Reading Between the Lines of Customer Feedback
You ask for feedback. Your customers give you answers.
So read this answer.
“I would have signed up for the Premium Membership at 5000bc, but I don’t much care for audios.”
“Fair enough,” you say. And you continue with your work.
And in continuing your work, you’ve missed out on some vital information that’s been unspoken.
Ja, ja, you’ve forgotten to read between the lines.
So let’s analyse that line again
“I would have signed up for the Premium Membership at 5000bc, but I don’t much care for audios.”
What is this customer really saying? Here’s my guess:
I would have signed up for Premium Membership at 5000bc, but Sean, if you weren’t so thick headed, you’d have more than just audios. You see, I learn best by reading. And yes, there are videos. I like that stuff.
Go on, read between the lines
Because a lot of what customers want to say, is buried in what they don’t say. So when a customer buys a product or service from you, your first job is to ask for feedback. No, no, not the goody-gumdrop stuff. Actively ask your customer why they took one package over the other. Why they chose one form of consulting over the other. Ask for most people would call the ‘negative feedback.’
Then make sure you do the analysis thing
What is your customer saying? What are they really saying? And what are they saying when they don’t say anything?
It’s not an answer I can give you
It’s only an answer your customer, and your analytical brain can make sense of. So yes, the next time you get feedback, make sure you get the ‘negatives’ first. Make sure you read between the lines. And yes, if you can’t read between the lines, call up the customer and simply ask.
You’ll be amazed at what you learn!
Personal Experience:
At 5000bc, only so many customers either read/post at the forum. When I first started out the Membership, I wondered why customers wouldn’t post on the forum. It seems so logical to do so. No, it doesn’t. The customer that avoids going to the forum is still a customer. When I read between the lines, I get the clear idea, that the non-forum customer will leave, if they get only the forum. The non-forum customer’s needs are different. And if I don’t pay close attention to those needs, those customers will leave.
Of course, the best way to get feedback, is to ask for it. And 5000bc has grown, based on the feedback we’ve received. But not everyone responds. In the absence of response, read between the lines.
Cautionary Note:
Grow your business one step at a time. Yes, we could have more than just audios in the Premium Section. But there were other pressing issues that came before putting in additional content. You can drive yourself right into Stress City, if you try and achieve everything at one go. So yes, make sure you get the feedback. Make sure you make a note to act upon it. Allocate the time to act upon it, sometime two, three, six, twelve months from now. When the workload isn’t so heavy, allocate the improvements as part of that month’s project, and get down to it, thus making your business far more profitable than it is right now.