By Dale Isip

Client feedback is one of the best ways to improve your business or services. This is especially the case with measuring the quality of customer service – a determinative factor of continued business interactions. According to one study, 69 percent of clients said they would spend more money with a company that had excellent customer service.

Brands with exceptional customer experiences were also found to generate 5.7 times more revenue than brands without such experiences. Measuring client feedback and implementing improvements, however, is not always a straightforward undertaking. The following is a guide on how best to receive, respond to, and improve your business from client feedback.

An Immediate Response

Assuming you know what channels through which your clients are giving feedback, you should generate a near-immediate response to client comments or criticisms. For example, if your clients are commenting on your company’s own site, make sure to have a response generated within 24 hours. If the feedback is positive or neutral, express gratitude, but also ask questions about what worked for the clients and what needed improvement.

If the feedback is negative, be open to criticism – this might be the information you need to improve your business. Make sure to be truly concerned with the client’s issues, and, if possible, try to rephrase their feedback so you can understand the issues exactly.

This is especially the case with criticisms received in-person or through phone calls. If the clients are responding through a third-party site, try to respond as best you can – and maybe even go above and beyond to show these clients (and potential new clients) that your company is all about improvement and customer satisfaction.

Keep Track of Feedback

Client feedback can be handled on an individual basis, but keeping records of client comments and ratings can be done in aggregate. This can be achieved, of course, through surveys and maintained in databases. However, even similar feedback from two or three customers is worth examining. These comments can help make the small adjustments your business needs to improve.

If your client feedback comes in the form of phone calls or in-person meetings, try to keep open communication with those interacting most with customers. If you can not speak with customers individually, be sure to keep an open ear to your employee’s accounts of feedback and a mind open to change.

Implement Solutions

With enough client feedback, you can improve customer service and the practices of your business. A regular revision of policy should be the goal – and this can be done as frequently as every week or month. As you create policy, keep the channels for client feedback open and adjust accordingly.

For a more comprehensive implementation of solutions, however, you may want to revise policy on a quarterly basis. In this way, you can take more client feedback into account – and better implement solutions. By following these steps, you can make the most of client feedback to improve your business.