We have gone on a fruitful, long, fulfilling journey that has taken us through the nook and cranny of excellent customer experience. I believe we have all learnt about the value of an excellent customer service and many aspects of carrying that out. Our last entry focused on an omnichannel approach to customer service. We explored the traditional mono channel view, its advantages and disadvantages and the many reasons for the shift to an omnichannel, technology-related, approach.
We now move on to an important but understated aspect in providing a holistic customer experience. We have focused on how to deal with customer complaints. For today, we will deal with what happens after you have dealt with the complaints. It is important to touch base with customers after they have given the feedback or complaint. This concept is referred to as closing the loop.
A customer makes a complaint or gives feedback, a process is started. Closing the customer experience loop therefore refers to implementing a system for checking with the customer, their sentiment on whether their view or feedback has been properly addressed. For example, if a customer complains about slow processing of their requests, an internal process will be started looking into the merits of such a complaint. When the complaint is reported and resolved, it is imperative to check in again with the customer to find out how they feel with the service. Some customers may think their feedback will go nowhere, as there are many organizations that only pay lip service to actually following up on customer feedback. After receiving the feedback, you can send a message to them that you value their input and you actually put in work in following their input. It tells them their business is worthy and they actually have a say in what happens. This can turn negative consumers into positive ones and ambivalent ones into ambassadors of your brand. They are likely to spread the word of your organization to their friends and also become loyal, repeat customers.
Closing the customer experience loop is also a check on the effectiveness of your complaint processes. It serves little to no purpose to implement measures in response to a complaint if those said processes fall off the mark. It can be termed as a no brainer to check in with the client to find out if this process which was initiated by their feedback actually fixes the problem. If that is not done, you would most likely implement processes that do not fit the purpose they were initiated for. It is important to check in with the client to see if their needs have actually been met. You can automate this system with RightSurvey. You simply need to integrate with your CRM software and triggered surveys (NPS, CSAT, CES) will be sent to customers instantly.
The benefits of implementing a closed loop system are many. In such a system, customers feel heard and valued by the company. This leads to a better relationship between consumers and the organization. Consumers are more likely to be repeat customers and be loyal to the brand. They are more likely to tell others too about it. Closing the loop also increases productivity. This is because time and effort is not spent implementing procedures that do not fix the matter at hand. 42 Interesting Stats about Customer Loyalty You May Not Know points out the link between a great feedback system in a customer journey and customer loyalty.
In order to properly implement a closed loop system, there are a few elements that attention should be paid to. You need to adopt a proactive approach to collecting time bound feedback. It is important to ensure that checking up on customer feedback is done not too long after the complaint is made. If it takes too long, the customer will feel as if their complaints were not given top priority. Checking up with them in good time shows their views are seen as priority and that it was followed up on quickly. Accuracy is also an important element of closing the loop. It will be quite disastrous to mix up customer complaints. It is important to be accurate in information given and checking up on who made it. Accuracy and timeliness are core principles of ensuring the closed loop works effectively.
Today we have discussed closing the loop. We have seen the customer experience does not only just focus on dealing with the complaint but also checking up on the complainant to see if they are satisfied with the improvements made. This brings with it such huge benefits such as improved customer satisfaction, loyalty and retention. Armed with this, let us all go and improve our customer experience.
