Every business wants more A and B clients and less C and D clients, but how do you find them? One of the best ways is to create an internal marketing survey and ask your A and B clients some simple questions. The more you can learn about you’re A and B clients, the more you’ll also learn about where you can find them, and you can use this information in your future marketing, however, there are a few rules to follow.
Hardcopy – 90%+
I know many businesses send out electronic surveys because they’re cheaper to distribute, but the open and completion rate is low, so I’m not a huge fan.
I much prefer hardcopy surveys, the ones that arrive in your letterbox.
I know it sounds outdated, but I’ve used hardcopy surveys for years in my podiatry businesses, and our return rate was always close to 90%+ So regardless of your industry, whether it’s podiatry, accountancy or law, this marketing idea will work, and work well.
However, a poorly constructed hardcopy survey can still fail. The concept of hardcopy survey works, I know this for a fact, but the delivery and process to follow is critical.
Here Are My 7 Tips
Here are seven tips to remember to make sure your next internal marketing survey is a massive success.
- It should be simple and only have five to seven questions so that it can be completed in less than 90 seconds.
- It should fit on one page and not extend onto multiple pages. A bonus of keeping the back page blank, it gives you an opportunity to print and promote another service you offer.
- Enclose a stamped, self-addressed envelope. No one is going to throw away an envelope with an unused stamp. You want to make this whole process as simple as possible.
- Enclose a $1 or $2 Instant Win Scratch-It, as a thank you for completing the survey.
- Construct a cleverly written cover letter explaining the reason for the survey, and have fun with it. You can mention if they win big with the Scratch-It they can come back to your business and spend big.
- Before sending the survey, you need to have a meeting with your team and identify your A and B clients
- Develop the questions in the survey, and the questions will vary depending on your purpose.
For example, if you’re considering radio advertising you may ask:
Do you listen to the radio?
- – local radio stations
- – national radio stations
- – I don’t listen to the radio
What times do you listen to the radio?
- – mornings
- – during the day
- – drive time
- – evenings
What do you watch on TV?
- – Which TV stations?
- free to air TV
- pay TV
- Netflix
- – What are your favourite programs?
What do you read?
– newspapers:
- local
- national
- free weekly
Do you read locally published magazines?
Are you a member of any social or sporting clubs?
As I previously mentioned, this information is essential when it comes to planning your future marketing, as you want to maximise your results by only attracting your target market, which is more A and B clients and fewer C and D clients.
Opposite Results
The results from your surveys will sometimes be the exact opposite of what your Sales Rep may be telling you about their marketing product.
I had a Sales Rep from a locally published free magazine visit me, and they explained how good their publication was and why it would be perfect for my podiatry business. Fortunately, I had already started my internal marketing survey and found that none of my A and B patients liked this free magazine; however, patients that were identified as being C and D patients did read it and looked forward to it each month because it was free.
Isn’t that interesting?
So if you’re considering using internal marketing survey, which I think you should, make sure you have a process to follow and continually tweak the questions to learn more about you’re A and B clients.
If this podcast episode or blog has sparked off some interest in developing an internal marketing survey, please send me an email at
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