Best of the ISP-Lists

We Need to Talk

Members of the ISP-Marketing list discuss reaching out to your customers and getting feedback. It's also a good idea to give out free advertising, such as tee-shirts, to those who answer your questions. We all need to talk to our customers.

[July 17, 2001]

On the ISP-Marketing list in June, FY inquired,

"How do you find out what your customers are looking for in an ISP: how are you gathering feedback? Phone surveys, email, questionnaires?"

From log-on questionnaires to customer calls, a number of respondents shared their methods:

[TC offered] "First, we do customer callbacks. Tech support, billing, and customer service aren't always busy, so we tooled in time each week for calls to new customers. We use a few different sets of questions, and we try to control the length of the call. Second, surveying through email can be very helpful: just be careful that your clients don't feel spammed. One of the worst things an ISP can do is give that feeling to their own users."

[JB added] "Don't overlook the value of surveying your new subscribers with questions like, 'What made you choose us?' These could be asked either at point of sale, or as part of an initial log-on screen. Every contact with your subscribers must be a positive reinforcing experience, and a further validation of their decision to choose your service over the others."

[JG observed] "Create a ten-question survey and mail it to all of your customers, providing a mailer that does not require postage. If you don't want the expense of a mailed survey, put together an online version and place it prominently on your portal page. Email your customers an announcement that a survey is available, and that their opinions and advice are requested. Let them in on the results when appropriate: if 70% want a new service and you decide to implement it, let them know that you are doing so thanks to their participation in the survey."

Some respondents recommended making judicious use of bribery:

[WW advised] "Offer them some incentive for filling out the survey. A $2 service credit, or partner with a local restaurant for a two-for-one deal, etc. Those coupons are usually easy to arrange with local businesses to use as incentives, since you don't charge them for the distribution or promotion, and in return you get to use them as incentives. It is harder to get a national chain store/restaurant to do it, as rarely do they have local authority to make those deals. Or offer it as a drawing for a certain number of $25 online gift certificates. You can do that monthly, to get more information from your user base."

[BH agreed] "Providing your participants with a free gift of some sort, (t-shirt, free month of service, hat), is a very nice way to say thanks, and may also increase the number of people willing to take a couple of minutes to talk with you."

BH argued for the personal touch:

"Just call a customer and ask them what they like, don't like, and what they'd like to see. Randomly pick some new customers and some long-time customers. You don't need to talk to all your customers; after a while you will see a trend, and that should be a solid enough indicator of what to do. Just make it a light and friendly call, and explain that you want to serve them better and want their thoughts as to what to do. And don't forget, you must also take action on the results as well. That may seem like an obvious point, but I have seen businesses do a survey of customers, review the results, and then get distracted and never act on some very good information."

— End

 

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