The Tribune

MOST executives today recognise the importance of the customer's voice. Our global and local corporate environments have become so competitive that we are forced to daily carve out a new template for what makes our companies unique and relevant. Customer feedback is critically important because it provides marketers and business owners with insight that they can use to improve their business, products and/or overall customer experience.

Ross Beard, of Client Heartbeat, provides five reasons for why customer feedback is important to your business. They will hopefully inspire business leaders and senior executives to create feedback tools.

It can help improve a product or service

Listening to your customers is the only way to guarantee you create a product or service that they actually want to buy. Customer feedback is commonly used throughout the product development process to ensure the end result is something that solves a customer's problems or fulfills a need.

The most innovative companies in the world are the best at creating products that both meet their customers' needs and exceed their expectations. Think of Apple or, in the local context, the beer producers.

In today's competitive business world, those companies who link product development with customer feedback will be the ones that reap strong competitive advantages, while enjoying solid customer loyalty.

It offers the best way to measure customer satisfaction

Measuring customer satisfaction helps you determine whether your product or service meets or surpasses customer expectations. Customer feedback surveys help you measure customer satisfaction.

These can be done in person, via e-mail, the phone or even inside a website or mobile app. Using rating-based questions when you are measuring customer satisfaction will help you track and monitor how happy (or unhappy) your customers are over time.

It provides actionable insight to create a better customer experience

Improving the customer experience should be the primary reason you gather customer feedback. The process of winning new business, and retaining existing customers, is getting harder and harder. Offering an amazing experience that keeps your customers coming back and referring their friends to you is the best way you can stand out from your competition.

To create an amazing experience, you need to ask your customers what they want and use the insight to create a consistent, personalised experience. If you can create an experience that is better than your competitors, your customers will remain loyal and ignore tempting competitive offers.

It can help improve customer retention

Customer feedback offers a direct line of communication so you can determine if they are not happy with the product or service you are delivering before you lose their business.

A happy customer is a retained customer. By requesting customer feedback surveys regularly, you can ensure you keep your finger on the pulse. If a customer becomes frustrated or perceives a competitive offer to be better, they will start exploring their options and may cancel their contract or stop doing business with you. By listening to your unhappy customers, you can use the feedback to ensure all have a better experience and continue to do business with you.

It delivers tangible data that can be used to make better business decisions

The best business decisions are based off data; not hunches. Too often business owners and marketers make big calls based on inaccurate data. Customer feedback is the holy grail of tangible data if it is gathered correctly and anonymously. You can gather real insight into how your customers feel about the product or service you deliver.

Use this feedback to guide your business and marketing decisions. If a large percentage of customers suggest a product feature or want an additional customer service channel, listen to them. Your customers are your livelihood.

• NB: Ian R. Ferguson is a talent management and organisational development consultant, having completed graduate studies with regional and international universities. He has served organsations, both locally and globally, providing relevant solutions to their business growth and development issues. He may be contacted at tcconsultants@coralwave.com