits that will help improve the product in terms of:

• Quality, range and design
• Delivery method, speed
• Communication, method and level of service
• Payment, quality of documentation and settlement time
• Prices, wholesale and retail price

A manufacturer can improve the relationship that they have with their wholesalers to the extent that the wholesalers would need to think long and hard before they switched to a rival supplier. For example by improving the communication and being proactive in automating much of the paperwork they can add value to their entire product range and that may be just enough to encourage a wholesaler to invest time in resolving any potential problem as opposed to making it easy for them to dictate terms by threatening to switch to a rival supplier. By improving a business to business relationship the products that are supplied will become less of a commodity item and judged along with the whole fulfilment service, a service that may not be available with any Tom, Dick or Harry.

Wholesalers are often doing themselves a disservice if they only focus on price and do not adequately value the many benefits of working with a professional and well organised supplier, a supplier that will deliver on time, will supply products that meet strict the agreed quality and that have invoice and delivery documentation that is clear and accurate.

By conducting customer satisfaction surveys aimed not at the end user but at those involved in the supply chain there are many rewards to be had. By understanding and taking into consideration the requirements of both parties the business processes between any two organizations can nearly always be vastly improved and all parties benefit by keeping costs to a minimum.

It is in the interest of manufacturers to establish long term contracts as that will provide them with the security that is necessary for them to plan and reinvest, confident that their customers value the benefits that long term relationships can bring. Most wholesalers would be able to benefit from a just in time supply model where they reduce the cost associated with holding large volumes of stock on site but to achieve this they need to work with their suppliers to improve the whole fulfilment process.

The starting point for such an exercise is an exchange of information that can be obtained easily by utilising online customer satisfaction survey software that is now widely available and that makes the whole intelligence gathering process quick, easy and cost effective.

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Companies that are part of the supply chain such as manufacturers and wholesalers can often benefit enormously by conducting their own b2b customer satisfaction survey.

Improving the relationship between wholesalers and their suppliers and also between wholesalers and retailers brings potential benefits that will help improve the product in terms of:

• Quality, range and design
• Delivery method, speed
• Communication, method and level of service
• Payment, quality of documentation and settlement time
• Prices, wholesale and retail price

A manufacturer can improve the relationship that they have with their wholesalers to the extent that the wholesalers would need to think long and hard before they switched to a rival supplier. For example by improving the communication and being proactive in automating much of the paperwork a manufacturer can add value to the entire product range and that may be just enough to encourage a wholesaler to invest time in resolving any potential problem as opposed to making it easy for them to dictate terms by threatening to switch to a rival supplier. Adding value to a business relationship a product will cease to become just a commodity item that can be supplied by any Tom, Dick and Harry.

If wholesalers do not adequately value the many benefits that working with a professional and well organised supplier brings they may suffer from higher overheads and lost reputation working with suppliers that deliver sub-standard products, late without proper, clear or accurate invoice and delivery documentation.

By conducting customer satisfaction surveys aimed not at the end user but at those involved in the supply chain there are many rewards to be had. It takes a degree of understanding and consideration as to the requirement of the other to establish good and streamlined business processes between any two organizations. With the introduction of more efficient order fulfilment programmes the manufacturer and wholesaler can both benefit.

For manufacturers it is in their interest to establish long term contracts that will allow them to plan and reinvest, confident that their customers are interested in the benefits that long term relationships can bring. If a wholesaler can minimize the need to carry large stocks of items, but be confident that their supplier will be able to reliably deliver using a just in time model, they can not only reduce their overhead costs they can also free up valuable real estate and minimize the risk of being left with unsold and obsolete stock.

The starting point for such an exercise is an exchange of information that can be obtained easily by utilising online customer satisfaction survey software that is now widely available and that makes the whole intelligence gathering process quick, easy and cost effective.

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Companies that are part of the supply chain such as manufacturers and wholesalers can often benefit enormously by conducting their own b2b customer satisfaction survey.

