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"The only thing that stands between a man

 and what he wants from life is often merely

the will to try it and the faith to believe that it is possible."
- Richard M. DeVos

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By David Reed
Have you ever been sitting down for dinner and the phone rings with a telemarketer on the other end? You might hear: "I'm not selling anything; I just want to ask you a few questions. We are a research firm . . . ."

Companies spend millions of dollars each year gathering data from potential customers, yet they fail to listen when an existing customer has something to say. Successful organizations have developed a process of listening to their customers and then doing something with what they hear.

There are several ways to listen to your customer.

1. Comment Cards. Many organizations make customer feedback, or comment, cards available to give existing customers the opportunity to share their experiences, both good and bad. This can actually work against you if you do not have a mature process in place to analyze the feedback and respond appropriately. It helps if an independent department collects and organizes the data to avoid any chance of a group ignoring important feedback.

2. Personal Observations. The longer someone has been in management and the higher up in the organization they are, the less time they seem to spend with their customers. No management report in the world can replace the value gained by first-hand observations and conversations with the people funding your career.

3. Employee Feedback. The front line employees have the most contact with the customer and often have great suggestions on what the company could do to better serve the customer. Unfortunately, most members of management teams forget this and look within their circle of peers for process or product improvements.

4. Independent Assessments. Many companies are filled with employees that have been with the organization for many years and have worked their way up to positions of leadership. It is very difficult for someone who has been performing the same set of tasks in the same way for years to take a fresh look at their work. This is where an independent business assessment could be of use. Having someone from outside your company, and even industry, survey your employees, customers, and vendors will likely provide new ways of doing your job.

5. Complaints. Most people view complaints as an annoyance and an unpleasant part of doing business. Companies on the leading edge view complaints as gold. Not every complaint is valid, but when monitored for trends, they can provide excellent ideas without having to pay a research firm.

However you choose to gather input from your customer, the next important step common to all of them is to do something with the data. If you don't plan on responding to customer and employee feedback, you are better off not asking.

This is called "closing the loop." It is not practical to respond to each and every comment or suggestion, but when the data is analyzed, trends may emerge that provide clues to ways to improve your product or service. If the feedback and suggestions come from employees, then an online newsletter or email acknowledging the idea, its source, and the response will help encourage additional ideas.

If the feedback comes from a customer, a simple call or email letting them know you received their feedback can go a long way towards creating a loyal customer.

Remember to listen to your customer and employees! If you develop a culture to encourage suggestions, and even complaints, you are more likely to outlast your competitors who ignore the voice of their customer.

Customer Centered Consulting Group works with organizations of all sizes to improve their effectiveness through enhanced customer service, strong leadership, and simplified processes. For more information, visit cccginc.com or call 469-628-9032.