Customer service has evolved into something more sophisticated: customer experience. Today, the more you understand how your customers feel about every interaction with you, the better.
In fact, 73% of customers list experience — over price or product quality — as an important factor in their purchasing decisions, according to PwC.
So when you collect customer feedback, do it with an eye on the entire customer life cycle. The data you gather at every touchpoint — from first blush during the prospecting stage to the renewals and cross-sells year after year — can give you insights to bolster your customer relationships.
To help you get the most out of your efforts, here are seven key strategies to implement after you collect customer feedback.
READ MORE: Do’s and Don’ts for an Effective Customer Engagement Strategy
Letting your customers know how much you appreciate them for sharing their feedback — as well as showing them that you respect their time and effort — is powerful. And today, it’s even expected.
Not only does a thank-you gift incentivize customers to participate in your survey, it gives you the opportunity to create a top-notch customer experience. When their digital reward is delivered, be sure to personalize the messaging and reinforce important communications so you’re making them feel valued by your brand.
When you collect customer feedback, don’t forget to drill down into how your customers really feel about the customer experience. Then do year-over-year comparisons on your satisfaction ratings and Net Promoter Score (NPS). Be sure to flag any potential problem areas or significant decreases so you can make a plan of attack to improve any perceived shortcomings.
Qualitative feedback is customer experience gold. Tag these comments and group them into categories. Any comments, suggestions, or complaints you receive will help your team gain a deeper understanding of customer issues or motivations. This critical step also helps you discover the “why” behind quantitative results, so your team has the context it needs to develop a better customer experience.
Once your feedback is tallied and categorized, it’s time to share the results across your departments. Any ratings or comments about customer service interactions should go to the customer service leaders, for example, while feature requests or comments on product quality should go to the product team. Share a top-level summary of the insights you glean from the feedback. Don’t forget to also give a shout-out (or even a reward!) to the teams responsible for positive feedback on your product or service.
Next, it’s time to focus on where your customers think there’s room for improvement. When you put together your action plan for addressing negative feedback, be sure to include timelines and deadlines against your company’s key KPIs to foster cooperation across departments.
Here’s where you can really create a stellar customer experience. Where appropriate, share that action plan or any resulting changes with your customers so they can see that you value their feedback and are taking it seriously. A simple message that says “we heard you and took action” can go a long way.
Marketers certainly understand the value of keeping customers happy. After all, it’s far easier to retain customers than to get new ones. By using these strategies after you collect feedback from customers, you’ll have the insights you need to develop and deliver a customer experience that will keep them coming back for more.
Simplify your incentives management when you collect customer feedback. Learn more about our integrations with SurveyMonkey, Qualtrics, Krealinks, and more than a dozen other survey and community platforms.
BHN Rewards puts the power of digital rewards to work for marketers, researchers, and HR managers. Don't forget to check out all the great content in our Resources section!
BHN Rewards puts the power of digital rewards to work for marketers, researchers, and HR managers. Don't forget to check out all the great content in our Resources section!
