Aside from your annual “member survey,” what kind of mechanisms does your organization have in place to collect feedback from your members and customers? There are plenty of vehicles for collecting feedback. In no particular order, here are a few ideas.
- Put feedback forms at the bottom of every web page.
- Add a tagline on outgoing emails with a link to that form.
- Place self-address, postage-paid postcards in physical orders, asking for feedback.
- Have your database automatically send an email one or two weeks after an order is fulfilled, asking them for feedback. See this post for a great example.
- Set up kiosks at meetings asking for feedback on just a few items.
- Allow for comments on your organization’s blog. (You do have a blog, don’t you?)
- Have anyone who is answering the phone to ask a question at the end of each conversation, soliciting feedback from the caller.
As a side note, try to make as many of these options anonymous, where possible. And, when possible, be sure to thank anyone who has provided feedback (it would be difficult to thank an anonymous sender of a postcard).
The beauty here is that some of these feedback mechanisms can be tied to a customer’s record in your database. For example, if you have a blog and the user must be logged in to post comments, this information can be captured automatically into your association management system. And using this feedback can help you identify who your potential future leaders are.
So how many have you tried or are you doing now? And what other ideas would you add to the list?