This episode of Kissing a Cactus is about what I like to call ‘corporate deafness,’ and its harmful consequences.
- The customer’s pain remains unresolved and is even increased because feedback is not listened to;
- customer pain cannot be mitigated if an organization is unaware that the customer is experiencing pain;
- customer processes can’t be improved;
And as a result…
- the motivation of customers to respond to subsequent requests for feedback decreases;
- this may cause the organization to mistakenly believe that customers who remain silent are satisfied.
In addition to asking customers for feedback, it is just as important to do something with that customer feedback. Without blindly doing what a customer wants, you can listen to your customers, weigh customer feedback, and make targeted improvement choices. In addition, you can let your customers know that you have taken note of their feedback, thank them for it, let them know what you are going to do with it, and inform them later about choices made and the next steps.
This is a process that is called closed-loop feedback. It helps you to improve the customer experience in a structured way and to keep your most important stakeholders, your customers, informed.