Running a business can sometimes be a bit like feeling your way around in the dark, especially if your contact with your customer base is limited. Companies that are run entirely “in the cloud,” such as online retailers without a physical storefront, are even more in the dark than brick and mortar establishments who have constant face to face contact with their customers. Running an occasional email survey or updating your website with an online survey tool can help bring you out of the dark and into the light in two very important ways.

First of all, you can take the information you gather from your emailed or online customer survey to determine the level of customer service you’re providing, and see what needs working on. Relying on individual contacts from customers will only give you insight into what’s gone wrong in the past, as opposed to what you’re doing right. The fact is, even devoted customers rarely ever take the time to let you know when they’re happy—but silence doesn’t necessarily indicate your customers are fully satisfied.

Sending out an email survey or directing customers to a location on your website where they can take the survey online is also a great way to chart your company’s future course. If you see a need that you’re not filling from the feedback you receive, that could be the impetus behind a new direction that substantially grows your business.