“The art of communication is the language of leadership” – Author James C. Humes
Yes, without communication you won’t have leadership. In today’s form of communication that we are going to discuss, is what we know as “customer feedback.”
We’ve all heard about customer feedback, but just in case you haven’t, I’m here to show you how you can advance your business through your customer feedback.
What is Customer Feedback?
To put it simply, customer feedback is the information given by the audience about the satisfaction or dissatisfaction they have experienced regarding the company and its products and services. Believe me when I say that customer feedback is an immensely powerful guide. It helps you make more money and cut marketing expenses simply by giving you insights into every crucial part of your company.
Without access to customer feedback, your company will be lost and unaware if the customers are getting the value you want them to enjoy. Without the value, you won’t know if you’re encouraging loyal customers, and without loyal customers well can you guess what will happen to your business?
I suppose what Mister James really is trying to say is, customer feedback is very important for your business. If you run a business, you know how relevant the role of the customer’s voice in today’s competitive market is. If you do not try to find out what your customers actually think about your service, you will never be able to give them the best experience.
Okay, now that we know exactly what customer feedback is, let me tell you why they are important and why you would want to listen to them according to Startquestion.
1. Improves Product and Services
The key to a successful business is knowing what your customers want before they do. However, without feedback, you won’t even know what they want after they replace you with your competitor and they are long gone. Having their feedback doesn’t only help them, it helps you too.
It’s a win-win situation!!
Their opinion not only benefits you to meet their expectation, satisfy them, solve their problems, and fulfill their needs, but also encourages them to suggest features they would like to see.
2. Measures Customer Satisfaction
As I told you before, customer loyalty is extremely crucial, and when you can’t provide your customers satisfaction, you can only wave them goodbye. Many studies have confirmed that customer satisfaction and business performance have a close connection. When you make sure your customers are happy, you can naturally expect higher revenues and increased market share.
Think of your loyal customers as a treasure you found, and your competitive rivals are the thieves just waiting for you to make a wrong move. Just a tip, you can win your customer’s hearts and build a relationship with them with your high-standard customer service.
If you don’t care about your customer’s satisfaction, don’t expect them to care about your business.
3. Shows That You Value Their Opinion
Putting your customers in the center of your business can only have one outcome, a better business. Nothing makes your customers happier than making them feel that they are important and their voice matters. Especially when you show them that your business goal is to fulfill their needs, not to take their money.
Basically when you listen to your customers, they begin to generate positive feedback and direct their good experience back at you. This in return would help generate greater sales in the future.
Now you must keep this in mind, listening to them is not enough. Use their opinion to make decisions and communicate with them constantly. Otherwise, they will feel neglected and we all know how that makes us feel.
4. Improves Customer Retention
Continuous feedback means continuous awareness of your performance.
Happy customers will stay with you, but unhappy customers will replace you and that will negatively affect your business.
That’s when you can use customer feedback to know the satisfaction level and detect which areas you need to improve. Each time a disappointment is expressed, you can directly react to it and solve the issue, which is a great way to win your customer back and increase their loyalty level.
Believe it or not, an unsatisfied customer who got his issues fixed is better and shows more devotion than a customer who was happy with you from the beginning.
5. Provides a Reliable Source For Other Consumers
Let’s have a small experiment.
If I show you an ad on the television made by a company and a review on a website made by a customer experiencing the product and service, which one would you trust more?
Nowadays, people are relying more and more on customer reviews to make their purchasing decisions. That’s why an increasing number of companies are incorporating review systems in their products and services, for example Uber.
Apart from reviews, word of mouth can also play an important role in purchasing decisions, as it is highly motivational. More than 8 out of 10 purchases are influenced by face-to-face recommendations.
Therefore, always take into consideration that customer feedback doesn’t only affect your business, but also it affects window shoppers.
6. Helps You Generate Repeat Customers
Making a sale one time means nothing if that person doesn’t have the will to come back for more. Never underestimate the power a repeat customer holds. With a good customer service, their actions become habits which eventually turn to natural behavior.
By now, I’m sure you understood that customer feedback enhances your business, and that their satisfaction is what matters the most.
Now I’m not saying it’s going to be all butterflies and roses, but even a negative review can be used to your advantage, since you’ll know their desired approach.
Customers who come back and become a repeat customer usually tend to spend more money, promote your business, and are easier to sell to.
The only thing better than a new customer is a repeat customer.
If you started wondering “okay, but how should I get customer feedback?” Today’s your lucky day because I’m about to tell you.
Whether the feedback is positive or negative, you should never stop listening to voice of your clients, if you want to stay ahead of your competition. There are a few ways to know whether your customers met their requirements or if they are complaining about you to their friends.
According to Wonderflow and MonkeyLearn, a few common sources of customer feedback in 2021 are:
Social Media
Yes, of course social media!
Social media is a great way to gather instant and honest feedback without even having to ask for it. However, without the right tools, it’s just a catalogue for your business.
When talking about social media, we have to mention how analyzing and constantly tracking social media mentions, comments and direct messages can shed some light on important points for your business.
Apart from the ones mentioned above, today, fortunately, we have many built in polling tools that provide candid feedback from the customers. A polling tool you can use, for example on Instagram, are questionnaires on Instagram stories. This type of engagement helps both the customers and the company.
In App/Online Surveys
With a bit of effort and low cost, you can make the most of in app or online surveys. These surveys include questions that can be either short slider or traditionally long. The good thing is that in app surveys can be as flexible as you want, such as who should see the survey.
Usually, the greatest challenge with creating an online survey is deciding what questions to ask. Apart from that, you’re one step closer to providing your customer with the greatest experience of his life.
Online Reviews and Ratings
Let me fill you in on something 90% of customers explore online reviews before converting and 88% of customers actually rely on online reviews. So, you can say that online reviews are essential. Online reviews can be considered as one of the easiest ways to collect instant customer feedback, given that you don’t even have to ask any questions to your customers.
NPS
If only there was a benchmark that measures how likely your customers recommend your business to a friend. Well there is! It’s called Net promoter score or NPS. Now let me explain what NPS is. Ever visited a website which later gave you a survey to rate a product on a scale of 0 to 10 based on how likely they are to recommend it to someone else? Yes? Well, that’s NPS. The rating allows you to classify your customers in categories:
- Promoters (9-10)
- Passives (7-8)
- Detractors (6 or less)
Your last step would be subtracting the percentage of Detractors from the percentage of Promoters, and you’ll get your Net promoter score.
In Conclusion
I have one advice for you, Listen to your customers!
Listening to the voice of your customers helps you become more creative and makes them feel important. If you ask me, this is a great hack. One of the best things you can do is continue learning about your customers and even about your own product.
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Let us know what you want to read about next. You know, we’re all about customer feedback too!
