SCORE Minnesota

Use Customer Feedback to Improve your Business

February 20, 2012

 A common question these days has been…How can I make my business more successful?  Several SCORE clients have asked this question in the last month and they usually add on to this question a condition.  “…that won’t cost me an arm and a leg”.  This is a challenge for a lot of business owners.  They are constantly keeping an eye out for opportunities to increase their business’s success and profitability.  My suggestion today is one that is often overlooked.  There is one very easy, free way.  It is called customer feedback.

 Customer feedback is probably one of the best ways to make your business successful. Think of it like this; through negative feedback, you have the potential to shape your product/service into something you know the market will love.

 Most people think that bad feedback comes from people they have never even done business with, or with some of their ‘bad’ clients, so they decide to ignore it. This is, in fact, a complete myth; most of the negative feedback you will get will be from some of your most loyal customers. Not because they want to put you down, but because they want to remain your best customers.

 Ben Williams works for Keepers Accountancy.  He wrote a blog recently and said “Think of it like this; your ‘bad’ customers, if they encounter a problem or flaw with your product/service, they will simply move on to the next company who will solve this problem for them.  Whereas a loyal customer, may want to tell you about the problem, hoping that you will fix it and they can remain customers of yours.”

 In fact, according to industry research carried out by Technical Assistance Research Programs Inc., customers that complain to you, and then see the problem solved, are up to 8% more loyal than those who didn’t even have a problem in the first place. (Increasing Customer Satisfaction, U.S Consumer Information Center, Pueblo, CO, 1986)

 Customer feedback is a free way to conduct market research. Your clients will tell you how they want their product/service. They will tell you about any problems they have; although you may have to prompt them to do so; perhaps through a quiz or survey.

Customer feedback, when it is good, can be used in a multitude of ways, the obvious one being testimonials.  Every time you get some good feedback, you should ask the client if you can use it as a testimonial on your website, leaflets, sales letters; anything which you send to a prospective client. Likewise, when you get bad feedback, you should act upon it immediately, because it really will result in not only your product/service getting better, but perhaps some more business!

Put yourself in your customer’s shoes.   If you had a problem with a company that you bought from, and you complained about the problem then it got solved, how much more likely would you be to talk about that with other people or your friends than just receiving a product and there being absolutely no flaws to it?  Certainly that is not to suggest that we should make a flawed product/service deliberately, but always listen to your customer’s feedback; no matter how irate they are when they shout it at you!!

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Dean L. Swanson

Southeast Minnesota SCORE

*Dean is a volunteer SCORE Mentor and District Director for SCORE Minnesota

What forms of customer feedback do you use in your business to improve your success?

Al Hanzal,
View more posts by Al Hanzal

Filed under: Customer Service,Management

Tags: score, small business