It’s no wonder that customer experience (CX) has become a priority for many businesses. According to Forrester, slight improvement in customer experience may result in millions of dollars in annual revenue. CX is the competitive edge that separates winners from losers in many sectors.

In the marketing intelligence industry, the hype around CX is relevant and contemporary. For starters, the research team gives firms with the information they require to optimize the end-to-end customer experiences. However, there’s another strong reason for researchers to include CX: research efforts are, by definition, part of the consumer experience. From the consumer’s perspective, your company’s surveys and conversations aren’t different from their brand experience when they visit your shop or contact with a customer care representative.

People agree to share their time, feedback, and views with you when they opt in to engage in your surveys, conversations, and other online community events. It’s essential to demonstrate that you value your customers’ time by thinking about their experience and how they might feel after interacting with you.

It doesn’t have to be difficult to improve the quality of your research experience. To get you started, here are four basic strategies.

1. Watch your tone

The tone in which you interact with your clients has an influence on how much time they give you. Customers have high expectations these days, and the tone you prefer may either improve or detract from the brand experience. Speak to your customers as partners rather than bosses, consultants rather than machines, and adults rather than children.

Consider your online community’s most recent activity. Do your inquiries like those on a tax form? If this is the case, it’s time to reconsider your tone. Greater brand trust and engagement will come when you relate to your clients in an honest, familiar way that offers value to their lives.

2. Motivate and demonstrate progress

Lengthy surveys should be avoided in practice. According to the GRIT Consumer Participation in Research research, 81 percent of participants prefer surveys that last not more than 15 minutes.

Conducting a brief survey and doing follow-up actions with only the people who are relevant is a superior system. If you really must deliver a long activity, make sure it is enjoyable and friction less for your clients.

To begin, be clear about the time commitment. People are less likely to become angry if you are upfront about the projected time it would take to complete an activity.

3. Share results

Users join online forums for a range of factors, one of which is to learn new things. By sharing what other members of the community have contributed, you may tap into this drive.

Allow your consumers to compare their replies to those of their peers by using charts and other visualizations in your community. If you’re doing a house-buying survey, for example, you might reveal the proportion of people in your town who have just purchased their first home.

Obviously, not every discovery and insight should be shared, but by frequently discussing outcomes with your community members, you’re giving them something to think about before moving on to the next topic or activity. Customers may get to know other individuals in the community through Share backs, which can help build a feeling of purpose and belonging.

4. Request feedback on the experience.

You may never know whether individuals are falling asleep while answering your polls until you ask for honest feedback. It’s vital to keep track of your community’s response rates, but it’s just as important to give individuals a chance to voice their thoughts about their experience when they take part in your study. This might be as easy as asking after each activity, “How engaging did you find this survey?” or “Did this survey feel relevant?”

Another alternative is to offer a more broad question (e.g., “Is there anything else you’d want to discuss?”) to get individuals to give their thoughts on topics you haven’t considered.

Don’t allow poor market research damage your brand CX

Customers will continue to prefer brands that offer a positive experience. It’s past time for market researchers to consider themselves as part of the customer experience ecosystem. Customers aren’t just buyers; they’re individuals who want to be treated as equals and who want to be heard. It’s time to incorporate the human aspect into all of your research endeavors.