Evolution of feedback

Since ancient times, any entrepreneur are particularly concerned with the question of receiving feedback from their customers. And this is not surprising, because customer feedback form the optimal path of development of the company and identify problems, periodically encountered along the way.

And to understand and analyze an objective picture of the status of their cases, companies use completely different paths and ways of obtaining feedback. In this article I decided to gather together all the main ways to identify their pros and cons and to eventually hold some sort of evolutionary process “From” and “To” in this area.

Let's start with the most basic and primitive of ways.

1.1. Personal communication with the client

The easiest way to get valuable feedback is to directly ask the customer what he thinks about you, your company and some of its aspects. Ask a question — get an answer, simple as that.

But there immediately arises a number of problems:
— The client may be ashamed to tell you the unpleasant truth in the face and “get away” from you by language such as “All is well”, “Come”, etc.
— It is difficult to keep in mind the hundreds of different opinions, and even more difficult to reduce them into a single objective picture. A single opinion means nothing because of their subjectivity.

So there was a slightly modified process:

1.2. Anonymous communication with the client

This is when the founder or the Manager pretends to be an ordinary employee or by the client and talking with their customers on equal terms. There is no longer the constraint, and the client tells it like it really is. In the end the company gets valuable information.

For example I myself, developing the service taxi, was in his car and talked with the drivers we have, like I'm a regular customer. They told me all the pros and cons of service, conditions of work and what clients come across. Golden information!

But here is your problem:
— Personal time. It is very small, especially the leaders, so gather in this way, the reviews the most expensive, because for any self-respecting head of personal time is the most expensive asset. Yes, and business is mainly created not only for fun and lofty goals, but in order to gain freedom, not to work more than an employee.
— Also persists the question of how to structure the head of the huge amount of information to identify any patterns and priorities.

1.3. “Email us”

Free, simple and rugged method of interaction with the client. It fits except the very beginner projects that do not have the extra couple of dollars on some software or at least create a neat and simple contact form.

Any feedback to so it is possible, but obviously not everyone wants to write a letter. And structure all submitted requests into something objective, almost nothing is easier than to sort out the leaves reviews written by hand.

And that is the basis of these problems, the feedback is a little evolved into something more objective and perfect:

2.1. Survey forms

The company began to distribute to its customers a variety of questionnaires, which are usually requested to fill in spare time and bring on your next visit. For example, such a survey I gave at the Bank where the account is serviced by my company. But I, by the way, this survey threw:)

This is just one of the problems this way — people are just too lazy to fill out all these forms. From afar they are already frightened by the presence of many fields and issues. I have this image of yourself sitting with a pen and painfully responding to all of this. And personal time very sorry.
In addition, another problem (but a problem of the head), is to collect all the leaves in one pile and try to structure everything in one picture. It is long and quite difficult, especially if the issues involve not the answer choices, and answer in free form.

Faced with these problems, the company came up with new forms of feedback:

2.2.1. Quick polls

This is an option when the questionnaire is short and involves a quick response on the spot. In this case, the client becomes much easier to leave your opinion and percentage of posted reviews is improved. However, men have to sacrifice what you find out is much less information on much smaller aspects of the company.

2.2.2. Phone surveys

To answer the question orally is much easier than writing. Especially if it occurs in the context of the treatment by the client to the company.
For example, a customer called the tech support, helped him solve the problem, and in the end asked one or more questions.

Under this option, you can get even more opinions to make a more objective picture. But to really make, will have to try to convene a meeting, listen to all the operators to listen for when recording conversations, etc. Is extremely difficult.

In addition, there appear more serious expenses — remuneration of operators, software, and necessary equipment for the whole process.

Since it is too heavy and expensive way of receiving feedback (though quite effective), then the company went further and came up with something better.

2.2.3. E-polls

To answer the electronic survey is much easier than its written counterpart. But a mouse here and there and clicked “Ready”. Does not have something hard to write and where to look and who to write the results of their hard labor.
This is a big plus for the customer. And for the company too — because you can make a poll so that the results in the database themselves were structured and issued in the form of a ready table with the results.

However, even here there are problems.
— Few customers eager to sincerely help the company, giving about 15 minutes to your already busy life on the survey.
To make the whole system easy and enjoyable survey summary and statistics is a long and costly affair.

So there was another kind of feedback:

2.2.4. Paid surveys

There are special sites where you can create your own poll and pay anyone who will answer it. Moreover, the survey is not offered to all indiscriminately, but only to a group of people according to certain criteria.

Examples: anketka.ru, avtoopros.ru, etc.

Obviously, for some companies, this method will be preferred. It is not have to create a polling system already has it ready on the side of the mediator service surveys.
And people already have motivation to go through this survey, exchanging part of his life for some money.

But, unfortunately, this scheme is not going smoothly:

— Not quite the target audience of the survey. It's mostly people who just want to earn extra money and specifically your company to them, in General, do not care. Therefore, data services can be used to derive real benefits, creating a rather General social surveys than narrow and specific.

— Very expensive to pay everyone for the replies. The amount spent doesn't always justify itself. And well, if the results of this paid survey will tell you really a more correct way of development, and not Vice versa — would lead him.

