How can you get the most out of customer feedback?

Feedback is the lifeline to any relationship. In business, how will you truly know how well you're doing if you don't position yourself to receive and give feedback? Make sure your goals are clear and how you set to get your messaging across. We always have room for improvement and growth.

Feedback forms the core of the immediate action that should be taken to course correct and be in line with the customer expectations. Feed-back should lead to feed-forward. Hear - assess and evaluate - define precise actions - reorient - complete.

In order for every employee to successfully reach their goals, they need regular feedback. That includes feedback on their progress, what they’re doing well, and where they can improve. If a goal feels too complex or overwhelming, it can negatively impact motivation. Instead, leaders should break down large goals into smaller, more manageable tasks. As employees complete each small task, it will deliver a boost of motivation. And that will ultimately help them progress towards the larger goal.

It's pretty basic in today's business environment to only get feedback and act upon it. A comprehensive approach should include the following: 1: Let the customer know how their feedback drives change. 2: Use feedback management tools and analyze the data. 3: Encourage feedback with incentives 4: Examine feedback trends over time. 5: Include open-ended questions. (My favorite.) 6: Compare feedback and customer satisfaction against industry benchmarks and competitors. 7: Learn from departing customers to prevent future churn. These strategies, combined with the ones in the article shared, can help you make the most of customer feedback. Email me at [email protected] if you got a hands-on problem to deal with. Happy to help!

Intent is the most important aspect of looking at customer feedback. Start with the belief "The customer is the King and we exist because he / she exists. Customer feedback is the defining moment of any product / services. While a lot is being said about loyalty, rewards, etc ; important to understand customer satisfaction is the heart and start of everything else. Proven that the best form of marketing is "Word of Mouth". A satisfied customer helps spread positivity for a brand while a dissatisfied customer can be extremely damaging. An organisation should prioritise achieving customer satisfaction and inculcate it as part of its vision, mission and most importantly link it with employees performance appraisal.

From a data perspective it is useful to include such insights, yet from a feedback perspective don't let these sway how you seek feedback. They can inject unconscious bias if you do. When getting feedback identify themes and use these to identify patterns of regularity. Ask the customer to describe their experience/views, let their answer freely flow, engage with a many as needed until the point of saturation is found. This is when the feedback themes are reocurring no matter who you speak with.

Feedback is both internal and external. For example, your employees are also customers in that they deliver out the services and products you produce. If and when they leave, their feedback as part of off boarding should be taken as valuable - good or bad, providing the organisation with opportunities to make changes to improve staff satisfaction

1. Establish channels for customers to provide feedback, including surveys, reviews, and direct communication. 2. Thoroughly analyze feedback data to identify recurring themes, pain points, and areas for improvement. 3. Prioritize feedback based on its impact and feasibility, then implement necessary changes or enhancements. 4. Engage with customers to acknowledge their feedback, communicate improvements, and show appreciation for their input. 5. Use feedback as a continuous improvement tool, iterating on your products or services to better align with customer needs and expectations.

Complaints have so much useful data for a company to shape its policies better and likely overcome competitors. What went wrong and how to fix it comes from a good mindset rather than cast the blame on other members of the organization. Its better to get to the root of the issue and resolve it , so customers have faith and trust that the matter will be addressed for good.

Leveraging VoC analytics platforms to consolidate feedback from various channels (surveys, social media, emails, etc.) into a single dashboard. Mapping out the customer feedback journey to understand how, when, and why customers provide feedback in order to better tailor feedback collection processes. Using predictive analytics to anticipate future customer needs and issues based on historical feedback data to enables proactive problem-solving.

Another important channel to get customer feedback is complaints. Each complaint is an opportunity to improve the process which might be perfect for the company but is an irritant for the end user. Classification and recording of complaints in the right categories is extremely crucial. The type of insights that you can draw from these complaints will depend heavily on how you classify them.

