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Twenty-one Ways To Gather Customer Feedback

Sunday, June 17 2007

In Thursday's post I talked about the importance of businesses actively seeking customer feedback through multiple channels. Which of the following methods would work for your business?

  1. Business reply comment cards enclosed with each order
  2. Having a blog for your business (with comments and trackbacks enabled)
  3. Putting a Web site URL on customer receipts and asking customers to go there and deliver feedback, perhaps in exchange for the chance to win prizes
  4. Having an easy to find e-mail portal on your Web site so that customers can reach you
  5. Sending out Web-based surveys via e-mail to customers within a short period of time after their purchase
  6. Hiring a telemarketing firm to call customers within a sort period of time after their purchase
  7. Having a policy that directs all written correspondence from customers to the owner or senior manager
  8. Having a manager contact  customers to see how his or her direct reports met their needs
  9. Senior managers or the owners each contact one or two customers a week to seek feedback
  10. Having comment cards and a box to put them in at restaurants, hotels, and retailers
  11. Training frontline staff to ask for feedback from customers
  12. Senior managers asking for feedback from managers of frontline staff
  13. Convening focus groups
  14. Taking a customer to lunch and asking for feedback
  15. Publicizing a toll-free number for customers to call when they have feedback
  16. Meeting a customer outside work and asking for feedback
  17. Recruiting steady customers to provide ongoing feedback
  18. Hiring an independent firm to gather detailed feedback from your customers about both your business and your competitors
  19. Asking customers to stay on the phone and complete a short survey after they finish placing an order, a reservation, or requesting a service
  20. Asking customers to comlete a short survey after they've placed an online order
  21. Use Google Alerts to track mentions of your business on the Internet and in the Blogosphere

Regards,

 

Glenn

In addition, make sure to read these articles:

  • Link To A Customer Service Best Practice
  • Over at Church Of The Customer Blog, Ben writes about a friend who offered feedback to a small business. The way the business responded should ......
  • The industry-leading remote support solution
  • Citrix GoToAssist™ is the industry-leading remote support solution to transform technical support into competitive advantage and rapidly lower support costs, improve end-user productivity and increase ......
  • Australian contact centers failing to...
  • The contact center is increasingly playing an important role in the organization, operating as the key interaction point between the organization and the customer....
  • COMMUNICATION KEY TO INNOVATION
  • Communication is vital to increasing innovation and therefore company profits, according to the author of a report on UK business competitiveness. Pathways to Value: How ......
  • Engaging the entire organization in delivering...
  • HEADNOTE Learn how to use customer visits and one-on-one conversations to gain information that will help you surpass customers' expectations. Most organizations have reached the ......
  • Contacting customers on Y2K
  • Clear communication with customers on Year 2000 concerns not only is recommended by the regulators but also can be a prudent step for any banker ......
  • Training Today – Softer Sell Puts Customers in...
  • Customers who dread being pounced on by salespeople the minute they set foot in a store can now breathe easier. In a Wickes Furniture store, ......
  • Finding the Right Customers
  • Finding new customers first requires an introspective look at one's own company and open communication with existing customers. So, be on guard when receiving outside ......
  • The voice of the customer: Is anyone listening?
  • Most healthcare leaders today realize that customer satisfaction is vital, and they know that they have to have feedback systems in place to measure customer ......
  • Flawed but not fatally. (Review).
  • by Dan Michaluk * The Customer Service Connection, video, 2002, 26 min., Kantola Productions (800-989-8273, www.kantola.com), $495. Other material: study guide. The Customer Service Connection ......
  • Flawed but still worthwhile. (Review).
  • The Customer Service Connection, video, 2002 26 min., Kantola Productions (800-989-8273, www.kantola.com), $495. Other material: study guide. The Customer Service Connection is an appropriate video ......
  • Beyond the Box
  • Six great steps to encourage employees to submit their innovative ideas ......
  • Got Feedback?
  • Since I graduated from college, I´ve worked for five employers in the business and nonprofit sectors. As I look back, I realize that the one ......

Latest Comments in  posts

Glenn, Thanks for posting these 21 ideas - it is so easy to assume we know what our customers want. I plan to direct many of my clients to your post so that they can choose their favorite ways to learn from their most valuable assets - their customers. - Lori Richardson, Score More Sales ...
By: Lori Richardson on 6/19/07 at 9:09 AM
Thanks, Lori. I'm sure a missed a few ways to gather feedback so if anyone can think of more, please leave a comment.

Regards,

Glenn ...
By: on 6/24/07 at 6:04 PM
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