Let’s face it, fleet mobility competition is big. While there are not definitive numbers as to the size of the Australian fleet market, some estimates indicate there are around 19,000 businesses operating fleets with 20 vehicles or more. And then there’s those that have less than 20 vehicles! The point is your customers have plenty of choice. So, staying in touch and understanding their needs is crucial for customer retention. And short, regular surveys are the best way to gather the information you need.

If your customers aren’t getting the attention they want, they can simply leave and go to someone who does take the time to check in with them to ensure their needs are being met. You just don’t know what’s going on in their head unless you ask.

How regular surveys can help your business

Customer satisfaction surveys can help you:  

• understand customer sentiment across segments
• determine how likely customers are to stay loyal to you
• gauge satisfaction over time
• learn what affects customer perception
• create a happier customer base that sings your praises
• find customers to feature in case studies.

Regular surveys can tell you more about what your clients expect from you, which can help you improve your business offering and customer satisfaction. And it doesn’t have to be a complex process.

Ask one simple question

The Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a metric that gauges customer loyalty and satisfaction based on one simple question: “On a scale of 0 to 10, how likely are you to recommend us?”

Why is NPS important?

The results from this question can help you improve your service, customer support, delivery, etc to ultimately increase customer loyalty. The happier and more loyal the customer, the more likely they are to act as evangelists for your brand, fuel word of mouth, and generate a growth cycle for your business.

NPS follow up questions

While NPS is a valuable metric on a strategic level, it doesn’t paint a complete picture. That one simple question may set the scene, but it also allows you to:

• ask follow-up questions, such as “why did you give us that score?”. By asking customers why they've given a specific score, you can understand what you’re doing well and what you could improve
• track and quantify the results to help create internal benchmarks
• encourage all employees to earn more enthusiastic customers.

What other questions should you ask?

The other kinds of questions to ask in your short survey should help make your overall results easier to analyse, and ultimately provide you the foundations for improving your customer service and satisfaction.  

Before drafting your survey questions, work out what your goals are? Ask yourself, “What am I hoping to achieve through this survey?” And then plan your questions accordingly.

Keep it short and simple

Everyone is pressed for time, but they’re still interested in giving their feedback when they can. A short survey shows that you respect your customers’ opinions - and their time.

Show you value their feedback

Asking for your customers’ feedback on a regular basis demonstrates to the that you value what they have to say. It shows them you’re a proactive organisation that is committed to providing the best mobility fleet service, support and vehicles to suit their needs.

It’s not just a one-off

A lot can change in the space of a year. To keep up to date with what’s changing in your customers’ world, sending regular surveys is a great practice. Surveying your customers every six months helps you check in throughout the year to see if anything has changed that would cause them to leave. If you only ask once per year, you might not have a chance to retain them before it’s too late.

Survey by segments

You don’t have to survey everyone at once. You can spread the surveys out evenly across different segments in your client base. This can help manage their feedback and address concerns as they come in on a smaller scale.

Surveying different groups of people at different times also allows you to maintain a more constant flow of feedback and potential reviews and referrals throughout the year.

Don’t let an unhappy customer go unnoticed‍

Just because a customer was happy with your business to begin with, it doesn’t mean they always will be.

If you’re not staying in regular contact with your customers, it’s unlikely that you’ll have any idea if they are dissatisfied, and before you know it, they will have switched to one of your competitors. By sending regular surveys you can stay on top of their expectations and do your best to accommodate them.  

Encourage a referral mindset

Surveying your fleet mobility clients a couple of times a year about how likely they are to recommend your business is a tactful way to encourage referrals.

To summarise, sending surveys to your fleet mobility clients every six months, gives you the opportunity to show that you value them. It allows you to gather up-to-date information about them and their needs, which allows you to make the necessary improvements to your business. The flow on effect of this, is greater customer loyalty, satisfaction and retention.