Turn Customer Feedback into Internal Improvements and Happier, More Profitable Clients

Why do so many human resources and other corporate functions fall far short of effectively translating valid customer feedback into bottom line benefit? It certainly isn’t for lack of data: 93 percent of all companies gather customer feedback. Yet, 67 percent don’t do anything with this information. Those that do generally track and analyze the wrong measures – things like frequency of complaints or customer “state of mind.” How can HR and their business partners determine which kinds of metrics should be tracked? And how can they turn those metrics into actions that improve the experiences of employees, managers and customers?

Like many of life’s best solutions, the answer to this dilemma lies in a brilliantly simple concept, well executed. Drawing from his book Interpreting the Voice of the Customer, Kevin Childs first reveals the not-so-surprising secret: listen to the voice of the customer – literally. “That last word – literally – is the key,” says Childs. “Research and experience have shown that there is no substitute for literal customer feedback in terms of positively affecting company and employee behavior.” Remarkable improvements are possible when the customer is doing the coaching through immediate feedback. No longer is it just Business Intelligence. It's Active Intelligence.