Do you know what your customers really want?

You want to grow your business. You set your goals. Define your strategy. Work out your tactics and start to implement.

But how do you know you're on the right track?

If you’re not using your customers as your best source of business improvement, you’re missing out on a goldmine of information. After all, who better to tell you what they want from you, what they like about you, and what you could improve.

So it's your ability to ask for feedback, not get bent out of shape when you hear stuff that you don't like and then correct things, that will be a great determiner of your success.

And of course, feedback is not just about finding out what's going wrong. It's equally about finding out what you're doing well and can give you great ideas for innovation.

And if you think this doesn’t apply to you…

Check out this article from Bain & Company (one of the world's leading business consulting firms) on "How to achieve true customer led growth" which discusses just how commonly companies misread the market.

“Most companies assume they’re consistently giving customers what they want. Usually, they’re kidding themselves. When we recently surveyed 362 firms, we found that 80% believed they delivered a “superior experience” to their customers. But when we then asked customers about their own perceptions, we heard a very different story. They said that only 8% of companies were really delivering.”

And here’s a real example from our files…

“The customer survey you did for us saved our business!” was the first thing one of our old clients said to us when we met.

“Huh? Really, I had no idea… tell me more…”

The story actually begins almost 7 years ago when they commissioned a customer satisfaction survey.

They knew they had issues, that some of their clients weren’t altogether happy, and they needed to confirm what was going on.

So we spoke with about 30 of their clients in depth and found out the truth – the good (and there was a lot of that), the bad and the downright ugly.

And while most of their clients loved them, there were issues even there. Issues that needed to be acknowledged and resolved.

Back to our client…

They said that if they’d just gone on the way they’d been going, they wouldn’t be in business today. Knowing the truth from their customer’s perspective and then being able to do something about fixing issues, setting appropriate expectations and delivering set them back on the path to retention, and expansion.

So if you’re responsible for business growth how can you find out where you can improve?

Commission us to conduct Customer Satisfaction Interviews on your behalf and find out the truth. The truth about what your customers really think about you. In our experience over 11 years, 90% of the time you get very positive and useful feedback, however, we also find room for improvement.

You need to know what’s happening from your customer’s perspective (and that is the only one that counts). Then you can do something about it before it’s too late.

Doing a survey has another major benefit. Your clients will love you – they feel appreciated that you’ve taken the time to contact them and ask for their opinion. It’s led to referrals, and even upsells. (Yes, we do take the opportunity to promote some of your products where appropriate).

These are not impersonal web based surveys where your clients get multiple choice answers. They are fully personalised “conversations” where we drill down into what’s really going on with your clients and how you can best serve them.

And if you’re thinking, “I can do this myself”, I’d caution against it.

Here are 14 good reasons why you should use us rather than doing it yourself.

1. People are far more likely to open up to a non-involved third party and give honest feedback. Think about it this way… If someone gives you negative feedback, you’re likely to get defensive (it’s only human), and knowing this people often shy away from telling you the truth. This doesn’t happen when talking to us as we’re not involved and have nothing to get defensive about.

2. We custom design a questionnaire of up to 20 questions tailored to what you want to find out.

3. Interviews (which average between 20 and 30 minutes) are conducted in a conversational style. We don’t “interrogate” your clients and ask questions by rote.

4. We get answers and insights from your client that you’re unlikely to get because clients often are more comfortable opening up to an “uninvolved” party.

5. You find out why they love doing business with you.

6. You find out what and how you can improve your products and services.

7. You get feedback of what other services and products you could offer.

8. You’ll discover where to advertise… Which magazines, newspapers and other publications your clients read and have subscribed to.

9. Do your clients use the web to research and buy your type of products/services and which social networking sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn they spend their time on. This information allows us to design targeted marketing campaigns.

10. You get an Executive Summary of our findings and our recommendations for improvement.

11. You get a detailed write up of the conversation including the positives and any negatives in the business relationship between you and your client.

12. We will call you in case something important comes up during the interview. We’ve had cases where potential business was to be picked up or a sticky situation had to be resolved quickly to keep the client happy.

13. Includes call costs within Australia.

14. Calls are made during day time, or at a time convenient to your clients

How many people should be interviewed?

We suggest interviewing between 10 to 20 of your clients (and some ex- clients). You decide the mix, but we suggest some top, middle and lower end clients to give you a spread of results.

We design the questions and make the calls. You get a very comprehensive report on what each one said - the good, the bad and the ugly.

This way you KNOW what your customers REALLY THINK and can IMPROVE where necessary.

How much does this cost?

Your investment per interview is $110 inc GST

Remember, our surveys are not done by telemarketers who ask a set series of rote questions. They are in-depth interviews customised for your business. The questions are asked by business consultants who’ve had over 20 years’ experience in sales, marketing and production. You get a comprehensive, detailed report with the good, the bad and the ugly.

We’ve often found new business opportunities for our clients just through asking the right questions and sometimes “fixing” issues that come up in the survey process. So call us on (02) 9499-7958 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and ask us how we can help you get more business.

What else can you do with this information?

Your client interviews can be used as the basis for case studies and testimonials which you can use in your marketing to provide endorsements and social proof.

Click here for more information on this additional service.

Here are some comments from other clients

 "Rashid thanks for the case studies and testimonials that you provided. This report provided insights into our customers that we would not have been able have gleaned from our customers if we asked the same questions.

The information you provided is concise, with invaluable comments that we will used in future marketing materials. I especially appreciate the phones calls to discuss the progress and general feedback." Tom Johns, Marketing Manager, Project Engraving & Digital, Perth.

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 "We recently had Rashid and Barbara put together a list of client testimonials for us to help build our business image and have been very happy with the excellence in the service and quality of the work that has been done for our business.  This was an excellent unbiased way of also creating feedback for ways with which to improve our business which came out as a bonus to that which we requested Rashid and Barbara’s help.  We would be more than happy to refer others to use this service and also already have done so with other partners in our business." John Hollyman, RK Financial Planning, Sydney

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 "We utilised Revealed Resources to do a long overdue customer satisfaction survey.

Our customers were very impressed that we were taking time out to listen to them, as Rashid made them feel more important.

The survey itself was done with a minimum effort from us, whilst achieving valuable feedback from our clients.

The results from the survey were threefold.

1. Firstly we got back some verbatim quotes to exemplify the points our customers were making about us.
2. Secondly we got back some quantifiable scores on how or if our customers would recommend us to others.
3. Thirdly and most importantly we got back Rashid's' concise executive summary and "Action Steps" so we could modify our internal processes to improve our customer service offering.

I would highly recommend any company doing a Customer satisfaction survey to check out what customers really think of them and to put in place positive steps to improve their service levels."  Wayne Goodrich - Sales Director, Perenso, Sydney.

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 "Thankyou!

The survey results we feel will be a great tool for us to grow and improve our business.

The feedback I have received from our coordinators is that your service

was well worth the expenditure."

Dan Chappell, Conference and Banquets Manager,Panthers World of Entertainment