No business can exist without its customers. It’s common sense because a business won’t be able to continue operating due to failure to generate a profit if it doesn’t have the support of its new and existing customers. That’s why business owners need to put their customers’ needs before anything else.
The entire goal of establishing a business is to cater to a growing demand in the market. It doesn’t matter what industry the business belongs to; what matters is that it can continuously supply to the ever-changing demands of its customers. And that is the reason why asking for feedback is necessary.
You can’t be a business owner if you don’t communicate with your market. How else would you know whether your products or services make your customers happy? Asking for feedback is the best way to know if you need to improve what you’re selling or if you can do better than you were yesterday.
This is the part where you need to be a proactive entrepreneur, especially because most customers won’t provide feedback unless you ask them. Instead of waiting for something that might never happen, you should provide avenues where they can communicate with your business directly.
If you don’t actively seek feedback from your customers, there’s a big chance that the only feedback you’ll receive is negative. This is because, without the proper avenues, unsatisfied customers will likely voice their concerns online for the whole world to see. So, if you want to have control over the situations, here are three ways you can ask your customers for feedback:
Social Media Platforms
Creating a social media presence for your business will be good for marketing and publicity and for showing your customers that you’re accessible. Social media platforms are powerful tools for business because that’s where most of your customers are, especially now that the world has entered the digital age.
Your customers likely have their own social media accounts, so reaching both new and existing customers will be easier. Plus, keeping an active online presence will help you establish your credibility and build your reputation as a business because you can continuously interact with your market.
So, aside from being accessible to the customers that want to reach out to your business, you can also interact with the social media posts that indirectly mention your products and services. This way, you can create the best experience for your customers without having to spend your resources.
Online Forums
Every social media platform is considered an online community in itself, but it’s not an exclusive one. Like you, hundreds of other businesses are vying for the attention of the same target demographics that you are hoping to reach. This means that you’ll have plenty of competition from the get-go.
But if you want a more controlled environment to interact with your customers, you can create your own community forum. These communities are safe spaces designed to bring like-minded people together without sacrificing engagements. Plus, you’ll have total control, unlike on social media platforms.
With this avenue, you’ll be able to directly communicate with your customers and collect their valuable feedback from group discussions. The members of the online community will also be able to interact with one another to collaborate, which can do wonders for the growth of your business.
And the best part of having your own forum is that you can control who stays and who goes. So, if any rude users are spreading negativity and false information, you can easily block or remove them from the community. This way, you can maintain the safe and welcoming nature of your forum.
Email and Link Surveys
One of the best ways to collect both quantitative and qualitative feedback from your customers is through surveys. These surveys can also be in short-form or long-form, depending on what kind of data you want to collect for your business. And you can have surveys delivered through email or links.
A good rule of thumb is to keep surveys as short as possible because most consumers have short attention spans. It’s also better if you can diversify your questions with a mix of multiple choices and open-ended ones so your customers can share their insights about your products or services.
Once you’ve gathered enough feedback, suggestions, and recommendations from your customers, the next step will be to maximize their potential. Collect all the useful data and see how it can help you improve your existing products or services. Or you can also use those to create new market offerings.
The point is that customer feedback can only help you grow your business if you use it properly. That’s why you shouldn’t be afraid to ask your customers for feedback because doing so will show them that you value their opinions and that you’re dedicated to improving your business.
