They Said What?

As business owners most of us would like to think we have a good idea what our customers think of us, our products, and our services. But do we?

How well do we really know what our customers think of what we are doing?  Sure, some will verbally tell us if we are doing a great job, and others may tell us just exactly what we are doing wrong, but unless we have a systematic way to capture feedback we could be letting opportunity slip through our hands.

The Need for Anonymous Feedback

For most people telling someone what they are doing right comes fairly easily. We are naturally quick with praise, and if someone has met or exceeded our needs it’s satisfying to tell them so.

However, when the feedback is critical, or improvement focused, that conversation becomes a little more uncomfortable face to face. Don’t think you’re doing everything right just because your customers aren’t complaining. The ones who are dissatisfied are probably “keeping mum” and just not coming back, and never say anything because it is uncomfortable. Thus the need for a way to capture their feedback anonymously.

Why Solicit Customer Feedback

Customer feedback plays an integral role in filling holes in your service model. It not only reinforces what you are doing well, but if collected and used appropriately can help you identify areas of opportunity that you may be missing. Many of our interactions with customers can come across as noise, and if we get feedback on an ad-hoc basis can get lost in the shuffle. We aren’t able to spot trends this way. Having a systematic way to collect the feedback, and cut through the noise is the best way to spot trends in what our customers are saying and then address those trends.

Four Types of Customer Feedback

1. Middle of the Roaders – Most of your customers will be generally happy with your service, they will give you a “B” so to speak. 

2. The Evangels - A smaller percentage will think you walk on water, and it will be “A+” all the way with them.

3. We’re all Going to Hell – A very small percentage will use the opportunity to unload pent up aggression they have against the world and will damn you to a life in purgatory, think “F-“ here. 

4. The Magical Few -  This is where the magic happens. Think of these folks as giving you anywhere from a “D” to a “B-“. Nowhere in the customer feedback spectrum can you make more headway than with this group. They generally like your products and services. They want to shop with you more. They want to give you more money, and they are telling you exactly what you need to do in order to get it.

Focus on the Magical Few

These customers are the absolutely key to growing your business. Spend the majority of your time analyzingwhat they are saying and taking to heart their feedback. They are giving you a gift, don’t let it get away. Do your best to spot trends in their comments, and address those issues in your processes or procedures. You can very easily move somebody whose given you a “C-“ in the “B+” category just by making some small changes, and those changes could result in years of revenue from those customers who may have given up on you if you couldn’t get it together.

How to Get Feedback

If you want good feedback, and lots of it, the mechanism you use to get it will be important. The more automated you can make it, the quicker for the customer to give it, and the more relevant what you are surveying the better. There are numerous ways to get feedback. Not the least of which are online surveys, in store questionnaires, mailed surveys, website voting/surveying, etc.

The survey choice you choose should be the one that fits your business model the best while adhering these four keys the closest

Four Keys to Successfully Getting Customer Feedback

1. Anonymous

For feedback to get from the customer to you, an anonymous system needs to be in place. As stated above, many people will not feel comfortable telling you face to face what you need to improve on. Have a system that captures feedback, without being confrontational for the customer.

2. Easy

The easier the mechanism is to get the feedback, the more you will get. To get the most feedback possible from your customers you’ll need it to be quick and easy on their end. Anything that takes them longer than 5 minutes to complete will lower your collected responses considerably. 

3. Timely

Feedback needs to be collected from your customer in a timely fashion. Don’t send them a survey in the mail three months after they made a purchase. The closer to the time of service the more accurate the responses will be.

4. Relevant

You want your survey questions to be as short and relevant as possible. Spend time thinking about what you want to know from your customers. How you will craft the questions will play a part in the responses you get. Seek consultation in the writing of the survey if need be, it’s important that your phrasing and format be suitable to your customer base and what you are trying to query them on.

Final Words

Feedback is imperative for business owners to receive. Sometimes you’ll get face to face feedback, but that is the tip of the iceberg compared to what you will find out by giving your customers an avenue to tell you what they think in an anonymous fashion. Knowing what feedback to pay the most attention too, and then addressing those issues can be a huge revenue booster for your business for years to come. However as you build your own format of collecting customer feedback, keep in mind you need to be ready to hear what they have to say and then act on it.

Photo Credits:bfelice 

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