ITA - Customer Feedback Survey for U.S. Organizations

U.S. Department of Commerce / Commercial Service OMB Control No. 0690-0030

Customer Feedback Survey for U.S. Organization Expiration Date: 04/30/2014

U.S. Department of Commerce / Commercial Service (DOC / CS) employees located domestically across the country and internationally in U.S. Embassies/Consulates around the globe provide information and assistance to help U.S. organizations increase their exports and international outreach. You have received this survey invitation because our records indicate that you received information and assistance from DOC / CS in the past 12 months with your primary agency contact being [Insert Name Here] working with you from our [Insert Location Here] office.

Federal agencies, like businesses, need to meet the needs and expectations of their clients. We need your feedback on the assistance you received from the DOC / CS over the past twelve months in order to improve how we serve U.S. organizations such as yours.

We will keep your organization’s identity private and your survey responses will not be shared outside of the DOC / CS office conducting this survey without your consent. The survey includes 19 questions and will take approximately 10-15 minutes to complete.

1) What kind of assistance has your organization received from the Department of Commerce / Commercial Service over the past 12 months? Please check all that apply:

• Completing export documentation (shippers export declaration, certificate of origin, etc.)

• Complying with foreign (and domestic) regulations, standards, certification, and licenses

• Gathering market or competitive intelligence

• Developing a strategy to begin exporting, enter new markets, and/or expand export sales

• Obtaining marketing/media exposure in a foreign country

• Identifying and /or arranging appointments with foreign partners, distributors and buyers

• Overcoming a market access barrier/unfair trade practice/intellectual property issue

• Competing for a foreign government procurement

• Other - Please Specify:____________________________________

2) How did your organization receive assistance from the Department of Commerce / Commercial Service (DOC / CS) over the past 12 months? Please check all that apply:

• Obtained information from Export.gov

• Received assistance from DOC / CS staff located in the United States

• Received assistance from DOC / CS staff located internationally

• Purchased a DOC / CS service or report

• Attended a DOC / CS webinar or local event/seminar

• Participated in a DOC / CS trade mission

• Participated in a DOC / CS program at a trade show

• Other - Please Specify:________________________________________

3) How did you first learn about the Department of Commerce / Commercial Service (DOC / CS)? Please check the PRIMARY source only.

• Referral (business or personal connection

• Referral (government agency)

• Local event, workshop, or seminar

• DOC - CS direct outreach

• Used DOC / CS services/assistance in the past

• Trade/Industry journal

• Export.gov website

• Social media

• Other - Please Specify:________________________________________

4) Why did you choose to work with the Department of Commerce / Commercial Service (DOC / CS)? Please check all that apply.

• DOC / CS provides impartial information and assistance

• DOC / CS provides affordable information and assistance

• DOC / CS provides access to foreign buyers/distributors /partners

• DOC / CS provides access to foreign government officials/decision-makers

• Unaware of alternative service providers for what I need and/or can afford

• Other - Please Specify:________________________________________

5) Using a scale of 1 to 10 where 1 = POOR and 10 = EXCELLENT, please rate the Department of Commerce / Commercial Service as a whole in terms of our:

• Timeliness

• Being easy to work with

• Ability to understand your needs

• Consistency of service delivery

• Industry knowledge

• Country knowledge

• Accuracy and relevancy of information provided

• Value-added

• Affordability

6) Using a 10 point scale where 1 means VERY DISSATISFIED and 10 means VERY SATISFIED, how satisfied are you overall with the information and assistance provided by the Department of Commerce / Commercial Service over the past 12 months?

7) Using a scale from 1 to 10 where 1 means DEFINITELY WOULD NOT and 10 means DEFINITELY WOULD, how likely are you to recommend the Department of Commerce / Commercial Service to organizations that are not your direct competitors?

8) Using a scale from 1 to 10 where 1 means DEFINITELY WOULD NOT and 10 means DEFINITELY WOULD, how likely are you to use the information and assistance of the Department of Commerce / Commercial Service again?

