As discussed in a previous article, businesses of all kinds can benefit from collecting customer and client feedback, but systematic feedback is vastly preferable. Pulse For Good kiosk systems are one way of getting systematic with your client and customer feedback. Our intuitive and user-friendly tools make setting up surveys, collecting data from people of all kinds, and curating your information much more manageable and useful than collecting feedback by means of multiple and less-rigorous methods such as e-mail, phone, in-person discussions, paper survey cards, or combinations of those.

Whether you're in the business of bean-bag chairs, yoga lessons, or auto repair, a study by the Harvard Business Review suggests merely asking customers for their feedback is enough to turn many of them into repeat customers, and this is evidently true whether or not they respond to your request for feedback.

Okay, where to start? What kinds of questions should you be asking? What kinds of surveys should you build?

Broadly speaking, there are four areas of inquiry you can bring to your customers and clients. Some will be helpful to your organization while others will not. Check out this list and think deeply about the feedback your organization really needs.

1. First, you can ask them about themselves. It should come as no surprise that customer demographics are critical in understanding who your customers are--and who your customers aren't--so, collect as much demographic information as you can. Queries about age, gender, occupation, and education are standard, obviously, and information about nationality and ethnic background might be important to you. Don't forget other aspects of your customer, such as hobbies, buying habits, opinions about competing brands, and other preferences. One very important question that you should ask customers or clients is how they found you (e.g., advertising, social media, personal reference, signage, location).

Of course, there is a fine line between getting to know your customers and getting too personal, so use discretion in formulating your surveys and always treat your customers' feedback data with the highest respect and confidentiality.

2. Next, ask your customers about yourself. Apart from your products or services, what do your customers or clients think of your employees, representatives, sales force, etc.? What do they think of your store, offices, or online presence? What do they think of the way your company conducts itself generally? Even if you've got the best products, prices, or services, you'll capture less business if there's something that your customers or clients don't like about you and your team. If possible, enquire specifically about the employees, salespeople, representatives, and locations that your customers or clients interact with, and allow specific, open-ended feedback to root out every opportunity to improve.

3. Ask your clients and customers to review your products and services. Your sales staff or employees may be second-to-none in customer service, but if your actual product or service offerings are lacking in some way, obviously, your business will suffer. It's not easy to receive bad reviews but think of it as inexpensive R&D, a chance to improve your products based on real-world testing. Reviews about products and services may include an overall, close-ended review (such as a ranking of 1-5 stars), but it may also be useful to collect ongoing, open-ended feedback to allow the customer to mention very specific aspects and features of your offering that they loved or hated--many customers will have both to discuss!

4. Finally, you can ask about overall satisfaction. Satisfaction can be a composite of many factors--your product itself, employee service, physical location, and other things. Asking your customer if they were satisfied soon after your interaction and (for some businesses) at intervals afterward is supremely useful in attracting repeat customers and finding new ones. This line of questioning can ask the customer for a satisfaction ranking, but it can also take the form of "how likely" questions, such as "How likely are you to return to do business with us?" and "How likely are you to recommend us to others?"

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