Customers play an integral role in any business’ success. Apart from bringing in revenue, they also provide real-time solutions in the form of feedback that could impact an organisation’s overall operations.
Checking in on customer health can lead to opportunities for improvement within a company. With a metric to determine if your clients are satisfied or at risk of leaving, you can be sure to implement the necessary adjustments in your day-to-day to make happy customers happier and make up to those displeased.
Companies across all industries seek customer feedback—and for good reasons. A study shows that 96% of consumers consider customer service one of the key factors influencing their loyalty to a brand. Moreover, with a customer retention increase of at least 5%, an enterprise could reap a profit climb of more than 25%.
As a business, when you “put customers first,” work should never stop after a transaction has been completed. An effective way to meet or surpass expectations is to actively listen to what they have to say and act on it as needed. If you’re yet to develop a strategy to collect and analyse customer feedback for your business, read on and let this guide help you get started.
What is Customer Feedback?
Customer feedback refers to the information customers provide about their general experience or level of satisfaction regarding a brand’s products or services. Ultimately, this data makes for a great resource in enhancing customer experience, as businesses can make the necessary adjustments to tailor to their market’s wants and needs.
There are different strategies to gather customer feedback, such as interviewing, polling, surveying, and asking for reviews. Whether collected in-person or online, these compliments or complaints help determine the organisation’s current direction and where it should head next.
Why Does Customer Feedback Matter?
Without consumer feedback, companies will never know how their products or services perform. To learn more about it, below are some reasons these responses play an essential role in any business.
It identifies points for improvement
Change is a constant variable to success when running a business. As such, most organisations utilise customer feedback as a primary source of information to modify their products and services for the better.
Whether through a simple star rating to an in-depth chat, companies use these valuable client insights to evaluate their performance, identify their advantages and disadvantages, and leave the door open for improvements. With distinct pointers on what works and what doesn’t, this directs a business’ next course of action to elevate their overall customer experience for future patrons.
It makes customers feel involved and valued
Having conversations with your customers about their experiences and getting them involved in the decision-making process by seeking their suggestions on what needs improvement shows them that your company cares.
When collecting customer feedback, you send a message to your clients that their opinions matter. Doing so can improve customer satisfaction and entice them to stay loyal to your brand. This great display of good customer service can result in better reviews and ratings, leading to business growth.
It helps improve customer retention
Knowing why your customers are dissatisfied with your product or service gives you a chance to correct your wrongs and win their trust back before they go elsewhere. When you actively seek customer feedback, your organisation can study how to effectively maintain customers through new and improved engagement campaigns and high-quality offers.
Remember, while attracting new clients is always a plus, creating long-term relationships with your existing customers is what will help your business expand exponentially and organically.
It develops exceptional service
Of course, you want to provide your customers with the best product or service. Hearing about all the good things people have to say about your brand is always nice, but if a customer winds up unhappy, it’s essential to acknowledge it as well.
When you reach out to unsatisfied clients to pinpoint areas for improvement in your business, you have an opportunity to work around the problem and build a more refined service to make up for them, avoid others from encountering the same issues, and impress future customers.
It supplements data for competitor analysis
In today’s competitive market, everyone is always trying to gain an advantage. With customer feedback, a quick search on the Internet is all you need to know about your competitors.
Online platforms such as Facebook, Reddit, and Twitter are some avenues where people leave their comments regarding their experience with a brand. With these readily available, you can avoid the same mistakes and strategise ways to stay ahead of the competition.
Methods to Collect Customer Feedback
Now, more than ever, there are multiple ways to gather customer feedback. In case you need help on how to do so effectively, below are a few examples you can try.
Live chat
Live chat is one of the simplest ways to gather customer feedback. It’s a frictionless and real-time conversation with the customer that allows them to express their thoughts cohesively, anonymously or otherwise.
Social media
Many companies have now embraced transitioning their business online. Because of this, social media is playing an even more significant role in customer feedback, with one in three consumers preferring to share their comments on an online platform.
As countless forums, stories, and reels are shared publicly, organisations see trends in their industry and highlight what their audiences like (or dislike) through these contents.
