As a business, feedback from customers and clients is incredibly valuable. There’s no better way to find out what works and what doesn’t than to go directly to the source. However, there are right and wrong ways to go about getting customer feedback.
Below, 15 members of Forbes Business Council explored some common mistakes companies make when attempting to get customer feedback. They offered some ideas to help business leaders achieve better results when asking for input.
1. Asking The Wrong Questions
We often either ask the wrong questions or we ask questions, get an answer and then never close the loop with those customers. The right questions deliver responses that are actionable. Not closing the loop demonstrates that we either don’t really care or lack the capacity to follow through. – Jeb Dasteel, Dasteel Consulting
2. Making It About The Company, Not The Customer
The biggest mistake companies overwhelmingly make is making it about the company. In contrast, it needs to be about the customer. For example, instead of asking “Do you have any suggestions [for us],” rephrase it to instead ask, “What are you not currently getting from us?” “What can be done better for you?” “What would make your life or job easier?” or “What can we provide or do that would make you more money?” – Andie Monet, Strategic Solutions & Development International Inc
3. Not Offering Incentives
Brands do not provide customers with incentives for their feedback, which in our line of work is valuable data that can grow the business. I recommend that businesses leverage and incentivize different formats, such as surveys, to draw interest, cultivate engagement and garner data to ensure better results. – Tomer Hen, Mobco Media
4. Not Sharing The Value Of A Customer’s Feedback
One of the biggest mistakes companies make is not letting customers know the value of their feedback. If we work on the feedback that we receive from our valuable customers, we should let them know what changes and work we’ve done after collecting it to make your respondents feel more valuable. – Sanket Shah, InVideo Innovation Pte Ltd.
5. Making It Difficult To Offer Feedback
Companies tend to put the majority of the feedback process on the customer. Getting feedback should never be time-intensive for your client. Make the experience and feedback process as streamlined as possible. Capture information at all stages of the client journey—from your first discovery or sales call to post-sale and product implementation. – Ted Dhillon, FigBytes
6. Failing To Take Action
The myth is that customers are survey-fatigued. Customers want to give feedback, but most importantly, they want to know your brand takes action on the feedback given. To increase feedback, a few rules to follow include communicating in the channel of choice, never asking a question you know the answer to (data) and ensuring the feedback design is about the customer, not about the brand. – Zack Hamilton, Stingray Group, Inc
7. Using Generic Feedback Questions
It is a common mistake for companies to hire an independent resource to solicit customer feedback by selecting from a menu of generic questions. Taking the time to ensure that your questions mirror the challenges customers face is of critical importance. To do so, solicit feedback from client-facing teams, giving and taking until you have targeted, reality-based checkpoints. – Loubna Noureddin, Mind Market Consultants
8. Only Polling One Demographic
The No. 1 mistake companies make is thinking of customers as a homogeneous group—but they’re not. Companies need to take diversity into consideration. The reality is that women may want different things than men, African Americans may have different feedback than white people and LGBTQ2+ people may have a different experience than straight cisgender people. You have to look at feedback through a diverse lens. – Michael Bach, CCDI Consulting
9. Not Having A Systematic Process In Place
Some companies refuse to see constructive feedback as blind spots in the business. Leaders should have a systematic process for gathering and leveraging all feedback. This process should begin with understanding why and how this might impact the business and whether the feedback was opinion-oriented versus fact-driven. At that point, utilize the feedback findings to improve or exploit additional opportunities. – Amiee Ball, JAB Consulting Group
10. Ignoring Negative Feedback
Don’t ignore “unhappy” customers! Feedback is always a gift. Anyone willing to spend their valuable time engaging with you and sharing a perspective is someone worth listening to. – Aaron Painter, Nametag
11. Being Ambiguous
One common mistake businesses make is asking ambiguous questions like “Tell us about your experience with us.” Instead, ask direct yes or no questions and/or instruct respondents to rate a specific part of their experience from one to five stars. – Carson Porter, REV Agency Syndicate
12. Asking In A Robotic Or Impersonal Way
If the way you ask for feedback seems robotic and impersonal, you likely won’t get a lot of participation from the customer. Instead, ask for feedback in your regular communication with the customer where it happens naturally in the conversation. – Jo Stephens, Law Firm Sites, Inc
13. Waiting Too Long To Ask For Feedback
Customers will be most compelled to give feedback immediately after they experience what your company offers. I highly recommend leveraging software to automate a link that is sent to your customers X amount of time after they purchase. For example, 20 minutes after eating, the customer is texted a link to leave a review. – Michael Stearns, Ascend Digital Agency
14. Approaching Customers At The Wrong Time
Gathering meaningful feedback is possible by approaching customers at the right time. Time the feedback request when you are already in a conversation with a client—but not in the middle of any process—to make it feel more natural. The best times are after a successful transaction or touchpoint. For example, asking for feedback right after a live chat conversation. – Marilisa Barbieri
15. Forgetting To Show That You Care
At times, companies forget to show how they listen to their customers. They get feedback from customers for the sake of getting it, but in the end, they’re still focused on the company, not the customer. Business leaders must ask thoughtful, open-ended questions that will make the customers think the business cares about them. – Lane Kawaoka, SimplePassiveCashflow.com
This article was published on Forbes.com