When does your team find out about client feedback?
Constantly? Only when there is a negative issue? Or, four times a year: coinciding with results from quarterly customer satisfaction surveys?
And then what happens? Do you point fingers at each other and play the blame game? Let’s do something about these dynamics. Because you and your team are better than that.
Let’s explore three ways you and your team can become proactive by collecting client feedback to improve team communication. After all, when your team starts better serving each other, you better serve clients. And when you better serve clients, your clients are more successful and, hence, retained.
The first way client feedback catalyzes improved team communication is by continuously communicating with the customer!
I know. This is kind of a “duh!” statement. However, when everyone on your team is busy chasing their own KPIs, the customer gets shoved to the side by your self-preoccupation. However, consider what happens when your team makes their customers their first priority?
When your team takes the time to discover what the customer really has in mind when they sign that contract, you avoid a lot of rework on overpromised and underspecified contracts. Also, your team must collaborate with the folks responsible for winning those contracts (these are called business development and salespeople, BTW 😉). Yes. Start speaking to people outside of your professional discipline: the ones who make you feel uncomfortable!
The second way client feedback catalyzes team communication is by expanding who is on your team.
Have you ever walked a contract through your organization? I strongly suggest you do. You will discover all of the internal and external stakeholders who touch that contract and, as a result, touch the customer. When these stakeholders become part of your pre- and post-sale customer success and retention team, everyone’s insights change because priorities are expanded.
Not only that. Everyone gets a whole lot smarter. Plus, your expanded team starts to comprehend how their actions and outcomes impact other stakeholder experiences. Over time, everyone becomes more familiar with the functional roles they play in serving the customer. Then, your team improves on the employee experiences they create. All because you are expanding the quality of your team composition and communication.
Then, the third way client feedback catalyzes team communication is when your team communicates your collaborative insights to the client. Together.
Your expanded team is the expert on creating, innovating and implementing your functional deliverable. Don’t you think your customer would love to partner with you, along the way? Share the insightful team conversations you are having with the customer. As a result, the client will share their own struggles and insights. Before long, client feedback conversations lead to expansion of the existing project. Or, identification of new opportunities in the future.
In addition, when your team remains continuously connected to the customer, you are proactive and anticipatory about potential flaws in execution and delivery, changes to drawings and specifications and perceptions about your competitors’ products and services.
No more finding out about customer dissatisfaction after the fact. No more reacting and apologizing.
If your team is ready to get unstuck from the experiences, beliefs, actions and outcomes which lead to reactively serving customers, take the next steps.
- Planning your next corporate or association meeting? Engage me to present one of my Storytelling for STEM Professionals and Left Brain Thinkers speaking programs, workshops or moderated facilitation services. Contact me.
- Download my new checklist and worksheet: Six Professional Development Targets to Hit each Month.
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Babette Ten Haken’s One Millimeter Mindset® Storytelling Speaking Programs leverage storytelling for STEM professionals and left brain thinkers to catalyze employee and customer success and retention. She motivates individuals and teams to combine courage, curiosity and critical thinking skills to co-create compelling stories which inspire trust in one another. Especially in industries with STEM and left-brain stakeholders.
Find out more about Babette’s professional story here. Babette is a member of SME, ASQ, SHRM and the National Speakers Association. Her playbook of communication hacks, Do YOU Mean Business? is available on Amazon.com. Babette’s speaker profile is on the espeakers platform. Contact Babette here.
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