Customer Satisfaction is the key to success in any business, and it depends upon various factors. Apart from the quality of your products, it largely depends on how you serve your customers. The way to know how customers perceive their experience with you and your products and services is to know Customer Feedback. But what if you take Customer Feedback and do not do anything about it?
Taking action on Customer Feedback and Closing the Customer Feeback Loop is as important as gathering it because Customer Feedback is worthless if you do not do anything about it. Taking feedback and doing nothing with it is one of the biggest mistakes you can make in the path of running a business.
Researches suggest that 67% of the Customer Churn can be prevented if companies take action on Customer Feedback and resolve customers’ issues. But if you do not take any action, the customers get even more frustrated, which becomes a reason for them to switch to another brand. In this article, we will share some practical tips and tricks that will help you Close the Customer Feedback Loop effectively and grow your business. Let’s first understand what is Closing the Customer Feedback Loop.
What is Closing the Customer Feedback Loop?
Closing the Customer Feedback Loop is the process that involves engaging with your customers to respond to their feedback regarding their experience with your products, services, and the organization and taking appropriate actions on the feedback wherever required to improve the Customer Experience.
Closing the Feedback Loop involves:
- Analyzing the Customer Feedback and looking for the specific actions that should be taken for it.
- Take the actions if required.
- Telling the customers what you have done to improve their experience.
This whole process is called Closing the Customer Feedback Loop.
Closing the Feedback Loop is important to enhance Customer Satisfaction and improve Customer Experience. Let’s explore some sure-shot tips that would help you take action on Customer Feedback and Close the Customer Feedback Loop effectively.
Tips for Closing the Customer Feedback Loop
- Acknowledge receiving of Customer Feedback
- Show Gratitude for Positive Customer Feedback
- Look for Opportunities to Improve in Neutral Feedback
- Apologize to the Customer for Bad Experience
- Prioritize working on Negative Feedback
- Take the Required Actions to Improve Experience
- Give an Estimated Time of resolving an Issue
- Ensure the Customers stay Updated
- Deny Politely where you cannot do anything
- Inform the Customers about the Actions Taken
Let’s explore how these tips can help you Close the Customer Feedback Loop Effectively.
Acknowledge receiving of Customer Feedback
The first and foremost step in Closing the Customer Feedback Loop is to acknowledge the customers that you have received it. This is a way to convey a message that their feedback is valuable to you. The options you have given them to provide feedback are not just a formality but an opportunity to improve their experience. It conveys that you listen to the voice of the customers and your customers are precious to you. For this, you don’t need to send a long email; just a small ‘Thank You’ message acknowledging that you have received the feedback is enough.
Show Gratitude for Positive Customer Feedback
It’s essential to act on Negative Feedback, but Positive Feedback is also important for your business, and you must not ignore it. So if you receive positive feedback, do respond to them to show your customers gratitude for spending their precious time sharing feedback and praising you.
Remember that the customers do not need to share positive feedback as they do not require any action on it from your end. It’s your need to know how well you are able to satisfy them, and if they spend time and energy on your requirement, you must Thank them.
Look for Opportunities to Improve in Neutral Feedback
If you receive Neutral Feedback, your customers would be satisfied with your products and services, but there is definitely something you can do better to improve their experience. The customers who give neutral feedback do not show any distress, but if they are offered a little better deal, they can easily switch to other brands for a better experience.
Thank these customers for sharing feedback and asking them what you could do to provide them an even better experience. Doing this can uncover several opportunities for you to improve your products and services and do something to even exceed customers’ expectations and ensure Customer Delight.
Apologize to the Customer for Bad Experience
The most essential and challenging part of Closing the Customer Feedback Loop is dealing with unhappy customers. If you can perform this task effectively, you can win your customers’ trust back and avoid customer churn. Studies suggest that 67% of the Customer Churn can be avoided if companies effectively resolve the customers’ issues.
Respond to the unhappy customers with your apology for their bad experience and ask them where things went wrong. Try to put yourself in their shoes and understand their perspective. If you find any mistake at your end, accept it and apologize for it rather than covering it up. In that case, do whatever it takes to improve Customer Experience. Remember that a slight loss can be covered in your business, but if you lose customers’ trust, it can be irreversible damage to your brand image.
Prioritize working on Negative Feedback
Although all feedback is essential for your business, you must prioritize Negative Feedback as there is undoubtedly a response and an action required from your end in most of the negative feedback received. Address the customer issues which need your immediate attention, and work on them ASAP to resolve them. Studies suggest that 90% of the customers consider a quick response as a significant factor affecting their overall Customer Experience.
So if you respond to Customer Feedback immediately and resolve customer issues, you can convert a negative experience into a positive one.
Take the Required Actions to Improve Experience
Take the necessary actions which are required to improve Customer Experience. Either resolving a customer issue or following a good suggestion provided by a customer, take the necessary steps from your side at the earliest so that customers feel that you value them and seriously want to serve them as best as possible.
Give an Estimated Time of resolving an Issue
It is one of the best practices to inform the customers about the time you will take to work on their feedback or resolve their issues. Give them an estimated time, like two or three days, to get their work done and the issue resolved. Make sure you stick to the timeline you provide to the customers.
Ensure that the Customers stay Updated
Keep the Customers updated about the progress of their work. If a ticket has been raised, provide timely status and progress of the ticket. This will keep them calm and informed about the progress of their job.
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Deny politely where you cannot do anything
Learn to say ‘No’ where you cannot fulfill the demand of your customers. Customer Service is of utmost importance, but you cannot always give them what they want. But making false commitments and fake promises will only add to their frustration and will do more harm than good. So, in such situations, it is always better to politely deny them.
Inform the Customers about the Actions Taken
Whatever actions you take to resolve customers’ issues or follow their suggestions, do inform them about this. You are doing as much as possible to provide the best experience to your customers, so let them know this, so they also know about your efforts and your zeal to satisfy them.
