A vast majority of service-based business owners will answer "customer service" or "customer satisfaction" when asked about their top priority. The expression "the customer is always right" was echoed enough times to become a household phrase for a reason. Customers are the cornerstone of service-driven industry. The head-scratcher is that an equally vast majority of these same businesses do not actually collect quantitative feedback, by way of a survey, from their clients who are so dearly coveted.

There are many ways to quickly and effectively obtain measurable satisfaction metrics from clients. Modern-day technology and software has graced businesses and consumers alike with a plethora of free and paid apps and programs to which do just about any task under the sun. Given the wealth of options, every service-based business should be sending out customized satisfaction surveys to obtain their clients feedback. It can be as easy as importing an email database spreadsheet, generating ten simple, yet deeply important questions and clicking send.

Now that the survey is in the hands of the customer, and all has been done to yield the best response rates by sending personalized, customized, branded and easy to use/easy to answer questions, it is equally as important to not only benchmark the results, but to actually do something with them. Hypothetically, if a business is generating an 80% satisfaction rate, they may think that they are doing great because the majority of their customers are satisfied. The reality is that customer loyalty can very often be skin deep, and if a company that offers comparable services, delivers measurable results and has a better bottom line comes around, it might be too late to see what could have been done better to retain that customer. This response shows that 20% of customers are unsatisfied, and it is paramount to find commonalities in their dissatisfaction. Get the feedback and make it a top priority to quantify the most common dissatisfaction that your customers share, and do what it takes to fix it. Once you've resolved the issue, let it be known so that your customers have confidence that you have listened and taken action on their behalf.

When all is said and done, surveys and honest, non-sales interactions with clients will show that the effort to improve is alive. Customers get tired of hearing businesses claiming to offer the best customer service, but they always find the energy to tell their friends and colleagues about the best (or worst) services that they experience. By putting in the effort to receive this invaluable feedback, businesses secure the opportunity to rectify outstanding common issues and save and generate a huge amount of business and profits.

So, what are you waiting for? Find out what goes on behind the scenes of your business with a customer service survey, and watch your client base grow!