How to Use Customer Feedback to Improve Performance

Shep Hyken interviews Adam Alfia, co-founder of Feedback. He has a firmly entrenched background in high-end hospitality and entertainment. He shares how companies can utilize customer feedback to create a great experience. 

Top Takeaways:   

·      There is a slow death of customer service. Many younger employees don't come out of high school or college knowing what they want to do for the rest of their lives, so many don't have a vested interest in their jobs. As a result, they don't go above and beyond to build a strong relationship with the customer base in the industry that they work in.

·      Many companies think that since their employees will leave after a short time, they don't invest in training. This is flawed thinking because anytime you put somebody that's not prepared on the frontline, they become the face of your brand at the moment. You want all employees on the frontline to be properly trained.

·      A good training program becomes even more important in an economy where it is difficult to hire and keep good employees.

·      The generation that grew up behind cell phones may be very vocal on social media, but most of them are unwilling to provide face-to-face feedback. Train your employees to be observant of body language and to respond to your customers' non-verbal cues.

·      There's an antagonistic relationship that Yelp has created between businesses and customers. Sometimes, customers go to Yelp as a form of revenge when they have had a bad experience, attempting to make the company look bad in front of everyone.

·      Make it easy for customers to give feedback, especially negative feedback. If you make it hard for them to leave a comment, they could go to the next option, which is to broadcast it to everybody and hope to get a response from the business.

·      Customer service is a team sport. Technology, like Realtime Feedback, can help you work with your customers to create the best experience for them. 

Quote:  

"When customers go on social media to share their negative experiences, it is because you didn't give them what they wanted when they asked for it the first time, whether in person, by email, or via a phone call to customer support."

About:  

Adam Alfia is the co-founder of Feedback, a digital solution for getting real-time feedback from customers.

Shep Hyken is a customer service and experience expert, New York Times bestselling author, award-winning keynote speaker, and your host of Amazing Business Radio.  

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices