We’ve all heard it: The customer is king.
This statement only becomes more true with each passing day. With the rise of social media and the internet, customers now have more power than ever before. Not only do customers have the power to purchase products and services, but they also have the power to shape your company’s reputation.
One of the best ways to improve customer satisfaction is by going straight to the people who keep you in business—through the collection of customer feedback. By soliciting feedback from customers, you gain valuable insight into how you can improve their products, services, and overall customer experience. Additionally, collecting customer feedback allows you to identify areas where you may need to improve.
There are a variety of methods for collecting customer feedback, ranging from online surveys to face-to-face interviews. However, not all methods are created equal. Some methods can be time-consuming and inefficient, while others may not yield reliable results.
In this article, we will explore the importance of collecting customer feedback, as well as the most effective methods for doing so. Whether you are a small business owner or a seasoned marketing professional, this article will provide you with the tools you need to collect customer feedback and improve customer success and satisfaction.
What is Customer Feedback?
Customer feedback is information provided by customers regarding their experience with your business. It is an essential tool that helps you understand how customers perceive your brand and how you can improve your offerings.
Customer feedback can come in different forms, including direct and indirect feedback. Direct feedback is the information provided directly to the company through surveys, feedback forms, and reviews. Indirect feedback is information that customers provide passively through their behavior, such as purchasing habits, loyalty, or complaints.
Customer feedback can also be structured or unstructured. Structured feedback includes responses to multiple-choice questions or rating scales, while unstructured feedback is open-ended and can include comments, suggestions, or complaints in free-text formats.
Finally, feedback can be solicited or unsolicited. Solicited feedback is feedback that you request through surveys or feedback forms, while unsolicited feedback is given by customers without any prompting or request.
Why is Customer Feedback Important?
Customer feedback is particularly important in today’s highly competitive marketplace. The modern consumer has more choices than ever before—you need to give them a good reason to choose you. By listening to customer feedback, you can do just that. You can figure out exactly what customers want (and then give it to them).
Moreover, customer feedback provides you with a way to measure your performance. By analyzing customer feedback and tracking satisfaction metrics, you can assess your performance and identify areas that require improvement. Maybe your customers wish they could communicate with you more easily, or maybe they find your current payment processes inconvenient. Whatever you uncover, you can spend your time smoothing out those issues rather than shooting in the dark and wasting time fixing processes that aren’t broken.
In short, listening to customer feedback helps you improve your products and services, boosts your bottom line, improves customer retention, and helps you avoid avoidable mishaps. increasing retention metrics, and avoiding mistakes. If collecting customer feedback isn’t already baked into your schedule consistently, it’s time to make some changes.
8 Best Ways to Collect Customer Feedback
From survey questions to emails and customer interviews, there are a lot of customer feedback methods you can use to get into the minds of loyal, frustrated, and new customers. Not sure which type of feedback will work best for your business? Here are eight methods to test.
1. Customer satisfaction survey
Customer satisfaction surveys are one of the most common methods for gathering feedback from customers. These surveys can be conducted online, via text or email, or in-person.
→ The pros: Customer feedback surveys are a great way to gather a large amount of information about customer experiences. They allow you to ask specific questions and receive detailed responses, which can help you identify patterns and improve upon weak areas. Surveys are generally cost-effective and easy to conduct.
→ The cons: One of the main downsides to customer satisfaction surveys is that people might not take the time to complete them. People’s attention spans are short, so keeping the survey short and specific to important aspects of the business is crucial. Additionally, there are a lot of survey times to choose from, like net promoter score (NPS), customer satisfaction score (CSAT), customer effort score (CES) and others. It can be overwhelming.
→ When to use it: Conducting these surveys after a customer makes a purchase or interacts with your company is a good way to get accurate feedback on the customer experience.
2. Email
Email is another popular method for collecting customer feedback. You can send emails asking customers to provide feedback, then direct them to a survey or form they can fill out online.
→ The pros: Email are easy to send and can be personalized to suit the individual customer. Additionally, email can be used to communicate and follow up with customers, providing a direct line of communication to address any concerns or issues they might have.
→ The cons: An email inbox is a competitive place to be—you’ll be competing against dozens of other brand emails trying to get your customer’s attention. Email spam filters can also lead to customers missing or unknowingly deleting your email.
When to use it: Email can be used as an ongoing channel for collecting feedback. You can use it to ask customers for feedback after a purchase or experience and then follow up by communicating any changes made to improve the customer experience.
3. Text messages
Text is quick. Text is easy. Text is convenient. Text is one of the best ways to collect feedback from your customers. In mere minutes, you can send out a text asking for feedback, and then direct customers to a form or review site where they can share their opinions.
→ The pros: 82% of consumers keep SMS notifications switched on and 98% of text messages get opened. This means customers are more likely to see your feedback request if you send it via text—and as a bonus, your response rate will likely be higher, too.
→ The cons: Text messaging may not always be the best method for collecting feedback, depending on your customer base. Text messages may be less likely to be seen and responded to by older generations, which can result in skewed results.
→ When to use it: Most consumers enjoy the convenience of text, so there’s really no reason not to take advantage of this channel. It’s quick and effective—what’s not to love?
Psst: Check out our free library of 500+ free text templates to try.
4. Social media
Social media is a powerful tool—not just for staying in touch with loved ones, but also for connecting with customers, social listening and collecting feedback.
→ The pros: Social media is a great way to reach out to a large audience. It allows you to gather feedback through direct messages, comments, reviews, and polls. Conversation threads can also be started among your followers, which can give you deeper customer insights; you’ll learn how your customers speak, what they talk about, and what their pain points are.
→ The cons: The downside to social media is that the comments and reviews may be public, and the messages could be negative. But remember the silver lining—receiving negative feedback can be upsetting, but it can help you learn and grow your business.
→ When to use it: When it comes down to it, your customers expect you to have a presence on social media. You should collect feedback there, even if it’s not your main priority. If you’re looking to collect feedback from a wide audience, social media can be a great tool to do so.
5. Online reviews
Online reviews are the new word of mouth. They can be found on major platforms such as Google, Yelp, and industry-specific platforms like Angi, Carfax, and Zocdoc.
→ The pros: Online reviews allow customers to provide detailed feedback that you can use to make necessary changes to your products or services. Having a lot of positive reviews also acts as a green flag for potential customers and can result in more traffic and conversions.
→ The cons: Online reviews can easily be manipulated, leading to fake and inaccurate reviews. Additionally, an overwhelming number of unaddressed, negative reviews, can have a negative impact on your business.
