Client feedback is information provided by clients regarding their satisfaction with your company. It provides an outside perspective, where customers share their experience with your business and help you understand where there is room for improvement.
Why Should You Ask for Client Feedback?
We know that writing survey questions and collecting responses isn’t thrilling work, but without feedback, a company will never know if customers are getting value out of their product or service. Furthermore, a company that isn’t providing value to its market will not earn loyal customers or build its client base. Next time you’re rephrasing a poll question for the tenth time to get better feedback, remember these important reasons why you’re asking for client feedback:
- Your business depends on the opinions of your customers. Their opinion is an invaluable tool for improving your customer experience and adjusting your product or service to better fit your market’s needs.
- Client feedback is a sneak peek into your word-of-mouth marketing. Word of mouth is a powerful marketing tool for any business, but your customers must have a positive experience to tell others. By consistently checking customer feedback, you can learn about what people are saying about your business and make adjustments accordingly.
- There’s nothing better than a fresh set of eyes. Your clients can point out kinks or come up with ideas for your product or service that you may have never thought of.
- It’s easier to meet the needs of your client after they’ve told you what they want. By giving your clients the opportunity to express their opinions, you will both receive valuable information for your company to improve and show your clients that you value their opinions.
- Fixing customer concerns will lead to an improved client experience and higher customer retention. Client feedback will help you understand whether your customers are satisfied with your service or product, and customer satisfaction leads to retention.
How to Collect Better Client Feedback
In order to collect accurate information and receive the proper responses, it is essential that businesses pay close attention to how they’re gathering feedback. Follow these tips to improve the number and quality of responses that you receive:
- Reach out. Contact your clients after you’ve done business. Each one likely has an opinion they can share but won’t go to the effort to reach out on their own.
- Offer incentives. Survey participation is completely voluntary to ensure accuracy, but giving an incentive like a free product or discount can help you receive more entries from your clients.
- Have a conversation when possible. While polls and surveys are extremely valuable methods of collecting customer data, data is only one lens through which to view your customers. Your backend data might report all the numbers you are looking for, but it will never be as valuable or give you the same insight as speaking with members of your market one-on-one.
- Ask a mix of questions. With too many open-ended questions, customers can actually give you less information. Simple and easy questions will ease your clients into giving you the most helpful feedback possible!
Once you’ve compiled your feedback, deciding what to do with it is the most important part of the process. Your customers know that you’ve heard their concerns, and now it is your turn to show that you’ve heard their opinion and taken action to improve!