In his This Must Be Hard post, Seth Godin wonders why it's so hard for people to follow up after a product or service sale to make sure that everything with the customer is going great:

The reason it must be hard is that so few people do it.

“How was your dinner last night?”

Follow up. Not follow up to sell something, just to know. Just to ask. Just to set things right if they were wrong.

The fancy restaurant knows my phone number. Why not have the owner call me the next day just to ask?

The doctor knows my number. Why not call a week later to see how that broken arm is mending?

The accountant knows my number. Why not check in to see if the taxes went out the door okay?

If you really want to generate those referrals, don't ask for a referral, ask if everything was great. Offer to help. Do it in a gentle way, with no strings, no additional add-ons, no sales pitch. If you really and truly care, why not ask? Not a form, not a survey. Just one caring person, asking. Not that hard, actually.

Lora Adrianse chimes in on her Your Customers Matter…Don't They weblog with her Why Businesses Should Ask For Feedback post:

Fewer than 2% of business people make the effort to initiate meaningful conversations with their customers to get feedback on how they’re doing.  The scary part is, by not asking, you don’t know what you’re missing.

What are the benefits of asking?

• It shows that you care
• You know (vs. guess) how your customers feel about your service
• You get the opportunity to recover from things that may have gone wrong
• You know what you’re doing well
• You can pinpoint processes that may be broken
• You get factual information to use
• You’ll get a good idea about what your customers tell other people
• You get the chance to strengthen your connection

One of the most common questions we get asked when we are planning a customer survey project for a client is what kind of response rate can we expect? It's a reasonable question given that many companies have a history of getting meager response rates. Do you want to know how to significantly increase customer participation in your future feedback intitives?  Show your customers that you care all the time…not just when you want something from them.