Imagine spending large amounts of money developing and then marketing a product or service, only to end up utterly disappointed by the public’s unenthusiastic response. Not only does the process of bringing a product to market demand lots of time, but it also requires lots of capital and energy as well. This is why examining customer feedback becomes indispensable, as it gives management insight into clients’ likes and dislikes. It can even ascertain what a customer will recommend. A customer feedback analysis can help improve the product or service, which can result in attracting new clients while also retaining the old ones.
Analyzing customers’ feedback is an increasingly demanding and time-consuming job. However, it is simultaneously a critical undertaking. Consequently, here are six tips to help ensure that your business can create an improved and simpler customer feedback analysis.
1. Look at Insightful Data
Some customers leave insightful feedback, others do not. However, those who do were likely being honest about your product or service. These customers took their time writing about it, which indicates they felt strongly one way or the other and felt a need to communicate these feelings in the hopes that the person reading it will be encouraged by their feedback or that he or she will make the necessary changes. It is important therefore not to treat this feedback lightly and to ensure that all notes are carefully read and their points taken into consideration. In this way, business owners are able to discover more easily how their product or service can be improved by improving the flaws of which you were once unaware. Analyzing your feedback doesn’t force you to act upon it immediately, but it’s useful to know what your customers think.
2. Gather Data in a Structured and Organized Fashion
To make data actionable, you need to use it to arrive at conclusions about your products or services. Arriving at these conclusions means having as many data points as possible, which in turn means gathering this data from a variety of sources. Following collection, you will need to comb through the collected data efficiently. To do this, you first have to organize it properly. Since information will come from different places, first make sure to collect all of them in one place. Following this, feedback will need to be divided into positive and negative categories, allowing you to focus on one thing at a time.
3. Use Automated Tools
Analyzing customer feedback can take a toll on your time. And the double-edged sword is that it gets worse as your business grows. Of course, your workload increasing as your business grows is a good problem to have, but sooner rather than later, you’ll become overwhelmed with tonnes of positive and negative feedback. Getting an automated tool to parse this data will of course be the next logical step. Specifically designed software can extract valuable data points almost instantly, and you’ll have immediate insight into important pieces of information such as, what people are happy about, what’s bothering them, and what features or products they would appreciate in the future. Using an automated tool to analyze this data will free up the time you need to attend to other issues in your business that require your undivided attention.
4. Look at Both Negative and Positive Feedback
Understandably, positive feedback is more affirming, while negative feedback can become pretty demoralizing. In reality, there is tonnes more useful information available in negative feedback than you’ll ever glean from pages of endless praises about your product or service. Negative feedback will open your eyes to the information you need to help make your business a success. Negative feedback will help dictate how and when your company would grow and when it should scale back. However, none of this implies that positive feedback is useless. Analyzing positive feedback helps business owners to understand what people appreciate the most. Positive feedback has a reassuring effect as it allows a business to identify whether or not it is on the correct path. Thus, it is important not to elevate or diminish feedback depending on its positivity or negativity, but to treat each with the appropriate reverence.
5. Categorize Customer Feedback
Depending on what your business is dealing with, make sure to categorize customer feedback into relevant categories and sub-categories, beyond identifying them as positive or negative. Doing this will help you make easier inroads into the company’s branches and divisions of management.
For example, if your business is in the field of delivery, you can categorize the responses into those addressing the speed of delivery, price, staff courtesy and helpfulness, and accuracy. Assigning several metrics to feedback will allow owners a deeper insight into the customer’s needs and wants. Categorizing customer feedback will make it easier for each department to thrive separately. It will help the company to see negative or positive feedback, not as bludgeons, but as multi-faceted tools.
6. Is Your Feedback Relevant for a Certain Analysis?
Sometimes it’s hard not to find yourself drowning in the pool of customer responses. There are so many data points to analyze, you’ll soon find your head spinning in every direction as you try to seize the one you need the most. However, if you’re conducting a specific analysis, make sure you’re considering only relevant criteria. In doing so, you will devote your attention solely to the data point that you have chosen to attend to. For example, if you’re working towards lower delivery costs, don’t dwell on feedback that heaps praise on a customer service rep’s helpfulness in a product refund. The success of your business depends on, in part, your ability to compartmentalize your analysis and focus on those datapoints pertain to the issue you seek to address.
Conclusion
In conclusion, customer feedback analysis is crucial for every successful business. Finding the right method of analyzing large volumes of data can save a lot of money, customers, and bring in new clients. It is impossible to serve customers holistically if you are ignorant of their needs and wants. Luckily advances in big data make these types of analyses easier and less time-consuming. So, if it is your desire to stay on top of your business’ offerings, make sure that analyzing customer feedback is your first priority.
Excellent Customer Service, 6 Golden Stars -DepositPhotos
