An adaptation of the infamous words from Maya Angelou.
In a world where we are constantly receiving feedback from others on who we are, there is something we can learn about ourselves from this – or at least how other people view us. As individuals, professionals and as businesses, other people will directly and indirectly give us feedback. This does come with a massive caveat when applied to us as individuals. Our lives are far too complex to be understood as such, but there is much to be gained from taking this feedback on board as professionals, and even more so as businesses.
Many start or lead businesses with company visions and mission statements that are designed to inform their objectives and operational activities with their customers. However, perhaps a useful activity is to see what the customers would say about the business, because ultimately, we are all defined by what we do, not just what we say or believe we do. It’s worth asking ourselves, “do these align in my organisation/team?”
One is lonely, two is company, three’s a crowd
Further caveats. They say, ‘the customer is always right’, and for customer service this works as an overall ideology, but anyone that has actual experience working with customers on a significant scale will know that customers are not always right. From time to time we can get, shall we say, ‘extraneous values’ – however a select few can be ‘lonely’ in their opinion of you. These occasions should be noted only, but not considered a rule. A growing ‘company’ of similar feedback of this same nature, however, is certainly worth adjusting your approach, and a majority ‘crowd’ of customers will require urgent action to amend. In summary, the more you hear it, the truer it is.
Customer behaviour > customer feedback
Customer behaviour is one of the most honest metrics that can be measured. While it is important to get qualitative feedback from customers. Quantitative feedback on customer behaviour will give you an honest appraisal of services. For example, a low retention rate may suggest that your sales are good, but your service does not live up to expectation. This is perhaps even more insightful that customer feedback, where biased processes may be leading customers to not be forthcoming in their honest opinion.
Just some #ProExPrinciples