Improving the relationship between wholesalers and their suppliers and also between wholesalers and retailers brings potential benefits that will help improve the product in terms of:

• Quality, range and design
• Delivery method, speed
• Communication, method and level of service
• Payment, quality of documentation and settlement time
• Prices, wholesale and retail price

A manufacturer can improve the relationship that they have with their wholesalers to the extent that the wholesalers would need to think long and hard before they switched to a rival supplier. For example by improving the communication and being proactive in automating much of the paperwork they can add value to their entire product range and that may be just enough to encourage a wholesaler to invest time in resolving any potential problem as opposed to making it easy for them to dictate terms by threatening to switch to a rival supplier. By improving a business to business relationship the products that are supplied will become less of a commodity item and judged along with the whole fulfilment service, a service that may not be available with any Tom, Dick or Harry.

Where wholesalers only want to focus entirely on price they are often doing themselves a disservice by not properly valuing the benefits of working with a professional and reliable supplier, one that delivers on time, provides products that meet strict quality control and that are delivered and invoiced accompanied by documentation that is clear and accurate.

By conducting customer satisfaction surveys aimed not at the end user but at those involved in the supply chain there are many rewards to be had. By understanding and taking into consideration the requirements of both parties the business processes between any two organizations can be streamlined and all parties benefit from all the efficiencies that come from implementing a more efficient order fulfilment programme.

It is in the interest of manufacturers to establish long term contracts as that will provide them with the security that is necessary for them to plan and reinvest, confident that their customers value the benefits that long term relationships can bring. By manufacturers and wholesalers working together the whole fulfilment process can be streamlined and companies can work towards a just in time model where the need to hold large volumes of stock is reduced and along with all the associated costs.

The starting point for such an exercise is an exchange of information that can be obtained easily by utilising online customer satisfaction survey software that is now widely available and that makes the whole intelligence gathering process quick, easy and cost effective.

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For any business that wants to offer products or services that are highly focused and well targeted market research is important. Business decisions based on good market research can help minimise any risk and should pay dividends in the longer term. By making market research part and parcel of the business process and conducting market research throughout the life cycle of a product or service market research will bring the following benefits:-

• Market research will help you better communicate – Your current customers experiences are a valuable information source, not only will they allow you to gauge how well you currently meet their expectations they can also tell you where you are getting things right and more importantly where you are getting things wrong. By consulting with the customer you not only show them that you care you also take the guesswork out of customer services.
• Market research helps you identify opportunities – If a new service is planned and you want to know the attitudes people have then market research can help, not only by evaluating the potential for the new idea, but also by identify the areas where a marketing message needs to be fine tuned.
• Market research will minimise risk – Market research can help shape a new product or service, identifying what is needed and ensure that the development of a product is highly focused towards demand.
• Market research creates benchmarks and helps you measure your progress – Unless you measure you may not be able to gauge how well your business is performing. Preliminary research may be able to identify problems in the service you intend to offer or in your product, regular market research will show if progress is being made and, if positive, will help motivate a team.

Market research brings considerable benefits and it is perhaps surprising how few organizations invest sufficient resources to enable them to gather good intelligence that will help them improve their business. Many may think that market research takes too much time and effort but that is just not the case anymore as through the power of the Internet online survey software is readily available and vital market research data can now be gathered in a quick, simple and cost effective manner.

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If not repaired it doesn’t take long for a building with one broken window to quickly turn in to a building with a lot of broken windows. Fixing problems when they are small will prevent them from developing into more serious problems.

When considering the level of employee satisfaction the same is true. Dissatisfaction can spread rapidly throughout an organization and before you know it you can have morale problems that can be hard to resolve.

Good employers will be tuned in to what their employees’ problems are and, importantly, will deal with them early on. Keeping the initiative is really important and the secret is that it is better to give a little and often.

This turns out be a vicious circle. Fixing the problem when it’s small is also when it’s easiest and when it’s cheapest. Most employees prefer their management to take the initiative without being prompted and by doing so management can operate from a position of strength. Employees look for strong, confident management and having a proactive approach and taking time to understand the employees’ issues will gain the respect of the workforce.

Compare that with those managers who are out of touch. They arrive late at a problem so they are on the defensive, and with their credibility eroded they have to concede to demands which in turn leads to further and less reasonable demands. It’s not big and it’s not clever.

How then can an organisation monitor the morale of the employees without a big budget and an abundance of spare time?

