Customer Feedback: the importance of closing-the-loop
Recently I took my vehicle into our car dealership for routine maintenance and the service associate working with me made one customer service blunder after another.
It started with her speculating about all the 'crap' possibly wrong with my (new) car to later calling me from her personal phone to offer discount parts for the repair (my car was still under warranty). The topper, she forgot to tell me my car was ready for 2 days, and then forgot to send the courtesy car to pick me up even after she told me it was on its way.
When I received the call from Customer Service to confirm I would be able to rate the service a 10 on their corporate survey, I provided candid and detailed feedback, optimistic the customer service I’d received was an anomaly.
When I brought my car back a few months later, I was assigned the same service associate. More issues. Worse problems. And, my minor repair estimated at 1 day wasn't started during the first 4 days they had my vehicle.
I was out of town during those 4 days, but when I returned and couldn't get ahold of the Service Manager I raised the issue to Customer Service.
The Customer Service Manager (CSM) was a great listener. In that moment during my journey with the dealership, I felt heard and sympathized with.
The CSM called me back from her cell phone as she tracked down the Service Manager, and he was a great listener. He took ownership of resolving my issues. During those moments, I felt heard and understood. My concerns were validated.
I never heard from the Service Manager again. No feedback or was remediation provided.
When customers invest time to provide feedback about their customer experiences in a thorough and thoughtful manner, they have expectations. Not just an expectation to be listened to.
The Service Manager listened but never closed-the-loop with action or improvement, at least not any I was made aware of. I now drive to a dealership further away because of what they didn’t do after they listened. My perception is they did nothing constructive with the feedback. Perception is everything.
Questions
How are you listening to your customers?
At what points in the customer’s journey are you listening?
Most importantly what are you doing with the valuable feedback they are providing?
How are you following-up with them to close-the-loop?
_________________________________________________________________
ABOUT
THE AUTHOR: Living in San Diego, I am passionate about coaching small- and mid-sized business leaders to optimize their customers’ experience and maximize the investments they make in their team, scaled-processes, and technology to support multi-channel Magnetic Experiences. With a strong background in Management Consulting, Sales, Sales enablement, Go-to-Market strategy, CRM, ERP, and Customer I am passionate about working alongside customers to transform their organizations and realize their unique Experience Management (EX) goals. I have twice been recognized by International Customer Management Institute (ICMI) as a Top 50 Thought Leader. Connect with me on LinkedIn or join me on Twitter @JessicaJNoble.
