Improve Your Business by Listening to Your Customers

Why Customer Feedback is Important to Your Business

Remember "Good" Customer Service?

Like we have so often been told, the customer is always right. Because of this, it is vitally important to make sure to listen to what customers are saying and take their feedback into serious consideration. Often, listening to customer’s needs and wants can lead to improving your business practices and even your products and services. Not to mention, showing customers that the business cares about them and their opinions will help to improve customer retention and help to gain lifelong business from them. Customer feedback is especially important for small business, so encouraging these types of comments, good or bad, can have a huge impact on a business’s success and also their customer relationships.

Know Your Business’s Strengths and Play to Them

One thing that small businesses have that many larger businesses do not is personality. Customers truly appreciate being able to interact with actual people and getting to know them on a first name basis instead of interacting with a website or customer service representative over the phone. This is one of the most powerful strengths of small business, so it is important to play to that strength when it comes to customer comments and feedback. When dealing with a customer face-to-face, consider polling them live on the spot – ask them what they think about a service or product and ways they think you can improve your business or customer service. Asking them in person will show that you care about what they have to say, making them more likely to be honest and also do business with you again.

Use Social Media to Gather Information

Social media is a treasure trove of great information – customers are more likely to post their thoughts online, from the safety of their computer screen, instead of expressing them in person. This is especially true for negative feedback. Do not be afraid to ask customers to post their thoughts online, but make sure you or someone in your business is actually monitoring and addressing these comments. A hair salon, for example, could ask happy customers to post before and after photos on the business’s Facebook page – this will help to gain more exposure through word of mouth, especially if the customer goes on and on about how much they love his or her new hairstyle. It is important to note, however, that negative comments are also useful. Make sure you handle negative feedback in a proactive and positive way and work toward making changes to eliminate those issues within the business.

Understand that You Do Not Know Everything

One of the most important things to remember when it comes to gathering customer feedback is that you, as a business owner, do not know everything. Make sure to really listen to what your customers are saying and take their opinions into serious consideration. Customers see your business from a completely different side of the counter, so the comments and feedback they give may be true for a large majority of your customers. Making changes that make customers happy makes them more likely to make purchases as well as much more likely to recommend the business to friends, family, and colleagues. Word of mouth is the number one way that a business can market itself, so make sure the words your customers are saying about your business are good ones. In our next blog post, we will discuss what you can do with customer feedback to take your business to the next level.

If you found this tip useful, you may want to talk to Stacy O'Quinn in person! Stacy has helped dozens of small business owners using the techniques he learned during Dani Johnson training seminars. Stacy created a six figure small business and can help you do the same! For more information about Stacy and to learn how he can help you, click here. 

*Photo Courtesy of Seattle Municipal Archives via Creative Commons License