Using feedback to satisfy customers

Tuesday, August 11, 2009



MANAGING FOR SOCIETY
By Evelio G. Echavez
Using feedback to satisfy customers


Nowadays, businesses realize the importance of having satisfied customers. There are several programs and processes being employed by companies to handle their customer relations. Some call it Customer Relations Management, or CRM solutions; others call it Strategic Customer Care, while others just simply call it Customer Service.

Companies that provide good customer service make it a point to consult their customers. They do this by having discussions with and seeking advice and information from their customers, and taking the views of their customers into consideration when making decisions about changing service practices.

To improve business and service practices, companies prefer to obtain actionable feedback from their customers. These usually are taken from answers of customers to the following questions: What do we do badly? What do we need to change?

Another way of getting feedback from customers is through customer complaints. Because complaints are useful in pinpointing areas that need improvement, businesses must make it easy for customers to complain. As soon as a customer mentions that he is unhappy about some aspect of the company’s service or business performance, the company must deal with it immediately.

Businesses should take advantage of resolving complaints quickly because, besides being given “for free,” this gives a 95-percent-plus probability that customers will return to do business with the company if a service is done to their satisfaction.

On the other hand, research shows that if the customers are unhappy with the service, the chance of them returning becomes slim. Worse, unhappy customers bring with them the potential damage of bad word-of-mouth advertising. There is a popular saying that expresses this very well: “A satisfied customer will tell 3 people; a dissatisfied customer will tell 3,000.”

When I was senior vice president for operations of a cement company, I would visit our major customers—which were cement dealers and construction companies—to ask them if they had any complaints and how we might be able to improve the quality of our product and services. It was very flattering for them to have a very senior company official visit them, the construction projects and other end-users.

After the visit, I would meet with the concerned marketing and operations people to quickly address complaints and suggestions that I gathered.

Complaints sometimes arise because of a difference in perception. The customer’s perception is 100 percent correct as it is based on how he sees things. And this is the basis of the old adage, “the customer is always right.” If, indeed, there is a gap between what the customer perceives and what you know to be the facts about your business, then it is incumbent upon you to properly inform your customer.

When you get inside many fast food restaurants or stores in malls, you hear greetings from the security guard, the sales people and even the cleaners right away. There are restaurants where even the kitchen people say aloud some greetings to welcome a customer. This is good. But besides being courteous, employees should be helpful to customers.

I see this in the gas station where I go to refill my vehicle. Whenever a vehicle arrives for refilling at the gas station, the attendants would greet and welcome the customer, direct the customer where to bring the vehicle, and gives reminders. Then after starting the pump, the attendant would ask if the customer wants the car’s windshield to be cleaned, and the water and oil level, and tires’ inflation to be checked. If the customer says “yes” to any of the questions, the attendant immediately takes appropriate action.

As far as improving customer service is concerned, there is no substitute to feedback.

The author is a DBA student of De La Salle University’s Ramon V. Del Rosario Sr. Graduate School of Business. He is vice president for Training and Education of the Bulacan Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He accepts comments at egechavez@yahoo.com.