Whilst physical shops can rely on face-to-face contact, we rarely have that option when building a website. That’s why, at AITOM, we regularly pick up the phone and ask for the opinions of the people we’re building the website for. In no time at all, we have a set of insights on the table that we’d struggle to come up with on our own.
So why doesn’t everyone use telephone research if it’s so effective? There’s actually a paradox associated with it in agencies. Everyone knows how good it is, but few actually do it. At AITOM, we know that good research requires three things: experience, courage and a well-thought-out process. We’ve got all three.
We recommend you use it when:
- you’re launching a new product or service
- you’re planning a website redesign
- you’re introducing an innovation and want to fine-tune it for your target customers
- your market share is falling and you’re looking for the reason
Not sure if a telephone survey is suitable for your project? We can advise you.
A survey isn’t just a casual chat
Put simply, the aim of the calls is to find out how the customer thinks and to reflect that in the website’s design. Whether it’s the wireframe, UX, design or copy. To involve the end customer in the website creation process as a key player.
It sounds simple, but even at AITOM we had to figure this out years ago. We realised in practice that in the agency-client-initial study-great ideas-fantastic execution chain… we were missing a crucial link – how the end user actually sees it. Bingo. Pick up the phone and give them a call? Could it really be that simple? Actually, yes, if you have, as we know… experience, courage and a well-established process.
And so at AITOM, we simply pick up the phone and, using our own methodology, ask directly those who will be using the website we’re building.
- What are you actually looking for on the website? Is it really what we think?
- What motivates you to place an order and what puts you off?
- What gets in your way on the website and what’s missing?
- What made you decide to become a customer of this company?
A few simple, structured questions usually bring a completely new perspective to website development. We compile the results into a clear report, which reveals:
- What is truly essential for the end customer
- How to adapt the wireframe, design, copy and other elements accordingly
- How to design comprehensive online strategies
A performance increase of tens of percent? Is it really enough just to pick up the phone?
We enjoy telephone surveys here at AITOM. We learn things that we would hardly have thought of ourselves. Although we know (almost) everything about websites, there’s simply strength in numbers. Especially when those are the people for whom we’re building the website.
A typical example was the creation of a website for a well-known relationship coach. In the original design, we structured the site around more than 10 areas in which the coach helps his clients. We focused on the complexity of his offering and looked for a way to reflect this in the new wireframe. And the telephone survey? It set us straight. We discovered that 90% of website visitors were looking for just one of two things – the counsellor’s profile and a Skype consultation. We adapted the wireframe accordingly, and the number of enquiries increased significantly. It was that simple, but we wouldn’t have figured it out on our own.
With our clients’ e-commerce sites, we often find that end customers are wary of redesigns to the sites they’re used to shopping on. That’s when it pays to ask in-depth questions and carefully weigh up every change.
- What exactly do you like about the current website and don’t want to lose?
- What would you say if we added a service…
- What do you think of the idea of moving this feature up… ?
There are often real gems hidden in your customers’ thoughts. Don’t let them go to waste; they can take you a long way forward.
At AITOM, we’ll prepare a free report for you to assess whether a telephone survey is suitable for your project and how best to utilise it.