11/14/2016

Question

Our contact center has recently implemented after-call surveys. I am looking for suggestions on how to best use the information we collect from these surveys. What should I be looking for from the data received?

Answer

Effective surveying or enterprise feedback management (EFM) creates a two-way dialogue between companies and their customers and employees. Companies should use various forms of feedback to “listen to” and engage with customers and prospects. The trick is to capture relevant information on a timely basis, use it to identify the right course of action, and then act on it. There are often “make or break” moments in a relationship, and doing the right thing when handling a situation or opportunity makes a difference in both the short and long term. A customer surveying initiative needs to include processes to quickly address low-scoring results, and should be accompanied by closed-loop follow-up to ensure all involved parties know they are heard. Analytics should be used to structure and mine survey responses to extract the content, context and sentiment contained in unstructured feedback, in order to identify trends, opportunities and root causes.

Asking customers for their opinions is the first step in an iterative process that includes feedback collection, analysis, action and change. Insights gained from customer surveys generally have ramifications far beyond the contact center. The feedback should be shared across departments and used to improve the way companies develop and implement policies, procedures, products and services, as well as to enhance the customer experience. Knowing an issue exists is not the same as fixing it. True benefits can be realized only when customer insights can be made actionable and operationalized. For survey or EFM programs to be effective, their findings need to be fed into a change management process so that they can be used as part of a continuous improvement cycle and applied throughout the organization. In organizations that are committed to great service, all employees view themselves as customer advocates and are empowered to make a difference. These organizations “listen” to feedback on an institutional basis and act on the information that customers share with them.