What do your customers really think?

by Christie Lewis on March 6, 2010 · 0 comments

in General Interest

As more and more small business owners are using customer advisory meetings to gather valuable data, it’s time we had a look at what they are. The purpose of these meetings is to obtain feedback from a group of customers on the products, services, sales process and general impression of your business.

You can organise the customer advisory meeting yourself or alternatively some clients ask an independent person, such as their accountant, to act as the facilitator of the customer meeting and to prepare a summary of the matters discussed.

Some of the items that could be raised at a customer advisory meeting could be:-

  • How do you rate the firm’s services?
  • Are there additional services that the business could supply to you?
  • Have you asked the business to supply these services to you?
  • What do you like about this business?
  • What do you dislike about this business?
  • How does this business compare to competitors?
  • Do you receive prompt replies to telephone, email and fax contact?
  • Would you like to receive periodic information on products and services being offered by the business?
  • What are the strengths of the business as compared to its competitors?
  • What are the weaknesses of the business as compared to its competitors?
  •  

    Many businesses are conducting customer advisory meetings 3 or 4 times a year, and using the meetings to gain valuable feedback on the perception that their customers have on the business operations. I realise that not every small/micro business is in a position to facilitate quarterly customer advisory meetings. Instead, you might like to follow up with an online survey or paper questionaire addressing a few of these questions.  Of course, if you are interested in commencing a series of customer advisory meetings and you would like our input, feel free to contact us.

    Do you follow up and seek feedback? Which methods have resulted in the greatest response rate?

    Christie Lewis

    Article by

    Christie is Practice Manager at Alan Lewis Accountants . Besides accounting, her passion is for all things small business (and blogging, of course). You can contact Christie directly at christie@lewistaxation.com.au.

    Christie has written 799 awesome articles for us at Alan Lewis Accountants – BLOG

    Twitter: @christielewis

    Leave a Comment

    CommentLuv badge

    Previous post:

    Next post: