When Companies and Retailers Do Not Hear Feedback
Filed Under (NLP life coaching) on 01-11-2022
How many times do you see companies and retailers encouraging you – the consumer – to give them feedback? And when you give it, how many times do you see them act on it? Is giving feedback worth your while when it won’t change anything? How do companies and retailers not hear feedback?
A consumer gives feedback…
Let’s take an example. A friend recommends a retailer to you which has a product that you want. The friend sends you a link to the retailer’s site. You click on the link and the first page appears. A message pops up that you’ll get 10% off the first order if you sign up [presumably for the newsletter]. You type your email address into the field and click send. The message on the next screen thanks you, but does not give you the discount code. You receive an email. The email welcomes and thanks you for signing up once again. But surprise surprise in today’s world full of imperfections, you don’t see the discount code in the email either.
How will that make you feel? Disappointed at best, angry at worst, cheated in either case. Why did the retailer not send the code? You need the product which this retailer has, so you order it. You’re shopping from the retailer for the first time, hence are getting to know the site and its features. Alas, you don’t have time to thoroughly browse the site and find all its features now. You only want to order the product and go on to the next task. So you will not see many features of the site on this occasion because you don’t have time to do so or aren’t interested in finding out whether the site has a chat, for example. Plus the process of ordering requires attention so that you place the order correctly. So you don’t want to distract yourself with other things on the site.
…and companies, retailers don’t hear the feedback
You order the product and write to the retailer that you didn’t get the discount code. You tell the retailer that when the code doesn’t appear when it should, it can look like a scam and definitely gives a bad impression – right at the beginning. Then you explain that you had ordered the product and would like the retailer to discount the promised 10% from the order if it is possible to do so.
The retailer doesn’t read the feedback properly and therefore takes it badly. Someone replies that:
So why does this retailer not hear the feedback?
Companies, retailers, don’t get negative and defensive, but hear and act on the point of feedback
Retail is detail. And the detail is in how we deal with things that don’t work as much as things that work. Pay attention to the point of feedback, especially if the feedback seems negative. If a client reports an error on the site, fix the error. Put time and energy into fixing the error instead of writing four paragraphs of irrelevant justifications. The client who feels disappointed at best, angry at worst, and cheated in either case doesn’t care about justifications which don’t address the point of his feedback. He cares about what you the retailer promised and didn’t deliver. The mindset of a consumer is selfish whether business owners and directors like it or not. Hence the consumer thinks only about what’s in it for him.
Besides, justifications will only dig you a deeper hole, because they maintain the opposite of what the client sees. If the majority of customers is happy with the products and service, well, this client is not. Hence it can appear as artificial waffle which this client nor anyone will ever prove to be true. It therefore adds an insult to injury. So companies, retailers, hear feedback, pay attention to what you promise, and deliver promises. Or don’t promise anything if you don’t want the hassle of delivering promises. That’s it. A simple principle, a simple solution. NLP coaching for retail helps companies and retailers hear feedback and deal with it so that they appear honest and credible. Because retail is detail and NLP deals exactly with the detail.