Are you tuned in to your customer feedback?

Feedback is essential for almost any type of business endeavor. Big companies seek feedback all the time on what consumers like and don’t like about their products; how their employees are performing; and whether they are on the right strategic path.
For small businesses, however, feedback can be even more essential. There’s often less margin for error, for one thing. And in startup or early-stage situations, you need to know if you’re on the right track, and – perhaps more importantly – where you should make changes and adjustments.
The good news for smaller businesses, however, is that changes can often be made quickly. The trick is getting good feedback on a regular and timely basis that allows you to make improvements and grow your business.
Try creating a “feedback loop” of continuous communication between you and your customers. Here are seven essentials for collecting, analyzing and using customer feedback in a way that both engages customers and benefits your business:
1. Make it easy. Provide multiple ways for customers to offer their opinions. Don’t limit your efforts to surveys and emails, or old-fashioned “how are we doing?” forms at checkout. Include a feedback form on your website, and ask for feedback on Facebook and any other social media sites you use. In all cases, keep it simple. Lengthy forms or confusing questions will only frustrate customers. And try not to query customers every time you see or connect with them. This leads to feedback fatigue and can cause customers to tune you out permanently.
2. Make them feel important. This is critical for getting people to respond to your feedback requests, and for generating helpful information that you can use to make improvements or launch new products and services. Offering incentives isn’t always necessary to get customers to provide honest feedback. Most are willing to do so if approached properly. The key is to make customers feel that you genuinely want to hear what they have to say, value their opinions and will use the information to make improvements that will benefit them and others.
3. Ask the right questions. Avoid vague questions such as “What do you think?” Break it down. Ask specifically about customer service, for example, or certain product features. You don’t have to cover everything at once. If you have forms and surveys, design different ones to cover specific topic areas. 4. Pay attention to timing. What you ask is important, but so is when you ask it. Don’t be in a hurry to solicit feedback if your business isn’t really ready to hear or deal with it. If all you are really seeking is approval or a pat on the back, feedback won’t help you improve. At times, asking for feedback immediately is ideal. But in other cases, it’s best to step back for a bit and do a little self-examination first. Identify what you want to assess and where you would be willing to make changes. And be prepared for opinions that you might not like.
5. Leverage your online options. Today there are many low-cost and even free Web-based tools and services designed to help small businesses seek customer feedback. These include online surveys (Survey Monkey, www.surveymonkey.com, is a popular choice), Web-based feedback forums such as UserVoice (www.uservoice.com) and social media such as Facebook, Google Plus and others. On Facebook, one approach is to simply post a question about some aspect of your product or service and ask for feedback. It’s quick, easy and cheap.
6. Analyze and act on your feedback. Take all feedback seriously. Your ultimate goal is to improve customer satisfaction and grow your business. Look for trends and common themes. By formalizing the process of analyzing and responding to feedback, you elevate its importance within your business. Thank customers for the effort they’ve made to provide information, and assure them it is valued and appreciated. When you make changes based on customer feedback, call attention to it. This will spur others to offer feedback in the future.
7. Seek an independent view. Also consider asking for advice and feedback from a free small-business counseling service such as Score (www.score.org). An experienced Score counselor might be able to suggest improvements that you haven’t thought of. •


Daniel Kehrer, founder of BizBest, can be reached at editor@bizbest.com.

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