They say, "Customer is King," and that's completely right. According to Forbes, customer-centric companies are almost 60% more successful than organizations that are not.
If you run a business and sell a product or service, knowing what your customer thinks about it should be an utmost priority. This is called customer feedback, without which you can't improve or entertain your consumers just how they want.
Read to know more about the power of customer feedback and the difference it can make to your success.
What Is Customer Feedback?
Do you know what is the cornerstone of long-term business success and growth? It is listening to your customer complaints and suggestions and then curating a plan to implement them. Satisfied customers are easier to sell, making it convenient for you to achieve your company's goals.
Customer feedback should be a core part of your marketing strategy, so you can understand what your consumers want to serve them accordingly.
Customer feedback includes the opinions and information your consumers leave about a service, product, or brand. This can also be insights and input shared by your customer community after experiencing your company's offerings.
Whether positive or negative, consumer feedback can help any venture improve its consumer experiences and empower a positive and useful change in the business. As a result, you witness satisfied customers willing to buy your company's products and services despite having many alternatives and substitutes in the market.
To put it simply, customer feedback is one of the best sources to acquire all the data and knowledge about your customer's wants and expectations. It also helps understand your company's weak points and strengths that you can forward to responsible departments and personnel for improvement.
Why Should You Care About Customer Feedback?
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When running a business, you may come across several tasks and challenges that any additional chore may seem like a burden. So, why should you care about customer feedback as an added task while managing a business's operations or looking after the employees?
Here are some reasons why customer feedback matters.
It Helps You Understand Your Product's Aspects Requiring Improvement
Have you ever taken out time to evaluate the imperfections in your product? A product created after so much research and hard work has to be perfect, right? However, what's ideal for you, may not be the same for your customers.
Since customers matter the most, their feedback can help you know the different areas of improvement in your products. As a result, you create products that can grab you to more sales in a short duration.
When You Listen to Your Customers' Complaints, They Feel Important
If you want to attract your customers and retain them for long, listening to their suggestions and complaints is imperative.
When you ask a customer for their feedback, they feel their opinions are valuable. They also get interested and build positive ties with your brand, and don't shy away from buying from you in the future.
A Positive Customer Feedback Can Enhance Your Reputation and Sales
You may perceive customer feedback as a few negative remarks to help your business and employees know their flaws. However, customer feedback can also be positive and can generate excellent reviews for your company.
Moreover, the review can spread through the word of advertising, helping you gain more customers.
Suppose A bought a product from you. He loved it and shared a positive review on your website. This act can help B and C know more about your company, and a positive review may persuade them to buy from you too.
Similarly, A may personally recommend your products within his circle. This can benefit you greatly, as most purchase decisions are usually based on the recommendations of family and friends.
Negative Customer Feedback Is Not Always Bad
You may not like taking customer feedback with the fear of negative remarks and their consequences on your reputation.
But, the truth is that well-curated and helpful negative reviews are an opportunity to improve. They are a chance to build a winning strategy by contacting your unsatisfied customers and hearing their issues before promising them to meet all their demands and compensating for their poor experience.
Customer Feedback Improves Customer Satisfaction
When you listen to your loyal customers and take their feedback into account, you automatically earn their attention.
You increase their satisfaction levels and build good shopping experiences. As a result, they look forward to buying from you, helping your business grow with consistent sales.
A satisfied customer is an asset and can help you increase your revenue despite the competition. Moreover, they can also be a source of more revenue and customers, provided you retain them for a long time.
Customer Feedback Helps You Earn New Customers
Attaining new customers is a highly expensive process. Investing in social media and PPC campaigns can be pretty frustrating and costly, impacting your budget and other development plans.
But with customer feedback and testimonials on your website and other platforms, you automatically attract new consumers. This helps in increasing your customers and eventually the sales.
This Feedback Helps You Target New Markets
Customer feedback is not always about complaints and negative experiences. It is also about suggestions and advice that can help you enter new products with your special range of products.
Suppose customer feedback requests you to start selling a new range of shoes. In that case, you can use that suggestion to widen your product portfolio and enter new possible markets with the aim of growing more.
Types of Customer Feedback
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Now that you know the aim and importance of customer feedback, it's time you learn about the different types.
There are two primary types of feedback, active or solicited and passive or unsolicited.
Active/Solicited Feedback
A solicited or active customer feedback is what you hear or get directly from your customers. This type of feedback proves helpful during product updates and releases and is evaluated with time to measure progress.
This feedback has a few examples or branches you can incorporate into your strategy.
NPS Score
Net Promoter Score surveys are designed to ask customers the likelihood of recommending a product to a friend or family from 0 to 10.