Best way I find is to build a Communication Matrix, listing all the avenues your organisation will seek out feedback and by whom. This includes the avenues (data) this feedback will return back into the organisation and how the data will be used. I.e.: Is it is a gantt, a working model, statistics, etc.

Instant feedback after product or service delivery is most effective. It should be on the same channel that is used by customers. Like immediately after ATM or online banking sign out, asking about the transaction experience. It gives feedback of that channel.

Surveys are one of the most impactful ways a business can get the feedback needed to correct behavior and take immediate actions to create satisfaction with their clients. Having a quarterly survey across all departments is needed. Without feedback it will be difficult to know what areas may need additional attention and improvement from your clients perspective. Coming up with an action plan to identify the root causing issues will be key and essential. Don't forget the goal is to get as much feedback as possible good and bad, this will help with keeping a healthy relationship and being able to work together for a common goal. Having this survey ongoing is a great way of identifying issues and making changes aligned with quarterly goals.

Choosing a variety of feedback channels to expand your reach and collect a range of insights is vital. It's essential to remember that obtaining input from various levels within a customer's organization, including leaders, supervisors, and users, is crucial for achieving a holistic perspective and a comprehensive understanding.

Communication is the key here, if you involve your customers and ask them to contribute their time to provide feedback the least you can do is honor that time by sharing what insights their contribution provided & what you are choosing to do with those insights. This may open opportunities for customers to be involved with confirming if the solutions you have thought of are the right fit. Better to know you are on the right track before delving to far down the track that you can no longer see other options.

One of the best ways to engage with customers is to collect feedback for a product development roadmap. This turns into a win-win scenario, where the customer becomes an active participant in the product's improvement. If managed correctly, this can boost loyalty to the product and generate key referrals with new customers. On the other hand, it could also be frustrating for the CX who's making an effort to point out flaws or opportunities and not see them in next year's roadmap. In cases like this, customer service reviews should involve the business development manager to handle expectations and keep a healthy business relationship.

To corroborate one should also use the sample data and conduct personal interview. Basis this one can measure the accuracy of feedback received.

Feedback is truly a gift that customers give. It helps with improvement and process. It truly sets you apart from the competition. Having loyalty rewards, client appreciation, and testimonials is excellent for getting more interaction.

Feedback thankyou's could come in the form of a email to the customer providing the feedback. The thankyou might consist of a gift card, or a % off a product/service, etc.

When asking for feedback, clearly have a plan for the deployment of that feedback as well as to why you are seeking feedback. In the case of a young fintech company going” to beta” it is important that one asks much feedback as to the design of the solution, the user experience, and the customer experience. It is also important to select the “ target” audience, the time frame to “ beta” and how feedback will be reported along the way. If the venue is a “ pilot”, make certain that the participants are willing to participate in feedback sessions and the length of time that they are required to participate. After the “ pilot” is completed , consider a certificate of completion and credit their time with a gift card. Feedback is critical!

Firstly: remember to listen. It sounds trivial, but this is not an easy task. Whether you're a sales, customer retention or customer success executive - you are trained to pitch your product/service and highlight it's benefits. But you have to remember that a feedback call is not about that. It's about the perception of your company in the eyes of the customer. So, talk less, ask more, and beyond everything: listen carefully. Second, try to eliminate biases: you may have heard 5 great feedbacks so far and think that your company is flawless. But guess what - the next customer might actually be unhappy. Keep an open mind and a healthy curiosity. Chances are that you'll learn much more from this conversation than the previous ones!

Ask the right questions. Take the answers to heart. Take action! Follow up with customers who will allow it for more detailed conversations. (Reward people for feedback if you need to.)

How not to waste feedback is an important skill that service providers tend abuse or mis-use...For most service companies particularly in heavy traffic industries feedback has become a quality control or checklist item that its employees are only trained to collect but unfortunately not empowered or authorised to actually resolve. The most critical aspect of effectively using feedback finding a way to analyse it for impact and opportunity and feeding the outcome into the service or product development process....