“Feedback is the breakfast of champions.”

Mr. Ken Blanchard could not be more correct. The purpose for getting feedback is to find out what stakeholders (stakeholders refer to customers, employees, investors, etc...) really think about your business. Getting feedback, especially negative feedback can be tough to swallow but it can also help to change your business for the better. Feedback does not always give you the high five, pat on your back that says you are wonderful. Sometimes feedback gives you the realty smack in the face that most business owners need from time to time. No one likes to hear that their business is not doing what we set out to do but it can provide tremendous insight as to what may need to change.
Feedback can be as simple as asking your staff what they thought of the new format or as complex as surveying the public to find out if they have ever heard of you. We refer to feedback as “The Pulse” of your business. We want to get a feel for what is really happening at your company. This way we can ONLY get better! Feedback can be done in many format but we prefer surveys. Surveys can be done in multiple formats such as the following: email, mail, mail with paid return postage, in-person, phone, or newsletters.

The main place to start this feedback process is with your current customers. Immediately you can get into their minds and find out:
 Are they satisfied with our product or service
 What other services or products could I offer that they may be interested in
 How is our customer service
 Is our store user-friendly
 Do they know we have a website

For example, let’s say that you are a hair stylist who wants to improve your business. You are nervous but you want to get feedback from your customer base. You start by surveying customers who come in to get services and you perform the survey with a clipboard and pen. You find out the following:
 90% of the customers want reminder calls the day before their appointments
 25% of the customers would like to see you offer hours on Sunday
 80% want you to offer more services such as waxing
So you take this new information and start to make changes to see how this would impact your business. You start by implementing reminder calls and you immediately notice that your appointment show ratio (who shows up for an appointment vs. who does not) is much higher than normal.

You decided to ignore the Sunday hours because it was only 25% and the other 75% thought the hours were fine. You also start doing some research into adding other services such as the waxing. All this information was gained from your current customers who are telling you what would make their experience better, what you could change, and what you are doing right that they are happy with. This information is free and has a major impact on your business. It is easy…yet most small business owners never get customer feedback.

Surveying our customers is a great form of quality control for our products, services, employees, and procedures. As Michael J. Gelb states, “Champions know that success is inevitable; that there is no such thing as failure, only feedback. They know that the best way to forecast the future is to create it.”

Good Luck! Stay the course, your business depends on it!