One of the trickiest parts of a good marketing strategy for any product is social proof. Making your customers trust that your product can do what it is supposed to do is a great way to expand. But, to do so you will need to know how to improve your business with customer feedback.
There are generally five steps you need to follow if you want to be successful in this endeavor:
- Approach it in good faith
- Use good tools
- Recognize good conversations
- Accept responsibility
- Be proactive in solutions
In many ways, this is a combination of technical steps and those that can be seen as emotional and personal. If you are not ready to accept the opinion of others about your work, there is no software or tool in the world that will help you with that.
Nothing is perfect, and regretfully that goes for the products we make as well.
Steps to Improve Your Business with Customer Feedback
Depending on your business and your personality as a manager some of these steps can be harder than others. But, if you pass the first one you will be heading in the right direction.
Thankfully, many software and service solution options will assist you in finding good customer feedback once you are ready to use it. This will make almost everything depend on your approach and your ability to be proactive.
#1 Be Open to a Conversation
There is no point in feedback if you are not willing to see it. While having a highly edited comment section might seem appealing, it will always fall in the uncanny valley and won’t give either you or your customers the information that you need.
Be open to accept criticism and to address any issues that might exist. This will allow you to garner praise as well, and a good mixture of solved problems and native benefits is what sells the most. As Notifyio explains, anything that can lead to effective social proof is something that your business should strive for.
#2 Use Good Software
There is a lot of software that can assist you in certain aspects of gathering and addressing customer feedback. Some will focus on just a single feature and others like trustmary.com will offer complete coverage with both data and analysis.
Using automation will allow you to have a personalized touch where it matters. This way you will address exactly the issues that will have the most impact on your business without a lot of legwork.
#3 Accentuate Good Feedback
Using social media tools you can accentuate good and productive feedback and make it something everyone will see organically when they enter your page. By answering and promoting this type of feedback you will usually make a ‘’hype train’’ with reviews and comments.
Allow your customers to be noticed by both you and others, and be thankful for their time to share their views with your community.
#4 Address Honest Issues
Every business has problems. Even if you have the best product, you might have a problem with shipments, customer support, or payment processing. Such occurrences are unavoidable.
If you get negative feedback, don’t run away from it. Investigate if what has happened was true and address it head-on. This will show that you are willing to face problems and not just cower away.
#5 Use Everything to Your Advantage
Having proactive solutions means acting on both negative and positive occurrences. Give gift cards for those who benefit your business and promote on your page people publically using your product.
Even if someone has a problem with your product, find a way for a solution with that customer, publically. This will show your dedication to your brand and is the best way to entice your future customers to be just as dedicated.
