Feedback is only the beginning….
And if it doesn’t lead somewhere, it’s pretty much a waste of time and resources.
Heresy? Especially coming from the founder of a feedback-related company (www.knownact.com) it may seem like it. But I opine carefully – I’m obviously not advocating that you shouldn’t capture customer feedback. I am suggesting however, that don’t treat it as a “check box” item that you need to get done. Feedback needs to lead somewhere and in our opinion it needs to lead to actions in real-time, right there and right then.
This action can take several forms – but the end goal is to build a deeper relationship with the customer that helps prevent attrition and promotes long term customer lifetime value. The only way to do this is to do it fast; when the customer is still experiencing your product or service and has a strong opinion about it. Timeliness is important, as is context and relevance of how you respond to the customers’ input.
This can make the difference between a customer who takes to Twitter or Yelp to rant about your service and one who is super appreciative of how customer oriented you are and becomes an ambassador for your friend.
We think you’ll prefer the latter kind of customers!
