Stop & Listen! To Your Customers That Is. CRM

Have you noticed how many companies are interested in what you have to say lately? Just about every store receipt and restaurant check seems to have a feedback survey now. Ever wonder why? Or better yet, have you ever responded to one?

In these competitive times, there is nothing more important than listening to what your customers have to say. Amazingly, there are business out there that are struggling to make ends meet on a month-to-month basis and searching for answers that are sometimes right in front of them. When I say right in front, I mean it literally as in the customers they come in contact with everyday and by the hundreds or even thousands.

Over the last few years, I have been involved in a number of CRM (customer relationship management) projects with a few of my clients. While my bigger clients have more elaborate CRM plans and bigger budgets, its usually my medium to small clients that reap both immediate and bigger returns. Asking for your customers feedback is one of the simplest things you will ever implement as a business owner, manager or sales person.

You can do this by changing your register receipts to include a feedback phone number, website or email address. You can go large and implement this into your product packaging and advertising campaigns but at the end of the day all you want to know is:

“What can you do to improve the customer experience”?

You can ask this in many ways with questions like: “How can we improve your shopping experience”? Or “would you recommend us to your friends or family”? In a short amount of time, you will be receiving feedback beyond belief that you will be able to analyze and possible use to improve your business and ultimately your customer’s experience. Some of the responses will be common such as: “Lower your prices” or “giveaway free stuff” which you may or may not implement however you may get a response like: “I would be nice if you were open until 7pm on Mondays”. Some of my clients have seen instant ROI by changing hours to meet customer demands such as opening 1 hour earlier on Saturdays or staying open a little longer on another day.

While writing this article, I am reminded of an old sales cliché that goes something like “There is a reason why we were born with 2 ears and only 1 mouth”. I guess that saying holds true when it comes to business CRM and that many successful organizations spend more time listening to their customers needs and less time talking or complaining about how to gain them.