The most obvious solution is to conduct an online employee survey. They’re quick, easy to use, and a low cost solution. Instead of weeks and months surveys can now be designed and published in hours and minutes, by harnessing the power of the internet invitations can be sent out instantly and free of charge using email, links on websites and postings on social networks; the results are collated in real-time and can be automatically displayed as charts.

A corporate intranet is the perfect delivery platform.

By linking through to an online survey website a company can regularly conduct surveys so they become part and parcel of the daily operations.

With the ability of online surveys to produce real-time results the mood of the workforce can instantly gauged and collective and individual concerns highlighted.

Companies can use survey results to expose problem areas and then use follow-up surveys to target exposed concerns. With good information managers are able to identify specific problems and prepare a considered response.

By conducting regular surveys a company is able to address small problems before they grow into much bigger problems that are then more difficult to address.

When management show willingness to consult with the workforce it is appreciated by most employees, not viewed as a sign of weakness but an indicator of good decision making.

It’s unusual to find, but there it is – sometimes management problems can be solved with something that is quick, easy and won’t break the bank.

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If not repaired it won’t take long for a building with one broken window to quickly turn in to a building with many broken windows. Resolving problems when they are small will prevent them from developing into larger problems.

The same is true when considering the level of employee satisfaction. Dissatisfaction can spread rapidly throughout an organization and before you know it you can have morale problems that can be hard to resolve.

To be confident that your employees are satisfied you need to be aware of any day to day concerns and deal with them before they get out of hand. Keeping the initiative is important and it is nearly always better to give a little and often.

This turns out be a vicious circle. Fixing problems when they are small is also when they are at their cheapest to fix. If the management is reactive and waits until they are prompted by the employees they run the risk of having to implement urgent change from a weak position; if they are proactive they can operate form a position of strength and will also maintain the respect of the employees. Employees like strong, confident management and the management will gain the respect of the workforce if they take time to understand the issues.

Compare that with those managers who are out of touch. Arriving late to a problem they are on the defensive, their credibility at risk as they may have to concede to demands which can lead to further and less reasonable demands. It’s not big and it’s not clever.

The question is how one goes about monitoring the morale of a company without throwing money at the problem and without the luxury of having spare time?

The first port of call should be an online employee survey. They represent a quick, easy and low cost solution. Surveys can be created in minutes and deployed in seconds, with the results compiled in real time; and by using email and websites they cost nothing to disseminate.

A corporate internet is the ideal delivery mechanism.

By linking through to an online survey website a company can regularly conduct surveys so they become part and parcel of the daily operations.

With the ability of an online survey to produce real-time results the mood of the workforce can instantly gauged, concerns highlighted both on a collective and individual level.

Organisations can use survey results to identify problem areas and then use follow-up surveys to target specific areas of concern. With good information managers are able to get to the root of specific problems and prepare a considered response.

By conducting regular surveys a company is able to address small problems before they grow into much bigger problems that are then more difficult to address.

It should not be forgotten that most employees appreciate being consulted and asking their opinion is not seen as a sign of weakness but an indicator of good decision making.

Every now and then management problems can be solved with something that is quick, easy and won’t break the bank; enjoy.

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In a competitive world with the need for businesses to be more streamlined and productive a company can often find itself with a workforce working under pressure resulting in low moral and high staff turnover. Organizations that have a highly motivated workforce can benefit enormously and having a workforce that is both motivated and productive should not be regarded as being mutually exclusive to one another.

Left unresolved employers run the risk of alienating their employees and events can then cause employee frustrations to explode resulting in employers finding themselves on the back foot, faced with problems that cannot be ignored.

Ideally employers would take time to understand the needs of their employees and learn from their experiences of working on the front line, but employers are often themselves tied up day to day fighting their own fires.

By automating the majority of the intelligence gathering process and having the findings in a format that can be easily analysed online surveys provide employers with an efficient and cost effective method to help towards establishing a pleasant working environment, where employee satisfaction and productivity is high.

Dissatisfied & unproductive

There are many reasons why employees may be dissatisfied with their job and more often than not staff frustration is channelled into a demand for higher salaries and less hours. Managers who tackle problems thinking it is all about salary and hours, will often find later that they have been dealing with the symptoms and not the root cause.

It’s not about money

The following are the most common problems to achieving productivity, none of which are likely to be resolved by increasing salaries or reducing hours:-

• Inadequate training
• Out of touch management
• Working methods that are past their sell by date
• Lack of proper tools and equipment

Paying higher salaries is not always a solution to an employee’s problems nor as many studies have revealed is it the most important motivator for employees.