When you get the results, the score can be calculated by subtracting the Detractors percentage (0 to 6) from the Promoters percentage (9 or 10).
These surveys can reach your customers via emails, emails, website pop-ups, or even SMS. However, when integrated into your app, these surveys generate exceptional response rates than other methods.
The score is often tracked over time to measure the preferences and sentiments of users. As you improve the quality of your product according to your consumer needs, the score starts increasing gradually.
CSAT Score
Another way to get active feedback is through CSAT or customer satisfaction scores. It measures the quality of service or product expressed as a percentage.
The score is usually taken via a single-question survey with a question like, "How would you rate your satisfaction with the product?"
Users who score 1 are those who are unsatisfied, and those who score 10 are fully satisfied. The score is calculated over time to measure and evaluate the fluctuations in customer expectations and experiences.
Focus Groups
At times, surveys are not the best ways to know what your customers want. In that case, focus groups play a great role. These focus groups help you have direct contact with your customers and understand their use cases, behaviors, and needs.
The information and insights collected from focus groups can assist you in adding context to the results earned from NPS and CSAT surveys.
Customer Surveys
In-app customer surveys can benefit your business in many ways. These surveys can help new users share their experiences after onboarding. You can also curate a one-question survey to get customer feedback after their support case is closed.
Customer surveys within apps don't get ignored and are often a true depiction of customer experiences.
CES (Customer Effort Score)
This score is the reflection of the effort a customer had to put in to utilize a service or product. It also includes the measures a customer might have taken to get an issue resolved or find their required information.
The metric is a derivation of a customer survey based on their satisfaction. It measures the ease of using a service or product.
Passive/Unsolicited Feedback
Instead of you reaching out to your customers for feedback, passive or unsolicited feedback comes from the customers on their own without you requesting one.
There are different categories of passive feedback to include in your strategy.
Feature Requests
Feature requests are product feature feedback that covers recommendations, opinions, comments, and suggestions from customers or users. The requests made are frequently related to new features or updates in the new ones.
The problem with this type of feedback is that it piles up quite rapidly. To manage this feedback properly, it is imperative to practice proper categorization and organization of various features.
Bug Reports
This passive feedback is shared by the testers or users on an encounter with an issue or bug in your software application. However, when a user reports an issue, they don't participate or be involved in fixing the bug.
Bug reports passive feedback typically includes all the details of the issue, such as the symptoms, error messages, system information, and all the steps to create the problem.
So, what benefit does bug report feedback produces? This feedback helps your company's developers understand the problem and collect all the information required to start an investigation.
Customer Reviews
Do you have a social media platform where customers share their reviews about your products or services? This is a passive type of feedback shared by people who might have experienced your services or products.
These reviews cover feedback on customer experiences, satisfaction levels, and opinions. Such feedback offers valuable insights into various product features, usability, and overall performance.
It is essential to monitor and analyze these reviews to identify any product or customer experience issues and then curate a strategy to improve them.
Public or Private Praises
Public or private praises are two valuable forms of feedback that highlight all the valuable and impressive aspects of a product and indicate the satisfaction levels of customers.
Public praises are more visible than private ones and can substantially influence potential buyers. In fact, such praises help a bigger and better reputation for your company, attracting new buyers from a large audience.
Private praises, on the other hand, are only visible to organizations and companies connected with the feedback.
Most companies turn public praise into testimonials that can be further used in marketing campaigns and posted on social media pages. The section you see in marketing videos labeled as 'Hear what our customers have to say' is all about public praise.
Similarly, private praises may not be used as testimonials, but can help your company understand the level of customer satisfaction and get guidance on product improvements.
Collecting Different Types of Feedback is Valuable
When you collect different types of customer feedback, you benefit both your company and your customers. Here's how.
You Get a Diverse Perspective
Customer feedback gained from various sources highlights the preferences and experiences of a large and diverse community. It helps you dig into the viewpoints and needs of customers who may not be as active as the rest.
As a result, you get more data to improve your product or service and an opportunity to satisfy a large audience.
A Well-Sourced Data Provides a Comprehensive Understanding
Suppose you wish to launch a product feature, but are hesitant to do so due to your limited knowledge of customer needs. In that case, well-sourced data from various sources can help you establish an excellent understanding of your customer base, their expectations, and their current needs.
Different channels like social media, customer reviews, and surveys can help you experience a holistic understanding of the satisfaction levels, challenges, and opinions of your consumers.
Different Types of Feedback Introduce You With a Varying Format
You can't compare one feedback format with another because each provides its own benefits and results.
