Take care of customer feedback very seriously – one of the main business success keys.

Feedbacks (whether online or offline) have an untold potential of impacting the way businesses define metrics like customer loyalty and revenue. However, there is a need for it to be harnessed correctly if any progress must be made. To make this possible, there are a handful of interesting strategies that are worth following. For starters, you must ensure the right data is captured. That sounds easy, doesn’t it? Well, you will think it does, until you start, then you will know how hard it is, despite its seeming simplicity.

I know the question you are probably itching to ask now – “where do you begin” right? Well, the secret is in listening to what your customers have to say, without coercing them to change their words. To a lot of people, this may sound too basic, but a lot of companies seem to always get it wrong when it comes to implementing this. 

When you let your customers initiate offline conversations with you, you are not only giving them a chance to pour out their mind to you, but you are also eliminating any possibilities of obstructing them during the process. This clear, they will be able to tell you exactly how they desire you to improve their experience.

Here, take a look at a few things that could help you utilize their offline feedback to improve their experience.

1. Listen to what they have to say:

In offline conversations, most marketers tend to just let the customers speak. As much as you are willing to hear them out, you don’t want it to feel like they are just talking to themselves. The truth is that there is a thin line between letting your customers talk to you, and a rising listening to what they are saying to you.

Listening is a two-way thing, and except you recognize this, it will seem like your customer’s words are only bouncing back at him. It will make more sense rather have them speak to you and you take time to look at the true meaning of what they are saying.

You must not get lost on the fact that the goal of accepting offline feedback is to enable communication with your clients, even when you are unavailable. Usually, the messages from customers should persuade you to take actions. Clients are watching, and if no actions are taking in respect to their communication, they will eventually begin to develop a thick skin towards your brand as a whole.

2. Accept feedbacks through all touchpoints possible:

Your customers would most probably prefer to remain in their comfort zone. The knowledge of this fact alone should set you on the right track of getting the best out of your offline feedback system.

For a start, offer customers the capability of providing their offline feedbacks to you across different touchpoints. What this does, is that it eliminates any excuse that they may have not to reach you on time when they notice any issues with your brand. Attempt the use of trade show banners, word of mouth and any other comfortable medium to get them to say what they want corrected in your product. That way, they will be comfortable, knowing that they are actually talking to you, and that you will take action where needed.

3. Make the provision of offline feedbacks easy for your customers:

If you want to hear from your customers at all times, then you must be ready to make communication easy with you. One very easy way to do this is by creating a highly visible invitation on your website for customers to leave feedback. The goal is to make the process of speaking to you easy for your end customers, if you desire for digital feedback to be actionable, and relatable to the ills of the moment.

The truth remains that unless you are willing to develop strategies that will help improve communication between you and your client, online and offline, you might as well be ready to say bye to them because there are a lot of competitors with functional feedback system that are ready to pounce on your outgoing customers at all times.