Do | Don’t |
- Listen to understand first
- Prepare for the call
- Have a plan to make it right with the customer (see below for options)
- Apologize if deserved
- Explain why you're following up with them
- Set expectations (what will they get from the call)
- Use their time wisely
- Show appreciation
- Remember you're human too (take a few calming breaths before and after the call)!
- Follow-up with the customer
- Track your success | - Argue
- Go in blind
- Assume you understand everything before confirming with the customer
- Over-commiserate with the customer (e.g., "Yea, that product is terrible..."
- Speculate
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Key Messages
- We value every survey response because we are committed to improving your customer experience with <organization>. When we receive feedback that could help us identify ways to better serve our customers, we reach out to learn more. And that's why I'm reaching out to you now.
- Would you be willing to share more details about your recent experience with {product, person, etc.}?
- Feedback is the best gift we can receive from our customers. Even if we learn that we didn't meet our customers' expectations, we're glad to know about it so we can make it right.
- Customer feedback is a key component of how we design and create products and services that offer the best experience possible.
Tips on Making it Right
Know all your options to address the customer's concern before making the call, for example:
- If the customer complained about a product feature, check with the product team to see if they have a fix in the upcoming roadmap
- If they are confused about something, have helpful resources ready, user guides, support content, or offer the customer a demo
- Offer an apology when we make a mistake. See below for effective apologies.
- Do you need to refund a customer? Get it in motion, or have a refund ready when you talk to the customer
Email follow-up to the customer regarding low survey score
Hello {Customer Name},
My name is <name>, and I lead the <name> team at <Organization>. I'm writing to follow up with you on the feedback you recently shared with us on our customer survey. First, thank you for taking the time to fill out our survey. We know our customers are busy, which is why we appreciate any and all feedback you are willing to share with us. Would you please share more details with me on your experience with <organization>, as well as how we could better serve you?
I'm happy to chat over email or set up a call. Please let me know what works best for you.
Warmly,
<Name, Title>
Call follow-up to the customer regarding low survey score
Tips on Preparing for the Call
- Read the survey response thoroughly
- Do the necessary research, for example:
- Was the score in reference to a bad product or service experience?
- If they interacted with a colleague, speak with him/her for context
Tips on How to Structure the Call
- Introduce yourself and set expectations
- Call topic and content
- What will they get out of the call (what's in it for them?)
- Build empathy by listening to understand first
- Start with an open question - can you tell me about your experience with <organization>?
- What products are you using and why?
- Acknowledge his/her concern
- I see that you recently placed an order and mentioned you were not satisfied with the way our agent processed the order. Can you walk me through your experience?
- I'm sorry to hear that we didn't meet your – or our – expectations when .... Would you mind sharing a little more about that experience with me?
- Recently, you shared____. Please know....
- Share how <organization> plans to make this right
- For anything that can't be solved right then and there, make sure to follow up
- Don't be afraid to say you don't know (a promise to follow up with the answer is perfectly acceptable)
- Politely close the conversation
- Ask them if they have anything else to add
- Thank the customer for their time and feedback
- If a follow-up is needed, let them know when to expect it or send out a meeting invite immediately