For instance, when you collect feedback from testimonials, you get detailed information on a customer's views on a special feature or an interaction with your customer support team.
On the other hand, ratings through surveys are a quick technique to assess your customer's satisfaction level without making them explain themselves.
Both methods are essential, as they complement each other and give you comprehensive information to help you take your next steps.
Besides, you can use all these feedback formats to identify any trends and consumer trends effectively. This can help you spot any recurring themes, emerging trends, or common issues among your audience.
As per an article, 62% of consumers are more likely to share their feedback through email, while 48% like to communicate over a call, and 42% prefer live chat as a comfortable feedback channel.
All the valuable information collected through different types of feedback channels can give you a chance to improve specific areas of improvement that demand attention. In addition, you also make much more informed decisions than before.
You Can Use Different Feedback to Ensure the Reliability and Relevance of the Customer Expectations
Suppose you collect customer experience feedback from ratings and also testimonials. In that case, you can evaluate the reliability and relevance of the information collected through cross-checking.
This approach works quite amazingly, especially when you want to identify pain points or areas that consistently demand improvement.
In a nutshell, collecting different types of feedback can help you conduct data-driven decision-making, helping you build a greater level of customer satisfaction and meaningful outcomes.
How to Use Customer Feedback to Improve Your Service
According to statistics, 52% of marketers customize their strategies according to the service or product feedback received from their customers. This is because they understand the amazing benefits of customer feedback and the role it can play in accelerating your company's performance.
Do you also want to create similar tactics and use your customer feedback wisely? If yes, here are some ways in which you can do that.
Display Positive Feedback On Your Website
It is incredibly essential to showcase positive customer feedback on your website. Your website represents your brand and is an alien platform for new clients. Therefore feedback from your loyal customers can help new visitors know about your products or services and attain genuine information about their experiences.
There are many ways to showcase positive feedback. For instance, you can take the help of video testimonials to display the messages.
They not only represent the experiences of your existing customers but also show their enthusiasm about your brand, which convinces them to take out time and make a video.
Make sure you have a separate section for video testimonials, as they are more interactive. These videos must not get lost in the sea of content published on your website.
You must also display written testimonials. Ensure that these are short and precise but successfully convey the message loudly.
When you display written testimonials, be considerate about their font and display. It is always a good idea to highlight them in a bright font and adjust them in a box with the picture of the customer.
Don't shy away from posting a good number of positive customer feedback on your website. But make sure that the messages aren't too many that they start looking fake or crowded.
Show that You Respond to Every Piece of Feedback
It is not just about taking customer feedback; you should also respond to it and show that to your potential consumers.
There are many ways to show your response. Establish many feedback channels for customers to contact you and vice versa. If you currently only use email as the sole channel, start opting for social media, dedicated customer support, and live chat as other convenient options.
Respond to all messages promptly. This means you should engage as soon as possible and pay attention to all their needs.
According to a recent study, 40% of customers expect a response within an hour, while 79% wish to get a reply in a day.
When replying, practice empathy. You and your team should always follow a customer-centric approach. Instead of finding a solution instantly, acknowledge the feeling of your consumers and apologize if need be.
You can also post your response to the query on the website. For instance, mention the feedback with the method you took to deal with it. Similarly, create posts on social media with the same content to grab the attention of your potential customers.
Inform the Future Development of Your Product or Service
Do you plan to develop your product or service? If yes, are these future developments aligned with your customer needs?
Suppose you receive customer feedback regarding a product's features. In that case, you can take measures to develop the features using advanced technology. Ensure to share your actions both to your existing and new customers.
There are two benefits of this practice. For starters, when you develop products or services that demand an update, you give an impression of a company that follows a futuristic approach.
Moreover, when you provide information about your development plans, you let your clients know the importance of their feedback and the steps you take to fulfill their demands.
Motivate Your Team to Improve
Positive feedback works as encouragement, not only for you, but also for your team. According to statistics, 45% of employees believe that feedback from customers is quite valuable.
Therefore, if you have a team requiring much-needed motivation and encouragement, make sure that they go through all the positive reviews related to them.
Final Thoughts
Customer feedback is more important than you can imagine. It's not just about how your consumers feel about your product or service, but is also an opportunity to know your shortcomings and make improvements to increase your existing customer base.
From conducting customer feedback surveys to asking open-ended questions, there are many ways to collect feedback from your clients and use it for your benefit. The feedback collected can be used to motivate your employees, build consumer-centric strategies, and develop products or services that can be used to meet the demands of the end user and help you grow.
Cover Photo by Natalia Luchanko on Unsplash
