In today’s digital age of data, social media and instant gratification, we desperately crave feedback. Whether in our personal or professional lives, feedback is king. Why do we need it? Essentially, to understand how we can be better – identifying and fixing problems and making improvements.
Getting feedback when you’re a business is not always easy. On average, for every unhappy customer you do know about, there’s over 25 that you don’t^^. So if you’re not taking every opportunity you can to engage with your customers and capture their feedback, you can be significantly impacting your bottom line.
A successful business is one that captures and actions feedback. Here’s why:
1. It can significantly impact your bottom line
We’ve seen that your fans – the customers who really like and value your business – can spend up to 30% more than your detractors^ – the ones who don’t. So if you can know how many of each you have, and what elements of your business can turn detractors into fans, you can make a big impact on your revenues.
2. It will improve your relationship with your customers
When a customer provides feedback to a business, they expect that feedback to be actioned. See this as an opportunity. When you take those actions, they will notice, and it can change their experience with your business. They will feel valued and respected. They will become regular customers, who want to come back for more. And remember – experience is one of the biggest drivers of spend, in fact customers who are happy with their retail experience spend on average 8% more than those who were disappointed^ – and so we’re back to point one again.
3. It will aid with the training of your staff
There are often cases where a customer was not treated in a way that they found satisfactory. It might be the way they were addressed, the product offering, how efficient the service was, or if the team were understaffed. All of these factors can be a huge problem for businesses, in fact. It’s important to remember that your staff are a crucial element, along with customers, to running a successful business. Gaining enough detailed feedback on the customer experience will help you to assess where your staff may need support, and where their knowledge can be enhanced.
4. It will help you set goals and plan for the future
Finally, every piece of feedback a business gains is knowledge for the future. Take note of any key trends in the feedback you get. Does the satisfaction with service differ on the weekend compared to during the week? Which of your products and service offer value for money? Which can you think about adapting or replacing? Customer feedback is invaluable and should be used for planning and setting goals for the future. Use it to your advantage.
About the author
Georgina Nelson is the Founder and CEO of TruRating, the company ‘bringing the truth back to ratings’ with its real-time consumer feedback technology. Customers are asked a simple question to respond with the keys 0-9 when they pay. TruRating allows businesses to track their ratings over time periods, benchmark themselves and link customer sentiment to spend.
^ TruRating data
^^ leeresources.com
