Do people really care about customer feedback?

Customer feedback is a growing industry, but how do you know if it’s something you should be investing in? If you’re a business owner, it can be hard to know which resources should be a priority to you, and which are just another marketing trend. When it comes to customer feedback, do customers really care about it? Should businesses care about it? We’re here to help you answer those questions, and navigate the world of customer feedback with confidence. 

Why does customer feedback matter?

Customer feedback is important because it puts customers and businesses on the same page. If you and your customers aren’t communicating effectively, how can you know their needs and expectations? By asking for feedback, businesses can eliminate the guesswork and plot out the best course of action to ensure their business thrives. 

Do businesses care about customer feedback? 

Many businesses choose to avoid feedback out of fear, denial and even ignorance. What these businesses don’t realise is that their customer's input should be seen as a useful resource, not an attack. What a customer has to say, whether positive or negative, has the power to change a business for the better by aligning its processes more toward its customer's expectations and raising their satisfaction levels. And when customers are satisfied, profits are raised by 30%, so overcoming that fear is well worth it. 

Many businesses are willing to embrace feedback, so choosing to ignore it will put your business on the back foot. Taking advantage of customer feedback is increasingly important to many businesses because they know their customer's satisfaction is a driving force for success. Since this is such a priority, businesses are expected to spend $640 billion globally on customer experience (CX) in 2022 and feedback is the best way to ensure that is money well spent. 

Fear of negative feedback

The main reason businesses choose to avoid feedback is because of a fear of criticism, and many choose to follow the philosophy that “ignorance is bliss”. However, ignoring feedback means the problem persists, the customer is frustrated and the complaints keep coming in. 

So how can you ensure negative feedback is dealt with in a constructive way? 

1. Respond promptly to the feedback to avoid frustrating the customer even more. 
2. Thank the customer for their input. 
3. Listen to their concerns so that they feel heard and valued. 
4. Resolve the issue immediately. 
5. Take steps to prevent the problem from occurring again.
6. Speak with them one-on-one over the phone or in person, especially if the problem is complicated.  
7. Stay calm and level-headed throughout the conversation. 

Negative feedback doesn't have to be a cause for alarm, rather, it can be a constructive tool for bringing about positive change. Just be sure to handle it with empathy and professionalism and most importantly follow it with tangible action. 

Are businesses too busy for feedback?

Another common excuse for ignoring feedback is when businesses are too busy to fully process it. Recording, monitoring and interpreting feedback can be a time-consuming task when you consider the 7 steps above and many businesses are too overwhelmed with existing demands to focus any attention on it. But by choosing to ignore feedback, they lose out on key customer insights and waste opportunities for progress.  

Fortunately, with the tools available now, processing feedback doesn’t need to be a time-consuming task. With automation, centralised databases and in-built analytics, most customer feedback platforms will streamline the process and do all the work for you. All you need to do is use the intuitive results to make informed decisions and put your best foot forward. 

Do customers care about customer feedback?

With eCommerce and digital marketing at an all-time high, customers are inundated with information from brands trying to make an impression. What that means is that customers are desensitised to advertising and extremely wary of misleading information. That’s why customer reviews or testimonials are crucial to their decision-making process when choosing a brand to invest in. A customer review is 12 times more trustworthy than the claims a brand makes about itself because, unlike the brand, a customer doesn’t have any bias or hidden agenda. 

Transparency and open communication

When a business is open about their customer feedback, especially reviews, it creates transparency that customers find very appealing. On the other hand, if a business chooses to hide its customers' feedback, new prospective customers will assume it’s because they reflect badly on the business, which is enough to steer them elsewhere. By proudly sharing your reviews and testimonials, you can eliminate the unknowns and demonstrate the honest, open communication that customers are looking for. 

Specific and relevant reviews

When a customer can find a review that speaks directly to their concerns, they’re more likely to engage with the brand further because they can find the relevant information for their situation and proof that this brand has the right solution for it. If you are choosing to use a customer feedback strategy, be sure to ask questions that are specific, direct and meaningful so that the responses you get are of value.  

The future of customer feedback

So now you can see how important customer feedback is, we’re sure you can also see that it has a significant impact on both customers and businesses. But what does the future of customer feedback look like? 

As the customer experience (CX) industry continues to boom, you can expect to see more and more customer feedback platforms emerging. As businesses continue to lean into their customer's input, their needs are evolving too. 

Feedback management platforms can collate, analyse and sort feedback effectively, but going forward you can expect them to be even more customer-focused. That means streamlined design, intuitive software and easy communication should be at the top of the priority list. 

Review Tui knows the importance of customer feedback which is why we’re launching our very own customer feedback management software later this year. The platform will make collecting, processing and analysing feedback easy so that businesses can implement an effective feedback strategy. The software will offer seamless communication, an easy-to-use survey builder, a centralised dashboard and trackable campaign links which all come together to make your feedback strategy as effortless as possible. 

To be the first to know about updates and our 2022 launch, sign up to Review Tui. You’ll get invite-only access to the new software, helpful guides for developing a strategy and articles to keep you informed along the way.