Preparation
This class focuses on helping employees embrace customer feedback as a gift. Feedback lets you know if you are on track in meeting customers’ needs or not. Feedback perceived as negative is what most people prefer to avoid. However, this can be the type of feedback that provides constructive insight or information that helps improve business practices and potentially save customer relationships.
Use the following information to enhance the class discussions.
1. Identify ways in which your employees receive positive feedback from customers. What specific examples can you provide from your own personal experience to enhance the discussion?
Examples can include emails, phone calls, and thank you cards/letters.
2. Identify ways in which your employees receive negative or constructive feedback from their customers. What specific examples can you provide from your own personal experience to enhance the discussion?
Examples can include face-to-face meetings, emails, phone calls, and letters of complaint.
Review guidance below.
Roles
Manager – Help employees understand the importance of negative feedback and how their approach to resolve it has the potential to determine whether a customer continues to do business with the Company. As a manager, listen closely to your employees. They will tell you the problems they are encountering. This feedback may not be provided in a direct way, so your listening skills will help you “hear” what they are saying.
Employee – Understand that feedback is necessary to understand how customers perceive the Company and the services it provides. While positive feedback shows we are meeting or exceeding customer needs, feedback perceived as negative is actually a gift. It provides us the opportunity to improve our business practices and preserve and possibly enhance customer relationships.
Getting Started
At the beginning of the session, welcome everyone and follow-up on last week’s homework assignment where they were asked to notice how customers’ needs are addressed through the Company’s current business practices as well as the business practices of other companies with which you interact. We also asked about how they measure the quality of service they receive. Finally, we asked them see what customers are saying about their Company?
Ask: “What did you learn from your homework assignment last week? What Company business practices address customer needs? What are customers saying about our Company?”
Remember to encourage conversational dialogue by using open-ended questions. Another technique is to say, “Tell me more,” or “Tell me more about that.” Be prepared to share some of your personal thoughts and examples. Refer to the Getting Started sections in Tenet 1 or Tenet 2 for more information.
Introduce the fifth Tenet – Feedback from Customers is a Gift
Say: “Today, we will focus on the fifth Tenet – ‘Feedback is a Gift’.”
Ask: “What does this tenet mean to you?”
Feedback is important
Ask: “How do you feel when you receive positive feedback from customers (notes, emails, etc.)?” “Do you welcome this type of feedback?” “Why or why not?” Most people welcome positive feedback.
Ask: “What does it feel like when you receive pointed and direct feedback from customers unhappy or upset with some aspect of the service they’ve received…or not received (notes, emails, etc.)?” Most people would rather not hear negative comments.
Ask: “I think we can all agree that positive feedback keeps us motivated and on track to know we are meeting our customers’ needs. What would you say if I told you that it is the feedback we think of as negative that we should welcome more? Why do you think negative feedback is the most important type of feedback from our customers?”
Connect back to what was discussed last week – Customers Define Quality and Service. We learned that if we fail to meet customers’ expectations, there could be consequences that affect both those directly and indirectly involved in the customer service experience. What we didn’t discuss was the ultimate action customers could take – to no longer do business with the Company. Some customers simply slip away silently and we have no mechanism in place to fully understand what really happened. What could we have done differently in order to prevent losing that relationship (refer to Tenet 3 – Provide Solutions and Show that You Care). That’s why feedback is so important.
Say: “Candid and constructive feedback is a gift and should always be welcomed even though it may not be easy or comfortable to hear. Although we may make every effort possible, we may not always be able to provide a solution that completely satisfies every customer. When we miss the mark and receive constructive feedback, it provides us with the opportunity to examine our business practices to determine how they can be improved. How can we fix what’s not working if we are unaware of the problem?”
How we respond and act upon feedback received is crucial to everyone’s success. In responding to the feedback, we must first focus on clearly understanding the feedback being given. Steven Covey said, “Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood.” Listening skills are crucial. What is the issue or problem the customer wants to solve? What do they need from you? How can you be sure you understand their concerns?
Once the problem has been identified, the focus shifts to how you act upon the feedback. In Tenet 3, we learned the importance of providing solutions and being empathetic. As Theodore Roosevelt said, “Nobody cares how much you know, until they know how much you care.” Empathy is key.
Summary
Feedback is a gift. Feedback determines what business practices and actions please customers and it provides the opportunity to make adjustments or changes where needed.
Let the class know that while this discussion was centered on external customer feedback, the same principles apply feedback from internal customers. We all want to know what we do well and what we can change in order to improve. Constructive feedback is a gift given in a positive way with the intent of helping the employee further develop.
Homework/exercise
Over the next week, be aware of how you react and respond to feedback from your customers. How do you respond to compliments or praise? What is your response to feedback that comes across as negative?
Let’s Engage!
I’m Agent in Engagement Simpson…Gregory F Simpson.
Employee engagement is a critical mission. I hope I can count on your help! Subscribe to the RSS Feed to receive the latest intelligence/insights and/or register to make entries in the comments log.
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You can access information on The 10 Tenets of Better Engaged Employees below:
Tenet 1 – Customers Make the Rules
Tenet 2 – Service Comes from the Inside Out
Tenet 3 – Provide Solutions and Show that You Care
Tenet 4 – Customers Define Quality and Service
Tenet 5 – Feedback from Customers is a Gift
Tenet 6 – Know Your Customer and You’ll Be Rewarded
Tenet 7 – Skip Satisfaction, Exceed Expectations
Tenet 8 – Create Value
Tenet 9 – Be More, Better, Faster, Different
Tenet 10 – Honor Your Customer
