A similar question arises when companies take actions in response to customer feedback. Your customers may never be aware of your improvements unless you explicitly notify them. A modest investment in time and dollars pays off in greater customer satisfaction and retention. So make sure your customers know exactly what you are doing for them -- and how it benefits them.

An effective communication checklist includes your message, the intended recipients, how it is sent, and when in the survey cycle it is sent.

Pre-Survey

Prior to launching a survey, it is important to convey information about the survey to customers, employees and other stakeholders who will be impacted by the survey or resulting actions. You message should explain

• Objectives of the survey
• Importance of the survey
• What the survey will cover
• How the survey will be delivered/conducted
• Timing of the survey (date of launch and subsequent waves)
• How the data will be used and when you’ll act on it
• How the recipients will be informed about the results and subsequent improvements/changes.

Customer Communications
Let me add a word of caution regarding stating the importance of your customer feedback program. This is effective with the first deployment; customers will take you at your word. However, if results are ignored and the customer experience doesn’t improve, there will be two consequences. First, your customers will lose faith in your commitment to customer satisfaction. That, in turn, will drive down their satisfaction levels and potentially lead to defections. Second, you can expect response rates to decline, reflecting the decline in their motivation to participate.

Customer communication typically involves a letter sent by the CEO or other high-level executive shortly before the launch of the survey invitations. Other communication channels can also be used, of course. Utilizing multiple modes of communication improves the chances that customers are aware of the survey(s) and are prepared to respond. Notification by the account executive also helps get the message out.

Employee Communications
Be sure to keep your employees in the know. They should be notified by the CEO or their division/ business unit/ group management during the earlier stages of the program. Management should emphasize that:

• They will pay attention to the results and act on them.
• Delivering quality is a key corporate imperative.
• They welcome suggestions on improving customer service.

The importance of the program and of the employees’ roles should be emphasized. However, remember that employees get it. If they are not provided the tools, resources and training to provide a quality experience for the customer, your words will ring hollow. The goal should be to build a corporate culture that supports and thrives on customer satisfaction.

Post-Survey

Communicating the survey results, and your plans based on those results, to both customers and employees is an important part of the continuous improvement loop. It confirms to customers that their input is valued, increasing their satisfaction and making them more likely to continue to participate.

Customer Communications
Top-level and key segment summary data should be disseminated back to customers. The timing and scope of your planned actions should also be communicated at that time. When those actions have actually been implemented, tell customers precisely what the changes were and what benefits they can expect. When in-depth conversations are held with individual respondents who had low scores, collect and distribute that information as well.

There are different approaches to getting the post-survey word out. You can send a general letter to all survey respondents, acknowledging their feedback and addressing the main themes the survey revealed. You might also include selected findings in newsletters, on your website, in company literature, at company meetings and at annual meetings. One highly recommended approach is to hold quarterly meetings with strategic customers and review general survey results, as well as their specific responses. Bring them into the customer feedback process. Discuss what it would take to move their scores up.

Employee Communications
To keep employees in the loop, post selected results to your corporate intranet and/or include them in newsletters and other typical communication vehicles. You can prepare ad hoc detailed reports examining particular problem areas, e.g., the invoicing process or first-visit problem resolution.

Customer feedback should be disseminated at corporate and departmental levels. Communication reiterates the new corporate culture, reinforcing management’s commitment to listening to the Voice of the Customer. The CustomerSat Enterprise™ system incorporates Alerts and Case Management processes, which ensure employee involvement. Coaching should be set up for individuals, based on their scores. This should be done as soon as possible, especially if results will be tied to their performance review and compensation. This gives the employee an opportunity to improve in time. Similarly, acknowledge privately and publicly those employees who excel.

Management at every level has a special role to play. Data relevant to their roles should be easily accessible, so they can go in and analyze their data per their requirements. Reports, including selected charts and tables, can also be pushed to managers via e-mail on a regular basis (weekly, monthly, quarterly).

Alerts are typically sent to managers, who then take appropriate follow-up action with disgruntled customers. Managers also monitor progress on cases that have been automatically opened. A URL within each alert brings up that individual’s entire survey response, thereby putting in context the specific score that triggered the alert. Groups that hold monthly project reviews (Installation Services, Project Management) should incorporate the findings into their discussions. Call centers often post results for all to see, so progress is tracked daily.

Some CustomerSat clients take a very proactive stance in communicating results to the functional (and cross-functional) teams. Reports are sent to everybody in the company, while custom reports are developed for each department. These reports include both scores and comments, which have been categorized, leading to fruitful discussions with the team (ideally in person) covering root causes and recommendations for actions. Without insightful analysis, appropriate action plans cannot be formulated.

As the ultimate sign that customer feedback is taken seriously, goals for improving customer satisfaction are incorporated into employees’ performance reviews and tied to their compensation. This sends out a very strong message to employees; it is walking the walk. Please note: Before launching this initiative, it is extremely important that your survey methodology is defensible. It must include a well-designed questionnaire, sampling process, and appropriate data collection channels for each customer subset. It makes sense to run the customer feedback program for a while to ensure that it is running smoothly and the results “make sense.”

Summary

A strong communications plan is an integral part of an integrated customer feedback program. Communication with both customers and employees needs to be ongoing, to demonstrate that the Voice of the Customer is central to driving improvements that are important to them.

Employees need to be involved every step of the way, so that they understand both management’s commitment to customer satisfaction and how each of them plays a key role. Every time an employee has a direct interaction with a customer, or supports another employee who has a direct interaction, every time they are actively involved in the solution through Alerts and Case Management, they have an impact on the quality of the customer experience. When it’s a positive experience, the expected outcomes include higher retention rates and a thriving, expanding business.