Take the case of a single mother who is juggling a full time job with the need to look after four children. Out of frustration she may demand more money so that she feels that she is able to cope where a better solution, for both her and the business, may be more flexible working hours.

Two way communication is what it is all about

It is important for any organization to encourage communication. Without good communication between personnel and management, or where management wait until problems are raised, management may assume that they have a content workforce when in actual fact the opposite is true. It can take only one small problem and one employee to feel aggrieved for an entire workforce to develop a destructive ‘them and us’ attitude.

Improving communication

Ideally employer and employee would meet one on one but in practice this would seem practical only for very small organizations.

Meetings between management and worker representatives are good in theory but can often spiral into becoming talking shops and losing their purpose as both sides become more familiar with one another and the meetings run the risk of being hijacked by the more extreme personalities.

Having suggestion boxes are useful but can be viewed as token efforts by management as they wait for personnel to highlight a problem.

Newsletters can provide a positive contribution but they only offer one way communication and their primary function is to inform and not discuss employee issues.

Keeping the initiative

Conducting employee satisfaction surveys on a regular basis can be used to ask each employee specific questions and demonstrates a pro-active management initiative where the whole workforce can be consulted on various issues. Surveys are able to provide a level playing field between the quieter and more vocal employees.

Being prepared to consulate with employees should not be seen as a sign of weakness, a confident manager will take counsel from all quarters before making a decision. By issuing a survey the employer is able to keep the initiative and tackle problems from a position of strength as opposed to waiting for problems to manifest and then possibly develop out of proportion.

Leave a number of minor problems unresolved and it can lead to a situation where a small problem might just break the camel’s back and the mood of the employees change from positive to negative over night.

Quick and easy

For most companies online surveys represent a proactive and low cost solution. For the majority of organizations where most of the personnel have desktop computers, online surveys are quick to design and deploy direct to the individual.

In situations where individuals do not have personal access to a computer there are still many options available to implement the online survey solution such as giving access to a shared computer, operator input or, as a last resort, a hardcopy survey.

Job satisfaction

There are elements that together will help towards providing an employee with job satisfaction, including company ethics, working environment, methodology and ethos to having effective and decisive management. Job satisfaction brings benefits through improved motivation and productivity from a workforce that feels that they are treated as individuals and not a commodity item.

Inform and educate

An online survey can also be used to educate and pass on to the workforce important information, the ‘message’ is consistently delivered and does not suffer from the Chinese whisper phenomenon where a message can be distorted as it is handed down.

An online survey can explain to the employees a difficult situation and get valuable feedback as to the best solution. It is rare in this situation that the workforce would appear negative; it is more likely they will feel informed and empowered and that might be enough to unite the workforce and turn a negative problem into a positive challenge.

Exit surveys

Exit surveys are an excellent way of ensuring that when personnel leave an organisation they are leaving for the right reasons and not due to reasons that if appreciated earlier could have been addressed and resolved by management. Although identifying a problem may not prevent a person leaving, having identified a problem it can then be addressed and that may be enough to prevent other key personnel from leaving.

Analysing the results

Having consulted with the workforce using an online survey the results are available for instant analysis. Common and specific problems can be identified very easily and then brought to the attention of senior management who will then have the chance to address the issues that have been raised.

Summary

Used regularly online surveys represent a simple and productive method of taking the pulse of an organisation and an easy way to establish a two way communication channel between employer and employee with the results providing management with vital, accurate and significant information.

For a Sample Employee Satisfaction Survey:- Employee Satisfaction Survey Template

For a sample Employee Exit survey:- Employee Exit Survey Template

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Why should you bother?

Good customer service is the life blood of any business. Although new customers are important good customer service will help generate customer loyalty and repeat business. With each satisfied customer your business will secure many more customers through word of mouth and you should always keep in mind that if you are not taking proper care of your customers there is always a competitor that will.

Online customer satisfaction surveys will help you not only identify problem areas but will also demonstrate to your customers that you care and are proactive in looking for ways to improve the service that you provide.

Where to start?

Objective – Before you start creating your survey clarify the objectives of the survey, in that way you will find it easier to decide what are the right questions to ask.

