Let’s be honest, many of the businesses hate reviews and feedback widgets associated with their brands online. Although, we cannot judge them for that. After all, it is natural for us to hate what we can’t control. While customer feedback is something a business can’t regulate on its own, it also brings a lot of opportunities with itself.
Normally, a general advice propagated among businesses is that you just have to avoid negative reviews and you’re good to go. However, what no one ever tells you is, customer feedback is a lot more than that.
Here are a few things that probably no one ever told you about customer feedback;
It can attract a lot of new customers
Well, if you are among the haters of customer reviews, you need to read this out. Customer reviews are not just some pats on the back or some humiliating tantrums. In fact, they are a pure marketing material that you can just have for free.
All you have to do is to satisfy your customers by providing them with the best of your services. Once you do that, ask them to share an online review about you. The positive reviews shared by such happy customers will do wonders for your business and will help you gain a huge load of new customers.
It can help you improve your products/services for good
Customer feedback is a good source for telling that how many customers liked your products/services and how many didn’t; that’s one way of seeing it. However, if you look closely, you’ll know that customer feedback is actually a detailed product analysis, done by the customer itself. If you would only work on the issues your customers pointed out, it alone can help you save a lot of your time and wealth.
Consequently, you can improve your products/services, by tailoring them according to the needs of the very people you produced them for.
Customers feel like a part of your business
Customers are human beings, if you care for them they’ll care for your business. So, nothing can fascinate your customers more than you asking for their opinion about your product/service. This feeling alone can create an impact in the minds of the customers that you bothered to pay attention to their experience with your business.
Furthermore, when you not only listen to your customers but work on their suggestions to improve your products/services as well, they feel associated with your business. Once that happens, you should know that there’s just good news for you.
It can motivate personal recommendations
Remember, the moment a customer puts on a positive feedback for your business online, good things start to happen for you. Positive feedback not only indicates that you have a happy customer but it means that you have an unpaid brand ambassador on board.
The positive reviews on your website will help your brand look good online, whereas your happy customers will help you get more customers offline via word of mouth. So, in this way you hit two targets with one shot.
It helps you retain your existing customers
For a business, acquiring new customers is crucial but retaining the old ones can save you a lot of money. The ones who are satisfied with your product/services will stay loyal to you, but the ones who are dissatisfied will leave.
However, most of the times, collecting customer feedback can rescue you from such situations. It can tell you, which of your customers are satisfied and which of them are facing issues. Once you have this information, you can make in-time corrections and save yourself from losing your valuable customers.
Even negative feedback can boost your sales
One of the biggest myths in customer feedback industry is that negative reviews ruin a brand’s image. However, this statement is very shallow. Negative reviews do have a bad impact but if tackled with strategy, they can prove to be a blessing in disguise.
If you leave a negative review unanswered, an impression will go out that you were guilty of the problem caused. Whereas if you answer it thoughtfully, and with an essence of empathy you could win a loyal customer out of that reviewer. You can also read our previous blog to learn, “what to do when you only get 1-star?”
Customer feedback is a tool of great importance to every business despite their size and scope. If your aim is to create a strong brand image and have a good online reputation then missing customer feedback from your action plan would be a big mistake. Customer feedback is a direct indicator for your customer satisfaction, be sure to make the most out of it.