How to Improve Your Feedback Process in Three Easy Steps

Imagine how streamlined our processes would be if we only received positive feedback! 

Unfortunately, in the real world, feedback is more often given when something isn’t working right than when it is. The important thing is not to take it personally. Ignoring feedback won’t make it go away.

People frustrated with company communication often resort to other methods of feeling heard, like leaving negative online reviews. Consider accepting it with gratitude rather than looking at less-than-glowing feedback as customers’ griping. Because feedback — especially the uncomfortable kind — is a gift that offers many benefits.

The Benefits of Feedback

These are just a few benefits of a successful feedback process:

• Accountability: By receiving feedback, individuals understand the impact of their actions.
• Goal setting: Feedback helps companies set realistic goals and track their progress toward achieving them.
• Performance: Regular feedback leads to opportunities to increase efficiency, productivity, and overall job performance.
• Promotes learning: You don’t know what you don’t know. Feedback provides an opportunity to learn from mistakes, improve performance, and enhance skills.
• Trust: Taking feedback seriously builds trust, which is crucial in developing loyal employees and customers. 

So, how do you set yourself up for a successful feedback loop? In today’s video, ProcessDriven CEO Layla Pomper shares the three steps every feedback process needs.

Building a 3-Step Feedback Process

Every feedback process needs at least three things:

• A collection point 
• Awareness
• An action plan

The following steps are a foundation to build on as your business grows. As they stand, consider this format the perfect baseline for a small business or team.

Step 1: Create an intake or collection structure (timestamp 02:35)

This could be anything from a physical box in a brick-and-mortar store to having a dedicated email inbox or online feedback form.

A form or customer survey allows for more structured data gathering than email, allowing you to control the conversation and collect the information you want and need most. 

You may want to start internally if you’re initiating a new feedback system. Gather feedback from your teams first and work out any kinks before rolling out the process externally to customers. Once you have a tried and tested approach, customers will appreciate the ability to leave direct feedback. 

Step 2: Raise awareness (timestamp 05:10)

If you want people to leave feedback, you must ensure they can find your feedback method and make it as convenient as possible. You don’t want customers, especially unhappy ones, hunting all over for your contact information. 

Integrate internal and external feedback into every part of your business, website, email, meetings, and online workspaces. The more customer-facing, the more accessible, attractive, and professional your capturing process should be. 

Remember, feedback is a gift! Offer as many channels as feasible to receive it. 

Step 3: Process it (timestamp 08:35)

Feedback for feedback’s sake isn’t worth much. It’s acting on the feedback that will help your company thrive. There should be a regular rhythm when feedback is reviewed and action is taken.

For every piece of feedback, ask yourself:

1. Is there anything I can do?
2. Anything I should do?
3. Anything I can change?

The goal is to “close out” every feedback submission and not just let them linger forever in an inbox or database. 

Pro tip: Categorizing each feedback entry or theme may help identify trends and problem areas.

Some suggestions will require immediate action, while others can be filed away to help inform future business decisions. The person reviewing the feedback should be adept at reading between the lines and finding patterns. Ideally, they would prioritize each submission, determine how to address it best, and, where appropriate, communicate with stakeholders that the problem has been resolved.

One way we encourage feedback at ProcessDriven is by adding a feedback form link to all our electronic communication.

See the form and how this part of our feedback process works (timestamp 11:25).

This link is included companywide in every team member’s email signature. Customers can easily rate their communication experience and are invited to leave open-ended feedback.

Because we use work management software, the responses go directly into our ClickUp Forms. Once recorded in ClickUp, each entry is assigned to a team member as a task. This also makes it easy to track and monitor the results of any changes we implement.

Even if you’re working with a small team, we suggest something more robust than an inbox or spreadsheet for your feedback process. ClickUp is just one of many different tools you can use.

Curious? Sign up for the free plan using our affiliate link and try it yourself!

If you enjoyed this video and want to learn more about business processes, workflow, efficiency, and productivity, visit our YouTube channel and subscribe. Join the conversation in the comments, and let us know about your feedback process!

Until next time, enjoy the process!