Customer Feedback: Why Are We Doing This and How?
“The boss wants our recommendations for collecting customer feedback,” said Beverly Crawford to her colleague, Don Edwins. Edwins had missed the meeting that morning of Applicom’s department directors. During the meeting, the company’s CEO explained that Applicom needed to know what its customers value most about its products. He asked each department director to bring recommendations concerning how to collect customer feedback to the next meeting. “I don’t get it,” said Edwins. “Why are we doing this? If customers buy our products—and plenty of them do—why do we need to ask them what they think? If they didn’t like our products, they wouldn’t buy them.” “We have a more immediate problem to worry about right now,” answered Crawford. “The CEO wants our recommendations concerning how to collect customer feedback. How are we going to do that?”
Discussion Questions
1. Insert yourself into this conversation. How would you explain the “why” aspects of collecting customer feedback to Edwins?
2. Now explain the “how” aspects of collecting customer feedback to Crawford.