Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
Businesses rise and fall based on their ability to understand the experience and expectations of their customers. This is why so many businesses use customer comment cards to get immediate feedback.
We have all had great service experiences. And we have all had that nightmare experience when we wondered how a business could be in business.
Inconsistency in service practices stifles business growth – and, ultimately, the bottom line.
Organizations spend resources to assess their customer’s experience in an effort to manage customer satisfaction.
We know that satisfied customers can be converted to loyal customers, which is what makes customer satisfaction so important.
How Do You Measure Customer Satisfaction?
There are several ways to obtain customer feedback – focus groups, customer satisfaction surveys, and text analytics.
Customer focus groups are used to determine customer preferences. A focus group typically draws on a sample group of customers who agree to give feedback and help drive product creation.
Satisfaction surveys are typically sent after a customer visit. These surveys are sent days or weeks after a customer experience with the goal of capturing a customer’s perspective regarding an entire service experience.
However, the main goal of a customer comment card process is to capture the customer experience when it is fresh in the customer’s mind. This process may help you learn about customer service irritants.
Mistakes Businesses Make About Products And Services
Many organizations develop products and services based on what they “think” the customer wants.
But the only way to truly know what a customer wants is to ask them.
Develop feedback tools to help you understand those things that are important to a customer and then build an assessment tool based on those expectations.
For example, many organizations will conduct a customer focus group to determine detailed customer expectations. A Focus group will also uncover questions that customers may have that you were not aware of.
Once you learn what the customer likes and dislikes, you can then create a tool to measure your ability to meet those needs.
A customer comment card should be brief, to the point, and focus on those things that are most important to a positive customer experience.
The goal is to get the customers to fill out the customer feedback card without asking them to make a huge time commitment to the process.
For instance, if you own an auto repair shop, a customer comment card could shed light on the courtesy of employees, the wait time, or the condition of your waiting area. This fresh feedback can help you to make improvements in those customer contact areas.
So the fewer questions you can ask to get the information you’re looking for – the better.
Example Customer Comment Card
This is an example of a customer comment card template that can be formatted on any word-processing software.
When customizing, insert specifics about your organization, i.e., are you a dry cleaner, restaurant, or auto repair shop?
- For fun, add your logo
- Keep comment card questions brief to encourage participation.
- Keep comment cards anonymous to protect the anonymity of the person completing the comment card. Unless, of course, the customer wants someone to contact them.
- Provide a stamped return address on the back of the card so they can easily mail the card back.
If you need help formatting or customizing your card, go to Canva
There are also free tools that you can use to create this form electronically. Google Forms is a great tool to send digital surveys to your customers.
Other Things To Consider
- Customer comment cards should be easily accessed by the customer. Some common places comment cards are available are in waiting areas, on dining tables, in a business lobby, or anywhere that a customer would naturally visit.
- Have a comment card box close to where the cards are displayed for easy card returns.
- When comment cards are in public areas, you can expect to get some cards returned that may not represent someone’s true thoughts but may be a practical joke. These can be easily identified.
- Make sure you check your comment card boxes on a regular basis, ideally daily, so you have time to perform service recovery if needed.
- Valid issues should be addressed immediately.
- Create a database to track your comments so you can watch for trends over time that could identify a systemic issue.
- Incorporate improvement opportunities into a long-term strategy and business goals.
- Finally, this is one of many tools that should be considered when putting together a comprehensive customer service strategy.
Use all available tools to help ensure you are accurately hearing the voice of the customer.
If you prefer a digital approach, there are many tools you can use to gather this information. Google Forms is a great free tool!
You can access an editable copy of the customer comment card template here.
If you would like to learn more about customer satisfaction, you might be interested in this book: Measuring Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty
