Market research, especially B2B market research is one shade to the left of database or direct marketing. Hence we share many common pain points and success measures with our fellow marketing kin. One key area is the quality of our database(s). Maintaining databases that are current and populated with relevant data is just as critical to our research efforts as it is our organization’s marketing efforts. This point was brought to my attention recently.

This week I received an email that clearly was acquisition focused. Normally this does not bother me as part of my role includes serving as a gatekeeper for all things related to marketing technology. As such, when I attend a webinar I expect to receive an email or phone follow-up. This is smart and effective lead generation. However, given that my company is already a partner with the organization in question it would make more sense to focus on customer retention and loyalty when communicating with me.

Well in the interest of customer feedback I sent a note to the company questioning why this occurred. Their response was a lesson in best practice. The vice president sent me a personalized note indicating he was sorry for the inconvenience, explained the action that was being taken to correct the issue and offered a gift card for my trouble. The truth is the gift card is a nice gesture, but the simple act of replying in a timely fashion with a reasoned and thoughtful response saved the day.

The literature is stacked in favor of companies who reply promptly, courteously and with a well-crafted message. Although, in the scheme of things, this was a relatively minor issue, it does point out that this company takes the voice of the customer seriously. Although the nature of this issue was not as serious as a breach of customer satisfaction it did trigger a response. This is the critical point! As researchers we need to do the same. If someone responds outside of your survey, take the initiative and close the loop with courteous and actionable feedback.