Today symbolizes that the first four months of the year 2013 have ended. These first four months are now in the past. What does this mean for you? Do you just keep doing the same things the same way and get the same results? It is possible this is a good thing for you! However, if you are like the most of us it is a good time to review what is working, what is not working and seek to make the changes necessary to achieve better results.
Many articles written by advisers and coaches will beat the drum to conduct a self review of your business and seek their help to fix what is wrong with you and your business. “What? Oh my, the first four months of the year are gone!” Sending the alarms off and basically creating fear in people to seek their services.
Another approach might be for you to ask your customers or your clients to offer to you their thoughts. What? Yes you read it correctly. Who better to give you feedback on your business than your customers and clients. There are numerous ways to obtain this feedback and these are adjustable depending upon the type of business your run.
In the brick and mortar retail environment you might run a focus group with prizes given to those who are selected to participate. What you want to know is how they experience your store. How do they find the people who work there and the interaction with you, the customer, at the register, on the floor of the store? Are the items in the store easy to locate? Do you wish we carried other products? And much more.
In the services business environment you might send a letter or a card inviting your clients to take an online anonymous survey. You may set this up to where a gift card credit is sent virtually once the survey is completed. This type of feedback will open your eyes to how your clients feel about your service, how you added value or not, your follow up, your scheduling methods and much more.
This is the perfect time of year to obtain this type of feedback. One critical point is, you must follow up on the feedback once it is given to you. This might be as simple as compiling a full list of the top five items you intend to change and how you intend to change them. At the end of this process you may very well be creating customers and clients for life.
Mitch Tublin is an advanced certified personal and executive coach who resides in Stamford, CT.
This is a refreshing idea and, I believe, one that could lead to substantial conversations and change that impact your bottom line.
Asking our clients and customers for their feedback and then just listening – how novel!
So important to get feedback. Good ideas here this could be a great way to also reach out to former clients and connect.
Absolutely a great way to reconnect with former regular clients or customers.
Excellent advice Mitch and a good thing to do periodically. I really like getting customer feedback and then making improvements!
Trudy
If we are to be successful we must continue to grow.
Might as well grow in the proper direction.
I always love your titles! They pull me right in. And your advice is a great idea!
Jessica, You are a sweetheart. Not that you will accept a second date.
Maybe you offer pointers to some of the ‘losers’. Help them out in their
future dating of others. Just an idea.
Great advice Mitch – at UQ Power we always say what makes you unique is not just what you say it is but what others say it is. It is so important to seek clients and stakeholders feedback and another great way to do this is through what we call “cafe conversations” where we get a bunch of clients in to discuss everything as a group.
Heidi,
The group concept is a good idea, however, we have found for excellent feedback and personal connection, the one to one method works best.
At the end of the day, obtaining feedback is important to do, and any method is better than not doing anything at all.
I couldn’t agree with you more, Mitch. Just the other day I was talking to a business owner who was about to launch a new program and I was concerned that it might not actually be packaged in a way that her customers would buy it, so I suggested that she actually ask them what they wanted. Turns out they were very willing to tell her what THEY wanted and it was definitely different from what she thought they would want. Never underestimate the power of feedback from your clients.
Nice one! Yes, and an open and listening ear is what people crave isn’t it?
Great advice, Mitch. By its very nature a business must serve and meet the needs of others. Keeping those others in the loop of all your planning is paramount. THANKS, Katherine.
Know thy customers and clients. How better than to ask them.
Asking your market and clients what its needs are, what their challenges are and how you can serve them is a great strategy to assess where you are and what, if any, changes you need to make. Great advice!
Doreen, yes these surveys are great. The feedback loop is after they have sampled the goods or your work with you. How do they feel things went? What would they like to change? Improve upon.