Turning Customer Feedback into Tangible Improvements

Did you know that there’s a goldmine in your inbox? Each comment, message or review you receive could turn out to be your greatest asset.
In business as in life – the key to success often lies ‘hidden in plain sight’. Each piece of feedback – whether positive or negative – could potentially transform your business. How? By allowing you to make your products better and improve the customer experience.

But are you ready to accept the value of customer feedback in your contact centre? And do you have the know-how to effectively use the information?
It doesn’t matter if your answer to both those questions is no – we are going to press ahead and guide you through the process of turning raw customer feedback into actionable insights, making use of digital channels and artificial intelligence (AI) to drive smarter business improvements.

Let’s learn how to use ‘feedback as fuel’ to propel your business forward.

The importance of customer feedback

If you are in any doubt as to the value of feedback; think of it this way. Customer feedback is a direct line to the hearts and minds of those who matter most to your business. Their opinions, experiences, and suggestions are invaluable in shaping better products and services. Without customer feedback, your view of your customer’s preferences and pain points is obscured.

Customer feedback is a key that can unlock several doors for your business:

Product improvement: Highlight areas where your products and services can be enhanced.
Customer satisfaction: Show customers you care by acting on their feedback.
Competitive advantage: Leverage insights to differentiate yourself from rivals.
Risk mitigation: Address small issues from negative feedback before they escalate.
Customer loyalty: Build trust by listening to and acting on feedback, creating a stronger emotional bond with your customers.

Gathering feedback efficiently

If you are ready to believe in customer feedback, make sure you have the means to collect it.
Increase the value of feedback by casting a wide net; collect input through multiple channels. According to Microsoft’s 2023 report on the Global State of Customer Service Sophistication, some 53% of businesses now conduct customer service with a two-channel or omni-channel approach. Taking this approach ensures you get the most information from customers in ways they’re most comfortable with.

Don’t worry, we have some ideas for feedback collation. How about…

• Conducting a survey – both online and in-person surveys can provide structured feedback on specific aspects of your business.
• Recording your reviews – gathering all the feedback from general review platforms such as Google and Yelp, or industry-specific review sites.
• Interacting directly – open up the floor, and invite your customers to provide feedback through calls, live chat sessions and in person.
• Following up by email – why not email your customers after purchases or interactions and encourage them to share their experiences?

Your contact centre can act as a ‘frontline’ of customer feedback collation, managing direct calls, live chats, follow-ups and surveys.
One last thing on this front – try to encourage honesty. Don’t we all love a pat on the back? Often though, the most valuable feedback is constructive criticism. Ways of encouraging honesty include making the feedback process simple, clearly stating why you want to collect feedback, and responding promptly to all feedback gathered; positive and negative.

Analysing feedback swiftly

Don’t hang about. Once you have your feedback pouring in from multiple channels, organise it effectively. This will help you to spot recurring issues and trends.
You should categorise feedback into topics or issues, quantify it using rating systems, and track the trends which you can see over months and years.
Once you’ve identified certain topics, prioritise them based on their importance to customer satisfaction and business performance. This is a simple but vital equation – dealing with the most important issues first will broaden the positive impact on your business.
You can use customer relationship management (CRM) systems to help you organise data. And the latest technology has even more time-saving potential…

Using digital channels and AI

If you are – like most of us – consumed with the day-to-day running of your business, processing a large volume of customer feedback might be a little intimidating. Even if you run a large operation, that typically means more data, and so extra manpower is required. Or is it?…

With today’s digital tools and AI, you have powerful solutions for analysing vast amounts of feedback quickly and accurately.

How good are they really? Well, with quality analytics tools, you can:

1. Process natural language to understand the context and sentiment of written feedback
2. Identify patterns and trends across large datasets that might be missed by human analysts
3. Categorise and prioritise feedback automatically based on predefined criteria
4. Generate visual representations of data to make insights more accessible

Digital channels also enable real-time feedback collection and analysis. Take social media monitoring tools. They can alert you when your brand is mentioned across various platforms. If Steve on X has had a rant about a substandard product, you’ll be able to view the feedback and respond to it.

Turning insights into action

You recognise the value of it. You know how to gather it. And you have some ideas for how to analyse it in order to gain insights. Now it’s time for action.
The true value of customer feedback lies not in the insights themselves but in the actions taken based on those insights. To effectively translate feedback into tangible improvements, we recommend the following:

1. Develop an action plan: For each prioritised issue, create a clear plan outlining the steps needed to address it.
2. Assign responsibility: Ensure specific teams or individuals are accountable for making changes.
3. Set timelines: Establish realistic deadlines for addressing each issue to maintain momentum.
4. Communicate changes: Keep customers informed about improvements made based on their feedback.
5. Train staff: Ensure all employees understand the changes and how they impact customer interactions. Monitor their performance to ensure that they are complying with changes.

You should track the impact of any wholesale changes that you make in response to feedback. Look at metrics such as customer satisfaction scores, sales figures and retention rates to see if they are having the desired effect.

Use your feedback goldmine for business gains

If you are willing to listen and act, customer feedback can be your goldmine. Use all the tools available to you – including digital tools and AI – to make processing feedback the least labour-intensive it can be, giving you the insights you need.

As we’ve discussed, an approach which incorporates feedback can result in improved products and services and a competitive edge in the marketplace. The strategy works, because it focuses on making your product and service continually better, while showing your customers that they are heard and valued.

Use the digital tools and AI at your disposal to find your customer feedback goldmine, and you’ll access a powerful driver of business success.