Companies are failing to feedback on customer feedback

New research looked at why customers complete customer satisfaction surveys, and what they expect from companies and brands in return.

The Consumer Pulse study found customers give feedback as part of their "job" as a consumer, and 57% say they give feedback to help improve the company. And customers don't see themselves as passive consumers but rather as empowered-actively participating in helping companies improve how they do business.

When customers do have a negative experience they expect feedback or a response from the company, and most often this is not what they receive. The research conducted by Boston-based custom research firm, Chadwick Martin Bailey (CMB) and iModerate Research Technologies,  shows that only 35% of consumers recall getting a response from a company the last time they shared a negative experience.

"Customer satisfaction research is about much more than the data you get back, it's about the opportunity to engage and often recover your customers after a bad experience," says Jeff McKenna, Senior Consultant at Chadwick Martin Bailey. "Most companies asking customers about a recent experience don't take advantage of this opportunity to turn a service failure around. There is a real disconnect between the research and the action that needs to be taken; closing the door before closing the loop is a missed opportunity."

The desire to help companies improve, and widespread dissatisfaction with companies' response were also two predominate themes in iModerate's one-on-one conversations with 21 Americans over age 18. In the words of respondents:

• "The hope for change is definitely a motivator; I would not want someone else to have a bad experience."-Female, 25 to 29
• "If the business wants to know how they are doing for their customers, then it is good to help them by giving them feedback, whether positive or negative. And that makes you feel like perhaps you have helped them." -Male, 40 to 44
• "If they're going to respond, I'd like it to be specific enough that it looks like a person read my comments and is responding to what I said.

Not just a "thank you, have a nice day" kind of response." - Female, 45 to 49

The good news for companies is that half of customers complete satisfaction surveys to share a good experience, versus one in three (35%) who do so to register a complaint against the company. When companies respond personally, they have a chance to reconnect and deepen their relationship with their customers.

Customer Feedback Directors Forum, 21st March 2012, London
Customers are playing an increasingly important strategic role in the development of organisations’ services and products across channels and the voice of the customer is critical to the development of customer engagement strategies. Customer feedback and feeding back on feedback have become business critical issues. Speakers todate include: Jonathan Browne, Forrester Research, Premier Inn - Case Study, Gallup Consulting, Complaints R Great, Verint, Rapide - Veolia Case Study, Foviance, Grey Matters Europe. Complimentary places available.More info........   REGISTER

The joined-up customer service future for multichannel contact centres
Contact centres are set to benefit from operating in an increasingly multichannel environment and are more likely to be viewed as a profit centre rather than a cost centre in the future as they deliver on a joined-up single view of the customer. Download Report: Multichannel Customer Engagement for Contact Centres Directors Forum, 26th January 2012  Download Presentations

The new, 9th edition of the UK's largest survey of contact centres is now available for download, free of charge.
"The UK Contact Centre Decision-Makers' Guide (2011)" is a 300-page PDF report detailing the business issues,strategies, technologies, expenditure and performance of UK contact centres. Covering topics such as social media, self-service, IP, multimedia, HR, operational performance and strategy, the report is based upon in-depth interviews with over 200 operations. Results are segmented by business sector, contact centre size and activity type, so you can compare your operation with others of the same kind.

Employee and customer engagement – the keys to competitive advantage
Successful and sustainable strategies that organisations use to forge the link between employee and customer engagement, performance and profitability in these turbulent times were bought into sharp focus at the latest Customer Engagement Club Directors Forum. Directors Forum chairman Steve Hurst, editorial director of the Customer Engagement Club reports

Measuring customer engagement - why it’s how you use the data that counts
The latest Customer Engagement Club Directors Forum on Customer Engagement Strategy and Measurement took delegates on a journey through the worlds of BIG data, customer insight, company culture and employee and customer engagement in the search for profitability and competitive advantage 

Customers voting with their feet when organisations fail to listen
Switching epidemic continues unabated as latest Satmetrix Churn Index suggests many service and supplier organisations are still not listening to customers as close on 10 million have switched in past six months

Only half of organisations have a customer measurement strategy 
A recent survey found that 87% believed online customer experience management was more important now than ever before. However, only half had implemented strategies and methods for measuring results
 
Customer complaints against financial services companies surging again 
More evidence of the weight of claims over loan insurance mis-selling has emerged with the latest complaints figures from the financial ombudsman
 
Confirmit adds missing piece to its feedback jigsaw 
Powerful new combination will widen scope for Confirmit’s mobile feedback and multi-channel customer engagement offering
 
How retailers can improve social media marketing 
When it comes to responsiveness, interest levels, and customer service, there is a wide gap between retailers that are currently using social media such as Facebook 'Fan Pages' to reach out to consumers, according to a white paper by social CRM and marketing software provider Conversocial