Increasingly, companies – both B2B and B2C – are researching customer experience, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. But what does that customer research deliver? Its added value is determined entirely by what an organisation actually does with the data it gathers. The possibilities for management information to improve business processes are highly varied. These are commonly used applications.
Measuring is one thing, but ultimately what matters is how you translate the results of customer experience and customer satisfaction research into concrete improvement actions. There are still companies and organisations that primarily conduct customer satisfaction research for the sake of measurement itself – to know ‘where they stand’ – or for their ISO certification. That is a major missed opportunity. You can also use that data directly as management information to improve business processes, especially with modern feedback software. With GrowPromoter, we help translate the results on your own online dashboard directly into concrete improvement actions. So what added value can this management information offer?
1. Use customers' priorities and signals to make improvements
With the accessible, short surveys used in modern online customer research, you can immediately see customers' priorities and areas for improvement in your business processes. For example, identify their reasons for recommending you to others, or for not doing so. Through their feedback, your own customers often already indicate (indirectly) the structural bottlenecks and areas for improvement in your organisation. Address those areas for improvement and actions, and keep monitoring whether customers also see improvements.
2. Use extremely fresh feedback for specific business processes
Modern software for customer research makes it possible to take continuous measurements using short questionnaires at the most relevant moments. You cannot get fresher or more direct feedback! To do this, always ask a few questions relevant to the process the customer has just experienced. Has a product just been delivered? Or was there contact with Sales or Customer Service? Then that is what your question should address. This gives you extremely fresh, valuable insights for improving specific business processes.
3. Respond directly to negative feedback
By conducting more frequent and continuous (short) surveys, you can respond much more quickly and decisively to negative customer feedback. Both towards your customer and in your own business processes. Anyone who responds actively and effectively to negative feedback immediately comes across as much more positive and attentive than when nothing seems to happen, or actually happens, with the feedback. This can therefore directly contribute to customer retention. Moreover, customers will provide feedback much more readily in future if they know that something is actually done with it.
4. Add more depth to customer research
Modern feedback software for customer research makes it possible to carry out truly in-depth analyses. Unlike traditional customer and needs research – once or twice a year – online research lets you go much deeper with a few short, targeted questions and continuous measurements. For example, you can zoom in on an industry, market segment, technician or salesperson. Your own customer feedback can also help determine this focus. This makes it much easier for marketing and sales to provide insights that help colleagues do their work more easily, with higher customer ratings!
5. Create opportunities for cross-selling and up-selling
More feedback from your customers provides a wealth of information about their needs. Customer needs are often much broader than just the service or product you have delivered. Use that information from customer research to help your customers better and create new leads for Sales.
6. Share a more complete (360-degree) customer view internally
Transfer the feedback from customer research to your CRM or ERP system to create a more complete (360-degree) customer view. Customer feedback should be shared internally precisely so you can (continue to) serve customers as well as possible, in line with their wishes, needs and their own feedback. Customers will greatly appreciate this, and you will see it reflected directly in your new measurements of customer satisfaction and customer loyalty.
