Knowing how to deal with customer feedback unlocks unlimited marketing potential. But many businesses struggle to manage customer feedback. With so many customers on so many online platforms, trying to make sense of all the feedback customers leave can feel overwhelming.
Like many business challenges, this one can be solved with data and strategy. A customer feedback management plan can:
- Streamline feedback collection.
- Automate online review collection.
- Extract actionable insights from your customer feedback.
- Grow your business over time.
What Is Customer Feedback Management?
Customer feedback management (CFM) is the collection and processing of customer feedback to improve a business.
It’s best to approach customer feedback management as an ongoing conversation. You ask the customer how they feel; they answer. Then, you make changes based on the most common points brought up by customers. Then, you ask again.
Increasingly, businesses are looking to their customers as the strongest authorities. One 2019 survey revealed that 91% of people think companies should innovate by listening to customers, compared to just 31% who said the same about experts.
Typically, customer feedback is collected through standard channels like SMS and email. Next, all the feedback is compiled. After that, you can start sorting through and making sense of your customers’ relationships with your products, services, and customer service.
Each series of questions and answers is a customer feedback loop.
The Customer Feedback Loop
Feedback loops are a series of system outputs used as inputs for future operations. A customer feedback loop uses one output (customer feedback) as input for changes. Changes based on CFLs are normally product, service delivery, or customer service changes.
You can think of the customer feedback loop as continuous customer experience improvement. You set up a CFL as the standard procedure for gathering and acting on feedback. It’s a standard process that you want to improve over time. Like other feedback loops, customer feedback loops each have four stages.
1. Gather
The first step in any feedback loop is an action. In CFM, the action is a customer experience, followed by your request for feedback.
Survey data is the main input for customer feedback loops in CFM. Customer feedback should be quantified as a simple figure like customer satisfaction scores.
Customer feedback can also be qualitative. Written feedback can be sorted into categories, and some highly specific responses may deserve investigation.
Wherever possible, be sure to apply market research metrics like:
- NPS (Net Promoter Score)
- CSAT (Customer satisfaction)
- CES (Customer effort score)
- Customer retention rates
- Churn rate
- Sentiment analysis
2. Analyze
The data gathered in step one needs to be sorted. Take all the data and sort it into categories and subcategories. During the sorting process, identify the most frequent praises and complaints that customers leave.
At the same time, analysts must keep their eyes open for details. Not all customers will leave thorough, perfectly understandable feedback. However, something only mentioned once or twice can still be vital. Consider the issues you’re identifying alongside the overall context of your feedback.
As the data is being sorted, it’s time to build different lists of potential:
- Patterns in your products or services
- Customer service strengths/weaknesses
- Opportunities to stand out
- Threats to your reputation
3. Take action
Now, you have a compilation of sorted data, including a list of issues and opportunities. Each issue or opportunity has an accompanying number for how many customers brought it up. You have an interesting and valuable list, but it’s not useful until you turn it into an action plan.
Make an action plan based on what you’ve learned from the first two steps. Each action should be fixing an issue or reinforcing a strong point brought up by customers. The list should be strategic, with both your online reputation and marketing goals kept under consideration. The most common and impactful actions on an action plan include:
- Fixes or improvements to a product or service.
- Improving a specific area of the customer journey.
- Customer service training or policy updates.
- Technological and other efficiency solutions.
4. Follow up
When you make a significant change based on customer feedback analysis, let everyone know. Announce to employees and customers which changes you will be implementing. Then, repeat this 4-step process by asking for feedback on any changes you’ve made after they’re complete.
When you close one feedback loop, you open a new one. With each new change you implement, you track the changes in customer feedback. Using the right key performance indicators (KPIs), you can track real changes over time and see measurable improvements in customer satisfaction. Specifically, pay attention to:
- Customer satisfaction (CSAT).
- Feedback volume & completion rates.
- Net Promoter Score (NPS).
- Customer Effort Score (CES).
- Feedback loop closure rate (time-sensitive).
Regarding customer feedback management, “customer satisfaction” scores (CSAT) are gathered with sentiment analysis tools. These tools sort through your feedback and provide data in graphs so you know your customers’ general feelings. Track changes to customer sentiments over time to establish the best reputation possible.
Why Customer Feedback Management Matters
Customer feedback management is important because it helps identify your SWOTs:
- Strengths.
- Weaknesses.
- Opportunities.
- Threats.
Not only that, but CFM helps you do something about it. It enables you to continuously improve your strengths and opportunities while minimizing negativity.
Improved Products
One key benefit of customer feedback management is building better products. By actively seeking and analysing customer feedback, you’re equipping your business to make key improvements. That means fewer product features or malfunctions that can upset customers.
Good CFM means customer-centric product development that continuously drives growth.
Better Customer Relationships
Maintaining a customer feedback management process means building ongoing relationships with customers. You are essentially just working with your customers to identify the best areas to focus your efforts.
Customer-centric business practices are always a good idea. But CFM also provides extensive research. The kinds of changes you can implement with a well-managed plan also lead to long-term satisfaction and brand loyalty.
CFM essentially aligns your business practices with your customers’ desires. It thoroughly improves customer relationships through indirect communication and customer-centric development.
Test Your Thoughts & Priorities
If you have thoughts about customer preferences or what your next product design move should be, your CFM is your natural helper. It’s a trustworthy process for putting your thoughts and ideas to the test.
From the start of the customer feedback loop, you are gaining crucial information that helps you grow your business.
