Handling feedback effectively

A Blackpool hotel had some bad press recently. It had fined a couple £100 for leaving a bad review on Trip Advisor. It prompted us to think what are the wrong things and the right things to do about customer feedback. Here’s our list:

DON’T:

• Fine people if they leave a bad review
• Respond in a negative way. “Don’t book a room here again as we don’t want your sort round here” is a good example!
• Forget to ask for feedback. Customers think you don’t care much about them if you don’t ask them “how did we do – what could we do better?” (I’ve found my wife has a similar attitude)
• Ignore their feedback – people will stop giving you feedback if they don’t see that you are listening
• Forget to tell them what changes you have made as a result

DO:

• Acknowledge feedback and thank the customer for providing it. Whether it’s good or bad you can use it to improve your business
• Ask for feedback!
• Tell people what you will do with their feedback
• Tell them when you have made changes – and thank them again
• Tell all your customers what you do with feedback and the changes you have made
• Involve your staff and make sure you get their feedback!

Asking for and using customer feedback is a great way to build deeper relationships. After all, it’s free business advice!

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