Sam’s Club Survey - What’s In It For Me ?
I just got an email from Sam’s Club that’s linked to a survey.
It will not get as many responses as it could have gotten, due to “several” flaws.
Click on the image to enlarge it and see if you can add any more tips that Andy Plaukovich and Joe Pilatta could use to increase response next time they attempt to get customers to do their work for them.
First off, how in the heck do you get to be Senior Strategy Manager for Sam’s Club or V.P. of Research for a company contracted by Sam’s Club and make mistakes that even entry level internet marketers should know better than to make ?
Tip #1 - Make me want to respond by giving me a “reason why”. What’s in it for me. Way back in 1904 John E. Kennedy knew you had to give a reason why, when using printed copy. That’s 104 years ago and neither one of these fine young men has bothered to read their marketing history lessons…as of yet.
If they had simple given me a 10% to 20% off coupon, even on one little item, for successfully responding, I’d have taken the survey and so would thousands of others.
How much more effective would the findings be based on a little ol’ increase in response of, say, 350% ? All it would have taken was a simple “reason why“.
Tip #2 - Tell me how many questions or how long it’ll take. If they had simply written ” This short survey is only 10 questions long and takes less than 2 minutes on average…”, I’d have been more likely to take the survey and so would thousands of others.
Another possibly large increase in response that would not have taken much more effort.
I’d be a lot more likely to take this survey if it had been written out in a conversational tone, rather than as a directive, especially since all it’s going to do for me is ” …make your shopping experience and membership benefits even better ! ”
Tip #3 - How about a case study of what was accomplished after the last survey ? Maybe a short, conversational paragraph like this would help boost response:
” After last year’s survey we increased the number of bacon wrapped sausages we give out in Aisle 13 by 42%.
Because you told us you wanted them, we started offering tube socks in bulk and our customers have taken home 3,000,000 gross in the last 9 months alone !
We also listened to you and removed the silly drink cups from the checkout line, because nobody had bought one in 2 years. ”
Think about it. How much more likely would you have been to respond and respond thoughtfully, had the message been written in a short, conversational tone ?
I’m guessing they could increase response an easy 150%. Easy. Would that type of response be worth the 10-15 extra minutes effort ?
Maybe, just maybe, the marketing minds at Sam’s Club will drop by and let us know.
Maybe they’ll even ask me to write their next survey.
I’ll guarantee a bigger, better response or I’ll take no fee. The three tips in this post are free. The others I know are fee. Not much, just enough to make you want to pay attention to the lessons.
I doubt BIGresearch offers that guarantee.
What about it Sam’s Club ? Want me to run an ASK campaign for you ?
Comments
7 Responses to “Sam’s Club Survey - What’s In It For Me ?”
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Mike,
If this is really a screen shot, it’s also ugly and spammy. If it showed up in my inbox I would doubt it was really from Sam’s Club.
I want to see an A/B test of yours vs. theirs, because you’re right, a better letter could knock all 3,000,000 of their (tube) socks off!
Regards,
Kelly
Maximum Customer Experience Blog
Maybe, just possibly, Sam’s Club isn’t interested in the professional, spam-level survey takers. For many of us, we know what Sam’s Club offers. We appreciate the bulk and seldom-seen niche items. For me, the survey was a way to give back to Sam’s Club, to help them continue be a trusted place for me to shop.
@ Kelly - Yes, this is an actual scree shot of the email, which I saved for posterity.
Thanks for stopping by and taking time to join in.
@ Brad - You’re a real gem and they’re lucky to have a customer like you.
Funny you should think this wasn’t spammy, as it clearly looks like SPAM and every email I’ve gotten about this said as much.
I love Sam’s Club, which is why I’m on their email list. I’m not denouncing the Club, just this very juvenile email survey technique.
I initiate survey based marketing campaigns every week for clients and every one of them will pull more and better responses than this one will.
Every.Single.One.Of.Them.
Thanks for adding you opinion, Brad, even though we don’t agree with you in any way, we’re glad you’re here.
BTW Kelly, I subscribed to your RSS feed. I liked your blog and will add it to my Blog Roll.
I agree wholeheartedly. Even loyal customers need incentives from time to time.
I hope they read this post.
Regards
Shane Arthur
Me too, Shane, but readin’ and believin’ are two different things.
I’ve got three teenage or older daughters, so I know for a fact that you can give humans facts and they’ll ignore them if they don’t want to believe
Mike,
Thanks! I’ve been reading your blog for quite a while (loyal email subscriber). I don’t get fired up enough to comment near as often as I should. Hope Sam’s gives you a call!
Regards,
Kelly