Four Reasons Why Businesses Should Actively Seek Customer Feedback

 Last week, Tom Vander Well, at QA QnA wrote a post about a disappointing trip to Six Flags Mid-America. In a comment I urged him to e-mail them and let them know what he experienced. 

If you are a business owner, manager, or employee, here are four reasons why you should actively seek feedback from your customers.  

1. Customer feedback can point out areas where you can improve. It can help identify weak employees who may be losing you sales, giving you the opportunity to change their behavior, which will hopefully result in more productivity. If you are unknowingly selling defective products or services that are disappointing and damaging your reputation, customer feedback can act as an early warning system staunching the loss of customers and profits.
2. It can identify employees, services, and products that exceed the customers’ needs and expectations. You can then reward and recognize your star performers and use them to teach their best practices to the rest of your employees. Identifying products and services that customers really like may give you a head start on ordering more and allow you to give them more prominence in your marketing.
3. Acting promptly when presented with feedback can create positive word of mouth advertising (WOM). When you receive positive feedback and promptly respond you have the chance to strengthen the relationship between the customer and you. This will result in more sales from that customer as well as more referrals. Acting promptly when presented with negative feedback can save a loyal customer and either neutralize negative word of mouth advertising or turn it into positive WOM.
4. Not acting promptly can create negative word of mouth. Wonder why people aren’t beating a path to your business anymore? Could be your lack of follow up on complaints that can generate massive negative WOM. 

If you are a business, actively seek feedback. The expense involved in assigning staff to respond promptly will be more than made up by the increased profits you reap.