The Hello Customer technology can be used in countless ways. It’s a platform that enables organizations to set up all kinds of surveys — proactive or reactive, what I sometimes call push and pull.
Etcetera.
The possibilities are endless.
But that’s exactly why it’s so important to think carefully about what you actually want to know. Because there’s no point in discovering something you can’t use afterwards.
People often say measuring is knowing. But my personal interpretation is: measuring is knowing, but knowing without doing is worthless.
If you want to measure something, you should first understand what you plan to do with what you’ll find. What action will follow? What decision will it help you make? That’s why reflection — real thinking — always comes first.
Thinking defines the survey
The thinking determines how the survey will look. And you can define that survey by considering four variables — what I like to call the four-leaf clover.
Too often, organizations make the mistake of just “sending out a survey.” Because it’s easy, so they do it — and then see what comes back. But that’s not how it works. You have to force yourself to think consciously about what you’re going to ask, to whom, when, and through which channel.
At Hello Customer, this is where our service layer really comes in.
When we say that we’re not just a Software-as-a-Service company but a Software-with-a-Service company — not a SaaS, but a SWaS — this is exactly what we mean.
We don’t just provide the technology to capture and analyze feedback.
We challenge and guide our clients to think these four questions through — before they start asking for feedback.
Our method is to reverse-engineer the process: we start by trying to understand what our clients truly want to know from their customers or employees. From there, we work backwards to define the four variables:
That’s where the difficulty already begins — because you have to make deliberate choices. Which questions do you include, and how long will the survey be?
The longer it gets, the lower your response rate. But can you still gather valuable insights with only a few well-chosen questions? Often yes — if they’re smartly designed.
You also need to decide whether or not to use a known metric. Will you include an NPS question, a Customer Satisfaction question, or a Customer Effort Score question?
To make that choice, you first have to be clear about what you want to achieve. You need to understand what these metrics actually measure, and when they make sense.
At the same time, you should think about how to avoid creating a self-fulfilling prophecy — where the way you phrase a question almost guarantees a certain type of answer. That’s not the goal.
There’s a delicate balance between asking what you want to know, and truly listening to what the respondent wants to say.
The second variable is: who are you asking?
Is it your customers — all of them, or just a specific segment? Is it prospects? Former customers? Employees? Suppliers?
You need to define which group will actually provide the insights you need.
Then, that triggers all sorts of other interesting components: for the group of people that you have chosen, what data do you have about them? That will influence the channel (see point 4) that you'll be choosing to survey them. And what other info is there that could enrich the survey? Personalizing that will do wonders for your response rate.
Also: richer data feeds into the analysis that the tech does for you. We're talking filters, comparisons, aggregates that can reveal relevant differences within the results of the group of people that you are surveying.
The timing of your question is just as crucial. A different moment in the journey can trigger completely different responses.
Depending on what you want to learn, you need to pick the right moment.
Take e-commerce as an example. If you want to know how easy your checkout process is, measure as close as possible to that transaction. If you want to know whether customers are happy with the product they received, ask only after you know it’s been delivered — or even later, once it’s been in use for a while.
The timing of the question shapes the insight. The same goes for employee surveys. Do you ask people right after they join? That can be interesting — but maybe you also want to know the satisfaction of those who’ve been with you longer. Do you ask everyone at the same time, or automatically after their first year? Both work, but the choice will affect the result. None of these results are bad — it just depends on what you intend to do with the information. That’s the reflection you need upfront.
And of course, take survey fatigue into account: don’t over-survey. Let the technology help you manage that, but make sure it’s configured to do so.
The fourth variable goes hand in hand with timing and audience: through which channel will you ask the question?
What’s the best way to reach your audience?
Will it be via WhatsApp, email, a website pop-up, a feedback button, a QR code, or maybe a poster?
You can combine multiple channels if it makes sense — but again, the choice should be deliberate. The chosen channel must be in line with the other three variables that you are working with. It's hardly ever one-size-fits-all. Use the different channels at your disposal, play around with them: the technology will help you with the analysis — that’s not where the worry is. Test and learn what works best.
The fourth variable goes hand in hand with timing and audience: through which channel will you ask the question?
What’s the best way to reach your audience?
Will it be via WhatsApp, email, a website pop-up, a feedback button, a QR code, or maybe a poster?
You can combine multiple channels if it makes sense — but again, the choice should be deliberate. The chosen channel must be in line with the other three variables that you are working with. It's hardly ever one-size-fits-all. Use the different channels at your disposal, play around with them: the technology will help you with the analysis — that’s not where the worry is.
Those four variables — the set of questions, the group of people, the moment in their journey, and the channel — together form one touchpoint.
An organization can have several touchpoints running at the same time, as long as no one is being over-surveyed. Technology can help manage that balance.
But once again: it all starts with the thinking.
Technology can do everything, but reflection remains essential
The technology can do almost anything. But it’s up to organizations — supported by our team at Hello Customer — to answer these four questions well.
Only then can you truly get the most relevant and valuable results from the technology, aligned with your own goals.
Measuring is knowing, yes. But knowing without doing will always be worthless. And to be able to do smart things, you have to do some smart thinking up front.
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