“Don’t waste customers’ time asking them questions unless you are prepared to act on what they say.” Bruce Temkin, founder of the Customer Experience Professionals Association, is credited as saying these words and I agree. Obtaining your customer’s feedback does not have to be a long and tedious process, it can be as simple as just asking one general question in order to gauge how your company is performing.

Companies need regular feedback, not only from customers, but their employees as well in order to improve experiences, build relationships, maintain loyalty and reduce turnover.

So now that you have the feedback, whether it is good or bad, you’ve got to analyze it and decide what steps to take if any.

If it is positive feedback:

• Use it to promote yourself on social media and in other marketing materials
• Use it as a moral builder or reward incentive for your team or specific employees
• Offer the customer a discount or special promo to initiate repeat business
• Thank them for the favorable comments and ask them for referrals

If it is negative feedback:

• First, determine if it’s a consistent problem or just a one-time mishap. Have there been a lot of similar complaints recently? Perhaps there is a deeper issue that may require further internal investigating.
• Respond in a timely manner. Remember to be professional, empathetic and eager to make amends to resolve the situation.
• Share with your team so that it can be a teachable moment to grow from without embarrassing an individual.
• Consider if there are valid points that would improve the service or product and thus be a good investment that would enhance your customers’ experiences.

Having regular feedback is vital to keeping current customers and gaining new ones. We owe it to ourselves and our businesses to hear the good, the bad and the ugly if we want to stay at the top of our game. Nobody is going to be perfect 100% of the time, but we should all strive for perfection 100% of the time.