Recently I had the occasion to visit my local Best Buy. While I was there for one purpose I decided to have a look at some of the new tablets. A very helpful young man came and provided me with excellent information about the various features and benefits to the different offerings. I wasn’t interested in purchasing that day, so I thanked him and went on my way with my other purchases.
When I went to pay, I asked if I could provide a positive comment about one of the staff who had been so helpful.
The answer was that in order to provide feedback — either positive of negative — I needed to visit their website. When I explained that I wasn’t interested in filling out a survey — I simply wanted to pass on a compliment to a manager for a job well done by a staff member — I was told they were not set up to receive comments at the store level. Of course, I could have requested that I speak with a manager or a supervisor, but it wasn’t worth my trouble.
My Perspective: It would appear that Best Buy isn’t really interested in hearing feedback.
Sure, they have a form on a website where they can track comments, but how many people never take the time to go to a website. How many times have you gone to the website on a receipt to provide comments? Too many people see this as a barrier and an inconvenience.
However, you can be sure that many people who won’t make the time to provide feedback through a website are very quick to share their experience with friends — particularly if it is a negative experience. But the organization will never hear their comments — or have the opportunity to benefit from that feedback.
So if you really want feedback, make sure it is easy to provide for the customer — not just set up so it is easy to track by the company.
This system was set up thinking about the organization — not the customer.
Review your process for soliciting feedback and ask whether it is serving the customer — or just more convenient for you.
