Invite Feedback - Listen and Guide Your Business to Success
Invite Feedback - Listen and Guide Your Business to Success
The people who work in our business and the end users who buy our goods and services all have a different experience of our business than we do. Providing a convenient way for them to give feedback and perhaps offering an incentive are valuable ways of tapping into that resource, discovering ways to enhance efficiency and improve what we have to offer.
Our customers are some of the best people to tell us what they like and dislike about our business. They see it from a completely different perspective to us. Providing them with an opportunity to give us feedback and suggestions is a good way to tap into an immediate resource. They may have comments on areas that could be easily improved, things that we had not have even noticed or considered, or things that would make an important difference to the way our business is perceived.
Staff on the shop floor usually experience all the processes and systems first hand. We may have agonised over the best, most effective way for a task to be performed, but if the staff don't like it, find it laborious or over-complicated then it won't work. And staff can see how things work, may ask questions that we had not considered or see a simple way to improve an aspect of the business.
Suggestions boxes and feedback cards are an effective way to gain knowledge of how people really feel and collect their ideas and observations.
- Some people prefer for their suggestions to be anonymous. They are apprehensive about any suggestions being taken as a criticism and don't want to be associated with that impression. Allowing a suggestion box to be kept in a general area can be a way of overcoming that problem.
- Keep the feedback or suggestion card short and succinct. If it takes too long to complete people may lose interest or decide to take it home to complete it there, and then forget. Short and salient points are far more likely to be replied to.
- Have one side of the card for scaling various aspects of the business. Restaurants may have options regarding menu variety, quality of service, cleanliness of facilities. Rating those on a scale of one to ten, or 'good, bad, neither', can be a quick way for people to fill it in. Then the other side can be used to write comments, observations and suggestions.
- Offer incentives. There may be a monthly draw for a bottle of wine or a discounted night out. Some cards may be perforated, with promotions on one half that can be torn off and taken away. People have to leave their contact details in order to enter the draw which is a way of obtaining a valuable mailing list for future use.
- In a work environment, offer the people who make the winning suggestions the opportunity to implement them themselves. They will thrive on the confidence being shown in them and in their ideas. Encouraging innovative thought is a positive way for any business to grow and improve and is a positive way of identifying new talent.
Being receptive to feedback is important in order for a business to identify areas that are not working too well. Appreciating feedback and using it positively is a sign of strength and demonstrates respect for the people who have provided it. Staff and customers value being listened to and when their changes are taken on board they feel more loyal and engaged in the business.
Susan Leigh is a Counsellor and Hypnotherapist who works with
- stressed individuals to promote confidence and self belief,
- couples in crisis to help improve communications and understanding
- with business clients to help support the health and motivation levels of individuals and teams
For more information seehttp://www.lifestyletherapy.net
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