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Responding to Feedback

We strive to have effective ministry through websites.  I have noticed first hand lately that there is one component for effectiveness that many people neglect yet is it vitally important to have a good relationship with our audience.  If you want an effective website, then reply when people contact you!  I’ve experienced some interesting results from three different companies recently that I want to share.

What Not To Do
During the national mourning for President Reagan, all American flags were to be flown at half-staff.  About two weeks after his death, I drove by a local restaurant, Longhorn Steakhouse, and noticed their flag flying at full-staff.  When I got home, I decided to go to their website and send them some feedback.

In my email, I explained that I was upset to see that they were not honoring the former President.  Although I recognized that it could have been a simple mistake, I did ask for an explanation.  I even went as far to say I wouldn't dine there again until I heard back.  Really, that was my only request--to hear back from them.

As of the writing of this article, I still have yet to receive any response from Longhorn Steakhouse.  I don't expect to either.

I am very disappointed that this company asked for my feedback on their website yet has not taken the time to reply to me.  This taints the image of their company I have.  In this competitive market you don't want customers and potential customers with a bad image of your company.

A Little Better
I drove to Chick-fil-A during a terrible thunderstorm with marble sized hail, 50+mph wind gusts, and very close lightning strikes.  Needless to say, I stayed in my truck to let the storm pass.  While sitting there, a huge burst of wind came up shaking the trees and my truck.  I turned around to look at the flag and it was almost solid…no flapping at all!  Then suddenly the line to hoist the flag snapped spilling the American flag onto the rain-drenched parking lot asphalt.

Once the lightning and hail stopped, the manager and a co-worker went out into the rain to pick up the flag, fold it, and take it in.  Unfortunately the flag became tangled in the line.  They worked on untangling that mess in the rain for over ten minutes.  They were soaked but I was impressed.  I told that manager I appreciated their willingness to take care of the flag although it meant they needed to call home to get a change of clothes.

When I got home I went to Chick-fil-A's website to send them some positive feedback.  I let them know the story and how I was very impressed with that particular manager and store.  I was surprised that a company like Chick-fil-A that strives to have great customer relations took such a long time to reply.  They did reply to my email about two weeks later.

Even if you don’t know what to reply, you should still do it quickly.  During the two weeks that they did not reply, I started thinking they were just like the previous example…a company that didn't want or didn't have the ability to reply to their web feedback interactions.  Since they did eventually reply, I feel better about them.  However, that delay did show me that they are not quite equipped to handle their feedback thus leaving a bit of a stain on a formerly flawless record.

The Best
This situation is a bit geekier, but bear with me.  You'll see this applies to you also.  I started blogging (writing web logs) and I wanted to syndicate the headlines onto my personal website.  I found a company called Feedburner who would do such a thing for me quickly and easily.

I worked through their website and followed all the instructions carefully to obtain what I wanted.  The end result was a small graphic I could put on my webpage that scrolls the last five articles I’ve posted on my blog.  Everything worked great on my PC, however my wife could not see it working on her Mac.  I checked the company website again to see if it was an oversight on my part.  I couldn’t find anything suggesting it wouldn’t work on a Mac so I wrote them.

I was impressed.  The next day I received a PERSONAL email from someone there.  Granted, this is much smaller organization than other companies, but he still took the time to write me back personally and address my issue.  He asked clarifying questions and so I replied with answers.  Within an hour of my reply, I received another email from him.  This time he copied me on an email to a co-worker who could work on my problem.  Within a day, I received a new email from the person working on the problem giving me instructions on how to view it on the Mac.  He even went as far as to take a screenshot of my homepage on a Mac showing the graphic working.  I was impressed!

The people at Feedburner were great.  I will recommend their product to anyone; not just because they have a useful product, but because they have great customer service.  Their service is what allows them to shine above other companies in my mind.  The things I liked the most about our interaction was not just their timeliness, but that they went to extra efforts to understand my problem, gather more information, continue to include me in the progress of resolution, and give me a personal touch with the screenshot of my homepage.

Conclusion
If you want to maintain a good relationship with your audience, you need to make them feel appreciated.  It's not that I'm that upset about the mistake Longhorn made (the flag was back at half-mast the next day).  I'm not boycotting them or holding to my threat.  I worded my email the way I did because I wanted a response.

Less than 20% of customers actually take the time to contact a company about something negative or positive.  These people are very important people!  They took the time to contact you.  They are vocal about their desires.  They become evangelists for your organization (for good or bad) based on how you treat them!  Word-of-Mouth marketing is the most important and most effective style of marketing known.  Why would you want to jeopardize your relationship with them by not acknowledging their comments?

Even worse: why ask for feedback if you’re not going to treat it as important…or appear you don't treat your customers as important either?

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