For many companies, collecting customer feedback is an afterthought. After all, companies exist to turn a profit; they’d rather invest their time and effort into revenue-generating activities such as pushing out new products or optimizing their sales funnel, as opposed to soliciting feedback from customers.
That said, there are plenty of benefits that collecting (and acting upon!) customer feedback can bring to the table. And as you’ll see below, many of these benefits have a direct and significant impact on your bottom line. Let’s dive straight into the five reasons why you should make collecting customer feedback a priority…
1. Improve Customer Retention
Most businesses don’t realize they have a customer retention problem, and that’s because the average business only hears from 4% of its dissatisfied customers. The other 96%? They’ll churn and stop doing business with you, without saying a word.
Here’s what you should do: instead of waiting for your customers to approach you, take the initiative to solicit feedback from them. This way, you get to understand why they’re dissatisfied. Once you’ve done that, go ahead and perform service recovery for each individual customer. On top of this, look at how you can change your internal processes and systems to address the underlying problem and improve retention rates.
2. Prevent Customers From Taking To Social Media
If your customers are frustrated and don’t have a way to provide you with feedback, they’ll take to social media to vent. As you might imagine, this will take a huge toll on your company’s reputation.
Don’t want your company’s dirty laundry to be aired in public? Simple – just provide an accessible avenue for your customers to reach out to you, and make sure you address all complaints and grouses in a timely manner.
3. Engage And Appreciate Loyal Customers
It’s important to engage and interact with all your customers, but you’ll want to pay particular attention to your loyal customers who have the highest Customer Lifetime Value (CLV). These folks are the ones contributing to the bulk of your company’s revenue, and they’re also the ones who are recommending your brand via word of mouth.
Now, most companies will have loyalty programs or memberships that cater to these people. As part of your program, conduct regular feedback sessions with them as well. You’ll walk away with valuable insights about how you can improve, and your customers will walk away feeling appreciated and recognized. It’s a win-win!
4. Aid Decision-making
Last but not least, collecting customer feedback can also help you make strategic, high-level decisions. Say you want to launch a new product, but you’re not sure how your proposed price point will be received. Maybe you want to change your business model, but you’re not sure if your customers will be receptive. Don’t try and read their minds… simply ask them for feedback!
At the end of the day, customer feedback isn’t a nice-to-have – it’s a must-have. To learn more about collecting feedback and improving customer satisfaction, join our upcoming webinar on Measuring Customer Satisfaction and Business Growth!