Are You Getting Regular Feedback From Your Customers?

If you aren’t – you really don’t know how they are feeling about your business.

I’ve written a number of articles on best practices for getting feedback from customers and how to effectively use customer advisory boards for your small business. You can access those past articles via the links later in this article.

I’ve seen a number of articles about customer service lately and it is great to see a focus on how to ensure that your customers are happy and satisfied! No doubt some of this attention by businesses is driven by challenges in today’s still troubling economic times when we are all – as small businesses and even larger businesses – trying to keep making progress. A recent post on Business on Main by Randy Myers, How To Pump Your Customers for Regular Feedback, provides some useful tips on how to effectively and regularly solicit feedback from customers. What I particularly enjoyed about the article is the case study of how one company, Akraya, Inc. in California found a creative way to get feedback from their customers in a way that provided them what they needed and actually also helps to engage Akraya’s employees. You can read all about it in the article from Randy Myers.

Too often companies only get feedback once a year from their customers (or, unfortunately, for some – not at all – they just don’t ask how they are doing). Without regular feedback, it’s difficult to understand how you are performing in your customer’s mind. Additionally, for those that do get feedback, too often they do nothing with it (or at least nothing from the customer’s perspective). I recall a time when a business I purchased from frequently sent me a survey to provide them feedback. For two years in a row they sent the same survey and each year I wrote a comment on it and asked for someone to contact me. Nothing. There was no response from the business. My thoughts – stop wasting my time when you are not interested in my feedback. Needless to say I no longer do business with them and have instead from a company to work with that cares about my business.

You need to be serious about getting feedback and, when you get it – you need to respond right away. The customer takes the time to provide you the feedback; have the courtesy to respond to it. As was noted in the article on Business on Main, follow up with the customer. The author suggests providing the customer a summary or detailed copy of the findings to demonstrate that you care about the feedback, appreciate receiving it and will act upon it. And then develop a plan, with the right employees involved, to take action on the feedback you received.

Your thoughts? What are you doing – and how well are you doing it? – to get feedback from your customers? And if you aren’t – what’s your plan to get started today?

Related articles:

• Ask your customers what they want
• Gathering client feedback
• Using a Customer Advisory Council
• How are your customers feeling?
• 10 simple ways to reach out to customers

Disclaimer: This post is a part of an online influencer network for Business on Main. I receive incentives to share my views on a monthly basis.