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Learn how traditional feedback surveys work and how new tech tools are revamping how you gather customer information.

The journey to elevating your business to the next level begins with improving customer service. When customers are satisfied, their retention improves, and so does the bottom line. Take for example, how online computer games that are meant to be played ongoingly continue to thrive on the satisfaction and feedback of their community and customers. The same holds true for any business. Positive reviews and testimonials help brand reputation, and loyal customers recommend you to their friends and family. Revenue generation is thus closely tied to whether or not your business can create long-term customer relationships. 

But how do you know how customers perceive  you? Customer feedback metrics are everything here, including scores generated by simple surveys, but also using advanced personalization tools the right way. Think of it like a high score in a video game or in a pinball machine.

This post walks you through how these metrics have evolved, key insights for business leaders, and future customer feedback metrics trends.

The current landscape of customer feedback metrics

There are two primary, most-used customer feedback metrics that many businesses focus on: the Net Promoter Score (NPS) and the customer satisfaction score (CSAT). Both of these metrics are measured by sending customers a survey, usually involving just one question – though some CSAT surveys are longer.

• NPS survey: How likely is it that you would recommend our business to a friend or colleague? 
  • Customers provide an answer on a scale from 0 (not at all likely) to 10 (extremely likely).
  • Promoters are customers that score your business 9 or 10. Passives are 7 to 8. And detractors are 0 to 6.
• CSAT survey: How would you rate your overall satisfaction with the product or service you received?
  • Customers respond on a scale of 1 to 5, where:
    • 1 = Very unsatisfied
    • 2 = Unsatisfied
    • 3 = Neutral
    • 4 = Satisfied
    • 5 = Very unsatisfied

These customer feedback metrics are effective in letting your business know how someone feels about a specific interaction or how they are perceiving your brand as a whole. 

However, there are some setbacks. Limitations to these traditional methods include:

• Not much depth in the insights provided: For example, a numeric score doesn’t tell you everything behind the negative interaction a customer had.
• The nature of the data is static: These scores don’t show nuances, contexts, and fluctuations involved in human sentiment.
• Not always connected to performance: Unless you’re asking about a specific interaction with these questions, you may not be able to effectively tie the score to employee performance.

These metrics do continue to serve an important purpose for businesses, but there are additional feedback strategies that you may want to start incorporating that have come onto the scene with new tech.

How customer feedback metrics have evolved

Today, many different tech tools have impacted how customer feedback is collected and measured. Factors like these have contributed to the evolution of NPS, the future of CSAT, and other tools:

• Integration of real-time data: Now, businesses can link customer sentiment to an experience instantly.
• Enhanced data analytics and reporting: Businesses have access to more data than ever before, meaning they can better understand the customer behaviors behind the data points.
• More focus on the customer journey: With advanced data tools, organizations can match specific touch points along the customer life cycle to feedback.

You can evolve how you use feedback metrics like the NPS based on these new tools. For example, you can send out a survey question the second a customer is done talking with a customer service agent or trying a new product. This real-time feedback is key to collecting information on new offerings and linking feedback to a specific employee or interaction.

Trends shaping the future of customer feedback metrics

The future of customer feedback is driven by trends related to data and tech. And that’s a good thing since there are plenty of options to stay in sync. Here are a few of those trends and their impacts:

Personalization

The influx of digital and data tools for businesses means that they can personalize experiences along the customer journey. As far as feedback, this means tailoring feedback mechanisms to your various customer segments and adapting metrics you track to your industry’s trends and needs.

Integration with employee recognition

Feedback does much more work for your business if you can tie it to specific employees and experiences. You can now link the feedback metrics you gather to recognizing and rewarding employees when they go above and beyond. You can also integrate gamification and engagement strategies linked to feedback.

Predictive analytics and staying proactive

With more robust data, you can start to anticipate what customers need and want at a given moment. Predictive analytics also help you stay proactive and implement plans for getting ahead of customer behaviors instead of simply reacting to them.

Multi-channel feedback opportunities

With all the customer engagement channels you have today, you have increased opportunities to collect feedback from those channels to create a more robust and accurate picture of customer sentiment. Combine your feedback from various sources on one platform and leverage an omnichannel feedback strategy.

How to implement and leverage advanced feedback metrics

As you’re integrating these more advanced approaches to customer feedback, what are some best practices you should follow? Consider these steps:

• Align your metrics with specific business goals
• Train your teams on new tools and techniques – continuously
• Pull actionable insights from data to drive business improvement
• Look at tactics your competitors are harnessing to gather and use feedback

Another best practice is to consider how new tech like AI and machine learning are improving feedback gathering and review processes. AI can significantly reduce time spent on certain feedback mechanisms, so you can make results work even harder for your business. 

How the Crewhu platform can transform your feedback practices

With Crewhu, you’re in good hands with a team of experts who understand all aspects of customer feedback, from the nitty-gritty details and metrics to the gamified fun that’s possible. Keeping up with the latest innovations in customer feedback will help you continue evolving to meet the needs of your customers. Continually reexamine your methods and use the feedback you receive to adapt your processes to improve satisfaction. A mix of traditional surveys with modern tools will give you a well-rounded perspective.

The Crewhu platform can make all the difference in your feedback processes. We link customer feedback and satisfaction with employee recognition, both of which help you grow and maintain a healthy bottom line for your business. 

Schedule a demo of the Crewhu employee recognition software now to learn how it can improve your business from the inside out and begin your journey of taking your business to the next level!