Caroline Shahar's Blog Posts

Look in your inbox. Chances are good that many businesses and nonprofits are already attempting to harness the holiday spirit to boost sales or get donations. With all the offers competing for your subscribers’ attention, don’t just be one of the many. Here are the two tips to help your organization stand out from the crowd this holiday season.

Do you currently hold events? If yes, do you conduct attendee feedback surveys afterwards? Take a second to let us know! Once you have voted, you will instantly get to see what other small businesses and organizations have said. Enjoy!

Your website is a powerful tool to attract new business and grow relationships. Is yours doing that? Is your website useful to visitors? Are they finding what they came for? Is it easy for visitors to take the action you want them to? Sure, web analytics can give you data, but it can’t give you the whys. For example, why don’t shoppers complete transactions? Why don’t visitors click more deeply into the site? What you don’t know about your website can lead to lost prospects and lost sales. Gather instant feedback from your customers on your website; here’s how.

A common question I’m asked by small businesses and nonprofits that are looking for feedback from their customers and members is: “Should I offer an incentive with my online surveys or not?” I think we can all attest to having plenty to do and no time to do it. So the answer I always give is, “Yes. If you want a good response rate, then there should be an incentive for taking your survey. The real question is what your incentive should be.”

Finding the right incentive depends on a few things:

I've always enjoyed visiting my favorite small business. It's that Cheers kind of feeling, where "everybody knows your name." I walk in and the employees are sociable, friendly, helpful, and truly glad I came. It's this neighborly manner that differentiates small businesses from the big guys, and helps win loyal, repeat customers like me.

There is plenty of research that shows it's the customer experience your employees provide that has a major impact on your bottom line. According to RightNow's third annual Customer Experience Impact Report, published in 2008:

Innovation that really drives the performance of your organization and allows you to do more with less requires great ideas. Sure it would be great to hire a consultant that will provide business improvement through proven processes of innovation, but you don't want to shell out a lot of money. So where can you get brilliant innovative ideas for free? Your solution: a web-based suggestion box.

Autoresponder emails are a great way to keep in touch with your new subscribers and ensure you are providing them value without doing much work. If you aren't familiar with the autoresponder feature, it allows you to create emails that are automatically sent to new subscribers at a set time. Sound good? But what kind of content should you include? Here are a few autoresponder ideas to take advantage of...

What is the most common type of survey you conduct? Share your answer in our latest poll. Once you vote, you will instantly get to see how other small businesses and organizations have voted, and you will know how your answer compares. Enjoy!

Part 3: Plan and execute follow up actions to strengthen customer relationships and have a significant impact on your organization’s success. 

You've uncovered your baseline numbers, and you have discovered where your strengths and weaknesses are. Now it's time to begin the cycle of change so you can reap the rewards of getting and analyzing your customers' opinions. Here's how:

Part 2: Find out what your audience is really telling you

Last time, we established a baseline so you can quickly and easily measure the effects of changes you make to your business. But do you know what your audience's message really is?

Analyze your online survey results to identify actions that will improve your baseline numbers. Here are some suggestions for how to do that: