LISTENING TO CUSTOMERS
And not just to the compliments!
by Service Dealer Editor, Steve Gibbs
 
Steve Gibbs

Yesterday saw the Garden Media Guild Awards take place in central London.

 

There was some industry interest with awards sponsored by Briggs & Stratton, STIHL GB, Cobra and Honda Power. Being honoured at the ceremony were journalists, publications, photographers, websites and broadcasts all championing the diverse world of gardening and horticulture.

 

An interesting element to the event was that the guest speaker was writer and broadcaster Gyles Brandreth (bear with me here!). It was interesting because hearing an outsider's opinion, or feedback, on a subject which you are close to, can offer you some real insight into how you are performing.

 

Gyles was very complimentary about the gardening media, saying that people who's job it is to spread joyful news about gardens and gardening, in a world which can be too often grim and depressing, are doing society a service. He said, "I'm honoured to salute the people who are in the business of celebrating the colour, growth, beauty and magic of gardens."

 

Hearing such positive feedback is great as it offers an affirmation that your efforts are not going unnoticed and you are doing something right. Everybody appreciates a compliment now and again!

 

However, just as vital is feedback which offers constructive criticism. It prevents us from just carrying on in a bubble of our own self-belief. How you can you provide a great service for your customers when you are not listening to what your customers are telling you they actually want from you?

 

Measuring customer satisfaction helps you determine whether the service or products you are providing meet or surpasses customer expectations. Any opportunity to gain feedback from your customers should be regarded as highly beneficial.

 

Experts in these matters will tell you that by collecting this customer feedback you will gain information which will be actionable for you to adapt and change your offerings to create an improved customer experience. Being able to do this should lead to better customer retention.

 

Also of vital importance when collecting customer feedback is that you will acquire actual tangible data which can be used to create better business decisions. The best decisions are of course made when you've got actual facts to hand, not just going off hunches. Customer feedback is the holy grail of tangible data. You can gather real insight into how your customers really feel.

 

Feedback will also identify advocates for your company - and there is no greater promotional tool than positive word of mouth. We heard stories like this from dealers at the Service Dealer Conference last week. Social media is connecting dealers to their customers and potential customers ever more closely. When you get great feedback from people who you've helped, that news can spread fast and wide nowadays.

 

Business advisors will say you can never gather too much feedback. It’s one of the most important components of any successful business.

 

You will see today that Service Dealer is asking for delegates who attended the Conference & Awards last week to let us know what you thought. The organising team want to hear your opinions, so we can further shape the day in forthcoming years to provide the best experience possible for dealer delegates.

 

The dealer who won the prize draw from our recent reader survey is announced today as well. The next issue of Service Dealer magazine will report on these results, but I will say as a result of what we heard, you should notice a few tweaks and new features in the magazine in 2018 - in what will be the publication's 30th Anniversary year.

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In this issue
EDITOR'S BLOG
LISTENING TO CUSTOMERS
NEWS
DEERE BEAT Q4 ESTIMATES
SERVICE DEALER CONFERENCE EVALUATON
WALKER MOWERS EXPAND TEAM
ETESIA APPOINT SHARROCKS
FIRST BAGMA MINI-CONFERENCE A SUCCESS
WINNER OF SERVICE DEALER FEEDBACK DRAW
NEW HOLLAND WINS FIVE AE50 AWARDS
'TRACTOR OF THE YEAR' TITLE FOR MCCORMICK
NEW GATOR TO MAKE DEBUT
AND FINALLY . . .
JOBS
PSD GROUNDSCARE
GHS LIMITED
Sponsored Product Announcements
#GETGRIZZLY
Events
LATEST SHOWS & EXHIBITIONS
PARTNERS
STIHL GB
Bagma
Evopos
GardenCare
Garden Trader
Grizzly Tools
Handy Distribution
Henton & Chattell
Husqvarna
Oregon
Robomow
Rochford Garden Machinery
uni-power
TurfPro
CURRENT ISSUE
November / December 2017
PRODUCED BY THE AD PLAIN