By Jody Long
In a recent post to this blog (http://institute-of-event-management.com/ask-feedback-every-event), the importance of obtaining feedback from customers was discussed. It is a crucial tool for event planners especially, because it helps plan for future events.
It helps you know what to do next time, what you did right this time, and what
the attendees really think of your events. After reading "Ask For Feedback at
Every Event", and now that you know the right questions to ask, what
exactly do you do with all of that data? It's certainly no use if you
collected valuable information, and don't bother to analyze it, so
here's a few ideas.
1. Sort the data by who gave it to you. While feedback should be
mostly anonymous, try gathering data that allows you to sort by
certain types of customers. Perhaps you can do this based on how long
they've been a customer, if it was their first time attending the
event. Sorting this way may help you gain more insight to the feedback
they provided.
2. Don't get offended. You can easily be turned off by some comments
on feedback forms, but don't get discouraged. Remember that this
information is very useful to you in the long run.
3. Don't just pay attention to what went wrong. Be sure to include a
section that gathers positive feedback too, so you know what you're
doing right. You may be thinking of changing some aspect of the event,
but you may not realize that it's something your attendees appreciate.
Ask a question "what was the best part of the event?", or "what makes
you want to attend each year?"
4. Look for trends. If everyone says the event shouldn't be held on a
Monday, listen to them.
5. Use the data right away. Don't just take what you've learned about
this one event and save the changes for next year. Apply it
immediately to your next event, or event your own job. You may find
out something in the way you plan, and may want to change something.
Remember that feedback is a great tool, so be sure to use it wisely,
and as often as you can (knowing that not everyone will fill out the
feedback survey) It can immensely help your customer service
experience at your company, and make for a more positive impact at
your events. Last but not least, be sure to thank your attendees for
taking the time to give you feedback.