Before your mind starts coming up with a range of random notions, let’s frame the statement for you.

How often do you get feedback from your customers.

Sorry if that’s a million miles from where your train of thought was going.  But it is what we do so we feel obliged to talk about issues in our area to some degree!  Anyway…

We don’t think businesses are doing it enough.  Let’s put to one side the quality of the questions and how its done and by who.  Let’s just talk about how much.

In our experience, at the point where we sit down with a business and ask how often they are doing it, the notion of capturing feedback from customers is somewhere at the back of the mind.

They may have dabbled with one of the cheap nasty online solutions.  Or perhaps got the office junior to ring round customers using a set script.  Or most likely in the professional services sectors… cobbled a manual paper based form together (often in times new roman) and thats the job done.

Not the most scientific measure but we see businesses on average delivering a customer feedback exercise every 12-36 months.

That’s against the backdrop of staff feedback every 6 months (usually face to face appraisals) and monthly management accounts.

The message that sends to us is that customers aren’t seen as important as financials and employees.

Look at it this way though.  What do you have if you don’t have customers?  You don’t have money because there are no sales and you don’t need people if there’s nothing to do with them.

So let’s change the thinking.  Think customers first.

If you understand them better, their preferences, the way they see how you do business, the processes you have for engaging with them.  If you can find out the bad stuff and change it, the good stuff and talk about it, you’ll most likely be doing more than your competitors are.

We really don’t know why there is such apathy and fear among businesses in asking customers what they truly think about the way they do business with them.  What we do know is those who don’t ask and those who don’t ask often enough are missing opportunities.

And the more apathetic and less positive engagement that goes on, the more likely that competitors come into the mix.

It’s not a case of pestering.  And besides, if contacting customers is a nuisance… well what is selling deemed to be?  What do you call newsletters and brochures?  Mailers, e-mails and phone calls?  How many of those do your customers experience each year from you?

So what difference would one or two requests for feedback make?  Not a hinderance to your customers, but lot’s of benefit for you.