If you don’t hear any complaints from your clients, you might assume they are satisfied with your service or product. But are they really satisfied, or are they just non-confrontational and looking for another business behind your back?
The easiest way to attain client feedback is with a survey. You can set these up with a service like Constant Contact and ask a few simple questions. They can be scheduled at the end of your session, the end of your service, or semi-annually for your current clients.
One common complaint is that clients don’t take the time to look at the survey or answer the questions. If you want to avoid this scenario, offer a free gift for taking the survey, such as a coupon code for an upcoming product or a free checklist or another tool they will find useful. Sometimes gifts like these provide just enough incentive to get the answers you need.
To make your survey even easier, simply ask for a customer satisfaction score, such as 5 stars. This can be done via Constant Contact, email, or even a Facebook Messenger chatbot. If anyone gives a low score, you can follow up with a personal phone call or email to get clarification of what happened.
If you want to avoid the whole survey process altogether, simply ask your client at the end of their session or class if they are satisfied with the results. Ask if anything was missing that would have helped them during the process. If they are happy, always ask for referrals.
What If My Client Blasts Me with Negative Feedback?
It’s bound to happen at some point that you and a particular client just don’t mesh for any number of reasons. When you ask for feedback – which can be a simple question of “Why don’t you want to continue your sessions?” – you probably won’t like what they have to say. However, listening objectively and not taking negative feedback personally is important. Think back to your interactions objectively; is there any validity to their complaints? If so, make a note of those complaints and work immediately to resolve those with other clients.
If your unhappy client turns to social media to blast you, remain calm when crafting your response. Yes, you should respond to unhappy clients so it shows anyone reading that you’re receptive to resolving the issue. But take the high road and don’t resort to name-calling or throwing insults, no matter how tempting. Showing a calm demeanor online can build up your professional image and credibility.
Monitoring your social media should be a daily practice so you can catch any kind of negative talk right away. Your virtual assistant can monitor your profiles and set up Google Alerts, Mention, or SocialMention, so you’ll know when people are talking about you online. Lots of positive shout-outs occur on social media, so keep an eye out for those mentions, too. Don’t be afraid to share the positive feedback you receive, either on social media or as testimonials on your website.
Avoid Negative Feedback by Creating a Plan
One way to prevent poor client satisfaction results is to create an action plan. A personalized client satisfaction plan spells out all the steps you’ll take (or your client care specialist) to assist the client and make their experience easy and worry-free).
Tracey Lee Davis, founder of ZingPop Social Media, turns busy small business owners into online marketing rockstars! A social media expert and Certified Partner for Constant Contact, she coaches entrepreneurs in how to grow their business using social media and provides total management for their email marketing campaigns. Tracey Lee is also a featured speaker for associations and business groups. She is a 2022 Silicon Valley Woman of Influence, Alignable's 2022 Local Businessperson of the Year for San Jose as well as a Top 25 U.S. Business Mentor of 2021, a Certified Content Marketing Strategist, and the Co-Owner and Vice President of the Women’s Networking Alliance. She also really, really loves cheese.