Honest feedback vital for top customer service Published March 4, 2009 By Brian Drake 81st Mission Support Group KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, BILOXI, MISS. -- In 1983, I purchased a new car. I was surprised to receive a customer feedback survey which asked me how satisfied I was with my new car and if there was one thing I would improve about the car, what it would be. I told them. A year or so later, I noted that the car maker had added that feature to the car. The car was a Toyota, one of the most successful car manufacturers in the world today. Customer feedback is critical to the success of any business. Nothing can replace customers telling you how they like to be treated, what you are doing right and what could be done better. It's a great way to constantly improve service. We need to know everything from how you perceive our attitudes of service to how you feel we keep you informed when we have problems. But we won't learn anything if we don't ask and nothing if you don't tell us. Customer feedback is an important part of our business at Keesler. When you're asked to fill out a customer survey, please do so to help us improve service. This is particularly important to our base operating support contractor, CSC, as it directly affects their operations. CSC now provides services in weather support, community services (fitness centers, library, community centers, marketing and publicity), space management, environmental management, engineering services, supply services (supply, fuels and munitions), human resources (civilian personnel management systems, awards, training, education services, military records, military personnel and systems management), emergency management, real property operations and maintenance, grounds maintenance, entomology, energy and utilities management. We want a relentless pursuit of quality. Sometimes we won't like what we hear. That's the reason some companies don't want to do surveys; they're afraid of what the customer is going to say. We should look at negative comments as "insights" that will help us provide better service.