Every business wants happy customers. This may be stating the obvious but without feedback how can you know if your service delivery is hitting the mark every time – or missing the board altogether? Gathering honest feedback from customers is a key to managing quality but it can also be a powerful tool to inform change. It will identify problems you no doubt didn’t know you had. However, it will also offer insights which could improve service development and even help you pivot your service to meet changing demands.
Customer opinions are a precious resource and you would be remiss to let this well of information remain untapped. Top performing companies make sure they gather feedback at every available opportunity – it helps them get ahead of competitors and stay there! We take customer satisfaction seriously and expanding the reach of our IT Support customer feedback has been a key element of our preparations for our upcoming ISO 9001 Quality Management certification.
Here are out top 5 reasons for gathering customer feedback:
- Feedback on the customer journey
Although you have a great product there may be aspects of the customer journey which fall wide of the mark. Maybe the product was great but set up was cumbersome, delivery slow or performance inconsistent. Feedback enables you to capture details on all aspects of your customers experience with your company.
- Strengthening customer relationships
Listening to the voice of your customer helps you create a strong connection with them. Efforts to get feedback demonstrate clearly that you are aiming to improve and develop your service. You are making sure that you are effectively meeting their need. Your reaction to negative feedback will also be telling to your customers. Did you make changes after a complaint or was it ignored? Word of mouth referrals are a key resource for many businesses and making sure your existing customers are happy and feel connected to your business is important for growth. Making great efforts to get it right every time in your core service will also make growth into new service delivery areas smoother. Customers who trust your brand to deliver a great service and feel affiliated will be more likely to buy into additional offerings you develop.
Unhappy customers eventually leave. You may be blissfully unaware that some customers are grumbling about the quality of your service. While some say ‘ignorance is bliss’ dealing with a rapidly diminishing customer base is really not blissful in any way. Customer feedback should capture these complaints, providing you with a chance to solve the problem and repair the customer relationship before it’s too late. It also ensures that the feedback gets to the right people in your organisation – those who can and will make changes. Word of mouth works both ways, the last thing you want is former customers warning potential customers off your brand.
- Feedback will inform your business decisions
The right feedback can help inform where you should invest to develop your company. There are always different avenues to explore for development with competing demands for your investment in time and resources. Perhaps improvements to products should be prioritised or the time is right for a new product offering or maybe improving your profile should be your focus. Feedback from customers can help inform these decisions.
- Customer feedback as a resource for potential customers
We have all quickly become accustomed to the ease of access of online reviews. The B2B sector is no exception to this and feedback from customers who have used your service is a great resource. Trustpilot, Google Reviews and similar sector specific sites will be a great source of information for potential new customers who are checking you out. Placing customer feedback information on your website can add to this and show that your are confident that you are delivering a quality product and achieved the ultimate goal – happy customers.
