Online Surveys Allow for Better Customer Service

From the unique and useful mom-invented products it offers and the pregnancy center it supports, to its employees and target customer base, everything Mom 4 Life does revolves around moms. Heather Ledeboer started the business in 2003 as a way to work from home while raising her first-born child. "Moms are naturally passionate about their children," she says. "I wanted to take that passion and produce a retail website that would reflect that as brightly as possible."

Challenge: An Economical Way to Elicit Feedback and Build Brand Recognition

Sure, mothers know best. But Heather has found that customers — especially when they're moms — may know even better. So eliciting feedback from customers is key. "I use surveys to get feedback on new mom-invented products that I am considering adding to our website," Heather says.

In addition, Mom 4 Life wants to be the first place that mothers turn to for solutions. That means it needs to stay at the top of customers' minds. "We face the challenge of keeping our brand name in front of our customers in a way that is fresh and relevant so that we come to mind when they need something that we can offer," she says.

But because Mom 4 Life donates 10 percent of its proceeds to help moms in need, every penny counts. So Heather needed to find a low-cost survey solution that would match the flash and flair of her website, at a reasonable price. She tried some of the free online survey providers, but wasn't satisfied with the results.

Solution: Online Surveys Posted to Blogs, Emails and Newsletters

Mom 4 Life turned to Constant Contact to keep in touch with customers and solicit their opinions. "Constant Contact has allowed us to identify the customers that want to hear from us and provides an easy platform to inform them of information that is relevant to their needs," Heather says.

In addition, the polished look and feel of the Online Survey tool from Constant Contact provided more value to Heather than similar tools that her previous penny-pinching partners did. "My customers commented that my surveys looked more professional once I switched to Constant Contact," she says.

My customers commented
that my surveys looked more professional once I switched to Constant Contact. Heather posts the surveys on her blog, publishes them in her email newsletters, and includes them in her purchase confirmation messages. "This allows us to keep tabs on what kind of shopping experience the customer had and make any adjustments needed," she says.

Heather also likes that the Online Surveys from Constant Contact come with web addresses. Hyperlinking the surveys gives users total flexibility in how the business can deliver a questionnaire: in an email or on a blog, on a handout, or included in a newsletter.

Results: Loyal Customers Provide a Lift in Sales

While Heather also received feedback that the newsletters and surveys were easy to read, she liked them because they were easy to create. "I like that I can choose from a wide variety of question types in order to best gather the information needed," she says.

In addition, Heather found it simple to customize her communications to match the look of her website. "Once I get a survey looking the way I want it to, it's easy to 'copy' the survey and tweak it for the next survey I need," she says of her favorite online survey feature. "This saves time and makes it easy for me to create a survey that I know will represent my business well."

As a result, Mom 4 Life has seen a marked increase in orders following its newsletters and surveys, Heather says. "Aside from the obvious benefit of increased sales," she says, "we feel that the fact that our customers want to hear from us on a regular basis allows us to remain in contact with them — and helps build a relationship that we hope will last."