Analysis – When the survey is complete consider how you will analyze the answers.

Bare in mind that ‘closed’ questions (where the respondents are asked to choose from a limited number of responses) are easier to analyse than questions that are ‘open’ (where the respondent can reply in anyway they want).

A lot will depend on the predicted volume of respondents, the higher the volume the more important it is to have an easy method of analysing the results.

Opportunity – Keep in mind that as well as obtaining valuable market research data customer surveys are also a good way to advertise aspects of your service that your customers may not be aware of.

Before you publish the survey confirm that the questions you have asked will provide you with market research data that when analyzed will help you make informed decisions.

Then, from a marketing view point read through the survey, confirm that you have phrased each question so that every opportunity has been taken to promote your business?

The ideal question will perform the following three functions:-

• Market research – provide valuable feedback to help you improve your customer satisfaction levels and in turn your business
• Marketing – promote aspects of your business
• Information/Education – advertise a service that you provide that your customers may not have been unaware of

For example:- Do you find the in-store baby changing facilities useful?

In asking this question the store will hopefully not only receive useful feedback on the baby changing facility but they will also promote the store as being child-friendly even beyond the customers who actually require the facility.

Warts and all – to benefit most from a customer survey you need to avoid the temptation, in any way, of attempting to sugar coat the survey.

A customer satisfaction survey should be designed to identify any problem areas so that they can be fixed; conducting regular customer satisfaction will help prevent complacency and will also give early warning on where you may be losing business to your competitors initiatives.

What should you ask?

Although it is a given that each business is likely to have specific and unique factors that are important in providing good customer services there are common areas that are relevant to all businesses be they a physical store, online internet store or a service industry. The following are some key areas to providing good customer service.

Communication – Are you confident that you make it easy for your customers to communicate with you?

When a customer telephones is the phone answered promptly; are enquiries about products or services properly handled? Good businesses will make every effort to ensure that whatever the customers query it is resolved by the right person, politely, quickly and fairly.

If there are reported problems that cannot be resolvable immediately do you promise to respond in a given time period and do you deliver on your promise?

Use a customer satisfaction survey to ensure that all your staff are considered by your customers to be courteous, helpful and knowledgeable.

Location – Are you doing everything you can to ensure that your customers find it easy to visit you, if a physical store, does it have good access and is it conveniently located?

Making it pleasant, making it easy – For a virtual business it is important to ensure that your website is aesthetically pleasing and easy to use.

Physical store or online website, is the store properly laid out, can your customers find what they need and is there sufficient information and help on hand to explain how a particular product works?

The right quality products – Not only should you measure the quality of the service that you provide but you should check that the products and services that you market are what the customer wants and closely match their expectations.

Value for money – Cheap or expensive is rarely a good measure, value for money is.

Is your business associated with value for money by your customers, if not, why not?

Speed and attention – No matter what the business, the majority of customers will want to be dealt with quickly but attentively.

Are you doing everything you can to avoid delays?

Good businesses will try to treat each customer as an individual, does yours? Attention is one thing but only if it leads to a quick and satisfactory resolution to the query.

Demographics and Specific issues – Take the opportunity to profile your customers, for example where do they live and what is their age group?

The more you try to understand your customers the better you will be able to target your business.

Allow customers to highlight their specific problems and provide contact details.

What next?

Analyze the results once the survey has been completed.

Trends – Identify specific and common areas where the service needs improving.

Ask yourself if any criticism is valid, be honest to yourself, is there anything that can be done to properly resolve, or at the very least, minimise the problem?

Training – Are the staff properly trained and do they have sufficient knowledge?

Where staff training programmes have been implemented have they had a positive impact on the business?

Follow-up – If a customer who has completed a survey has raised a specific issue do all you can to ensure that their complaint is addressed.

Do not lose the opportunity to resolve a problem and keep a customer.

Continuously Monitor – Make changes based on the survey results and then re-measure by issuing follow up surveys.

If you are interested in tracking customer satisfaction and would like to see a sample survey for a store that demonstrates some of the above advice please view the following example that can be used as a customer satisfaction survey template.

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If a building’s broken window is not repaired promptly it doesn’t take long for many of the building’s other windows to be broken. Resolving problems when they are small will prevent them from developing into larger problems.

