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Borders Does Surveys Right!

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I’ve been tracking the use of email by loyalty program sponsors for the past year as part of a broader study which I plan to release by September 2008. An early look into how the airlines use email to communicate with their frequent flyers was published earlier this year in the Breaking News section of my websiteHanifin Loyalty LLC.

One observation from the complete study I can share is how seldom companies reach out to survey me at all. When they do, I have rarely noticed follow up offers or promotions that tie back to my survey responses.

Borders has broken that string, and the e-survey they sent me today was worth a post.

The cornerstones of an effective e-survey were in evidence:

  1. My participation was encouraged by the promise of a 30% discount off my next purchase.
  2. The survey was promised to be short and it was! It only consisted of 4-5 questions.
  3. The survey was structured to generate answers which could populate a financial model leading to actionable promotions.

The objective of the survey was to identify the value of my book spend over the past 6 months and learn how much of this amount was purchased online, and where. Using these answers, Borders will be able to estimate my value as a customer and understand my preference for online or offline shopping. Key to the survey is that Borders will be able to calculate their share of my book-spending wallet.

What Borders will do with the survey results is a matter of conjecture, but one expectation that stands without compromise is that they follow up by offering me a promotion to make a purchase online in the very near future.

Doing so would let me know two things:

  • that it was worth my time to participate in the survey, and
  • that Borders took action on the results

If Borders comes through with this expected follow up, you can bet I’ll be more likely to open their emails in the future.

In Loyalty Truth……..Bill Hanifin

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