Criticism of customers requires a reaction, but there is often no reaction

The so often vaunted “customer focus” seems to be little more than rhetoric in many companies. Only a few tangible strategies derive from the customer feedback they collect to improve their products or service offerings. This is not hidden from clients either. They often feel little incentive to express constructive criticism because they do not expect a response to their criticism or because their suggestions actually improve services, products, or processes. This is the result of a study conducted by the Berlin provider Zenlop
, which surveyed 350 people responsible for customer experience management across all industries. Three-quarters of survey respondents come from the DACH region, and the remainder from 23 other countries around the world.

Problems start with data collection

There is indeed room for improvement when collecting customer feedback: only 12 percent of respondents would rate their strategy as “excellent.” On the other hand, more than half (53 percent) consider their company’s approach “satisfactory” to “very poor” in this regard. In many companies, a lot of data is collected, there are problems in compiling data from different repositories in a central location, or data is collected but there are no organized processes to derive action plans from.

There is also a problem with visualizing and presenting customer feedback. About two-thirds of those surveyed (65 percent) see themselves at the lower end of the road. Accordingly, about a third (37 percent) of customer experience managers believe they can also derive “very good” or “good” insights from the data collected. Only in one in four companies do these ideas actually start innovative projects. Only a third of them have established so-called closed-loop processes to inform affected clients of new initiatives that have been launched.

There is often no feedback on customer criticism

According to Zenloop, it belongs “A high-level customer feedback management, deriving innovation projects from cash”. However, companies should at least respond to customer feedback, but there is also a problem. About a third of customer experience managers surveyed rated their companies as “poor” to “very poor,” only another third as “satisfactory” and the remaining third as “good” to “very good.” However, according to the results of the study, an empathetic reaction to criticism is not enough to satisfy an angry customer. Every second company reported that they were able to win back dissatisfied customers “badly” or “too poorly”. Almost a third (30 percent) give themselves a “satisfactory” school grade. Conversely, a third of customer experience managers succeed in converting happy customers into brand advocates.

Too much data obscures the basics view

When asked about the obstacles that complicate the process of managing actions, the Customer Experience Manager mentioned every second that information and insights do not spread to all relevant departments of their company. Almost every second (46 percent) lacks data analysts to collect and analyze data. More than four in 10 participants struggle to identify key drivers and priorities. Half of managers attribute the fact that customer feedback rarely leads to innovations or improvement initiatives to their companies’ scarce human resources. In addition, there is also a lack of focus on the most important measures and a separate department responsible for such initiatives.

So every second CX manager believes that they need outside advice so they can prioritize and manage cross-functional initiatives. Nearly nine in ten respondents (89 percent) believe customized software can help turn customer insights into actual projects. It’s Worth It: 95% of survey respondents believe that the best way for companies to stay competitive is the ability to translate customer feedback into action.