When Customers Stop Talking—What To Do To Break the Silence
This week, Peter Bregman wrote in his HBR blog that silence is the worst kind of feedback because it is ambiguous and generic. His frame of reference is organizational behavior and interpersonal communication but it seems the same silence applies to customer feedback too. Ambiguities and generalities abound in customer feedback. It's just plain hard for most customers to express their views in sufficient detail to be useful at a managerial level. As I've suggested previously, it is easier to provide general feedback than it is to make specific qualitative judgments. This difficulty results in silence for many customers. And when that happens, what do you do next?
1. Assume that if things were best-in-class or horrible you'd know.
There's nothing generic about exceptional/terrible customer experiences. They happen. If you don't know when, where, and why they happen you need to examine what you measure and how those measurements track against anecdotal evidence.
2. Dig into other internal data streams.
How customers perceive your brand relates directly to the feedback you do or don't receive. When brand perception and actual experience align there is a natural void in customer feedback because what was once exceptional becomes the norm. There are countless examples of this phenomenon—Whole Foods and Borders come to mind. Trend revenue and return on assets are two solid measures of the marketing/operations relationship that drive customer experiences. Watch those numbers carefully and you might find that you've hit a plateau. You need to up the ante for customers before they become bored with your experience.
3. Increase/change the incentive.
Many companies think they know the pulse of their customers. They offer product/service incentives to strengthen brand loyalty. Frequently, those incentives don't appeal to customers because, well, they're customers. Three years ago, a Nintendo Wii was a great incentive for the 35-49 segment. Today, the customers that are sneezers (to borrow Seth Godin's term for people who spread their ideas about products to all those around them) already have one. Change your incentives regularly. Give options. Give cash. Greenbacks never go out of style.
We've worked with customer experience managers who have tried all three, often simultaneously. The key is to do something. Your problems may reside in measurement tools (#1), the day-to-day experience you offer (#2), or how you promote gathering feedback (#3). Regardless, treat the silence as a warning signal.
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