Teasing Out Feedback: The Importance of Customer Service Reviews

By September 1, 2016 June 2nd, 2024 Small Business Planning

Last Updated on June 2, 2024 by Dave Schoenbeck

Of all the tasks piling up on your to-do list, sending clients a page of questions may be at a different level. But what if I told you customer service reviews are crucial to a successful business?

Customers deserve a voice. Theirs are just as powerful as SEO analytics and complex data. Feedback from a natural person – who has experienced your services firsthand – is invaluable.

Excellent customer service survey shown with a businessman' hand.

As a small business owner, you can reach customers more personally with customer service reviews.

Actionable Insight and Improvement
If you asked me what superpower I wouldn’t want, it’d be the ability to mind read. Some of us feel that way about customer service reviews. Do we want to know what our clients think of us?

We do! And it isn’t scary at all. If there are specific processes or services that we business owners are unsure of or are just testing out, it’s beneficial to ask someone else what they think. While it can’t be guaranteed to solve everything, this information provides a different perspective, perhaps the most important.

Customer service reviews are one of the best ways to improve your business. You are not only gaining insight into your client’s mind, but you are also increasing your odds for customer retention. When clients realize a company values their opinion, their trust and the likelihood of referrals increase immensely.

Customer Advocates
Free marketing is hard to come by, but not impossible. Customer advocates are the most effective and least expensive marketing campaign. If they are interested enough, building a mutually beneficial long-term relationship is one of the best investments for your company.

On the other hand, feedback allows us to pinpoint the weak areas of our services and listen to any unhappy customers. Those who feel unsatisfied with your business also need a voice, even if it’s one we don’t necessarily want to hear for fear of the wind going out of our sails. But how else can we improve without making mistakes and owning up to them?

To truly make customer feedback work for you, please remember that failure is not an option. It isn’t if you are always looking for ways to improve. When you constantly seek to better your business, provide above-average experiences for clients, and hear from those once-in-a-while dissatisfied customers, you are developing a solid reputation as a business owner.

Be bold and ask clients for a testimonial or to complete a brief (but valuable) survey after their experience. Make this another step in your plans when working with customers; tell them beforehand that you will need a favor from them after you provide your product or service.

So, I suggest you start a customer service review process today and listen carefully to what your advocates and critics say. After all, as they say, the customer knows best.

Want more information about how I survey my clients? Fill out my contact form to schedule a complimentary virtual coaching session with me!

Coach Dave

Dave Schoenbeck
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