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5 ways to get customer feedback

Try Advice Squad member Jim Korner’s ideas to solicit helpful input to share with staff or give you the information you need to fix a problem.

Jim Korner, Assistant Vice President, Professional and Community...

March 15, 2016

1 Min Read
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1. Surveys

For long-range planning, a detailed survey that focuses on all aspects of your service is very helpful. Comprehensive surveys require time, thought, energy, dollars and expertise—and they’re time-consuming for everyone, so use them sparingly. Short surveys that focus on one particular area are beneficial and easy to do with online tools. Ask no more than five questions. 

2. Feedback boxes

Place a feedback box on your website to get open-ended responses. Facebook and other social media is a great option for requesting and collecting such comments as well.

3. Blogs

Creating a blog is a great way to get dialogue going between you and your customers. Pose a question and see where it goes.

4. Face-to-face interaction

Talk to your customers. You can probe to learn more, and you also have made a friend.

5. Observe and listen

Observe a patient when he or she receives a tray. Watch and listen as your customers approach and leave the service area to pick up cues. 

About the Author

Jim Korner

Assistant Vice President, Professional and Community...

Jim Korner’s professional experience includes 30 years of college and university administration in auxiliary services. He provides leadership to the noncredit portfolio for Penn State University’s Outreach and Online Education and also serves as an adjunct instructor for the School of Hospitality Management at Penn State. He is a graduate of Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, and has a MBA from Webster University in St. Louis, Mo., Korner began his food service career at Ohio University, and later became the director of campus dining services at the University of Missouri-Columbia and executive director of university services at Seattle Pacific University. He served national president of the National Association of College and University Food Service (NACUFS) in 2000. 

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