Closed-loop Feedback: A Comprehensive Guide
Tanuj Diwan
Top 25 Thought Leaders 2022 by ICMI | Co-founder SurveySensum | Working with Automotive, Financial, Telecom and other sectors to improve Customer Satisfaction
How’d you feel if you’d have to repeat your problems again and again to one agent and another?
And nobody resolves the issue, rather it's only getting escalated.
Your customers might be in the same pool!
So, are you listening to them?
If yes, then that’s great. But not enough.
Listening to the feedback is not enough unless you take action on it.
And that’s where closing the feedback loop comes in.
But, what does closing the feedback loop means?
Closing the feedback loop simply means listening to the customer, taking action on their feedback, and informing them of the action taken.
But, why is it important and how can it help you?
Let's take an example.
Mark recently bought an AC from the Croma store. The store sent a support agent to install the AC at his home. After a few months, the compressor stopped working. So he reached out to the support team. They listened to him, sent an agent home, and fixed the issue within 24 hours. He was very happy with such instant services.
That’s why closing the feedback loop is crucial. It directly boosts customer satisfaction.
And not just that! Closing the feedback loop can help you?
So, how to close the feedback loop?
Here’s a step-by-step process to closing the feedback loop.
STEP 1: Collect customer feedback on one platform and listen to their issues.?
STEP 2: Reach out to your detractors and understand their issues in-depth.
STEP 3: Prioritize the top customer issues causing the most friction.?
STEP 4: Assign the issues to the concerned department and brainstorm solutions.?
STEP 5: Take the required actions and inform your customers of the same.?
This is how you close the feedback loop. Now let us look at the types of closed-loop feedback.
Two types of closed-loop feedback?
Inner loop
Mike wanted to return a pair of trousers that he ordered a few days ago. But the delivery boy didn’t come. So Mike reached out to customer support. He explained his problem to the agent. The agent understood his problem and scheduled the pick-up again at Mike’s choice of time. He was happy with the action taken by the agent as his product was picked up in the evening.?
This is called the inner customer feedback loop.
In the inner customer feedback loop, the agent instantly can give resolution to the customers on their own.
But, why is the inner customer feedback loop important??
领英推荐
So, how to make it successful?
Best practices that make the inner customer feedback loop successful
Points to remember?
Now comes the question of ownership. Who should own it?
Who should own the inner customer feedback loop?
The customer feedback can vary so if the feedback is about?
Now you know everything about the inner customer feedback loop.
But what happens when the individual agents ain’t able to resolve the customers’ issues on their own?
Here comes the Outer Customer Feedback Loop.
Outer loop
All those complex issues that the agents cannot resolve themselves and require significant structural changes that need approval from the head of the department or C-Suite are resolved under the outer customer feedback loop.?
Stakeholders are involved and huge investments are required in issues like system changes, policy updates, pricing, product features, etc keeping customer expectations in mind.
For example, Florida is unable to pay for the pair of stud earrings that she added to her cart. When she reached out to the support team for the same, the agent asked her to wait for some time and shared this issue with the technical head. The tech team looked into the issue, analyzed that other people are also facing the same, and resolved it from the core. This is called the outer loop as the agent cannot resolve these kind of issues themselves.
So, what is the importance of the outer customer feedback loop?
Moving forward to how to make it successful.
Best practices to make the outer customer feedback loop successful
Here’s an example of Olay closing its feedback loop.
Key points to keep in mind
Now that you know everything about the inner and outer customer feedback loops, there’s a? difference in closing the loop in B2B and B2C.?
Difference between closed-loop feedback in B2B and B2C
To close the feedback loop in B2B, product managers or customer success professionals reach out to the customers to know what issues they’re facing. Once they identify those issues, they prioritize them and add them to the product roadmap.
On the other hand, in B2C, the customer count is very high! So, calling all of them is not an option.?
Remember: Take feedback only when you actually plan to USE it.
And to give a good customer experience, always LISTEN to your customers, UNDERSTAND their problems, and take ACTION on them. That’s all about closed-loop feedback.
Customer Service Manager @ Amazon | MBA, Workforce Optimization
2 年Great insight Tanuj Diwan .. First thing i think many companies fail in choosing the right feedback to work on, second implementation or making the changes in agile environment and last is celebrating the success on the changes made which will help you to deliver improved customer experience. This will create not only great customer experience but also encourage employee experience too,creating a culture of close looping.
Consulting and V.o.C. research in b2b markets leading to insight and actionable strategies and tactics. Providing marketing research for b2b. This makes market research actionable and enables better business decisions
2 年Learn insights by engaging with customers. Act on these insights. Revise with future feedback. Close the feedback loop. Don’t be a pain to deal with. Be customer obsessed. Love this Tanuj