By Laura Iles - Sr. Consultant, Integrated Insight
Customer feedback is one of the most valuable tools an
organization has – be it compliments or complaints, this window into the
client’s mind is invaluable. But, to use it effectively, a company’s structure
and systems need to be designed to support continuous improvement based on this
customer feedback. It’s a multi-step process, replete with opportunities fail in
proper execution.
Collecting the
feedback
AT&T does a superb job of collecting customer feedback
through text messages. After each interaction with an AT&T representative,
I receive a series of text messages asking me to rate various portions of the
transaction, and then submit any comments I may have. Other firms operate
through phone calls or emails – the appropriate medium depends on your
customers.
Conversely, my doctor’s office recently missed a perfect
opportunity to solicit my feedback. When the office called to ask me to
schedule an appointment, I informed them that I was switching providers. “Ok.
We’ll make a note on your chart.”
This was an overlooked opportunity for their office to
gather valuable information about what is driving clients away. It’s likely
this employee was never trained in collecting feedback. Her responsibilities for the most part lie
elsewhere and her priority was to execute on those other, more pressing
matters. Training every employee who
interacts with customers to solicit feedback when they see the potential to
gather valuable information should be part of the program.
Startups are often excellent at this, proactively soliciting
feedback from those who test the first few generations of product releases.
These customers feel valued and, even though the product isn’t perfect, they are
engaged and become invested in making it better. Those who send feedback,
however negative, have the potential to become your most ardent supporters and
ambassadors if you engage with them.
Prioritization
In the process of collecting this information, there will
occasionally be those high-alert items that require immediate assistance. They
are different for each firm, but we all have certain situations that have the
potential to damage our brand or cost us our best customers.
Do your employees soliciting feedback know what these items
are? Have they been trained to recognize a priority situation and escalate it
appropriately?
I recently watched a customer complaint on Twitter spiral
out of control – in front of the customer’s 2.5M followers – because the
employee on the social media front lines didn’t recognize an urgent
customer-care situation.
The result? The firm publicly lost a loyalty-customer and
the customer in turn received an invitation from a competitor, complete with
the promise of better service. In this
very public day and age, training your service members to recognize and respond
appropriately to priority situations is an absolutely critical step in the
feedback process.
Classification and
Execution
At specific intervals, it’s important to stop collecting
data and turn your focus to execution. Post data-collection classification and
action is a particularly challenging piece of the process to manage.
Often, firms don’t have systems in place to support thoughtful
use of the insights that have been compiled. Further, not every piece of
feedback requires action. Knowing how to separate the wheat from the chaff and
execute on the most important items is crucial.
Ensure there are specific procedures for review in place, as
well as working relationships with impacted teams. Create an appropriate forum for
discussion and solicit buy-in from those who will be required to execute on the
actionable items. Don’t allow your firm to be caught in the trap of collecting
data while never acting on it.
Follow Up (As
Applicable)
This last step will need to be taken on a case-by-case
basis. Certainly the majority of the feedback your firm receives may not
require any personalized follow up. But when utilized, it can absolutely cement
customer loyalty.
A brief follow-up to ensure the concern was addressed, or to
say thank you for positive feedback, does wonders for reassuring your customers
that you care about their experience. And if their concern hasn’t been
resolved, giving them a quick option to connect to a live person for further help can allay much of their frustration. General
follow ups, such as blog posts, are a great way to let consumers know that your
team is working on addressing their feedback.
Companies aren’t required to be perfect. We’re all human;
we’ve made our fair share of mistakes and we’ve worked with systems that don’t
always perform perfectly. Most of your customers understand, and are willing to
make allowances – so long as they feel their critical concerns are heard.
Listen to your customers, let them know you take their feedback seriously, and
you’ll create a fanatically loyal following.
