In the middle of our financial crisis and recession, many affiliate marketers are preparing for potential declining earnings. Some of these internet entrepreneurs are wondering if their online enterprise will survive into the future.Listen, if you are one of those worried internet marketers, don\'t worry! The dreadful clouds of recession are silver-lined with bountiful opportunities!You have doubtless heard about how relationship building is the key to online success. Some Internet marketing experts talk about the process that leads to a closed sale as the â€sales funnelâ€; I prefer to call it the â€trust funnel†because sales only come where there is trust.Now in recessionary times, trust becomes more important than ever because as money becomes tight, people become less willing to part with their cash.But the good news - the silver lining in the billowing clouds of recession - is that online businesses that focus on and respond to the changing needs and perceptions of their target market are the ones that are most likely to build newer or deeper relationships of trust and enjoy a new period of growth in spite of the recession.The great thing about the Internet is that it offers website owners many opportunities to engage in dialogue with customers or potential customers. This type of interaction can be found on forums, blogs and email exchanges, for instance.One other effective way of interacting with visitors to your website is through customer service surveys which can be set up and run for less than a dollar a day via websites such as Onlinesurveywizard.com, Surveypro.com or Surveymonkey.com.Your online surveys can be designed to provide feedback on whatever it is that you offer. On the other hand, you could run a focused survey to find out about the customer’s concerns and desires.No matter what your survey theme is, make sure the focus is clear and the theme is consistent throughout.One way to smooth the path through the survey for the survey taker is to ask closed-ended questions that invite clear yes/no answers. You can create open ended questions with 4 answer choices set in an a-b-c-d format.Assuage any worries the survey takers may have about the security and confidentiality of their private information.When you have collated and analyzed all the data, post a report on your website or blog and invite your visitors to leave feedback.The whole survey taking process should be viewed as a trust-building exercise between yourself and a segment of your customer base.Done well, customer service surveys will reveal a lot of useful information about your target market. Don’t let it go to waste, but act on the results by bringing to the market goods and services that answer to the current needs of your target market. That kind of responsive interaction with your market that online customer service surveys provide is much more likely to win the kind of trust and loyalty that you are going to need from your customers if your business is to grow during the recessionary cycle.
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