Closing the Feedback Loop
Feedback is a great way to understand what your weaknesses and strengths are in a business. What many businesses don’t do, however, is close the feedback loop.
This isn’t surprising considering that 42% of companies don’t even bother to capture feedback in the first place, but this is a mistake. Businesses need to understand how they are doing in the eyes of the customers, the public, and even their employees if they wish to grow in a direction that sees real results.
Closing the Feedback Loop
Feedback is the most objective look at your company as it stands. Capture feedback, take the time to respond to negative reviews at the same time, analyze the data you have collected, and use that data to create a strategy for the future.
Closing the loop is done by then implementing the changes and informing your customers, the public, or your employees on the changes you have made based on their responses. This is a great way to improve your business and show your customers or employees that you value their opinion and are committed to being the better version of yourself every day.
Better your business for your current customers, your future customers and for yourself. It can be difficult to invest in the right improvements, but with feedback, you can do so with confidence.
What is feedback loop?
Closed loop customer feedback means that you return to those who made the feedback and report on the results and changes you have made. It shows your customers or employees that you value their opinion and are committed to improving yourself for their sake. It is one of the most important components of quality customer service.
Who Should Be Accountable for Customer Feedback Loops?
Changing based on the feedback you receive from your customers or employees is a great start, but you will also want to respond to customers and report on your progress. Who does this should be trained in customer service and know how to write in your brand’s tone and persona so that customers can feel like they are dealing with one entity.
What is closed loop feedback?
Closed loop feedback means you provide a response to the feedback given. You email customers who answered your survey the changes you are making based on the results. You send a newsletter to your employees about the changes based on your review. You do this to assure the responders that their opinions are valued and matter, and you are committed to being the best business for them.
What are some examples of closed-loop systems?
An example of a closed loop system is as follows:
- Collect Feedback from Your Customers
- Respond to Negative Reviews
- Analyze the Collected Data
- Make Necessary Changes
- Inform Your Customers of How You’ve Grown
How important is customer feedback to a business?
Some will review their customer experiences online, but more often than not, a customer who has had a bad experience will simply not return. To prevent churn over of customers, you need to make it easy to provide feedback in store or online.
What is a feedback system?
Feedback systems capture customer insights, and there are a variety of types available. Fred Reichheld patented NPS surveys that help you understand how likely a customer is to promote your business and become a lifelong customer. There is also a Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT) that you can test for.
NPS
Net Promoter Score is found by asking customers how likely they are to recommend your business to their friends or family. This is done on a 1 to 10 scale.
Those who score 1 to 6 on the scale are likely to actually discourage their friends. Those who score 7 or 8 are passives who like your business but could be tempted away by a competitor. Loyal fans will select a 9 or 10.
You find the NPS with:
% of 9 or 10 scores –% of 1 to 6 scores = NPS
The NPS is a number between -100 to 100. Anything in the positives is a good score.
CSAT
CSAT is a score of 1 to 5 and is used so that customers can rank their experience. To find your CSAT score, you simply need to take the number of responders who rank 4 or 5 and divide that number by the total respondents.
For example, if 8 people out of 10 responded with a 4 or 5, you will have a CSAT score of 80%
Decoding the Customer
Using these feedback systems to decode the customer is a smart way to collect the overall experience. It is a customer centric way to improve your business and boost customer loyalty. Unlike dealing strictly with reviews, you can understand the moderate customer experience – the majority who are unlikely to go online and review regardless of whether they had a bad experience or a great one.
Tips to Help You Close the Loop with Your Customers
Close the customer feedback loop and improve your chances of retaining customers by following these tips:
Collect Several Metrics of Customer Feedback
Don’t rely on received feedback from just one or two feedback systems. Create a series of different feedback solutions and introduce them at varying points in your business. A HappyOrNot Smiley Terminal can be placed in your business for customers to quickly tap before they leave.
A Net Promoter Score NPS survey can be placed when a customer signs up, and a CSAT survey can be used at the end of every online transaction.
Rectify Serious Issues ASAP
When collecting feedback with customer experience management systems, you will be notified of a negative review within seconds. Responding to these negative reviews is your front line of defense. You can easily turn a negative reviewer into a lifetime customer and boost your net promoter score at the same time.
Use Collected Data to Direct Your Future Efforts
Use your systems to collect data and translate them into reports. These reports can then be used to help you focus your improvements on areas that need them most.
Create a Positive Community
Encourage reviews and interactions on social media. By creating a positive community, you can encourage more feedback and even open-ended answers that will help you improve your business through creative solutions that you might never have thought about.