Polls and surveys
Your company can take one step further by positing surveys and polls. This method allows you to be critical yet creative in order to reach a broader audience and collect more data. When coming up with these, be sure to include thoughtful questions and rating scales that will help meet your goals.
On-site activities
Analysing activities on your website is also a form of customer feedback gathering. Using analytical tools, such as Hotjar, can help reveal your audience’s online behaviour. Ultimately, this method gives an idea of how to enhance your website’s conversion rate and overall user experience.
Exclusive groups
Having a group solely for your customers creates a safe space to share their experiences and feedback about your brand, products, and services. By nurturing an online community, you stay up-to-date on what they want and need to see in your business while building stronger relationships with new and old patrons.
Guide to Analysing Customer Feedback
Work doesn’t stop after gathering information from your customers. Here are the next steps you need to follow to evaluate performance properly.
Collate data
Obvious as it is, the first step is to collate all the data into an organised file. A preferred way is to put them into a document or spreadsheet and separate them according to the channel that they were collected. Doing so can also help you gauge which avenues work the best and which need more push.
Categorise feedback
Separating the kinds of feedback you’ve collected is an effective way to see the business’ performance. You may sort them according to the following:
- Type – Categorising by type is most helpful for unclassified feedback. This can range from usability issues, feature requests, pricing/billing, etc.
- Theme – Themes relate to aspects of your products or services. Often, these are things that a certain department within the organisation can address.
- Code – Codes are more concise descriptions of customer feedback that set a specific and actionable response to the collected data.
Classify data collected
After categorising the feedback, the next thing you want to do is divide it into positive, negative, or neutral. Sorting positive feedback in one file can help keep your team motivated while having the negative ones listed neatly can help highlight the work that needs urgent addressing in your operations. On the other hand, neutral feedback can be considered comments for improvement.
Identifying root causes
Analysing the root cause of the feedback is vital for making the necessary changes in your business. Understanding their point of view can give you concrete ideas on how to improve your products or services. Additionally, you can identify patterns if a cause is an occurring factor, allowing you to act on it and fix it immediately.
Compile and present results
After identifying the specifics of your collected feedback, summarise the key points and share them with your team. Whether on a document, spreadsheet, or slideshow, compile the results in an organised fashion so that current and future members can easily interpret them.
This step is also important for archiving purposes, as it enables you to record your business’s ups and downs in the eyes of your patrons.
Devise an action plan
The feedback results will ultimately dictate your business plans moving forward. After presenting them to your team, discuss the next steps to address the comments or concerns. In this stage, you can come up with new offers or processes according to the wants and needs of your customers.
How to Respond to Customer Feedback
While all kinds of feedback need addressing, there are certain ways of doing it according to type. For tips on responding to your customers, consider the following techniques.
For positive feedback
In addition to thanking them for their patronage, offering exclusive discounts and offers to customers who gave favourable feedback can be a way to enhance their experience with your brand. You may also ask regular customers to write a testimonial to feature on your platforms.
For neutral feedback
Expressing curiosity by asking for more information is a must for this type of feedback. Having one or two questions to start the discussion can encourage them to share more about their experience with your business.
For their added participation, reward them with a gift like a coupon they can use for their next purchase. Doing so can leave these customers with a lasting impression of your company, which can convert them to become advocates of your brand.
For negative feedback
Be sure to handle customers who expressed negative feedback with extra care. Acknowledging the problem, taking responsibility, and offering solutions or compensations in a calm and decent tone provides an opportunity to win them back.
Remember, unsatisfied customers will want answers immediately, which is why it’s essential to communicate with them directly to address their concerns ASAP.
Drive Your Business Forward with Customer Feedback
Having that direct communication channel with consumers is a significant advantage that businesses from all industries should embrace. Patrons who give honest feedback can help determine how a company is performing, and therefore, can start an operational change when needed.
By constantly seeking feedback, your organisation can build a stronger rapport with your customers while listening to any concerns they may have. This simple act of asking for their two cents translates to great appreciation and interest that can improve customer retention rates, ultimately impacting your overall business performance.
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