Reverence for the Feedback!
Today I was part of conversation where it came to my attention that a feedback mechanism at a certain company was being ignored. When digging a little deeper into the matter, the reason for the lack of attention was “there are too many complaints being submitted and many of them are user problems”. This is the kind of thing that gives me a sense of job security.
The reality is that 93% of companies gather customer feedback. However, only about 33% actually use the information to make changes to product or process in order to improve the customer experience. The reason for this negligence is more often than not, unfavorably perceived ROI and perceived degree of difficulty. It’s too hard; it’s probably not worth it.
Although these perceptions may be true in any one case, feedback is no less important and should not be ignored. Customer feedback is the embodiment of the customer, who otherwise may not be directly represented.
In my mind, the voice of the customer is the ultimate driver of all experience initiatives. Until we hear the voice of the customer we will never know if we are moving in the right direction. No one in the company should be trusted to foretell, or indirectly assess the customer’s point of view.
Here are some thoughts on Customer Feedback.
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Too much is better than not enough – (be careful not to overwhelm customers with surveys).
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Never allow the culture to ignore it. It’s better to suspend it if you are not willing to act on it. Ignoring customer feedback causes the culture to devalue the customer and will make any improvement harder still.
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Get feedback as close to the time of interaction as possible.
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Provide the feedback directly to the person interfacing with the customer or providing the service – employees accept criticism and praise better from customers than they do from their supervisors.
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Analyse and act – it helps the culture, the customer and your business.
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The ultimate form of customer feedback is to bring dissatisfied customers to your office. Pay them as consultants for a day so they can provide their point of view to your team. Make sure you have some Q&A time. You won’t be sorry!
Here is a link to a recent podcast in which I had the pleasure to participate with BTQ magazine.
A customer is the personification of all possibilities in your business. Hug one.
6 comments
I could not agree more, and the statistics you give are true, but hopefully changing. My name is Mario (Mariusz) and I recently joined OpinionLab Inc with the intention to make corporations aware of the need to answer for Why? customers do what they do, when they are online. Web analytics answers many session questions, but the ability to answer for Why? has brought a whole new dimension to marketing, customer service, and sales via pro-activity. I find it amazing that many corporations have just recently figured out that what their customers and clients think may be of value, as it equally amazes me that many national organizations still have not recognized the value that holds.
Sure, it may be intimidating to hear so many “opinions”. Everyone has one. Many are negative, some are positive, but as a functioning organization, what better way to understand what you can do better, than by asking the people you service. How am I doing? What can I do better? Would you recommend us? It is similar to asking: Do you like my brand? When do I frustrate you? Am I worth your trust with your peers?
As a consumer, I find the ability to converse, and voice my opinion a benefit, especially when I want to continue to do business with a particular organization, but some things bother me, and I hope they make certain changes. The process of change is never fast on a corporate level, therefore organizations gathering Voice of Customer today, can benefit upon Listening and implementing Change. Lastly, technology is at a fast and almost unstoppable pace of innovation and development. Companies of today can still benefit of having human interaction, and determine appropriate ways of growth and evolution – but 10 yrs from today, our purchase process or corporate interaction may be much more private, voice less, immediate and maybe fully electronic…how will you know what your customers are thinking at that speed?
Mario Bilotas, (847) 681-6100 mbilotas@opinionlab.com
This is incredible information I will share with leadership in my organization. We’ve been considering a survey of sorts; live and/or email for some time now. We’ll be moving forward.
Thank you for spending time teaching the rest of us about what you’ve researched!
Mario, Thanks for your comment. Depending on the industry, it is 5 to 8 times more expensive to attain new customers than it is to retain current ones. This should be enough to know that it costs more to ignore the customer than it does to listen to their “opinions”.
It is simple, I think. You can listen to your customer now, or you can listen to your customer later. One of them is more profitable.
I still think golf is more appealing to most of management.
Colleen, thanks for your comment. Here is another peice of great information.
Teh probability for repurchase when a customer is satisfied (no problems or claims) is 76% – The probability of repurchase on a recovered customer issue is 89% (Perdue University – 2006).
Depending on your business you can do the numbers. What would the incremental revenue be if and additional 13% of your less than satisfied customers repurchased?
Thanks again.
Hi Rudy – I like your answer – Management and Golf seem to be the pinnacle of todays corporate image. I am embarrassed to admit – I have golfed a few games in my life, spent more time looking for the ball than driving the golf cart, but I am often forced to rethink my golfing abilities as new executives invite for a game. It amazes me that my lack of golf abilities may actually sabotage my sales strategy….yikes. Thanks for your feedback and touch base again soon.
Mario Bilotas