9) Did the Department of Commerce / Commercial Service (DOC / CS) significantly contribute to the achievement of your organization’s export/international outreach objectives during the past 12 months? Please check all that apply.

• Increased my knowledge related to exporting or international outreach

• Increased my ability to export or conduct international outreach

• Saved my organization time / made it easier to export or conduct international outreach

• Increased my confidence and commitment as an exporter

• Improved my organization’s internal processes related to exporting/international outreach

• Enabled my organization to comply with foreign regulations, standards, or licenses

• Obtained a referral to a useful resource or service provider external to DOC / CS

• Acquired useful market or competitive intelligence

• Identified suitable foreign partners, distributors or buyers

• Other - Please Specify:________________________________

10) Using a scale of 1 to 10 where 1 means NOT SIGNIFICANT AT ALL and 10 means SIGNIFICANT TO A LARGE EXTENT, how significant was the Department of Commerce / Commercial Service in achieving the objectives you listed in the previous question?

11) Did the Department of Commerce / Commercial Service (DOC / CS) significantly contribute to your organization achieving any of the following results during the past 12 months? Please check all that apply.

• Increased revenue from exporting/ international outreach

• Exported for the first-time

• Exported to a new foreign market

• Won a foreign government procurement

• Overcame a market access barrier/unfair trade practice/intellectual property issue Enrolled non-U.S. students at an educational institution

• Secured foreign publicity/media exposure

• Signed a master franchisee

• Other – Please Specify: ________________________________

12) What foreign country (or countries) did the Department of Commerce / Commercial Service help your organization achieve the results you listed in the previous question? (Select multiple countries by holding the "Ctrl" button down on your keyboard):

• List of countries (see attachment)

• Other – Please Specify: _______________________________________

13) Please provide the approximate dollar value and percent increase in revenue achieved during the past 12 months with Department of Commerce / Commercial Service assistance:

• Dollar Value (no decimals): ____________

• Percentage Increase (no decimals): _____________

(Note: If your organization is an education institution, please provide the dollar value based on one year of tuition and room/board multiplied by the number of foreign students enrolled. If your organization is in the travel and tourism industry, please provide the dollar value based on the equivalent cost of the advertising/publicity you secured with DOC / CS assistance)

14) Please provide the approximate number and percent increase in jobs that were safeguarded or created with Department of Commerce / Commercial Service assistance during the past 12 months:

• Safeguarded

  • Number: ______________ Percent Increase: _________________

• Created

  • Number: _____________ Percent Increase: _________________

15) Thinking about the results you mentioned achieving in the previous questions, which of the following best describes your view of the contribution that the Department of Commerce / Commercial Service made for your company?

• We would have achieved similar results anyway

• We would have achieved similar results, but not as quickly

• We would have achieved some, but not all, of the results

• We probably would not have achieved similar results

• We definitely would not have achieved similar results

• Other - Please Specify:________________________________________

16) What information or assistance do you anticipate needing over the next 12-24 months to increase your exports/international outreach? Please check all that apply:

• Completing export documentation (shippers export declaration, certificate of origin, etc.)

• Complying with foreign (and domestic) regulations, standards, certification, and licenses

• Gathering market or competitive intelligence

• Developing a strategy to begin exporting, enter new markets, and/or expand export sales

• Modifying your organization’s products/services for foreign markets

• Obtaining marketing/media exposure overseas

• Identifying and /or arranging appointments with foreign partners, distributors and buyers

• Overcoming a market access barrier/unfair trade practice/intellectual property issue

• Competing for a foreign government procurement

• Obtaining export financing and insurance; such as working capital loans / loan guarantees, foreign receivables insurance and foreign buyer loans / loan guarantees

• Obtaining export funding and grants for sales trips overseas, foreign trade missions, design of international marketing products and campaigns, export trade show exhibits, and project feasibility studies

• Other - Please Specify:________________________________________

17) What foreign countries (or countries) are you interested in entering or expanding your exports and international outreach into over the next 12-24 months? (Select multiple countries by holding the "Ctrl" button down on your keyboard):

• List of countries (see attachment)

• Other – Please Specify: _______________________________________

18) Comments / Suggestions - What other information would you like to include about the contribution the Department of Commerce / Commercial Service made to your organization during the past 12 months and how DOC / CS can improve the information and assistance provided to company’s like yours in the future.

