Feedback is, quite simply, one of the most important things you can receive from your clients
and customers. Whether it is good, bad or indifferent, obtaining feedback is an essential
process for any business that is truly committed to developing and bringing about true customer advocacy.
Without a source of good quality, meaningful and regularly updated feedback, businesses that supply any sort of product or service, are essentially ‘flying blind’, which can have a very negative impact on that business’s potential for growth. You might even think that things are going well based on your sales figures or other numbers, but how much better could you be doing if you had thoughtful input from your customers to act on going forward?
Ask Specific Questions
Once you appreciate the importance of gathering customer feedback, the next question, is how to do it? Before you begin, be very clear about what it is you want to know from your customers and clients. Don’t simply ask if they’re happy with the service they received, as that won’t offer you any insights or value. Instead, you need to be more specific – ask a vague question, and you’ll get a vague answer, or no answer at all.
Your customers are busy people. They likely receive several requests for feedback every day, so yours needs to stand out to encourage them to want to give you their time.
Ask interesting, emotive questions that they will want to answer, and that will be useful to your business going forward. Break the feedback you’re asking for down. For example, if you’ve delivered a product to their door, don’t simply ask if they were pleased with it; ask what they liked most about it, what they thought of the shipping options, the delivery time and so on. By getting more specific, you can assess parts of your business that are working well, and perhaps more importantly, parts that might need some work.
Provide Feedback Form Options
Give your customers options, too. Online surveys are an easy, inexpensive way to gather feedback, but they’re not always effective, especially on their own. Consider a more personal approach – perhaps a phone or video call, an in-person follow-up meeting or an ‘always open’ feature on your website where they can get in touch directly.
Involve your customers in the feedback process from the beginning by asking how they’d prefer to provide feedback and let them know how valuable their input is to you – people like to feel appreciated!
Act On Your Results
They also like to see evidence of being heard – so always be sure to publish the results you gather too. Make it clear to your customers why it is worth them taking the time to participate and it will make those same people more likely to contribute again in the future.
To find out more about designing and distributing feedback surveys, contact the PDW Group today.
Image Source: Unsplash