But despite the emergence of new problems and failure to solve the old original, evolution is not stalled, and began a new phase 3.0! And that's what it is.

3.1. Online consultants

Not so long ago there was a special service that provides software for communication of site visitors with a real live consultant.

Examples: pr-me.ru, consultsystems.ru, talkdriver.ru, onlinesaler.ru, etc.

A good plus here is that the software knows how much to record and to structure both questions and answers, to collect so-called “database of questions”, where the client can find the answer already, etc.
In addition, this form of interaction with visitors kills two birds with one stone — allows you to collect and questions to answer. And this is very, very good!

Many problems there really are eliminated. Online consultants can chat with multiple customers, and very effective due to the different “chips”, most software. So do not have to pay as much as telephone operators, as well as for the telephone communication.
But nevertheless, to pay still have. And this amount is only already established medium and large companies, especially if the goal is to provide round the clock support and to become a leader among a huge number of competitors.

In addition to this, the lack of cost also obvious is the delay in the responses. An online consultant is not a robot, but a living person, so can't give an instant answer, especially if it moved, sorry, to pee.
Wait no one likes, but waiting is still very annoying, which is a disadvantage of this method. And the reviews here are not particularly strukturerade, because they are mixed with questions and to disassemble, to analyze, to structure all the same by themselves. Ie time is not saved.

Another issue some (but not all) of the decisions in this area — this is a clear imposition on the customer. She literally jumps out of the corner and rushes straight in your face, Intrusive blinking his animation. Very annoying.

However, the inventive spark of the man moved on and reached...

3.2. Consultants-robots

The idea of such a consultant is that compiled a database of answers and the robot gives the user a response from the database.
The advantage is instant response and huge savings on the salaries of the people alive.
But these advantages, unfortunately, fade and dissolve into one big drawback: a robot is a robot. Stupid soulless creature that can respond complete nonsense. And in the matter of communication with customers is a pretty miserable solution that can scare customers.
Of course, a lot depends on how carefully the basis of the answers, but nevertheless, live chat to simulate too difficult, and such “savings” can only harm — will lose customers.

3.3. Feedback forms

Lately you can notice on many sites somewhere on the side button “feedback” or “Express your opinion”, etc.
Clicking the button opens a form where you can report the problem, ask a question, suggest an idea or to Express my sincere gratitude for her work and the products of this labor.
Vendor solutions are several dozen companies and offer essentially the same, with small differences in price and functionality.



Examples: userecho.ru, reformal.ru, copiny.com

This decision saves the company money and customers time — after all, to take advantage of this form is easier than finding where and to whom to write an email or call. Yes, and it is a very fun humbly — full of freebies to a few tens of dollars, depending on the essential features, like integration with social networks and personalization of the form.
A distinctive feature is that you can maintain their voice in other people's problems and suggestions, thus prompting the company that you need to pay attention in the first place. I.e. partially solved the problem with the prioritization of user feedback.

However, while solving some problems, this service creates others. For example, it is very dangerous to keep in front of competitors valuable ideas of their customers (and even prioritized), their problems and comments. In fact, it exposes and makes predictable your future path. So, there is a risk that someone from competitors will overtake you, and you will find your weak spots.

Moreover, in order for the client to Express their opinion, you need to log in that many, of course, laziness. To dig in a huge database of answers, ideas, questions and requests. Perhaps it can only ardent fans of the company.

Yet, I as the owner of my company, I would like to divide the reviews on different aspects of the company, as this greatly facilitates the analysis. But these tools such do not know.

However, the evolutionary process continued further.

4. The slider is voting is

This method allows you to create a slider of any color, size and with any question.
You can create different sliders with different questions on every aspect of the company and hang them in different parts of the site. On the main page to ask about how interested in the service, and somewhere in the personal Cabinet of the client's request to evaluate the functionality.
In the end, the feedback will be collected separately according to different aspects of the company and stored privately under the password away from the competitors.

The customer will not have to login and open a lot of links. Just saw the slider and in just a few seconds has expressed his opinion. Easier than you can imagine.
For the opinion also sets out quantitative assessment and generated graphs of average opinion and its dynamics — is rising or falling. Thus it is very convenient to analyze all the reviews and looking at the chart to find the cause of the UPS and downs of the company.

Example: uppza.com

However, and this method is not without drawbacks:
— Sometimes gets inadequate feedback, since it does not require authorization. Although you can delete them so that they are not an eyesore and do not affect statistics.
— Opinion can not be answered, continuing the dialogue, as in the software with online operators so that the solution is suitable only for a narrow task — to collect, structure and analyze the feedback, and nothing more.

However, at this stage of evolution has made a significant step forward: the client can easily and quickly leave their opinion, and the company will no longer suffer from the difficulties of the analysis of feedback and prioritization, because the software does it himself. In addition, do not have to bear large costs to collect feedback, which is also very good evolutionary achievement.

If to sum up, in every way there are pluses and minuses. Nevertheless, these days each of the methods continues to be in demand. And perhaps the best solution is a smart and economical combination. And what kind of — depends on the specifics of the company. Knowing all the ways and their pros/cons, each Manager can choose for themselves the best option and strategy.

Article based on information from habrahabr.ru