Everyone makes mistakes (some bigger than others) but a PR mishap doesn’t have to be the end of the world. It’s important to act quickly in the wake of a publicity disaster—but you also need to act strategically.
One way to do this is to ask for corporate feedback from current and potential customers to help determine your next move. For example, when Twitter received multiple complaints that trollers were ruining the platform, they should have implemented protective measures immediately, rather than force users to self-police or block bullies themselves. It’s just bad business to ignore your customer-base, and we can all agree that bad business sucks.
Corporate feedback is vital for good business strategy and planning long-term business goals. It is also necessary to gauge customer satisfaction in order to improve your current services and attract new patrons. It’s invaluable to know what your current customers think about your service, wares and overall appeal. But how can you collect corporate feedback in a way that is both practical and helpful? Here are some points to guide you in soliciting customer feedback:
1. Have a Strong Focus
It would be impossible to survey every customer about every potential issue they have with your company or product. Although it’s tempting to ask for any and all feedback, you should focus on a particular issue, be it ease of use, communication, online presence or conflict resolution. If you’re operating within a larger platform, be sure to have sub-categories so that you can easily compile feedback on certain issues. If you are polling your customers on their opinions after a crisis or scandal, consider sending out a survey that specifically tackles this event.
2. Respond Quickly
Let your customers know that their complaint or opinion has been heard as soon as possible. People are more likely to give feedback if they feel that the company is actively responding and reacting to their comments. Sometimes all this takes is a follow-up email promising that someone will contact them regarding their issue ASAP, or providing a 24-hour help line for further, immediate assistance.
Also, every single piece of feedback should get a response—even if you have no idea what the customer is talking about. By showing that you care about your customers’ time and concerns, you have already made the first step towards maintaining (or repairing) your reputation as a company.
3. Leave Space
It might be tempting to push “On a scale of 1-to-10” questionnaires as a source of feedback because you can ask the exact questions that you need answers to. While this can certainly be helpful to get an overall understanding of how customers perceive you, you’ll want to leave some space for the participant to address issues in their own words. They might bring up something that you would never think to ask about.
4. The Right Tools
Know which channels are most valuable for receiving different types of feedback. If you only have a single primary question (“How easy was it to find what you needed on our website?”), then a simple online poll might be the best way to gather responses. Using a catchy domain, such as TellUsIfOurWebsite.Sucks, might do the trick!
If you need a more nuanced understanding of the customer’s experience overall, you can never go wrong with an email survey. Make sure it’s quick and easy to fill out, so that you don’t deter customers from following through. Finally, if you want ongoing insights into your customers’ thoughts or pain points, consider having a public chat room or portal where users can interact with your company and suggest improvements.
5. Brush Up on Analytics
Google Analytics is a hugely helpful tool that allows you to “poll” your customers online without any extra effort on their part. If you’re unfamiliar with the system, Google offers an in-depth course for getting started. You can use website analytics to discover things that customers might never report themselves, such as how long they stayed on a given page or what made them decide to bounce. Using analytics will help supplement the information that customers give willingly.
The Takeaway
Corporate feedback can help your company grow and change to suit your customers. Any PR slip-up can be managed if your customers feel that their complaints are being heard and, more importantly, acted upon. Losing business sucks, so do what you can to proactively keep your customers loyal and satisfied.
If you want a new way to reach your customers, consider a .SUCKS domain. Help your clients tell you what sucks—start the conversation today.
Photos: Shutterstock / Rawpixel, Shutterstock / Monkey Business Images, Shutterstock / Rawpixel
