Customer feedback is important for any type. Asking your customers how they experience your service gives insight into the customer experience. Collecting customer feedback that you can actually do something with is difficult. The reason for collecting feedback is also important. Do you want 5-star reviews on review platforms or do you want to know how your customers (have) experienced your services?
The method of collecting customer feedback depends on the objective. When you want to impress your (potential) customers with especially a lot of very positive reviews, you sting such a "survey" differently than when you want to know exactly what you could improve as an organisation. The latter form of collecting customer feedback is the one we want to discuss in this blog.
Customer feedback is enormously valuable when the method of collecting feedback is set up properly. The purpose of a feedback survey is to find out improvement potential. What are customers running into and what can you do better. A customer feedback survey helps you look from the outside in. As a company, we often tend to make decisions based on internal arguments, processes and (im)possibilities. Customer feedback gives insight into the customer's side. A company that customer experience takes somewhat seriously will be eager for valuable input from customers. That goes across all departments, by the way.
There are different types of feedback. Consider explicit feedback (via surveys and reviews) and implicit feedback (analysing customer behaviour). Explicit feedback in the form of customer satisfaction survey or customer feedback surveys often provide the most comprehensive and useful information. In a direct contact moment with a customer, you can go into depth, ask further questions and seek clarification. These are things that are more difficult with an online survey. Moreover, such a survey with a 1-on-1 contact can in itself contribute to the perception. Making the effort to get in touch and ask for feedback is generally appreciated.
Explicit and then especially face-to-face customer feedback surveys are the most valuable and at the same time the most costly. Telephone customer feedback surveys are a form of conversation in which depth and probing are possible. What we often see is that such a survey is used as a kind of qualitative preliminary survey. A smaller sample is surveyed in this way to create a questionnaire for the larger sample based on this. This is then often conducted through cheaper channels such as online or via email. By repeating the preliminary survey every now and then, the questions of that survey can be recalibrated and adapted to the practice of the moment. Because if all goes well, things are constantly changing in the factors that determine customer (dis)satisfaction.
If all goes well, the research asks for the things you would like to know. Analysing the results should therefore be something to look forward to. Quite apart from any statistical calculations, it is important to look at the whole picture. For example, study open-ended responses carefully. If we look specifically at aspects that are rated insufficiently by customers, the most important question is of course: "Why do we score insufficiently on that aspect?". That's what we mean more by analysis. That is more about the underlying causes and reasons.
When customer feedback is set up properly, the results immediately give you very concrete tools to make improvements. You can start working with that immediately. Involve the departments concerned in the findings and make sure they feel responsible for solving the problems that emerge from the survey. Customer feedback crosses departments and so does solving the factors that cause dissatisfaction. For instance, customers may be dissatisfied with the invoice they receive. Then it is very important to know exactly what aspect of the invoice the dissatisfaction is about. Is the font unclear and the bill poorly readable (1) or do they find the prices unclear and customers do not know how their tariffs are structured (2)? At a large energy supplier, the solution to problem 1 will lie with a completely different department as the solution to problem 2. Both ask for problems with the bill but the solution is not comparable.
Customer feedback should in no way be static. Sending out the same questionnaire every month, week, quarter or year is a real waste. You can do so much more. In fact, when it's good, you solve problems and certain things lead to less dissatisfaction, or in the ideal scenario, they disappear altogether. As in example 1, adjusting the font would make this factor of dissatisfaction go away. You adjust your questionnaire based on the findings and practice of the moment. So a feedback loop where you also look at the progress of the solutions adds value. Involved departments see the results of their efforts the moment they solve problems. The ongoing input of customer feedback should provide continuous improvements followed by new customer feedback.
Customer feedback is a very valuable tool for aligning business processes with the customer experience. When set up properly, it provides continuous input for improvement. When the right departments are involved, it can lead to surprisingly quick insights and improvements.
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