How global catastrophes are a unique opportunity to reinvent your company
Despite all the trouble and hardship we go through during global catastrophes, they can also serve as a passageway towards innovation and success. The key to unlocking this door? According to our CEO Leslie Cottenjé it’s simple: customer engagement through feedback, especially in turbulent times.
This is the perfect opportunity to start over with your customer at the center. In times of uncertainty, we can at least assure you that these 4 best practices will help you discover the true power of short feedback loops.
1. Allow every customer the opportunity to give feedback
It is important to bear in mind that customers who contact you spontaneously or give feedback represent a minority. Without explicitly asking customers to do so, the overall majority will not provide feedback. So don't wait until a customer contacts you, but proactively distribute your survey to every customer after an interaction. This way, you can avoid the risk of making decisions based on feedback from only a small part of your customer base.
2. Avoid checkboxes and ask an open question
Try and put yourself in your customers' shoes. Ask yourself: would you still take the time to answer a lengthy survey? The answer is no. Consequently, the response rate of long surveys is only 1 to 5%. It's generally better to ask a simple open question after a score question. For open questions, the response rates are between 25% and 40%. Less is more.
However, avoid questions like 'what could we improve?'. Because that's how you make the customer overthink. As a result, you almost automatically generate negative feedback which is often less relevant. Maybe ask: 'Why did you give us this score?'. From practice, we have learned that people who describe their experience by following their gut feeling, generally explain what could be done better and above all: what is already good. It's as important to know what customers are happy about. This way you can avoid unnecessary investments in processes that already run smoothly. In turn, your marketing and salespeople can use that to their advantage in their communication.
3. Continuously question to measure different processes
Many companies prefer lengthy surveys as they want specific feedback on certain processes and they want to be able to quantify it. That's exactly where the problem lies because you are asking questions from your company's point of view. Yet you do not necessarily question what your customer considers as a priority. This creates blind spots. In combination with the often low response rates, the chance is small that you will really get any useful insights from the feedback. Besides that, the question still remains whether the actions you take afterwards will have a structural, positive impact in the long run.
Easily question customers after various interactions
However, nothing prevents you from questioning all those specific processes. Still, there is a better way to do so. Instead of a one-time survey at the end of the customer journey, you can perfectly set up different touchpoints after various interaction moments. The advantage of continuous measuring is that you can add some diversity to the questions or the metrics. If you want to know which metric you should use at what time, be sure to download our e-book about NPS℠, CSAT, and CES. It is also the perfect way to act quickly as you pick up on issues faster, can step in instantly, and can implement quick wins.
4. Interpret feedback in the right context
Many customers leave reviews via social media or companies ask for feedback through 'emoticon buttons'. Ask yourself: what can you really learn from this feedback? You're aware that a customer is dissatisfied, but you don't know which location they visited or which product they are talking about. Feedback really becomes a valuable source of information if you can include operational data such as location, the communication channel, transactional data, or other customer information (gender, age, etc.). This will also allow you to segment better and implement improvements for a certain customer segment.
In addition, if you ask for feedback in real-time,you will be able to act quickly. Just think of a QR code on your checkout ticket or a WhatsApp message after the interaction. By doing so, you are immediately aware of the customer's experience, where the interaction has taken place, and which problems need to be addressed. If you quickly deliver the feedback to the right team, they can also intervene swiftly and monitor the customer.
By using a QR code, you can quickly and safely question customers via their own smartphone.
In short ...
If companies want to start reinventing themselves, they need to drop their outdated views and concepts and start placing the customer at the center. How? Well, customer feedback is the ideal breeding ground. However, keep in mind that it's crucial that organizations respond to that feedback as quickly as possible. With the right technology, such as Hello Customer's, you can capture feedback in real-time, convert it into valuable insights, and instantly dispatch that information to the right teams. This way you can constantly keep a watchful eye. Are you curious about how Hello Customer helps organizations in your industry? Then please feel free to contact us!
