Constructive criticism has never hurt anyone. In fact, the “voice-of-the-customer” can be a wonderful advertisement for your company. It helps establish your company’s position in the market. Everyone knows the frustration of being left out in the cold as a consumer. That is why customer satisfaction and the loyalty that comes with it are a major competitive advantage. As a study shows, 98% of consumers think of reviews and ratings as an important factor when making a purchase decision (source: Power Reviews). But how can you, as a business, consistently ensure good customer reviews and a high level of customer satisfaction? Continuously gathering customer feedback is the prerequisite for this.
Satisfied customers are your most successful sales team!
Continuously gathering customer feedback is a great way to preempt bad reviews because you know what your customers want and expect.
When looking for a place to stay, a product to buy, or a restaurant to eat, the first thing people look at are reviews from other users. Confirmation from third parties increases the credibility of an offer and supports the final purchase decision. This happens in the form of customer reviews, quality seals or industry awards. A bad review, on the other hand, causes people to distance themselves from an offering. According to the same study by Power Review, 96% of those consumers specifically search for negative reviews before deciding for a purchase. In the long run, this can cause immense damage to your company.
A customer’s feedback can change at any time and depends on factors such as: Offers, price, customer service, promotions and presentation. In addition, there are also a number of external factors that are usually beyond our control. The key is to recognize trends early and react quickly. That’s why random surveys are not very effective. It is important to continuously gather as many voices as possible to stay close to your customers. Only by continuously gathering customer feedback can a business can grow together with its customers and respond to their needs in a systematic and flexible way.
Listening is good, quick responses are even better!
There are many solutions for gathering customer feedback. But which ones allow you to gather obtain constructive customer feedback, and which ones just scratch the surface? In addition to the continuity of your surveys, it is important to pay attention to their organization. It is of immense importance that the satisfaction survey itself is designed to be very flexible. The point is to ensure that every customer can easily express their opinion, especially in the case of complaints and critical feedback (tip: see also Complaint management: The path to high customer satisfaction). It is also important that the entire process, from submitting feedback to responding to it, is as efficient as possible. After all, the most sophisticated system serves no purpose if the customer waits a long time to receive a response to their concern, or in the worst case, no response at all. When choosing a solution, the following five aspects are crucial to ensuring that you, your employees, and your customers benefit from your customer satisfaction surveys:
- Usability first: The platform you use must have a user-friendly interface. The more complicated the design, the lower the participation rate. Accessibility for your customers is essential here.
- Consistent good service: The only way to get authentic and accurate insights is to conduct surveys continuously throughout the year. That’s why it’s important to collect customer feedback on an ongoing basis, and not just occasionally.
- Multi-channel surveys: Reach all target groups, from Boomers to Gen Z: Make sure it is easy for your customers to give feedback through the channels of their choice, both online, for example via smartphone, app, QR code, SMS, terminal, web form, and offline.
- Nonstop in contact: Ensure that you support your customers throughout the entire customer journey and collect feedback at all important touchpoints in order to identify specific weaknesses.
- Easy and efficient implementation: You can only succeed in permanently improving customer satisfaction if the survey tool is also easy to use for yourself. Make sure that the solution allows the automated collection and processing of feedback, automatically alerts you to poor ratings, and makes it easy for you and your employees to keep an eye on client feedback at all times and analyze the results.
These features separate the wheat from the chaff when it comes to a good solution. A successful business future is based on satisfied customers, and these are based on good customer feedback management. To achieve this, we at Spectos provide tailored customer satisfaction surveys. Our solution gives you the best possible overview of your customers’ wants and needs and allows you to easily derive measures. The process is equally uncomplicated for both parties, your business and your customers. This ensures that you are as close to your customers as possible.
Test it for yourself: A sample customer satisfaction survey
Advance with your customers – with satisfaction surveys from Spectos
Contact our experts Go to Customer Satisfaction Surveys
Case studies, new projects, events and industry news – it’s all on our LinkedIn channel!
