Improve Customer Service through Increased Dialogue

Companies can improve customer service by encouraging their consumers to leave more feedback.

Psychologist Dr Guy Winch told MyCustomer.com that firms can learn more about their organisation from the customer's perspective by establishing a better dialogue with consumers.

Dr Winch said that relationships between businesses and customers are currently ineffective because there is a lack of effective input from consumers through informative feedback.

Despite the internet providing more platforms to leave feedback through company websites, social networking sites, review sites and forums, most customers are not talking to businesses, according to Dr Winch.

Customers that leave feedback on the internet are likely to be a small sample with extreme views that are either extremely positive or negative, which do not provide an overall picture of consumer satisfaction.

Dr Winch said that customers are only likely to interact with a business when they have a complaint and this is an ideal opportunity to gain valuable feedback relating to other processes within an organisation.

Customer complaints allow a business to engage and better understand the needs of their consumers and taking advantage of this communication will enable them to improve their relationship.

Dr Winch told the website: "Complaints represent a crisis in the relationship between customer and company, a test of the relationship.

"How companies manage a customer's complaint determines whether their bond with the customer will be deepened or severed as a result."

In order to make the most of customer communication, businesses must make it easy for their consumers to reach live representatives as this will create an immediate dialogue.

Direct communication will enhance the bond between a business and their customers, which is likely to increase consumer loyalty by as much as ten per cent, according to Dr Winch.

Content customers will share their positive experiences with their friends, colleagues and families by word-of-mouth and online through social networking websites, which will enhance a business' reputation.

Effective communication with customers will allow a business to see their organisation from the consumer's perspective which will enable them to improve performance and the levels of service they provide.

Analysing an organisation from the customer's point of view is the core tenet of systems thinking business theory which is applied by performance improvement consulting experts.

Applying systems thinking rather than conventional assessment can help your organisation work more effectively as you will be able to discover and resolve problems efficiently.


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Himsworth Consultancy is a leading Management Consultancy firm of senior business and peformance improvement consulting professionals that can improve customer service through systems thinking. Click the links to discover more.