Last week I went into a restaurant and had a nice meal. The waitress was top notch, but the food was average.
She asked us why we stopped in. She was attentive and asked us if we needed anything. Refilled our drinks quickly.
All the traits of a good waitress.
When our meal was finished, we asked for the check.
With the check came a comment card.
It made me smile.
It wasn’t a very long survey, 5 questions, but my meal was just ok. I would have rated it about a 7.
I didn’t feel the need to say anything.
I paid my check and left. The comment card just sat in the check fold.
I wondered how many people actually filled out the comment card. 1%, maybe 2%.
Improving Customer Feedback
This is where most companies go wrong.
They forget the most important part of getting customer feedback.
Show them how much you care about their experience by asking for their feedback and then do the most important part of the ask…
Explain why their feedback is important to you.
That’s it.
Now getting them to listen, understand, and believe is why each step matters.
Show them how much you really care about improving your business.
This usually gets harder the bigger a company gets unless you build the importance of feedback into the culture of the company. You show them by being transparent about your process with your employees, your website and email copy, and on social media.
If the waitress would have asked us to fill out the comment card I would have said yes. I would be obliged to give my feedback.
She didn’t.
So I didn’t.
Ask the Right Way
Now if she would have asked me for feedback and explained, how each comment card is read by Matt Mullin the Vice President of operations and his team, to create the best experience possible, then she would have had my interest.
I would want Matt to know what I thought of the service I received at the restaurant. I probably would have given the restaurant an overall 8. The service made up for the average food.
The simple act of telling me why they want the information made me 10 times more likely to give them feedback that they could use.
Now look at how you garner feedback from your customers. Do you do it through email, comment card, in person…?
Or maybe you don’t ask for feedback at all.
If you don’t have a feedback system in place then we really need to talk.
I find that customer feedback is the best place to learn about your customers and use it to write sales copy on your website. That’s a little copywriting tip that will go a long way to helping you improve your website conversions.
If you do have a feedback system in place then it’s how you ask that will make all the difference in the quality of feedback that you receive. There are different levels of feedback. Quality customer feedback is part art and part science. When done well, it will be a game changer for your company.