When companies work on improving customer experience, they are typically focused on retaining customers and providing financial benefit for their shareholders. However, there’s another stakeholder group that benefits from customer experience improvement efforts – employees. A well-designed customer feedback program can provide just as many benefits to employees as it does to your customers and to your overall organization.
Everyone loves a pat on the back
The effects of positive reinforcement on employee behaviors are well documented. If you are regularly asking your customers for feedback, they will give you what you need to provide both positive recognition and reward to your employees. Managers and employees love the buzz associated with sharing open-ended feedback about great customer experiences, especially when employees are recognized by name. Comparing customer feedback scores across your teams and over time also can be motivating. Your employees will get pumped about the chance to be recognized or rewarded for having the top customer experience scores or for achieving the greatest improvement in customer experience scores.
It’s easier to do your job when you know what’s expected
A good customer feedback program can help clarify expectations for your employees. Just by tracking and sharing customer feedback results, you are providing employees with a clear sense of what you’re trying to accomplish as an organization. If you’ve done your homework, your customer feedback program will include metrics that communicate very clearly what employees are expected to do when interacting with customers. Metrics such as Addressing the Customer by Name and Courteous Service provide better direction to employees when compared to business metrics such as Average Handle Time and Average Transaction Volume.
It’s more fun to work for a winner
If you use your customer feedback program to drive continuous customer experience improvements, you will also drive improvements in the happiness and morale of your employees. It’s no fun to work for a company that doesn’t treat its customers well. Want proof? Try this experiment: Observe the mood of employees at the businesses where you receive the best and the worst service. Employees are almost always happier at businesses that provide great service compared to those that provide poor service. An effective customer feedback program will clearly identify the improvements needed to make your service stand out in a positive way.
Putting it all together
So what happens when you set clear, meaningful expectations for your employees, recognize them for a job well done, and position yourself as a company your employees are proud to work for? Your employees are more likely to give their best effort in each and every interaction they have with your customers. When your employees treat your customers well, your customers will be more satisfied and loyal, and your business will thrive. In other words, the benefits your employees gain from an effective customer feedback program are benefits that will pay off for all stakeholders in your organization.
