Statistics found that when the time 2023 rolls around, 91 percent of the entire United States population will be online shoppers. That is an insane number—and one that businesses of all sizes cannot ignore. Simultaneously, online shoppers are known for not buying whenever they have one bad experience with a shopping platform, and the majority of them read online reviews before they purchase.
Regardless of how big or small your business is, you cannot ignore these staggering statistics and trends if you want your business not just to survive but thrive. When consumers have more time evaluating their purchasing experiences, businesses must know that the customer is king. Here are some of the best ways to get honest and constructive customer feedback this 2021.
Make your website the best that it can be.
Not all business owners recognize the value and importance of a good website. In a time when most consumers are not able to visit your workspace or physical store, your website is their first foray into your business, and it will greatly influence whether these consumers will check your product or service.
Here are the marks of a good business website:
- Fresh, sleek, and clean. There’s no need for moving marquees or weird blinking advertisements. The cleaner and simpler you can make it, the better.
- Functional and easy to navigate. There’s nothing more frustrating for consumers than trying to navigate a website with a confusing and poor interface.
- Can be optimized for any device. Whether your consumers are on mobile or desktop, they need to use all the website features easily. It should be easy enough to use for site visitors who are in a hurry and don’t have the time to look through different pages.
- Calls to action and clear guides. Your website should guide your consumers to where they need to go and why they hopped on to your website in the first place.
- Accessible contact information. If you really want feedback for your products and services, there should be a page where customers can quickly provide their thoughts on their experience with your business.
A well-designed and functional website is one of the best channels through which you can help your customers share their thoughts on your business—what areas to improve in and the things you’re doing well.
Use new survey technologies.
Voice-of-the-customer programs can help you run a business that’s 100 percent centered on your customers and their experiences. This is because these programs can easily collect information from your consumers at every stage of their purchasing journey. This information will improve the daily operations of systems that are already in place in your business.
A voice-of-customer questionnaire or survey can have different types of questions that can be presented to your customers throughout their entire shopping process. Every step of the way, they will be engaged with questions that can help voice their answers in real-time, and these answers will be used to provide consumers with a customized shopping experience tailored to their needs. The data is also organized to help businesses visualize the information in convenient and helpful ways. When shoppers crave convenience, this is a great way to help them provide feedback as they shop, eliminating the need for them to go back and answer questions later on.
Determine if it’s the right time to form a customer support team.
If you don’t already have a customer support team, perhaps now is the best time to form one. Having a team of people monitoring customer feedback and insight into your business is a great way to ensure that your company is always on top of consumer sentiment. It’s also a crucial way to maintain brand loyalty among your customer base. This is because a customer support team will determine what works, the details that need improvement to deliver the best possible service to your customers, and practices that you need to eliminate. You can also up the ante by handing out bonuses to team members who will address a customer issue.
The people you need to get feedback from are your current customers to ensure that their needs are consistently served. The next segment of people is prospective customers to understand what’s hindering them from engaging in your business. And lastly, from people who visit your website but have not made a purchase yet, to know what you can improve in your business so that they consider buying. Putting the customers first may seem like a lot of work, but the rewards are always worth it.
