Collecting and using customer feedback is nothing new.
Unfortunately, it does get overlooked all too frequently as a valuable way to improve. This feedback allows businesses to refocus their attention on customers and make important changes to ensure the customer experience is optimised.
The benefit of this process is that it not only allows companies to provide better service and convert more sales, it also can lead to better productivity and efficiencies.
In today’s commercial landscape where expectations are high and competition is fierce, taking a more customer-centric approach involves actively collecting, assessing and actioning their feedback to remain at the forefront.
So, as a company, are you using valuable customer feedback to improve your customer’s experience? Here’s how.
What is customer feedback?
Customer feedback refers to any verbal or written information provided by your customers regarding how they feel about your brand, including your service, your products, your processes and more. This information can be gathered in any number of ways, including letters, surveys, technology, software, social media, review platforms and in person.
What’s the purpose of customer feedback?
Customer feedback should be used to help you assess your customers’ satisfaction levels and better understand the ways your team can improve service delivery and product offerings.
No matter what industry and size your organisation is, from customer service and healthcare facilities to government organisations, you can benefit from customer feedback. So, by collecting customer feedback, organisations gain access to key insights that enable them to make decisions around how to improve the overall customer experience.
Why is customer feedback important?
First and foremost, asking for any feedback makes your customers feel valued and heard, which increases customer loyalty and repeat business, especially if action is taken and they can see the outcome.
That’s why feedback, whether good or bad, is necessary for businesses.
Positive feedback from your customers lets you and your team know that you are doing well, which effectively boosts morale and reinforces previous decisions that have been made. On top of this, you can also share good reviews publicly to attract new customers to your business.
Negative feedback, on the other hand, is not all bad. It helps you identify your customers’ pain points as well as the areas of your business that need improvement. By understanding how your customers are interacting with your brand and the quality of these interactions, you will gain insights into how to drive improvements and business growth.
How to successfully collect customer feedback
There are several ways to gather customer feedback, all of which you can use to connect with your customers and improve service delivery. Here are five of the most common ways:
- Surveys
You can design surveys to distribute to your customers which ask about their recent experience. Short surveys with easy scales are most convenient, so you don’t take up much of your customers’ time.
- Social Media
According to CFI Group, 36% of customers share their experiences on social media. So, if you take the time to look up keywords connected to your business on Facebook, Google, Twitter and Instagram, you will most likely find what your customers are saying.
- Suggestion Boxes
Having physical Suggestion Boxes installed within your premises will encourage your customers to leave feedback – and the advantage of this is that it’s optional and anonymous so your customers feel more confident.
- Follow-up Emails
Another effective way to collect feedback is by sending out a follow-up email within 3-5 days of a transaction. This way, your customer’s memory of the interaction is still fresh and they will feel that you’re still taking the time to check on them even after doing business.
- A digital solution like NEXA Voice
NEXA Voice allows you to listen to customers and capture feedback more effectively than any other option. The difference is that it operates on an electronic kiosk that you can have at your facility. It can also support multiple languages, ask up to five questions and provide real-time reporting that you can use to assess all feedback to build comprehensive insights.
However, collecting feedback is not the final step of the process.
Once you have the data from your customers, you have to make sense of the feedback and uncover actionable insights that will help you make smart business decisions.
A solution like NEXA Voice ensures your customers are encouraged to have their say through easy access to interactive and intuitive software. Then, your team have access to NEXA Voice Reporting, so you can share feedback, plan for improvement, measure business success and repeat the cycle for ongoing enhancements.
With a clear understanding of your customer feedback, you can proactively address their concerns and take steps that will improve their customer experience, to the benefit of everyone. After all, customer feedback is not just about listening - it’s about creating great experiences that your customers deserve.
Take your customer experience to the next level with NEXA
At NEXA, we understand the value of collecting feedback and its role in maintaining service quality by applying a more customer-centric approach.
This is why we designed NEXA Voice – to enable you to continuously listen to your customers and improve their experience with real data.
NEXA is an Australian company that delivers innovative digital solutions to empower both our clients and their employees by taking advantage of digital technology. With NEXA, you can support and enable your team, deliver excellent service levels and thrive in today’s evolving landscape.
So, are you ready to hear your customers’ voices and grow your business with them?
Talk to us today to find out how you can make your interactions matter.
