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"Doctor, my arm hurts when I do this," says man, lifting his hand in the air.
"Don't do that," says doctor.
It's one of the oldest jokes in the book. But it also reminds us that sometimes the answers are obvious.
Question: How do you know what your customers want? Answer: Ask them.
It is in that spirit that we bring you this week's focus on surveys. In the "olden days," before the Internet (B.I.), a company might have to do an expensive print mailing campaign and pray that people would take the time to fill it out, insert it into an envelope, and (gasp) actually find a stamp and put it in a mailbox.
Now the Web has made setting up and disseminating surveys much easier for companies, as it has made taking them easier for customers. You can link to a survey in an email, hook it up as a permanent feature on your site, or even take a quick poll of one or two questions.
Surveying your customers can save a lot of time, hassle and money, if it keeps you from implementing a new product that your customers would not want. Similarly, it can make you a lot more money when you find out what they do want.
And, since we practice what we preach here at MyEZsale (or try to), we are surveying you in our newsletter this week! Please take a moment to take our survey. We will report back to you in the next issue...the answers may surprise you. Take our quick survey, and then read our feature on how to write and set up good surveys, by Michelle McCann of Websurveyor.com.
Next issue, we'll hear about a meeting of high-level executives from the retail industry. Ina Steiner of AuctionBytes.com, publisher of MyEZsale, attended the eTail2003 conference in Boston this week. In the next issue, she'll fill us in and tell us what small retailers can learn from the giants.
Until two weeks from now, when we find out what the "survey says!" (as Richard Dawson would say), be well, and be profitable.
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