Reduce Risk
Customer feedback management helps determine whether high-stakes risks, such as those in product development, are worth it. You simply use your CFM strategies to take the guesswork out of high-stakes decisions. That way, your investments in new products, features, and other areas have less risk of disappointing customers or costing you money.
Customer feedback management is the management of the customer feedback loop. CFM works by completing the connections between each point in the loop. To do that, you need goals and KPIs for each step. Then, you need a list of strategies that ensure your CFM consistently provides the best possible results.
Customer Feedback Management Best Practices
CFM is easier when you have the right priorities and practices. Here are a few best practices that offer you the most utility from CFM.
Goal-based CFM
Customer feedback management is normally deployed to help businesses reach specific goals. When you start trying to close the customer feedback loop, you will do better the more specific your goal of capturing feedback.
Before you start intensive feedback-collecting, choose one goal for the round of collections. The most impactful goals are those that have the biggest impact on customer satisfaction. For example:
- Improving the quality of a line of products.
- Improving the delivery of a service package.
- Speeding up customer service response times.
- Increasing customer service satisfaction.
- Getting better online reviews.
- Increasing customer retention rates.
Goals like these set you up for success in a few ways:
- It prepares you to choose the best questions to ask your customers.
- It sets the context for the kind of feedback you will get.
- It helps you narrow down which customers you will ask for feedback from and where to ask them.
Lastly, setting specific goals maximizes the measurability of your goals. It also affects your chance of achieving your goals. In both cases, more focus means more efficiency, while scattered focus can lead to scattered results.
Formalize Your Findings
The insights you get from customer feedback management practices should be shared with customer-facing employees. It’s particularly important that customer support, marketing, and sales teams are aware of customer feedback.
The best practice for formalizing CFM findings is creating customer feedback management reports. For example, product pain points should be on new reports handed to customer service reps. Complaints related to marketing miscommunication should be listed on reports handed to marketing teams.
Set up separate processes for turning customer feedback into training material for employees.
Multichannel Strategy
With over 90% higher retention rates, the best customer feedback management is multichannel. Part of the goal is gathering as much feedback as you can. That means getting feedback from customers wherever they choose to give it.
Using more channels and strategies gives you a more complete picture of what your customers really want. In general, you should be using some mix of:
- SMS
- Live chat
- Email
- Live interviews
- Quantifiable surveys
- Social media
The platforms on which you communicate and the options you give customers widen your reach and improve the accuracy of your final data compilation.
Deploy surveys as emails and as pop ups on your site. There are many ways to create and deploy feedback forms on either. Many tools make forms available on all your web pages. Use them and place them wherever customers engage the most with your site.
Regarding feedback request channels, email and SMS are the best places. SMS requests get the best possible open rate in marketing (82%) and also about 17 times more revenue. Using the Reviewshake Review Inbox, you can manage email and SMS communication in one convenient and easy-to-use screen.
You can also go further than a simple survey. Requests for video reviews or interviews can be especially helpful as long as you ask the right way.
Prioritize Fewer Areas at a Time
Step 3 of the customer feedback loop is “Action.” But when you’re still in step 2, it’s best to think ahead and prioritize one area at a time.
Setting too many broad goals at once is an easy way to fail when you’re just starting your CFM strategies. So, think about how you can break down tasks to tackle a major issue when you start chipping away at your checklist.
When it comes to customer relationships, some issues clearly matter more than others. For example, let’s say you’ve come up with a list of 10 action items, but they all tackle separate issues. One of those issues is a bug in your application that hampers many customers on certain devices, while the other issues are smaller. In this case, you’re definitely better off starting with a laser focus on the bug, which has the biggest impact on your customers’ experiences.
Asking Specific Questions
Your survey questions and requests should be specific and concise. Long or confusing questions or introductions will reduce the number of responses you get. Long or confusing questions also lead to less specific and useful feedback.
Imagine that each customer only has half a minute to answer your question. That way, your questions will get you the most answers.
Manage Customer Feedback More Effectively
Customer feedback management becomes much more effective with a complete online reputation management tool. You can use one to eliminate guesswork and confusion and instead have all the necessary tools and data in one place.
Reviewshake is an online reputation management tool that helps businesses manage their customer feedback and online reputations. We streamline the CFM processes so that you can focus on the big picture while efficiently maximizing the positivity and utility of customer feedback. You can generate reviews to get more positive reinforcement for your brand. But you can also use Review Analytics to piece together why your customer feedback is where it is right now.
Boost Your Feedback Management Process With Reviewshake
We know that dealing with customer feedback across all your channels can be a nightmare. Imagine spending hours sifting through emails, social media comments, and in-app reviews while struggling to understand the underlying sentiment…
This is where you can leverage a powerful online reputation management tool like Reviewshake. We offer features that transform customer feedback into a driving force for business growth. Reviewshake empowers you to:
- Collect Feedback From All Channels: Gather customer feedback through email surveys, social media monitoring, and in-app feedback forms, and make sure nothing is left behind.
- Analyze Feedback: Go beyond basic analysis. Use automated sentiment analysis tools to understand customer sentiment and identify areas for improvement you might have missed.
- Respond Like a Pro: Manage all customer interactions from a centralized inbox and respond promptly, turning frustrated customers into loyal brand advocates.
- Track Your Success: Don’t guess about what your customers want. Gain valuable insights by tracking key metrics like Net Promoter Score (NPS)® with insightful reporting dashboards.
Try Reviewshake for free to see how streamlined customer feedback management with professional tools can change everything! Reviewshake empowers you to make data-driven decisions to improve your products and services, build stronger customer relationships, and constantly delight your customers.
