Responding to Feedback

Whether a family brings an issue to your attention verbally or through a survey, it is vital that the issue be addressed quickly, fairly, and thoroughly.  This might be difficult if the issue was raised through an anonymous survey, but it should be taken just as seriously as an issue brought up in person.  The person who provided the feedback will be watching to see if action is taken.

Once a survey closes, review the results to determine which areas are generating positive feelings from your customers and whether there are areas where there is room for improvement.  Be sure to take time to recognize and celebrate the positive feedback – you and your team deserve it!

After recognizing positive feedback, look for areas where scores are lower.  Take time to reflect on the feedback that was shared to see if there are patterns of a larger problem present or if it is an isolated situation.  Gather the individuals who are most closely involved with the situation and discuss current practices or policies. It’s important to confer with your team before promising to fix an issue.  Wait until you have more information before creating a plan to address the issue.

Walk through the customer experience from start to finish to attempt to identify and reduce unsatisfying elements of the situation. Gather the perspective of others who may be able to uncover solutions that are not obvious to you.

Sometimes a family will be unhappy with something that is mandated by licensing regulations or a program policy.  It is important to follow up with these families to explain the reason behind the policy or practice.  Unfortunately, you may not be able to fix these types of concerns other than to help the families understand why the situation exists.

Revisit what is working. Some elements of what makes customers happy could be generalized to different areas of the program.  For example, if families have shared that they are very happy with the level of communication about curriculum decisions, but unhappy with the way that policy changes are communicated, there may be a way to modify how you communicate about curriculum to keep families updated on policy changes.

Some cases may require a deeper dive into the issue with the respondent of the survey. Again, show appreciation for the feedback and ask the person if they would like to set up a time to talk about the issue. If they take you up on your offer, set up a meeting.  If they decline, thank them for bringing the issue to your attention and let them know that you are working on a plan to address the situation.

Share plans with families, when appropriate. You could use part of your newsletter to summarize the survey results and share general plans for addressing the findings. As families see that you are reading and responding to their feedback, they may be more likely to complete surveys in the future.  Be sure to thank everyone who responded to your survey. Share your appreciation for their feedback as you seek continuous quality improvement.

You may want to deploy another survey a few weeks after a new solution has been put in place.  This will allow you to gather feedback on the new approach.

Here is an article discussing ways to respond to customer feedback.

For the main article Measuring and Boosting Satisfaction, CLICK HERE

For the article Gathering Feedback, CLICK HERE

For the article Questions to Ask, CLICK HERE

For the article Director’s Corner: Measuring Teacher Satisfaction, CLICK HERE