Getting feedback for improving your business can seem impossible. You only hear about things when they go wrong, or the surveys you have linked at the bottom of receipts aren’t getting many people to fill them out. It can get even more frustrating when your business is part of a large or international chain. Consumers send feedback to headquarters and it takes longer to hear back — if you hear the feedback at all. At that point, your store reputation may be dinged at the corporate level.

All of this may have you wondering if there is a better way to collect feedback for a specific location that lets you make improvements in real-time — and there is. 

A customer complaint program is a new way to collect feedback that is specific to your store, versus feedback going to a general number or address for an entire large or international chain. It creates an experience that is more personal to customers and beneficial to business owners! 

DTiQ has a program called Text the Owner (TTO) available for businesses to use and create better communication among their customers.

Benefits of a Customer Complaint Program

Having a customer complaint program set up at your business has some major benefits — for you as a business owner, your customers, and your staff. 

Here are the top benefits you can expect rather quickly.  

Your Customers Know They’re Being Listened To

According to a study by Microsoft, almost 90% of customers want to provide feedback to brands. Why not give them the opportunity to do just that!

Giving customers the chance to share their feedback shows them that you want to hear what they say and make the experience better for them. Customers would likely be happier to support your business when it’s clear you’re making the effort to improve things for them.

Remember, the key to letting customers know that they’re being heard is to take action on the feedback they send you! That’s the final proof that you’re truly listening. 

You Receive Feedback in Real Time

Receiving feedback from headquarters weeks or months later is valuable (of course!), but it’s more valuable when it’s heard right away. Feedback in real-time allows you to make necessary changes as close to the time of the incident as possible, meaning the customer who shared the feedback will see improvements by their next business and the chance of having the same feedback diminishes.  

It also doesn’t get much more instant than being able to shoot off a text — you’ll know when somebody has something to say immediately! 

Feedback Stays at a Store Level

When your store is part of a regional or national chain, you may get dinged if you’re receiving negative feedback to the top of the chain regularly. TTO keeps the feedback at a store level. Your team can make the appropriate changes in a timely manner, ensuring the same mistakes aren’t repeated, all while maintaining a clean corporate reputation. 

You Make More Informed Business Decisions

Having such an open communication method for feedback opens an even more valuable avenue for information to make business decisions based on.

For example, you find that you’re regularly receiving texts that the cash line is super long. Maybe it’s time to hire some more front-of-house staff — and you have the data to back this business decision. 

Final Thoughts 

Consumers across all industries want to know their feedback, both good and bad, is heard. And having a program like DTiQ’s Text the Other (TTO) in place is a surefire way to ensure that they are being heard. Not only do customers feel heard, but you receive an extremely valuable feed in real time that can improve your business for guests. 

If you’re looking for more support on the technology side of implementing this type of feedback gathering, see how DTiQ can help. You can contact us or book a demo to see our technology in action — and the benefits it could bring to your business.