The end-of-year push isn’t just about driving new sales and hitting those tough Q4 sales goals. It’s also prime time to collect data and nurture relationships. And that’s where the dynamic duo of customer feedback surveys and holiday gifting campaigns can help.
Many direct-to-consumer retailers and other businesses run customer feedback surveys throughout the year. But for B2B companies in particular, whose clients often complete only one yearly transaction (either a new purchase, a renewal, or an upgrade), a single survey burst in Q4 makes sense. Those same companies may or may not have some sort of customer appreciation efforts that overlap or immediately follow the survey.
So why not kill two birds with one stone? By combining your feedback collection efforts and gifting campaigns, you can better nurture your client relationships going into the new year. Check out these tips for doubling your customer engagement efforts in Q4.
READ MORE: 5 Steps to a Successful Holiday Gifting Campaign
Depending on your audience, the seasonality of your business, and your team’s workload, you have to decide whether it’s more appropriate to start with your customer feedback surveys or your holiday gifts, and when. If you work in an industry that pretty much shuts down during December, such as higher education, you may want to send surveys pretty early in Q4 and then present holiday gifts as a follow-up, with a nice thank-you message. If the end of the year is your industry’s slow season, it might be more beneficial to send holiday gifts that include an invitation to the survey, since those customers likely have more time to fill them out when their other tasks are lighter. Or, if Q4 is just too crazy, consider sending gifts and then following up immediately in the new year with your feedback request, when your holiday gesture is still fresh in their mind.
No matter when or in what order you decide to distribute holiday gifts and customer feedback surveys, don’t wait till the last minute. Q4 comes up fast, and with both team members and clients taking vacation, the weeks fly by. That’s why it’s important for you to begin preparations for both as early as possible. If you have a survey template from last year to start with, review it and see if there are any updates needed. Consider what gifts are going to be most appealing for recipients and most convenient for you. (E-gift cards are an ideal option, and here are seven reasons why!)
Another step you’ll want to take early is to start evaluating if there are any additional tools you need to efficiently and effectively run your survey and gifting campaign. Your normal marketing automation platforms, such as HubSpot or Marketo, can certainly be leveraged, but you may also want to consider a dedicated survey application, such as SurveyMonkey or Qualtrics, and/or a digital rewards tool, like BHN Rewards. Make sure you know what to look for, such as the tools’ ability to work together to automate processes as much as possible, so you can cut down on the administrative burden and properly track the success of your efforts.
Get the most out of your customer feedback surveys by asking the right questions! Here are 30 smart suggestions to get you started.
Hannah is a reformed journalist who has more than 15 years of experience and now focuses on content marketing for innovative tech companies.
Hannah is a reformed journalist who has more than 15 years of experience and now focuses on content marketing for innovative tech companies.
