Why Is Customer Feedback Important For Your Business?

Many dream of taking their hobbies or passions and bringing them to life. However, building a business involves a lot of challenges, and as a new business owner, there’s a high possibility that you don’t know what you don’t know.

It’s common that business owners try to replicate the styles of other successful brands or competitors, but generally, it takes a lot of trial and error, as well as exploration before finding out what works. Whether it’s managing internal operations, vendors, partners, or employees, getting feedback from one another will paint a better picture of how to best move forward.

It’s the same with the products that you sell or the services that you provide. You can try to make hypotheses based on what you observe and how the business is performing, but having first-hand feedback from customers or potential customers can shed some light on how you can improve.

There are a handful of reasons why your business should prioritise customer feedback:

#1: It helps you better understand how your product is perceived

As a business owner or employee, it may be difficult to see the imperfections of your offerings through the lens of a consumer. Having worked on a product for an extended period of time means you’ll have the experience and understanding that others may not.

Through feedback from actual users, you can measure customer satisfaction and gauge the general perception of your product, service, and brand from a different perspective.

On top of that, testimonials and reviews—whether they’re through word of mouth or online—are also references for other potential customers. For example, say your product is listed on an e-commerce site with thousands of users. If a potential buyer comes across your listing and sees the good reviews and feedback by other buyers, then those potential buyers will have more confidence in their purchase or at the very least, increase the likelihood of having their interest converted into a successful purchase.

Understanding how your product is perceived gives you insights that you otherwise may not have.

#2: It paves the path for improvement

Once you’ve acquired testimonials outlining customers’ satisfaction levels, what customers liked and disliked, it’s easier to pinpoint which area to focus on. For example, if you sell coffee beans online and a customer leaves a 3-star rating, along with a comment about how the packaging isn’t sealed properly, causing the aroma to dissipate and lose its freshness, then you’ll have a clear idea on what to improve on.

In fact, when a customer expresses their dissatisfaction, you’ll have the opportunity to immediately find a solution, offer a memorable customer experience, and potentially retain them as a customer.

On the other hand, customers may also highlight things that they find pleasant. Whether it’s good customer service, an easy-to-navigate website, an in-depth FAQ section, or a high-quality product, this will give your business the confidence and boost it needs to affirm its approach.

#3: Encourage brand loyalty

As a business, there may not be a whole lot of opportunities where your brand gets to directly communicate with its customers. Asking for feedback from customers is the few interactions brands will get to pick the brains of the potential and target market.

Not only does it exemplify the willingness of your business towards enhancing user experience, it cements the idea that the business genuinely cares about what users want and need. This drives customers to feel more involved and that their voice matters.

With this positive association in place, there may be a higher possibility of customer loyalty towards the brand.

#4: It helps identify future trends

Everyone has different needs and wants, including those within the business and the target audience. If your goal is to have your product or service follow trends and adapt accordingly, it’s important to periodically acquire feedback, understand current needs of customers, anticipate future demands, and make adjustments as needed.

Getting feedback from your customers essentially provides you with data that can help shape business decisions, not only for the near future but for the time that lies far ahead as well. Considering the current market being as competitive as it is, it’s better to use these data points to the business’ advantage instead of making loose guesses and generalisations.

Not only can this help better your offering today, but it can also shape the future of your product or service and its variables to meet different needs.

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In short, customer feedback identifies the specific touch points for improvement. No matter which channel the feedback comes from, it’s vital that businesses pay attention to it and respond accordingly.

Besides improving your product or service offering, bettering your internal operations may also bring a lot of benefit for the business. If you’re seeking to improve the financial management of your business, consider signing up for UOB BizCA+*.

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