How to use Bulk SMS to Survey your Customers and Get Valuable Insights

Customer feedback is essential for any business that wants to improve its products, services, and customer experience. However, getting feedback from customers can be challenging, especially if you rely on traditional methods such as email surveys, phone calls, or online forms. These methods often have low response rates, high costs, and limited reach.

That’s why bulk SMS is a great alternative for conducting customer surveys. Bulk SMS allows you to send short and simple questions to your customers via text messages and collect their responses instantly. Bulk SMS surveys have many benefits such as:

• High response rates: According to a study by MobileSquared, SMS has an average response rate of 45%, compared to 6% for email surveys.

• Low costs: Sending bulk SMS is much cheaper than making phone calls or sending physical mailers. You can also save time and resources by using an automated platform that handles the survey creation, distribution, and analysis for you.

• Wide reach: Almost everyone has a mobile phone and can receive text messages. You can reach your customers anytime and anywhere with bulk SMS surveys, regardless of their location or device.

• Instant feedback: You can get real-time feedback from your customers with bulk SMS surveys. You can also follow up with them immediately if you need more information or clarification.

• Customer satisfaction: Customers appreciate being asked for their opinions and being valued by your business. Bulk SMS surveys can help you build trust and loyalty with your customers.

How to create effective bulk SMS surveys

To create effective bulk SMS surveys that deliver valuable insights for your business, you need to follow some best practices such as:

• Define your goal: Before you start creating your survey, you need to have a clear goal in mind. What do you want to learn from your customers? How will you use the feedback to improve your business? Having a specific goal will help you craft relevant and focused questions for your survey.

• Keep it short and simple: Customers are more likely to respond to short and simple surveys that don’t take much time or effort to complete. You should limit your survey to one or two questions per message, and use clear and concise language that avoids jargon or ambiguity.

• Use closed-ended questions: Closed-ended questions are questions that have predefined answers, such as yes/no, multiple choice, or rating scales. They are easier and faster for customers to answer, and easier for you to analyze. You should use closed-ended questions whenever possible, and only use open-ended questions when you need more detailed or qualitative feedback.

• Include incentives: Incentives are rewards that motivate customers to participate in your survey. They can be discounts, coupons, freebies, loyalty points, or anything else that adds value for your customers. You should include incentives in your survey messages to increase response rates and customer satisfaction.

Examples of bulk SMS surveys

Here are some examples of bulk SMS surveys from different industries that you can use as inspiration for your own business:

1. Product feedback

Product feedback is feedback that helps you understand how satisfied your customers are with your products, how often they use them, what features they like or dislike, and what improvements they suggest.

Here’s an example: 

Hi #FirstName#, hope you’re loving your #PRODUCT#. We’d love to know how often you’re using it. 1- Always 2- Sometimes 3- Rarely 4- Never. Thanks, #COMPANY#

2. Service feedback

Service feedback is feedback that helps you understand how satisfied your customers are with your service quality, timeliness, professionalism, and friendliness.

Here’s an example:

Hi #FirstName#, thanks for choosing #COMPANY# for #SERVICE#. Please rate our service on a scale of 1 to 5. (1 - Poor, 5 - Excellent) Thanks, #COMPANY#.

3. Customer satisfaction (CSAT) survey

Customer satisfaction (CSAT) survey is a survey that measures how happy your customers are with their overall experience with your business. It usually asks one question: “How satisfied are you with #COMPANY#?” with a rating scale of 1 to 5, or similar variations.

Here’s an example:

Hi John, Your package was delivered today at 3:30 pm. Please rate us on a scale of 1 to 5. (1 - Do better next time, 5 - Loved it). Thanks, #COMPANY#

4. Net promoter score (NPS) survey

Net promoter score (NPS) survey is a survey that measures how likely your customers are to recommend your business to others. Like the CSAT survey, it also asks one question, which could be: “How likely are you to recommend #COMPANY# to a friend or colleague?” with a rating scale of 0 to 10, where 0 means not at all likely, and 10 means extremely likely.

The responses are then categorized into three groups:

• Promoters: Customers who rate 9 or 10. They are loyal and enthusiastic customers who spread positive word-of-mouth about your business.

• Passives: Customers who rate 7 or 8. They are satisfied but indifferent customers who may switch to competitors if they offer better deals or service.

• Detractors: Customers who rate 0 to 6. They are unhappy and dissatisfied customers who may damage your reputation and growth with negative feedback.

Your NPS is calculated by subtracting the percentage of detractors from the percentage of promoters.

Here’s an example:

Hi #FirstName#, thanks for being a loyal customer of #COMPANY#. How likely are you to recommend us to a friend or colleague? Please reply with a number from 0 to 10. (0 - Not at all likely, 10 - Extremely likely). Thanks, #COMPANY#

5. Customer effort score (CES) survey

Customer effort score (CES) survey is a survey that measures how easy or difficult it was for your customers to complete a specific task or interaction with your business, such as making a purchase, getting support, or using a feature.

In a CES survey, you ask one question such as “How easy was it for you to #TASK#?” and the scale rating is from 1 to 5, where 1 means very difficult, and 5 means very easy.

Your CES is calculated by averaging the ratings across all responses.

A high CES indicates that your customers had a smooth and effortless experience with your business, which can lead to higher retention and loyalty.

A low CES indicates that your customers had a frustrating and challenging experience with your business, which can lead to lower satisfaction and churn.

Here’s an example:

Hi #FirstName#, thanks for contacting #COMPANY# support today. How easy was it for you to get your issue resolved? Please reply with a number from 1 to 5. (1 - Very difficult, 5 - Very easy). Thanks, #COMPANY#

These are some of the most common and effective types of bulk SMS surveys that you can use to survey your customers and get valuable insights for your business.

Nevertheless, you can only achieve these with a reliable bulk SMS provider. If you want to create high-quality bulk SMS surveys that deliver results, contact Celcom Africa today for a quote and free insight on how to get started with bulk SMS marketing.

Don’t miss this opportunity to take advantage of Celcom Africa’s expertise and grow your business with a robust platform for your bulk SMS surveys.