Customer feedback is important for the success of any business, since it plays an important role in measuring customers’ satisfaction. It’s also an easy tool for identifying unhappy customers, malfunctions, and areas for improvement. Not to mention that it’s a way for differentiating a brand, which can help attract new customers from a competitive business environment.
As a Customer Empowerment Executive at Bayt.com, I handle all sort of feedback, from complaints to suggestions to bug reports. As the Middle East’s #1 Job Site, Bayt.com offers highly advanced products and technologies. Therefore, having a fully-prepared customer and technical support staff to resolve any issues as they occur is essential for us. It would be very difficult for a company to survive or grow without a dedicated customer service team who answer queries, analyze feedback, handle complaints, and turn all the input from customers into valuable information.
That being said, here are four reasons why you need to listen to your customers’ feedback, and why it is an important tool to measure their satisfaction:
1. Secure customer loyalty
If you want customers to be loyal to you, you must first become loyal to them! It is very important to show customers that you have a solution to any problem they are facing and that you can address their concerns as quickly as possible. This is not a one man show of course. If you don’t have a satisfying answer, connect the relevant department, or refer the customer to the correct contact in a professional manner. Your brand is an experience, and if your customers go through a smooth experience to find a solution, not only will they be satisfied and loyal, their positive word of mouth will also play a key role in increasing your brand awareness.
2. Help your business grow
When customers complain or send you some comments, the last thing you want to do is ignore them. That feedback, as well as any other information you’d gather from surveys or polls, is gold. It will help you measure your customer’s satisfaction levels and know exactly what you are doing right and what you are not getting correctly. When you receive feedback, use it, analyze it, find the solutions, and make your business more customer-oriented.
3. Enhance your marketing
Consider asking your customers how they found out about your brand. This information will help you pin point what aspect of your marketing plan is working best, and which needs more improvement, and that will help you better allocate your marketing budget. If you are naturally receiving many comments from customers, whether positive or negative, know that you are engaging your audience, which is a good thing. The trick is simply handling the feedback effectively to reflect positively on your brand and satisfy your customers.
4. Accept fresh opinions on your business
Being investedin your business’s day-today operations might not let you see where flaws are. Everything could be looking good from your perspective. But if you’re interested in being the best at what you do, then it is vital to seek an outsider’s perspective. That could be done by enabling customer feedback through email or live-chat, conducting surveys, contacting customers directly, and sometimes by seeking another professional’s opinion, such as a business consultant.
Customer feedback is an invaluable tool for business growth and improvement. Think of it as free consultation. Your customers care about you, which is why they give you feedback. What you need to do is handle it professionally and seriously, use it to improve your offerings, and focus on maximizing your customers’ satisfaction.
