Listening to our customers.
Listening takes on many forms and we should learn to exercise as many as possible in order to maximize the feedback we receive from our customers.
This feed back should be analysed, prioritized and utilized to modify our business strategies.
Feedback from customers effectively applied can also result in new ideas, improved ways and overall better customer service.
Ways of communication we need to tap into:
- In person - direct communication either to the owner or employees
- Word of mouth - comments to friends
- Complaints - negative feedback to create awareness or action
- Surveys - this is generally initiated by the business or other interested parties
- Social media - these can reach a far larger audience
- Reviews and ratings - scoring given via many channels
- Buying decisions - a very strong form of feedback disclosing preferences
- Recognition and awards - praise is generally earned and is another very strong form of feedback
The list above is not exhaustive but clearly shows that we can get customer feedback via many channels.
Social media is a great way to create awareness in very subtle ways without it feeling like advertising.
These days a few disgruntled customers can destroy a business by writing bad reviews. I have seen long established restaurants go under because of a couple of bad Yelp reviews.
I also know of a restaurant that is in a terrible neighborhood that is a little hole in the wall that my friend runs. From behind his bulletproof glass he greets every customer and offers all new customers samples before they order. He also fills the niche of being vegan food. He is in the top 100 on Yelp and a constant stream of hipsters wander into the hood to seek out his restaurant.
So true. Now I see restaurants posting their own responses to bad Yelp reviews. I actually think it's good when phrased correctly. What do you think?
for sure it's better to respond as long as you can do so in a positive manner.
Nice. Somebody once told me, "listen with your eyes." As in, pay attention to the words but understand the context. Every complaint hides a request, every request hides a complaint. You can "see" feedback in metrics, sales charts, acquisition charts, analytics, facial expressions, body language...it's all feedback.
Good post regarding business. You mentioned good rules to grow in business. Thanks for sharing.
good subject. keep it up.
hey..your post so helpfull thanks for sharing...
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Very well idea and so good planning.I hope your business must be success.
Keep it up
Customer satisfaction is the difference between surviving and thriving.
Nice breakdown. . With technology the way is is today, there are so many ways of communication. And , It is hard to keep up with it all, because there is so much out there. We must seek and search more for way to communicate with our customers. And if someone is Not willing to get up with the technology ... They set themselves up for failure . . How would one tap into these channels, if they did not know they exist ? I believe everyone wants to succeed in their business.. It's the tapping into the channels is the biggest problem. Thanks your for sharing this post.. good read!
Please upvote my post @sme thanks
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