• Open ended comments

19) Please check the boxes below if you would be willing to:

• Share your survey responses and identity with your DOC / CS service providers

• Share your survey responses and identity with DOC / CS stakeholders

• Participate in discussion groups or in a personal interview

• Answer additional survey questions

IF Q19 = Willing to answer additional survey questions, THEN ASK: The Commercial Service is pilot testing this questionnaire and would appreciate your feedback about your survey experience. Would you mind answering 7 more questions, which should take less than five minutes, to help CS understand what clients like yourself think about the experience? Yes/No

• IF YES, PROCEED TO Q20.

• IF NO, skip to salutation at bottom of survey

20) I’d like you to think back about your experience as you went through the questionnaire, please.

1. Approximately how long would you say that it took you to complete the questionnaire? RECORD RESPONSE _________________________

2. Would you say that was…

• Rather short

• About right

• A little too long?

3. IF RATHER SHORT/LITTLE TOO LONG, ASK What do you think would be about the right length of time?

• Up to 5 minutes

• More than 5 minutes but less than 10 minutes

• More than 10 minutes but less than 15 minutes

• More than 15 minutes but less than 20 minutes

21. I would like you to think about the questions that were asked, please.

1. Were there questions that you thought should have been asked but were not in the questionnaire? Yes/No

• IF YES, ASK: What other topics should we be asking about that are important to understanding how CS can help its clients better? RECORD RESPONSE___________

• IF NO, CONTINUE

2. Still thinking about the questions that were asked, were there questions that you felt were not clear? Yes/No.

• IF YES, ASK: What were those, please? RECORD RESPONSE _______________

• IF NO, CONTINUE

3. Were there questions that you felt were repetitive or redundant? Yes/No

• IF YES, ASK: Which ones were those, please? RECORD RESPONSE __________

• IF NO, CONTINUE

22. Now, I need to ask your thoughts about the timing of the questionnaire, please. Generally, how likely would you be to participate in an annual survey that was about 10 to 12 minutes long? Would you say you are:

• Not at all likely to participate

• Somewhat likely

• Very likely to participate

23. Thinking about the interactions you have with CS over a year’s time, how easy or difficult do you think it would be to answer the types of questions we talked about today on an annual basis? Would you say it would be:

• Somewhat difficult to answer these types of questions annually

• Relatively easy

• Very easy to answer these types of questions annually

24. Now, let’s think about the invitation to complete the survey, please. Which of the following would increase the likelihood that you would notice the invitation and be willing to complete the survey?

• The email invitation comes from person I have been working with so that I recognize the name

• In collaboration with the person I have been working with in CS, I am allowed to schedule the month during the year in which the invitation will be sent to me for completing the survey and I receive a reminder from the person I work with even though the email invitation actually comes from the Headquarters of CS.

• Other (Please specify) ________________

25. In planning for conducting the survey, CS would also like to understand your preferences for completing the questionnaire. Which of the following would increase the likelihood of your providing feedback?

• I would prefer to complete the questionnaire via phone

• I would prefer to complete the questionnaire electronically (email invitation to complete the questionnaire via the Internet – optimized for use on mobile devices)

• I would prefer to complete the questionnaire via some other method (Please specify) ______________________

26. Are there any other comments or suggestions that you have about the questionnaire or the processes that would increase the likelihood of your participation?

• Open ended comments

Thank you very much for the time you took from your busy schedule to provide the Department of Commerce / Commercial Service with this important feedback.

We will keep your individual / organization’s identity private and will use the information provided to continue to improve our assistance and support to U.S. organizations such as yours.

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