At Puget Systems, we have both formal and informal avenues by which we collect feedback from our customers. In terms of informal feedback, customers speak to sales and support staff on a daily basis and often share their experiences about our people and products. Feedback like this might be shared with the team or escalated to a manager if there’s an issue to which we need to react.
A Lesson I Learned at Microsoft
Before I came to Puget Systems I worked for a number of small companies and one large one: Microsoft.
Improvement Through Feedback
For nearly three years now I’ve been calling our customers after they purchase a computer. I don’t work off a script and no two calls are the same.
I might call to check in to make sure your new computer arrived safely. I might call to see if you’re happy with your purchase after you’ve had a few weeks to run the new system through its paces. And I’ll be honest, sometimes I call customers to shoot the breeze. A few weeks ago, I called a man who was on his way up the mountain to plant his skis into fresh powder. I told him I lived in Utah, and we spent the next 10 minutes talking about our favorite ski resorts.
We appreciate your feedback.
We focus on feedback because we are in a relationship with every single on of our customers. Like any good relationship, it requires both talking and listening. Can you think of a healthy relationship where one person does all the talking? Too many times companies invest huge amounts of resources on messaging — manipulating, adding nuance or changes — when it could come more naturally when you introduce listening into the organization.
Speaking G(r)eek
I’ve seen it happen a hundred times. I’ll be having a great conversation with a customer about computer needs, what the computer is currently used for, and what it might be used for in the future – but as soon as I ask something like “What type of wireless network compatibility do you need this laptop to support?”, everything screeches to a halt. I might as well be speaking Greek.
Listening Beyond the Words
Are your customers telling you you’re doing fine? Can you trust that feedback?