Why It’s Important to Listen to Your Customers

 

In the pursuit of money and success, businesses tend to get tunnel vision. Business owners tend to focus on what they believe is best for their business, and they overlook what their customers are saying. Businesses who can listen and use customer feedback constructively will gain more repeat business and new customers.

Some businesses tend to cover their ears when their customers talk. These businesses think that customer feedback will interrupt their innovation or distract from what they need to be doing. This can be a huge mistake. Customer feedback can draw the roadmap to success—you just need to know how to listen.

Why You Should Listen to Your Customers

Improve Your Product or Service

If you’re in the product development stage, there can be nothing better than honest customer feedback. If there is common criticism about a few different qualities of your product, you should take it seriously, and figure out how you can fix those issues in future iterations of your product. Your product should be able to meet and exceed the expectations of your customers. If the product is underwhelming, it won’t get very far in the marketplace. If you can rapidly use customer feedback to improve your product, you will have a distinct advantage over the competition.

Create a Better Customer Experience

Ask what your customers want from a company like yours. Take what your customers tell you and implement their feedback to create a more effective and personalized customer experience. Creating a memorable experience is what will help to keep your customers coming back for repeat business. Customer experience encompasses customer service, the quality of your product and post-purchase follow-ups and interactions. Customer feedback should help you craft a better customer experience, which is key if you want a noticeable edge over your competition.

Retain More Customers

Attentively listening to your customers will help to keep customers happy. If you’re directly communicating with an unsatisfied customer, you can immediately fix whatever problem they may be having with your product or service. Top-notch customer service can convert an unhappy customer to a repeat buyer. Understanding negative feedback, and why you received it in the first place, will help to prevent those problems from happening with future customers. Your customers have a buffet of options to choose from, and if they believe they can receive a better product or service elsewhere, they won’t hesitate to jump ship. It’s your job to keep your ear to the ground, see what’s making them happy or unhappy, and modify your business to retain more customers.

How to Start Listening to Your Customers

Create consistent surveys. Tools like GetFeedback and SurveyMonkey can help you create eye-catching surveys in a professional format.

Actively interact with your customers on social media. A business that is active on social media has their finger on the pulse of their customer base.

Listen attentively to customer service queries. Notice any commonly asked questions? Is there a certain issue that multiple customers are having? Take notice, and determine how you can best respond to those questions or issues that your customers have.