You know that type of customer survey, the one that’s printed on your receipt when you buy something at a store?
It says something like:
Our XXX store values your opinion. Fill out our online customer survey in the next 24 hours and you’ll be entered for a chance to win a $XXX gift card
Personally, I like to take the surveys because I would love to win a gift card!
But I also take the surveys because I’m interested in:
- How they designed the survey
- What questions were asked
- What words were used
What I discovered over the years: some companies believe a short survey is a 20-question survey with 15 of the questions having 12 checkboxes each.
Some companies believe in a two-question survey.
Then there are the surveys that are short: five to ten questions, easy to answer, multiple-choice that you can fill out quickly.
This weekend I discovered something I enjoyed seeing in a survey. Something that made it stand out.
Fresh Thyme Farmers Market Survey
When Fresh Thyme Farmers Market opened in my hometown, I wondered how they would compete with the larger Meijer and Kroger grocery stores, not more than two miles away.
What I discovered was they compete quite well, through
- Personal service
- High quality products
- Excellent fresh produce
I haven’t tried many meats or seafood, but have to admit it’s nice to buy groceries in a smaller store where you can meet and chat with the same staff every week.
Why wouldn’t I fill out their survey to share my good experiences in exchange for winning gift card?
Sure, I can do that!
While their survey was longer than I expected, what made me smile was when I was asked to enter my contact information.
Here’s what the survey question asked:
27. Please enter your contact information below if you would like to be entered into our monthly random drawing for one $250 gift card. Your participation is optional and voluntary. This is not a sales effort of any kind and the information you provide will never be sold to a third party.
Thank you!
Whenever I fill out online forms, I wonder whether I’m setting myself up for hundreds of promotional messages and whether my info will be shared with other third parties.
Their statement gave me a sense that Fresh Thyme cared about their customers.
That they knew their customers don’t want promotional messages nor do they want their contact info shared with other companies.
It’s a small detail, but it mattered to me that Fresh Thyme took the time and effort to explain that my information would not be used for sales promotions.
Summary
Customer surveys can be used for a number of reason, and often are used for gathering information for sales promotions.
In this case, Fresh Thyme Farmers Markets was transparent about how contact information would be used. And that makes a big difference to me, and I think to many of their other customers.
