American Express surveyed business owners and consumers and found 81 percent of business owners have made changes to the way they run their business following feedback from consumers, including changes to improve service (50 per cent), quality control (38 per cent), staff training (30 per cent) and speed up delivery (28 per cent).

However, the study uncovered a significant disconnect in terms of feedback provided and received, perception of any action taken and the effectiveness of different feedback tools.

While 63 per cent of Australians have used social media to provide feedback to a business, only 42 per cent of business owners claim to have received feedback in this way.

Sixty per cent of consumers do not believe businesses act on their feedback.

“Consumers feel their feedback is not being heard, yet businesses are working like crazy to stay abreast of online comments,” said Mr Geoff Begg Vice President of Global Merchant Services, Australia and New Zealand at American Express.

The research also found one-in-three customers use social media to provide feedback because they believe it increases the likelihood of receiving a response and being taken seriously by a business.

To help businesses improve service, American Express has partnered with a new online platform that allows customer feedback to be privately directed to business owners.

Known as Yabbit, the platform has been created as an alternative to public review sites and enables direct communication between customers and business owners.

Yabbit provides an opportunity for the customer’s voice to be heard and paves the way for discreet feedback to the service owner giving them an avenue to respond quickly and fix the issue.

Owned and operated by Cudo founder Billy Tucker with support from American Express, Yabbit connects consumers directly with business owners.

“Yabbit is all about helping business owners improve their service offering through discreet and direct customer feedback,” Mr Tucker said.

Mr Tucker said the new service would make businesses aware of the good and the bad without the potential for public criticism over the internet. “While review sites are valuable, what Yabbit does is empower customers and business owners to engage in meaningful communication with real effect,” Mr Tucker said.

Additional findings from the American Express / Yabbit survey include:

•Customers are more likely to provide feedback to a hotel (71 per cent) or a restaurant or café (68 per cent) than they are to a retail store (44 per cent) or tradesperson (35 per cent);

•Nine in 10 Australians are likely to give feedback to a business after a particularly good or bad experience; and

•Gen Y are more likely to be frank about their negative experiences (29 per cent) than Gen X (16 percent) or Baby Boomers (9 per cent).