Customer feedback is increasing in volume thanks to increased access to the internet. Different communication channels mean more complex analysis requirements and product teams might find it hard to make sense of everything when feedback comes from everywhere, all at once. Gathering all this information is essential to identify pain points and other insights, but who has the time to go through all of them, especially audio recordings? Thankfully, business transcription companies can help customer service departments turn the recordings into actionable items, allowing them to benefit from transcribing customer feedback.
In this article, you’ll learn how:
- The transcription process involves converting spoken feedback into searchable text. It makes it easier for companies to extract customer insights.
- Despite the existence of transcription technology and apps, professional transcription services provide higher accuracy for customer feedback that audio-to-text software often misses.
- Good audio quality and clear transcription guidelines are essential. They allow teams to create reliable documentation that can be used across departments.
What Is Customer Feedback Transcription?
Transcribing customer feedback involves converting recorded audio into written text. The process typically starts with gathering customer feedback in all its forms, including recorded interviews, focus group sessions, survey responses, and, of course, those passionate voicemails from customers and transcribing them into text documents the organization uses.
These transcripts, in turn, become pieces of analyzable data that marketers and decision-makers can use to gain insight into how their customers think. With the proper application and decision-making, these insights can be turned into sales and customer satisfaction—a win-win situation for everyone.
Benefits of Transcribing Customer Feedback
Customer feedback transcription brings many benefits. Some of the most significant ones are:
| Benefits | Description |
| Enhanced Data Analysis | Turns spoken feedback into text that can be searched to find common problems or patterns. |
| Improved Team Collaboration | When you share feedback in this way, different teams in your company can look at the same information and work together using it. |
| Better Documentation | You’ll have an exact copy of what customers said by recording feedback this way, which helps you avoid forgetting details. |
| Accessible Reference Material | You can find exactly what customers say by searching the text instead of listening through long recordings to find what you need. |
| Compliance Support | The records save every detail you need for legal rules and quality checks. You’ll stay compliant and maintain high standards. |
| Time Efficiency | Finding information takes just minutes when you scan through written feedback instead of spending hours listening to recorded conversations. |
| Pattern Recognition | Reading through customer feedback helps you spot the main issues and important topics that come up again and again. |
| Training Resource | These feedback records serve as real examples to train your team and help them better understand what customers actually need. |
| Decision Support | The recorded feedback gives you solid proof to back up product changes. |
Best Practices for Transcribing Customer Feedback
Transcribing customer feedback isn’t as easy as it seems. Yes, the entire process boils down to typing what you hear, yet it takes incredible skill and patience to do so for long periods.
For reference, here’s what professional transcription companies like us do to improve the overall transcription process and results for our customers:
Establish Consistent Formatting Guidelines
I’m willing to bet that any experienced transcriber understands the meaning of formatting guidelines. These guidelines help turn raw transcripts into professional documents that are easy on the eyes and even easier to navigate.
Creating transcription guidelines does the same in the context of transcribing customer feedback. Name and source of feedback? Right at the top, same as every document there is. Summary and actionable items? At the bottom, in a bulleted list. All this helps ensure anyone who reads even the hundredth transcript knows precisely where to find that specific information they need.
Many businesses, especially online-centric ones, incorporate these guidelines into their content management systems to make sense of all the feedback across thousands of interactions. If you’re facing the same issues, apply them too!
Create a Dedicated Transcription Environment
Elements in the audio content, like background noise, babies crying, dogs barking, and a Harley Davidson sitting idle across your office, make it difficult to focus on your work, even if it’s only at a low volume. Physical discomfort exacerbates the issue further—it’ll be hard to hit that 99% accuracy rate requirement if your back and neck voice complaints the whole time.
I’ve learned over the years that your transcription environment significantly influences the quality of your transcripts. Sound-treated spaces, professional-grade headphones, and ergonomic chairs may seem like a luxury, yet they’re all necessary to ensure the best possible results.
Double-check Sensitive Information
They say the devil is in the details, and that’s true when transcribing business information. With a business reputation at stake, numbers, dates, product specs, and technical terms demand meticulous attention. Even the smallest errors can lead to significant consequences.
That’s why you double-check everything.
However, double-checking sensitive details doesn’t mean simple proofreading. You’d need to have a systematic approach to verification. Developing a specialized reference list for a particular client, sector, or industry can be a good start.