The same is true when considering the level of employee satisfaction. Dissatisfaction can spread rapidly throughout an organization and before you know it you can have morale problems that can be hard to resolve.

To ensure that your employees are satisfied you need to appreciate any day to day concerns that they may have and deal with them quickly. Keeping the initiative is vital and it is nearly always better to give a little and often.

This turns out be a vicious circle. Fixing problems when they are small is also when they are at their cheapest to fix. The majority of employees would prefer their managers to act without being prompted and by doing so they prevent the situation where they have to address employees’ concern while on the back foot. Employees like strong, confident management and a proactive approach generates respect not least because someone has taken the time to understand some of the employees’ issues.

Compare that with those managers who are out of touch. If they are late in addressing problems they are always on the defensive, having to concede to demands they run the risk of losing credibility which in turn can lead to having to agree to less reasonable demands. It is neither big nor clever.

How then can an organization monitor the morale of the employees without a big budget and an abundance of spare time?

An online employee survey would appear to offer the perfect solution. They represent a quick, easy and low cost solution. Surveys can be written and deployed in seconds, using email, web links and social networks invitations can be sent out immediately and for free and the results are collated and displayed in real time.

A corporate intranet is the perfect delivery platform.

By linking through to an online survey website a company can regularly conduct surveys so they become part and parcel of the daily operations.

With the ability of online surveys to produce real-time results the mood of the workforce can instantly gauged and collective and individual concerns highlighted.

By using the findings of a survey an organization can quickly identify problem areas and then use follow-up surveys to target specific concerns. With good information managers are able to get to the root of specific problems and prepare a considered response.

A major advantage of regular surveys is that they allow companies to address relatively small problems in a timely manner and avoid ‘the straw that broke the camels back’ syndrome where what might be seen as a insignificant incident explodes into a torrent of pent up anger.

The majority of employees appreciate being consulted, asking their opinion is not a sign of weak management but an indicator of good decision making.

Once in a blue moon a manager’s problem can be solved with something that is quick, easy and won’t break the bank; that looks like a blue moon.

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If not repaired it won’t take long for a building with one broken window to quickly turn in to a building with many broken windows. Fixing problems when they are small will prevent them from developing into more serious problems.

When considering the level of employee satisfaction the same is true. Dissatisfaction can spread rapidly throughout an organization and before you know it you can have morale problems that can be hard to resolve.

Good employers will be tuned in to what their employees’ problems are and, importantly, will deal with them early on. Keeping the initiative is vital and it is nearly always better to give a little and often.

This turns out be a vicious circle. Fixing problems when they are small is also when they are at their cheapest to fix. The majority of employees would prefer their managers to act without being prompted and by doing so they prevent the situation where they have to address employees’ concern while on the back foot. Employees look for strong, confident management and having a proactive approach and taking time to understand the employees’ issues will gain the respect of the workforce.

Compare that with managers who are out of touch. They arrive late at a problem so they are on the defensive, and with their credibility eroded they have to concede to demands which in turn could lead to further and less reasonable demands. It is neither big nor clever.

The issue, then, is how to go about monitoring the morale of a company without a big budget and without much spare time?

The most obvious solution is to conduct an online employee survey. They’re quick, easy to use, and a low cost solution. Surveys can be written and deployed in seconds, using email, web links and social networks invitations can be sent out immediately and for free and the results are collated and displayed in real time.

The ideal delivery platform is the corporate internet.

By linking through to an online survey website a company can regularly conduct surveys so they become part and parcel of the daily operations.

With the ability of online surveys to produce real-time results the mood of the workforce can instantly gauged and collective and individual concerns highlighted.

Businesses can use survey results to highlight problem areas and then use follow-up surveys to target specific concerns. With good information managers are able to identify specific problems and prepare a considered response.

Conducting regular surveys will allow organizations to address small problems in a timely manner and avoid ‘the straw that broke the camels back’ syndrome where a relatively insignificant incident unleashes a torrent of pent up frustration.

And don’t forget that the majority of employees appreciate being consulted so asking their opinion is not a sign of weakness but an indicator of good decision making.

Very occasionally management problems can be solved with something that is quick, easy and won’t break the bank; this is fortunately just one of those occasions.

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