Parts 1 and 2 of this series have highlighted several things that are important for a business owner to know to get their new venture up and running. They included how to create your brand identity and most recently highlighted a number of digital marketing opportunities to get your business known by the masses.
Understanding customer needs and preferences is crucial for sustainable growth and important in the current competitive landscape of small businesses. The most powerful tool for businesses to sustain growth is their own customer’s feedback. By collecting and analyzing that feedback, businesses can assess and improve their products and services as well as their customer experience. In this final blog post, we explore how small businesses can effectively use customer feedback to establish a loyal customer base and enhance their brand presence.
Solicit Feedback: To utilize customer feedback, YOU must take the first step and actively seek it out. Soliciting feedback shows that you’re serious about understanding and meeting your customers’ needs. There are a variety of ways for small businesses to collect feedback, including surveys, online reviews, social media platforms, and face-to-face interactions with your customers. Make it easy for your customers to make it easy on you; easily accessible forms on your website or using an email marketing list to encourage your customers to share their opinions will give you the information you need to improve your business.
Analyze Feedback: Once you’ve collected the feedback (this should be continual, not a one-time thing), it’s time to carefully analyze and interpret it. Categorizing the feedback into themes can help you identify patterns or common pain points for your customers. Patterns can also appear when customers are happy and give you the props you deserve! After you’ve analyzed your feedback, you should be able to determine some actionable insights that will address what your customers have shared (positive or negative).
Implement Changes (and communicate them!): After identifying your areas for improvement and determining actionable insights, it’s time to implement your changes. Some of these changes could involve adjusting your product or service offering, enhancing customer service, or even streamlining your business’s operations. Whatever it is you’re implementing, it’s vital to communicate these changes to your customers and highlight how their feedback has contributed to these improvements. You can do this through personalized email messages to your marketing list, announcing it via your social channels, or blog posts on your website.
Encourage Reviews & Testimonials: Now that you have a plan in place to solicit feedback and implement changes based on that feedback, the final step is to encourage public reviews from your customers. Customer reviews and testimonials can play a critical role in building credibility for your business and attracting new customers. Google, Yelp, and many other websites are great places to start to encourage customers to leave reviews. You can also highlight customer testimonials on your website or social media platforms, and video is a great way to do that.
Customer feedback can be a powerful strategy for small businesses looking to increase awareness and create a loyal customer base. By soliciting and analyzing feedback, implementing changes based on that, and encouraging reviews, you can build a strong foundation of trust and customer satisfaction.
This is the final installment of our series, and we hope that each blog has provided you with valuable insights on how to launch your business, be found by consumers, and improve and enhance your customer experience. While starting a new business can be tough, it’s a very rewarding venture and can be the beginning of your new career!
If you or someone you know is starting a new business or need help reaching an existing audience, reach out to us at 1-800-667-8201 or submit an online form here.
