Customer feedback has traditionally been considered part of the sales or service process, as well as a large part of a property maintenance company’s customer relationships. Feedback can be received verbally or in writing at any stage of the service process and its utilization can have a significant impact on the customer’s overall experience with the company.
Customer feedback is very important for maintenance companies, because it is valuable strategy information which competitors cannot copy. Therefore, customer feedback should have a significant role in the development of a company’s operations and services. At the best customer feedback offers a unique competitive advantage if it can be processed in a meaningful way.
In our latest blog article, we wrote about how service companies can collect customer feedback. Next, we will dive into the five ways in which companies can utilize the information they collect.
5 powerful ways to utilize customer feedback in property maintenance
1. Utilizing customer feedback in the development of an organization’s operations
Utilizing customer feedback should be seen as one of the ongoing bases for operations. By identifying the potential show stoppers in service processes, the entire service procedure can be optimized and developed. Processing information to support business processes creates strong steps to a customer-centric mindset. It is worth to remember that a satisfied customer is the key to success.
2. Business intelligence as basis for the development of customer service
Does your company measure statistics from customer feedback? Structuring and measuring customer feedback helps the company pick relevant points of data, which helps to target resources correctly and prioritize the essentials. For example, if 25/100 customers who have left feedback all mention the same negative thing, corrective action should be prioritized immediately.
Especially larger property maintenance companies have an online hub for internal communication. The employee social e-hub has been noticed to improve co-operation and decision-making. E-hubs make it easy to involve employees and centralize communication. It is definitely worth using this to process customer feedback as well. Often a service technician visiting the site can receive verbal feedback directly from the customer. If the company uses an e-hub, then a service technician could directly register feedback there and employees could work together to come up with ideas and refine useful measures from the collected customer feedback.
3. Automation of customer service with artificial intelligence
Customer service can be partially automated using Chatbots. If your customers like to give feedback or contact your company directly from the website, an artificial intelligence solution could be considered. Chatbots can have simple conversations with people when it is programmed with keywords and counter-questions. For example, do you notice the top 10 most frequently asked questions from your customers that could be programmed directly into a chatbot running on a website? Customers really love fast response times. One of the Chatbots we recommend is Tidio Chat.
4. Meaningful customer relationships
The importance of good customer relationships cannot be overemphasized. Satisfied customers are loyal to you and are likely to recommend you ahead. Remember that the customers who give feedback actually care about your company and will tell you about possible grievances- a lot of customers will never bother to tell you when they’re dissatisfied, because of the extra work that’s in it for them to form a complaint. The handling of customer feedback should be handled as well as possible, whether it is good or bad feedback. For example, a quick and well-managed complaint can deepen a customer relationship. The customer is left with the feeling that their wishes are being listened to and valued as a customer.
5. Development of competence and learning
At best, collected customer feedback can also lead to changes in certain procedures and job descriptions. Service companies should consider whether the job description should even be changed completely in a particular case? Have customers complained about it more than once, or perhaps suggested a better way to do it differently?
It is also good for service companies to mind the company’s internal expertise. Does the customer feedback constantly reveal any of the same personnel names? Where does this come from and how can this be avoided in the future? For example, does staff need internal training? The company’s service processes are diverse, but the continuous development of employees’ skills and learning brings a lot of competitive advantage to companies and self-confidence to employees.
Customer experience matters
The most important goal of customer experience management is to help the organization see its own operations through the eyes of the customer. What better way to do that than to listen to the people who pay for your service? Gathering customer feedback is an important procedure for a company for many reasons. The current business word is not like a stagnant projector screen. The company should not be too strict about new ideas and procedures. The environment is also shaping processes, and the adaptability of companies is a new competitive advantage. The more you listen to your customers, the more it engages and improves your customer relationships even in the long run.
Did you enjoy this article? You might also enjoy our posts on:
How to collect customer feedback in property maintenance?
How to safeguard customer data in property maintenance? 5 best practices
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Did you know that with an electronic service management system, you can easily automate the collection of customer feedback? Read more about our recommended VALPAS system.
With Valpas you can increase visibility into work orders and open tickets- with a computer, mobile phone or tablet.
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