Successful companies use customer feedback to increase retention

Jul 22, 08 | 1:55 am

A recently published report by the research firm Aberdeen Group, sponsored by Mindshare Technologies, titled "Customer Feedback Management" investigates how leading companies capture and leverage feedback to improve customer retention. The report creates a roadmap for companies who are considering using customer feedback management to increase revenues and market share.

Aberdeen examined more than 300 diverse enterprises, distinguishing best-in-class companies using three key performance indicators (customer satisfaction, customer retention, and customer-focused innovation). The Aberdeen report reveals that best-in-class companies have well-established processes in place for maximizing the value of customer feedback. The report is comprehensive, in that it evaluates the EFM (enterprise feedback management) process that helps a company understand its relationships with customers, employees, partners, suppliers, and others. It provides real-world examples showing how individual companies use feedback, and the actions they take to achieve their customer service goals.

Aberdeen provides a competitive framework that provides an analysis of Best-in-Class, Average Performers, and Laggards and then demonstrates that the Best-in-Class companies lead in the following areas: process, organization, knowledge management, technology, and performance management.

A few of the significant findings developed from the research include:

• Best-in-Class companies are more than 8 times more likely than Laggards to increase customer satisfaction.

• Best-in-Class companies are more than 26 times more likely than Laggards to increase customer retention.

• Best-in-Class companies are nearly 3 times as likely as Laggards to communicate with customers

  how their complaints and suggestions have been or will be acted upon.

The report underscores the importance of feedback in the new era in which we live. In a world where customers can spread their feelings instantly to millions of people through blogs, social networks, and other media, the need for real-time customer feedback is an imperative. Not only is customer feedback a necessity, but receiving it immediately gives frontline managers power to act quickly. If a company doesn't promptly take action on feedback, the data will become stale. The report provides quotes and cases from leading companies that attest to the importance of gathering feedback in real-time and then responding to it quickly.

Another important finding is that Best-in-Class companies provide a way to integrate the data collected from all channels of feedback and then create actionable reports for all levels of management. A case study from Hertz goes into the details of their experience showing why the inclusion of all departments is important, and the changes they have made in service and innovation as a result of their customer feedback program. Hertz also discusses their investment in technology and the significant cost savings they have achieved by using automated real-time surveys versus comment cards.

The research also found that Best-in-Class organizations are 19 times more likely than Laggards to see an increase in customer-focused innovation. The report covers in-depth why leading companies value customer feedback as an engine for new product development.

The "Required Actions" section of the report may be the most critical, in that it provides a roadmap for companies wanting specific steps they can take to become Best-in-Class. All companies looking to retain customers and increase revenues in these tough economic times can gain value from this report.

Mindshare Technologies, a sponsor of the report, provides a complimentary copy of the report at http://www.mshare.net/aberdeen.html.



About Mindshare Technologies

Mindshare Technologies' customer feedback tools help companies improve operations and minimize customer attrition. Mindshare's proprietary survey technology captures the voice of the customer in real-time and immediately transforms it into actionable intelligence through powerful and incisive enterprise reporting. As a hosted system, Mindshare is affordable and flexible, with surveys and reports tailored to fit individual needs. The reports are web-accessible 24/7 and by scheduled email. Mindshare serves more than 25 different industries, gathering feedback in 67 countries and 14 languages. Clients range from small regional chains to large multinational corporations. For information, visit www.mshare.net.


Source: Business Wire