Feedback is valuable information that entrepreneurs can use to make important decisions. Whether it comes from their customers, employees, or prospects, regular input helps measure satisfaction, trends or behaviour. Feedback can help businesses get on track and it serves as a guide to assist people to know how they and others perceive their performance.
For companies that want to stand out from their competitors, continuous improvement’ is not just a gaudy catchphrase. It’s a real focus based on feedback from across the entire organization – customers, clients, employees, suppliers, vendors, and stakeholders. They know that feedback is helpful to highlight their weaknesses as well as their strengths.
How to get relevant feedback?
Before going out to get feedback it is important to determine what you would like to know. Are you searching for information on your existing products and services and how these are being used? Do you want to review your products? Or are you planning new product development? After you have defined why you are seeking feedback, it is time to find the best way to get it.
There is no one-size-fits-all tactic to gain information from your users. Different situations require different methods of collecting customer feedback. Here are the best ways to get consistent and high quality response.
Online surveys
These tools make it easy for any organization to get feedback on the cheap. There are many online survey tools are hosted on the cloud and, also a variety of app that allows you to create and customize your online survey.
Once you have created your survey, you can send email invitations to respondents or you can post a link to the survey on your website. Another option is to embed the survey directly into your website or blog.
Online surveys can automatically collect responses in “real time,” which means you can have access to the results as soon as they’re being submitted.
Feedback boxes
Through the use of feedback forms, customers can tell you what they think about your business so you could use this information to improve it. This method is not problem free because customers prefer a seamless surfing. Asking for feedback to users while they are on your website can bother them and that can create lesser chances of getting a qualitative customer feedback.
Implementing customer feedback or comment boxes on your website is an interesting method of asking feedback from your customers without annoying them. Inserting feedback boxes based on the on-site behaviour of the user at the end of a website page maximizes the chances of achieving better replies without many efforts. Using a feedback button gives you another easy way to ask for feedback on your site.
Social media
Social media channels can be particularly useful for gathering feedback from customers. Direct comments or mentions on social networks aren’t the only way for your business to collect customer feedback — many social networks have polling tools built in. With billions of people around the world already engaged in these social media communities, you can use these channels to provide customer support from your brand and to collect valuable information about your products and services.
Live chat
Live chat can address many issues and can help your company get closer to its customers by better understanding their needs and challenges. It also helps identify patterns if there are any recurring issues and helps find long-term solutions for those issues.
Customers calls
Calling customers is a highly personalized way to get customer feedback. This method is proactive, and generates the best responses.
The advantage of this method is that you get feedback straight from the customer. The key here is that the personnel making the call should come across as genuinely wanting to help or benefit the customer. When executed well, it improves the customer relationship and makes your customers feel valued.
To get the most out of this method, contact customers at appropriate times.
What to do with the feedback you obtain?
There are many ways to use customer feedback to boost your brand image and improve the relationship with your clients.
Use feedback to help with product development. If many of your customers all request the same feature, then it should be a priority.
Reach out to people who give you excellent feedback and deepen the relationship to turn them into promoters. They will bring you more business by actively promoting your products and services.
Use positive feedback as social proof on your website. That will encourage other visitors to become customers. Studies show people are encouraged by the behaviour of others, and once they see others acting in a certain way, they feel confident to behave the same way. If customers see more and more people sharing feedback, they are more likely to share their experience.
DataScope is a platform which allows various industries to streamline, organize and evaluate the work of their field staffs thanks to online forms which provide real time indicators 100% adaptable to any field.
