A friend recently told me about a change the organisation he works for (a corporate) are going to implement at a cost of hundreds of thousands. They had received one piece of feedback from a customer who was displeased. Turns out only 9% of other customers agree with that complaint. It seems the organisation are more interested in rapid problem solving than logically making the correct decision.

Survey and respond to the right customers needs. Know you’re top 20% of customers as they are probably delivering 80% of your profits, give or take. These are the customers who are likely to become advocates of what you do and will constantly refer without any incentive.

Never randomly survey your whole customer base, its not efficient. Always gain feedback from all of your top 20% and then take a random sample from the rest. The top 20% are you’re most valuable customers, it would be crazy to miss even one out.