5 must-remember things about customer feedback system

“One happy customer well taken care of could be more valuable than $10,000 worth of advertising.” Jim Rohn.

As much as sales are important, customer feedback is equally important to an organization. In a survey of over 200 senior marketing managers, 71% responded that they find a customer satisfaction metric very useful in managing and monitoring their organization’s sales.

Few of the objectives of having a strong customer feedback system are customer retention, customer acquisition, enriched reputation, reduction of customer churning, etc. Apart from these, a strong system will also help in the forecasting process and improving products and services. Customer feedback system not only helps in determining the customer needs and preferences but also help generate new, innovative ideas. Without customer feedback, organizations will not be able to meet the product needs of the customers. Every feedback enhances the communication between the organization and their customers.

Here are the top 5 to-dos in order to get the best from your customer feedback system:

#1. Don’t lose any opportunity: A small feedback in the shape of a survey could help the organization understand the market trends better. It will also help in uncovering the flaws. An important step is to take action and work on the feedback constructively.

#2. Ask only what’s required: Every question should serve a purpose. Customer’s time is precious and so is yours, so do not waste time asking irrelevant questions which won’t add any value to your business. Essential and quality questions are a sign of a good customer feedback system.

#3. Use innovative techniques: Some of the top reasons for customer loss are, failure to solve a problem in a timely manner, customers feel poorly treated, and about 75% of customers believe it takes very long to reach a live agent. Having a developed, present-time feedback system like ‘live chat’ box or ‘talk to our representative now’ is the untapped potentials for your business. The customer needs to feel that they’re valued. On average, loyal customers are worth up to 10 times as much as their first purchase.

#4. Not just expenditure, it’s an investment: It costs 6–7 times more to acquire a new customer than to keep a current one. Customer feedback is one of the most effective ways to improve customer satisfaction. Return on customer investment (ROCI) is an important trending ratio in evaluating the brand or the organization. Having a strong customer feedback system will enable greater ROCI thus, making the organization more worthy.

#5. Communicate to the customers: It is essential to inform the customers about the changes that have been carried out within the organization or changes pertaining to specific products or services after receiving feedback. This will have a positive impact on them. Use email, social media to inform how customer’s feedback was used. This will encourage customers to give genuine feedbacks.

“The handful of companies that respond promptly and accurately to customer emails increase trust in their brand, bolster customer satisfaction, and boost sales both online and offline.”- BenchmarkPortal