Customer feedback is perhaps the most reliable assessment of how successful your business is in providing satisfaction – put bluntly, a customer who is happy with their experience in dealing with your business is more likely to return. Though more negative feedback can initially be a knock in confidence, they can ultimately prove more than useful in pointing out ways to improve and grow as a business, and it should not be taken personally, it is a professional matter. Here are four ways to gather customer feedback to ensure that your business remains at the top of its game.
Annual surveys
Surveys and questionnaires are popular ways of gathering feedback about a business as you can tailor your questions to fit your needs and provide the specific information you want. For example, if you are a restaurant specializing in healthy take out options, you could ask questions concerned with dietary requirements and recipe considerations. You could make your customer survey an annual occurrence and offer incentives such as exclusive discount codes to encourage completion.
Website reviews
Perhaps the most recognizable customer feedback format is encouraging customers to post reviews of your product or service on your website. This gives potential customers more information about the product than is possible in the product description and specifications and enables them to see how useful it is in a real-life setting. As such, a negative review may fill you with the dread that your business’s reputation could be harmed. The trick is to respond to all reviews, both positive and negative, in a courteous and conciliatory manner. This will demonstrate to other customers that your business is professional and open to criticism and improvement.
Customer service phone line
If your customers have any queries about a product or would like more information regarding a service you offer and whether that is the right option for them, a customer service phone line will allow them to speak directly to a company employee. Make your customer service phone line a toll free 800 number, such as that offered by Kall8, which will ensure that no charges will be incurred by customers when they call your business, even if they are making a long-distance call. Additionally, 800 numbers can be made memorable for customers through the use of repeating digits and vanity numbers.
Talk directly to customers through social media
Your business’s social media accounts, such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, could be used as additional tools to converse with customers and get their feedback in a relaxed environment. At the most basic level, you could use it to promote your annual survey and offer direct messaging for customer queries. Platforms such as Twitter allow you to have a conversation with customers about various issues affecting your business that many followers will see. In this way, social media accounts are hugely important customer service and marketing tools.