Trust me, being meticulous and having a proper guide in transcribing customer feedback pays off when your transcripts are used as the basis for business decisions or legal documentation.
Methods of Transcription
There are many ways to transcribe customer feedback, one of which is using automatic AI-powered transcription software.
However, let’s disregard that right off the bat because these “solutions” can only reach up to 61.92% accuracy. It’s just going to cause you headaches with that kind of accuracy.
So instead of going the AI-route, here are some more reliable ways to transcribe customer feedback:
Transcribing it Yourself
Yes, you can transcribe customer feedback yourself, especially if you’re running a small business and only receive a handful of daily comments. If your enterprise is big enough to have a customer service department, maybe they can do it for you.
However, is that really the best use of your time?
Transcribing a one-hour recording manually can take a minimum of four hours. Note: that metric is for professionals. You, the business owner, or your customer service team may be a multi-skilled jack-of-all-trades, yet not everyone will have the skill, capacity, and patience to transcribe all your feedback audio and forms.
Hiring a Freelancer for the Job
Another option is to hire a freelancer to do the job. Freelancers are a popular choice these days because they’re cheap, flexible, and they’re everywhere.
Of course, you’ll need to pick someone who specializes in your particular business field or sector and has the requisite experience and dedication to handle the volume of forms and recordings you’ll be sending them.
However, finding a good freelancer is like finding a good mechanic. It’s not easy—and they’re as likely as not to wreak havoc on your car instead of fixing it.
Hiring a Professional Transcription Service
Hiring a professional transcription service to transcribe customer feedback is the best option. Sure, it’s a bit more expensive than using AI, yet that additional cost comes with perks and privileges you won’t get anywhere else.
Transcription companies offer specialized services, including transcribing customers, meetings, training, quarterly or annual financial reports, speeches, etc. Their services come with accuracy guarantees, after-sales service, security measures, and regulatory compliance.
Why Choose Ditto As Your Business Transcription Service?
You won’t need to provide a meticulous guide to transcribe customer feedback. We’ve been around the block for nearly 15 years, so you can count on us for business transcriptions.
Choosing Ditto comes with many benefits; here are some of what you can expect:
Accuracy
We guarantee 99% accuracy in every transcription project. All you have to do is focus on creating valuable recordings, and we’ll transcribe them flawlessly—the first time.
Human Transcriptions
Our team isn’t filled with robots—though, as I’ve said before, they’ve become pretty good at cleaning our floors. We have professional transcriptionists who understand accents, the subtlety of multiple speakers, or the technical jargon. They’ll convert audio or video files into texts that reflect your conversation’s natural flow.
Turnaround Time
We understand time is money, so ensure you deliver your transcripts within the agreed-upon timeframe. You can also choose the turnaround time. You can opt for a rush project or a standard one.
Security
Audio or video recordings aren’t created equal; we understand that some may contain sensitive information. For that reason, Ditto Transcripts is HIPAA, CJIS, and FINRA compliant. You can sleep well at night knowing that your content is secured with us.
Affordability
We acknowledge that official audio recordings can be highly valuable for organizations, and transcribing them can be costly. So, we offer high-quality transcription services that won’t break the bank. We have options to fit any budget without sacrificing a single bit of quality.
24/7 Customer Support
Humans run our customer service process—not chatbots. We take the time to understand your requirements and will gladly assist you with technicalities or answer any questions.
Customizability
Our transcription services aren’t just about accuracy and meeting the client’s requirements. Do you need a verbatim transcript that captures every “um” and “uh”? Do you have a specified template? Or do you need a polished version for a blog post? We can modify the transcript to satisfy your needs and ensure you get exactly what you need to reach your goals.
We’ll Transcribe Your Customer Feedback With 99% Accuracy and 100% Satisfaction—Guaranteed
Don’t settle for shoddy transcription service providers or automated solutions that make you want to ask for a refund, even if they’re free. Work with us and experience the best business transcription service in the industry.
Not convinced? Call us for any questions, or take advantage of our free trial to experience what it’s like working with the best.
Ditto Transcripts is a FINRA, HIPAA, and CJIS-compliant Denver, Colorado-based transcription services company that provides fast, accurate, and affordable transcripts for individuals and companies of all sizes. Call (720) 287-3710 today for a free quote, and ask about our free five-day trial.