Any company can tune in to the voice of the customer by putting a few simple measures in place AND with minimal effort 
and cost to their existing operations – but the impact on the business can be remarkable.
When it comes to capturing customer feedback, it’s widely accepted that encouraging guests to complete surveys is common practice in the hospitality industry. However what about all those verbal comments that go un-captured everyday? Harness the ‘true’ voice of the customer and it can really pay off!
Research shows that over 90% of customer feedback are never actually recorded which is why many successful enterprise organisations invest in systems and processes to ensure that they capture as much as they can.
However, you don’t need to be a big business or even a customer service professional to benefit too. One organisation that is experiencing the benefits of adopting an enterprise approach to managing guest feedback is the award winning Felbridge Hotel and Spa in West Sussex.
Matthew Drinkwater, Operations Manager at The Felbridge is a big believer in capturing and using customer feedback. He puts it at the forefront of his business to help him make informed decisions to constantly improve their performance.
‘When you consider that 15% of hospitality customers never return to a business if their complaint is mishandled and around 90% of customers will tell people about their bad experience, capturing customer feedback is critical to understanding the guest experience and improving our business,’ commented Matthew.
‘We used to rely on comment cards and a spreadsheet as the main sources of recording and understanding guest feedback, however, we were aware that there was still a lot more we didn’t know about.’
To assist the business in this challenge, Matthew implemented an on-line service called managemycomplaints.com that made it easy for all staff to quickly and simply capture guest feedback at every opportunity. This provided a single ‘customer feedback engine’ that the whole business could focus around.
Since using the service Matthew has been able to identify areas in the business that they are doing well and areas they need to improve much more easily.
Matthew explains, ‘unlike the name suggests, it’s not just about managing complaints, it’s about managing and responding to all customer feedback – good and bad.
Because we can capture verbatim comments and report on all aspects of guest feedback and hotel operations, it’s really improved our understanding of the voice of the customer. Some things we were aware of, however, we also discovered things we could do to reduce waste and inefficiency in our catering department. We also identified additional customer needs such as improved business services and entertainment choices.
He adds,’ by adopting a more flexible and analytical approach to capturing and using customer feedback we have been able to start producing actionable business intelligence to help us constantly improve the guest experience and the quality of our facilities.’
Andrew Aldred, Marketing Manager at managemycomplaints.com says, ‘The hospitality and service sector has an amazing opportunity to tune in to the voice of the customer on a daily basis because their businesses are customer facing.
Just by asking one simple question at the end of each customer’s visit can really open your eyes to what you’re doing well and what you need to improve on: Would you recommend our business to a friend or family?
Consider this as free business advice from the people who know you best, your customers, and then make sure you’re ready to use it.’
managemycomplaints.com advocates 5 Do’s and Don’ts that all businesses can start doing today to begin benefiting from capturing and using customer feedback.
For further information and free advice on how to start capturing and turning customer feedback into actionable business intelligence visit managemycomplaints.com
managemycomplaints.com is the world’s first online service that allows small and medium sized organisations receiving around 30 pieces of customer feedback per month to implement a dedicated approach to capturing, managing and using customer feedback.
managemycomplaints.com is quickly being recognised as a critical business intelligence tool that is helping organisations make informed decisions to improve business performance for around £55 per month.
Find out more at managemycomplaints.com
Subscribe in a reader 
Share on Viadeo
