Three cheers for Esteban Kolsky’s blog and, in particular, for his excellent piece of a couple of weeks ago called Three Secrets of Effective Listening. Definitely add this gem to your reading list if it’s not already on it.

Kolsky has his finger on the pulse of CEM, and in his recent post he highlights a failing in the evolution companies are making toward improved listening. In doing so he identifies a huge untapped opportunity.  Simply put, improving our customer experience requires us not only to listen but to respond. And, as a rule, the vast majority of companies aren’t doing so.

We’ve observed this for years with our own clients. They have a constant stream of feedback but often don’t allow the signals their customers send to change behaviors in ways which positively shape their customer experience.

Our answer to this has historically been twofold: First, we try to build software which minimizes barriers to front-line managers listening to customers, responding directly to them and – in turn – sharing these interactions with colleagues.

Second, we try to encourage companies who use Customerville to use the features. This isn’t always easy. Even in the best of businesses, front-line managers and their executive count parts are busy. The fact is, observing a stream of tactical information and making a strategic course changes based on that feedback is hard.

The big bombshell in Kolsky’s post is this: Only a tiny minority – around 10% — of companies actually respond to customer feedback. Think about the implications of that, both in terms of how our performance is squelched at present and, more importantly, in terms of the untapped potential. (Read the post, and the comments.)

Over the summer we’ll be talking with friends and colleagues about how we can all improve this vital last step. It promises to be a productive discussion.