Reacting to Themes: Problem A & Problem B
What should you consider to really understand what a negative feedback means?
What are Themes?
Themes are the patterns we see emerge from the written feedback that your customers give you. Through the dashboard you can see how many people are talking about it and if it’s being mentioned positively or negatively. Whilst useful independently, it's important to go beneath the surface and consider which themes are indicators of underlying issues. Ask yourself what insights can be drawn about how your customers feel. This perspective allows you to address the root cause of what might manifest itself in a number of different ways.
Problem A & Problem B
Problem A refers to transactional problems, challenges that may present themselves in the day-to-day work and be spoken about in survey feedback, as this is where people tend to feel most comfortable and when these issues are at the forefront of people's mind. These Problem A's can be observed in individual feedback, comment analysis and theme analysis.
Problem B refers to relational problems, which are often the underlying cause of Problem A. These issues delve into the customer's overall perception of your relationship - how they ultimately feel about you. These are often overlooked by customers when providing feedback. Recognising and addressing these concerns is crucial for a holistic understanding of customer feedback.
How to diagnose and react
When faced with negative feedback (Problem A), which can be thought of as a symptom of the problem, the natural response is often to tackle it directly. For instance a customer saying "You don't tell me that my deliveries are going to be late" may prompt you to add customer notifications as a part of your service. This may solve the problem in the short term.
Before
After
Thinking more about the underlying relational issue (Problem B), it may be that your customer feels like you don't care about their business - in this instance, the impact that delays may be having on them, in another instance it may be the you are unresponsive to their specific needs, that communication lacks a personalised touch or one of many other issues.
Warning signs you might be missing Problem B
A comprehensive analysis of your feedback involves addressing both Problem A and Problem B. Many of your transactional issues may be unavoidable and part of running a business; delays caused by something out of your control or a payment system going offline. Assessing underlying issues demonstrates your proactiveness, softening the impact of those inevitable day-to-day issues and showing your commitment to building stronger and more positive customer relationships.
