Many organisations survey their customers asking for feedback on products and services in hopes of closing the loop. Usually this involves:
1) Getting a customer to rate the experience on a scale (usually NPS).
2) Asking why they gave the score.
3) Then perhaps getting some ratings for particular drivers of the experience. For example; helpful service, products in stock, value for money, etc.
The data from these surveys is fantastic to understand the experience and point to the areas that need improving.
“Maximising the impact of your advocacy program requires you to close the loop with your customers.”
However, we believe that simply collecting the feedback for internal use is not enough. In order to drive real change and improve customer advocacy it is essential for organisations to close the loop with customers that are providing feedback.
Through our experience we have seen many benefits, these include:
1. Service Recovery
Capturing feedback allows organisations to understand which customers they have failed badly. Closing the loop with these customers is essential as it allows an organisation to recover and still capture revenue. For example stop a customer churning away. As well as understand in detail the real pain points of the experience you are providing for the customers.
2. Identifying Bright Spots
We find that promoters are less likely to provide details about the particulars of the experience that they are really enjoyed, often leaving statements like “It was excellent” or “Everything was great”. Closing the loop with customers and calling them back allows frontline managers to really understand which parts of the experience or which staff are creating promoters. These bright spots can then be replicated elsewhere.
3. Idea Generation
Managers can brainstorm ideas to improve the experience by speaking to customers. Some customers have actually thought through what would make the experience great and can provide direct ideas. Additionally, speaking to customers provides a place to test out new ideas, ask if the changes being planned would make a real difference to them, or if they are off the mark.
4. Cultural Change
Closing the loop with customers requires real conversations with real customers outside of the immediate experience. When managers and executives are making calls to customers it grounds the organisation on what is really important – providing products/services to the customer. C-level executives closing the loop with customers shows the organisation that the customer is important and that the organisation is “walking the talk” when it comes to improving advocacy. (Read: NPS, Customer Centricity, and Employee Engagement)
These are just a small selection of reasons why Resonate believes that closing the loop is essential to improving customer advocacy.
