As more consumers spend increasing amounts of time online, it's a good time to survey them for feedback
The best way to know what people think is to ask them. Listening to your customers can tell you what they want from your product or service and how they engage with your product or service. Throughout the coronavirus outbreak, companies that connected with customers and learned what customers needed during the crisis, were able to pivot business strategies and offerings to survive and/or thrive during this difficult time. Companies benefit from customer knowledge by gaining valuable insight on how to evolve the business and attract new customers.
It can be hard not to take the criticism and input personally sometimes, especially if you’re passionate about your work. Constructive criticism does not negate the hard work that went into producing the product or service. Be grateful that your customers choose to take the time to provide their thoughts and feelings about your company. The information they share can be very enlightening!
Being in a position to respond to the feedback is helpful is assuaging feelings of disappointment or failure. Take the time to process the feedback by organizing it and debriefing with multiple stakeholders representing various departments within the organization. Collectively, this internal team can strategize how to address consumer suggestions and respond to their questions. Through this process, the team may brainstorm, re-prioritize, or identify the need for more education about what your company does and how the product or service works.
When soliciting input, always have a plan detailing how the company will respond to the feedback in a timely manner. As noted earlier, thank your customers for their thoughtfulness and participation. If giving a reward, be transparent as to how and to whom you decide to award the gift as not to look like you’re “paying” people for the positive feedback.
Feedback can be collected on an event, project, campaign, tactic, presentation, and at many other marketing or customer service touchpoints. How you collect consumer insight depends on your audience’s communication preferences, the volume of information you hope to receive in return, and the subject matter being discussed.
Here are our lucky 13 vehicles for collecting feedback:
· Phone Surveys
· Suggestion box (online or in-person)
· Town Halls (virtual, telephone, or in-person)
· One-on-One Interviews
· Focus Groups
· Polls
· Quizzes
· Discussion Boards
· Online Reviews
· Chatbots or Messenger Apps
· Website Activity
Once your company is ready to process the customer comments, positively frame the feedback to colleagues as opportunities, a means for improving on the product or experience to make it more relevant for the customer. Feedback can be difficult to absorb and you want to account for sensitivities while also exciting the team about this new direction. Improvements driven by customer input builds brand loyalty and attracts new customers. After frequent meaningful engagements with your customers, eventually, your company will be able to create customer experiences where you fulfill needs and wants before the customer realizes it themselves.
Want more information about how C. Change Consulting uses survey tools like these in our work to maximize profits, grow market share, and secure prime publicity placements for organizations like yours? Schedule a complimentary consultation here. We look forward to hearing from you!