Survey Customers Without Invading Their Privacy

For many businesses, engaging in customer research can mean walking a fine line between gathering vital information for you and intruding on the customer's privacy. It's a tough nut. You need to know who your customers really are and the reasons behind their buying decisions. But crossing the line to find out too much can be downright perilous.

"Staying out of customers' lives altogether takes away the ability to market effectively," notes Norman Scarborough, associate professor of business administration at Presbyterian College in Clinton, S.C. "But pursuing customers too aggressively or collecting unnecessary information will sour them faster than a glass of milk on a hot sidewalk."

That makes it essential to balance your needs with their right to maintain a level of privacy. Here are seven guidelines to help you tread that narrow line.

1.    Decide first what you really need to know.

Many businesses approach customer information far too generically. They solicit across a broad swath, fishing for all kinds of data. That's a two-pronged mistake. For one thing, unnecessary research may cost you more. But just as important, you run the risk of spooking customers who worry you may be bullying your way into their privacy.

Start by identifying the information you'll genuinely need. If household income matters, include it. By the same token, if logistics are secondary, you can skip asking where your customers live.

2.    Treat your research as you would any contact with your customers.

Researching who's buying your product, and why, doesn't mandate a complicated, foreign set of guidelines. Approach it as you would any aspect of customer service: Be forthright and ethical and conduct yourself in a manner that your clientele expects of you. "Treat your research as an extension of your customer service," says David Holtzman of GlobalPOV, a Washington, D.C., technology consulting firm. "If, for instance, the information you gathered leaked out, could you comfortably live with it? If you can, then you're OK."

3.    Ask your customers for help and input.

If you want to balance adequate information with sensitivity to customers' privacy, talk to the folks whose privacy is in question. Prior to introducing customer research programs, arrange for a focus group or circulate a prototype customer questionnaire. Have them point out what's reasonable and what's too nosy. "It's always a good idea to test any survey on a small group before taking it full scale," Scarborough says. "Those taking the survey may interpret a particular question in a completely different way from what you intended."

4.    Make it absolutely clear how you will use the information.

No client should be asked to share personal specifics unless he or she is told what the information is being used for.

If your business model calls for sharing the personally identifiable information that you collect, make it clear that there is a legitimate value proposition for customers providing you with their personal information. Post appropriate notice to them, such as in a privacy statement that can be found easily on your Web site.

Be sure to obtain their explicit consent to share their information with third parties, if your information-sharing plans go beyond what you simply need to do to fulfill customer requests, such as shipping them a product they ordered.

"There should be absolutely no surprises, like calls at 2 a.m. from someone you sold a customer list to," Holtzman says.

5.    Tailor your methodology to your customers' comfort level.

Don't overlook the fact that your method of gathering information could be more intimidating than the data you seek. Find out in advance the best ways to make your customers feel comfortable passing along personal details about themselves. Some may be perfectly at ease filling out online customer profiles, while others may prefer a paper form and a Ticonderoga No. 2. Again, any way you can address customers' comfort level will imbue them with an overall sense of confidence that what you're asking them is justified and will be treated accordingly.

6.    Make it quid pro quo.

Another effective way to balance information and privacy is a sense of equity between a business and its customers. Look into offering your customer base something of value in return for their willingness to share personal data about themselves. Try to make it substantive, such as discounts, specials that only they may be privy to, and other perks that may make them more at ease about giving out personal information. "Customers have a subjective sense about equity," Holtzman says. "If they give up something, they should get something. If they don't get that, eventually they're going to feel cheated."

7.    Keep the information safe and, in time, get rid of it.

It goes without saying that keeping customer data secure is the very heart of a genuinely effective privacy program. So don't skimp on whatever safeguards you think are warranted. That covers everything from sophisticated firewalls and intrusion-protection software to reminding employees to lock cabinets at night.

Moreover, it's not necessary to keep customer data indefinitely. For his part, Holtzman suggests a "pull" date for information on customers who, say, haven't bought anything in a year or two. Not only does that further solidify a focus on privacy but also makes your customer information archives more manageable by weeding out outdated or worthless data.

Jeff Wuorio writes about small-business management, marketing and technology issues and is co-founder of www.MyYawp.com, a Web site geared to producing superlative blogs and Web sites.