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Customer Service

Customer Feedback: What it Is and How to Collect It

Looking to boost your sales and build an even better business reputation than you already have? There’s no need to stretch your imagination when you have customer feedback and ideas to work with. We love to talk about exceeding customer expectations, but most customers would be perfectly happy if you simply met them.

Here’s some food for thought. A global survey found that 87 percent of marketers believe they’re offering a superior customer experience. But close to half of consumers say their basic expectations aren’t being met. As for that memorable customer experience we all like to think we offer, nearly two thirds of people can’t remember an occasion when they had a particularly pleasant customer experience

Read our guide to customer service.

Are You Making the Most of Customer Feedback as a Resource?

All too often, businesses think they know what customers want, but fail to make use of customer feedback as a valuable source of intelligence. If you’re sending out customer satisfaction surveys, you might think you’re getting a clear picture of the average customer’s experience with your business, but are you really?

For example, a customer might say they would recommend your business to friends and family, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that you know why they reached that conclusion. It could simply be a matter of your product being the best solution currently available. If your competitors can match this, the response might change. 

All the same, even simple surveys, though somewhat flawed in their scope and detail, do provide some level of customer feedback. We’ll unpack the types of customer feedback you should look out for next. 

Types of Customer Feedback

Direct feedback

Direct feedback from comments, complaints, and face-to-face interactions can provide a high level of detail and allow for interactions in which you engage in discussions with customers. It’s the best type of feedback from customers because you can ask searching questions for further clarification. Survey feedback is also a form of direct feedback, and it’s a great way of getting some idea of what customers are thinking – but it often misses finer details. 

Indirect feedback

Customers can give you clues as to what they’re thinking without ever responding to a survey or interacting with your staff. Look for customer behaviour patterns including purchasing patterns, and website navigation patterns. 

We can also include reviews in this category. Customers may have been addressing their peers through their reviews, but you can benefit by reading them. You may be able to engage with people who mention you in reviews or social media to uncover further details, thereby gaining direct verbatim feedback. 

Qualitative and quantitative feedback

Customers’ stories give you qualitative feedback indicating experiences, opinions and emotions. Quantitative feedback, on the other hand, comes from analysing figures and data. For example, you can see how a product is performing on the market, and you can see whether you’re retaining customers by looking at churn and customer lifetime value

Transactional feedback

Sales are rising. Sales are falling. There’s a high level of cart abandonment. People look but don’t buy – or grab your product eagerly on finding it. Looking at how customers transact with your business tells its own tale. 

Implicit feedback

Gathering implicit feedback means being able to “read the room.” When interactions are in-person, you might look at facial expressions. When they are remote, you can judge customer attitudes through the tone of voice they use. Are they happy and excited? Are they satisfied or do they seem dissatisfied? This could indicate areas for further investigation. 

How to Ask for Feedback From Customers

Be specific about what you want to discover and why you’re doing it

Begin with specificity. For example, if you’re aiming to improve customer service or get customers’ opinions on your product, begin by telling them that their honest input is valued and explain what you’ll use it for. 

Choose the right moment

Timing is key. Try to gather customer feedback after important milestones on the customer journey. For example, gather feedback after customers made a purchase or interacted with customer support. 

Let them choose the channel

Omnichannel communication allows customers to engage with you on their terms. Make it possible for them to call, email, follow website prompts, fill in feedback forms, or interact with you on social media, for example. 

Show that you value their time

Do keep it simple; your customers’ time is valuable. If you’re sending out a feedback form, limit the number of questions and provide an option for additional comments. If you do need to spend extra time interacting with customers to get feedback, incentivise participation. For example, you could invite them to participate in an extensive customer survey in exchange for discounts or an entry into a prize draw. 

Treat them as individuals

Personalise interactions. This shows that you are considering customers as individuals. For instance, refer to a recent purchase they made and ask questions relevant to that purchase. 

Ask open-ended questions

Even straightforward survey questions can be open-ended. The typical 1 to 10 rating allows for a degree of nuance in responses. If, on the other hand, people are willing to talk, you can take this to the next level, encouraging them to expand on their opinions and insights

Thanks and followup

Since customer feedback is so valuable, be sure to express your thanks. While you may feel less-than-happy about honest criticisms, they will be among the most valuable intelligence you gather. If possible, get back to them on how you’re using their input. For example “Thanks to your comments, we’ll be launching a new checkout system today.”

What to do With Feedback From Customers

Look for patterns and note anomalies

Like any other researcher, you’re seeking conclusions. To make them, you need to look for patterns in the feedback you’re receiving from customers. When using quantitative feedback, it’s a simple matter of crunching the numbers. But, you can adopt an open-minded approach to analysing qualitative feedback too. Use your CRM system or deploy feedback management software to automate the organising and tracking of feedback. 

Although patterns are important, look for off-pattern responses too. Anomalies could contain valuable information – for example, one customer makes a point on social media – might their insight apply to more customers who simply haven’t raised that point?

Prioritise actionable elements affecting most customers

You’ll get far-reaching results by prioritising feedback that represents common customer feedback elements you can address. For example, if navigating your website is a frequently-raised issue, it’s time to redesign it with user experience in mind. Share your findings, involve your team and prepare an action plan. 

Including your customers means responding to them

By exercising empathy, you’ll be able to see why customers respond as they do – particularly when they’re airing their criticisms. Similarly, they’ll be happy to know that their opinions have led to actions. Be sure to get back to them saying what you’ll do to enhance their experience with your business in future. Whether it’s a compliment or a criticism, send your heartfelt thanks!

Monitor results and be open to continuous improvement

Has listening to and acting on customer feedback produced the desired results? Identify key performance areas to measure your results. Look for areas that are open to further improvement and keep working towards customer satisfaction.

Benefits of Customer Feedback

When you’re in the thick of things, it can be difficult to view your business from an outside perspective as your customers do. Listening to customer feedback helps you to identify the things they want and set priorities that matter to them. 

By continuously looking for signals that indicate customer opinions, and by asking for them outright, you can engage in a process that allows you to adapt and improve along with changing customer needs

This, in turn, means that you’re able to keep your business relevant in a changing market, retain and grow market share, and boost sales and profitability. 

As Peter Schwartz, CEO of Porsche, once said: “If you listen closely enough, your customers will explain your business to you.

Less poetically, but far more concrete, we have a simple finding from Deloitte: customer-centric companies are 60 percent more profitable than their peers. This leads us to a question that many consumers ask. 

Why Don’t Companies Listen to Consumers?

Most companies would love to listen to their customers, but time, limited resources, and the sheer volume of customers they deal with can stand in the way. It’s just one more reason to consider outsourcing customer support

The people who deal directly with your customers on a day-to-day basis are best equipped to listen and gather customer feedback. When they have access to the right software, they can gather all the data you need to analyse customer feedback and act upon it. 

Doing all of this in-house presents multiple challenges: the quality and skills of personnel, access to the right technologies, and scalability are among these. 

At RSVP, we offer the gold-standard solution: a dedicated customer service company that works for you. Join brands like Audible and Mercedes Benz in achieving customer centricity through effective customer service and attention to customer feedback. Use our analytics to power your strategies, and stay abreast with customer feedback the easy way. Contact us today! We’re here for your customers, but we’re also here for you!

 

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