Managing Business Reputation

Amid the hectic pace of keeping a business running smoothly, it’s very easy to sometimes overlook the customer experience. But without satisfied customers, a business cannot survive – at least not for very long or very successfully.

In this age of pervasive social media, one negative online posting can cripple a business. Unhappy customers have the entire Worldwide Web at their fingertips to air complaints regardless of their validity. There is a whole cottage industry now devoted to online “reputation management” to help businesses monitor social media mentions. But that’s after the fact.

The most effective way to manage your reputation is to be proactive and head off issues before they become an everlasting mark in cyberspace. And the easiest way to do that is by simply asking your customers how you’re doing and what you could be doing better. Encompass surveys our customers annually, and we pore over the feedback to implement changes in response to what our customers tell us they need. This year we are working on everything from improving part descriptions on the website to offering more appliance model exploded views.

If you aren’t currently surveying your own customers, you’re missing a critical opportunity to enhance your service. Use something as easy as a printed form or a little more advanced like an online survey – there are numerous low cost or even free web-based options. Keep it simple, short and focused on information that would provide the most helpful insight into your customers and their needs from you. Be sure to include plenty of opportunity for customers to provide commentary. Here are some helpful links to developing your own customer survey:

While regularly surveying customers is important, you should also offer other avenues for feedback so you can take more immediate action.  In more cases than not, customers just want to be heard. Beyond our annual survey, we have dedicated email addresses for customers to voice suggestions and concerns: suggestions@encompass.com, customerservice@encompass.com and customercare@encompass.com. We also maintain and monitor a company Facebook page, which provides an open forum for customers to ask for parts information, register a service complaint or post comments about their positive experiences with us – something we strive for every day.

Listen to your customers and be responsive to their needs – or someone else will.