Posted June 23rd, 2015

If you’re reading this, then you are probably looking into launching your own employee suggestion program. At Corpell Anonymous Box, we’ve helped many organizations create successful suggestion programs, and have received our fair share of suggestions along the way. Based on our experience, we’ve developed these 5 tips to get you started.

1. Find a tool that works for you.

Of course we’d love for you to use Corpell Anonymous Box, but we understand that every organization has different needs (although we do offer customized solutions too). There are literally hundreds of solutions out there. Take the time to research and price all of your options. Make sure the one you pick offers up-front pricing and a free trial to test it out (all of our full-featured boxes are free for 90-days).

2. Get employee buy-in

Employee suggestion programs only work if your employees feel comfortable using them. Hold a meeting to discuss why you’re launching the suggestion program and offer sample ideas. If your reason is to save the organization money, tell them how that will benefit them (raises? better benefits?). If you’re using Corpell Anonymous Box, make sure they know that their responses are completely anonymous, and that they can anonymously chat with you about the suggestion.

3. Respond Immediately

It’s best to respond to – or at least acknowledge – a suggestion while it’s fresh in your employee’s mind. If you’re using Corpell Anonymous Box, you can anonymously chat with your employee if they provide their email address (which is encrypted and hidden).

If the primary person in charge of the suggestion box is out of the office, make sure you select an alternate so responses do not pile up unacknowledged.

4. Present ideas in a public forum

Regardless of whether or not you agree with the suggestion, get others to weigh in on it. Bring a list of your top suggestions to your group’s weekly or monthly meeting and let them decide. It may spark another idea that was much better than the first.

5. Take action

There’s no better way to prove to employees that their suggestions matter than to actually take immediate and meaningful action. That’s not to say you have to implement every suggestion – but if enough people think it’s worthwhile, at least put your organization on a path to achieving it.

Is there anything you would add to this list? Comment below or hit us up on Facebook.

Posted June 19th, 2015

Collecting customer feedback does not have to be a difficult or costly endeavor. You don’t need to read flashy white papers, sit in on a sales call, and then agree to a long-term contract just to collect suggestions. Corpell Anonymous Box makes it easy to create a feature-rich online suggestion box in seconds, which includes both a unique web page to collect your responses and html code to collect them directly from your website. On top of that, it’s cheap. Free for 90 days, and then just $20 for an entire year if you decide to renew. And best of all, you can anonymously chat with your respondents.

Here are a few tips on how to get the most out of your Corpell Anonymous Box

• Make it enticing. When creating a name for your suggestion box, be as clear as possible, but also make sure it stands out. Calling it “Company ABC’s Suggestion Box” is fine, but calling it “Company ABC is passionate about our product. Tell us how we can make it even better. Your suggestions really matter” will probably get you better, more detailed responses.
• Encourage a conversation. When explaining your suggestion box initiative, encourage people to leave an email address (which we do not share with you), so you can anonymously reply back to them. Corpell Anonymous Box’s most empowering feature is the ability to anonymously chat with your respondents. It can be an invaluable tool help clear up vague responses or immediately solve a problem.
• Create multiple boxes for each business unit/team. Since all boxes are free for 90 days, there’s no need to cram all your responses into one box. Try setting up one for your customers, one for employees, and so on. If the box isn’t working for you, simply let it expire.
• Link it. Placing your suggestion box link on your “contact us” page is a good start, but you need to put it front of everyone to get the response volume you need to make it worthwhile and relevant. A few examples include your website header/footer, email signature, or employee intranet. We also provide html code that allows visitors to your website to respond within your pages.

Do you have any suggestions for us? Is there a feature you’d really like? Here’s our official Corpell Anonymous Box for improvements/suggestions.

Posted April 1st, 2015

We like to call Corpell Anonymous Box “one of the most versatile online tools” because it’s so much more than an online suggestion box. The problem is, we’ve been calling it a “suggestion box” because it’s difficult to find a more appropriate way to describe it. That’s where we can use your help. In the comments below — or on Facebook — tell us how you would describe in Corpell Anonymous Box in 5 words or less.

Here’s a partial list of what Corpell Anonymous Box can be used for:

• Employee feedback
• Internal/external company feedback & suggestions
• School/daycare feedback
• Professor/teacher feedback
• Restaurant/local business suggestions
• Anonymous social media feedback (e.g. “Do I share too much personal information”)
• News/media tips
• Law enforcement/community watch crime tips
• Website feedback (for bugs, feature requests, or general suggestions)
• Personal feedback
• E-mail feedback (goes to either the person or manager)

This, of course, is an evolving list and will get bigger over time.

Posted March 27th, 2015

Chances are, you’ve received an e-mail from someone with a little blurb at the bottom saying something to the effect of “How am I doing? E-mail my manager at my-manager@company.com”. By giving your recipient the ability to e-mail your manager, you’re boldly stating that you have full confidence in your integrity, and are willing to put your reputation – and possibly your job – on the line.

It can also be very useful to solicit feedback for your own use. For example, you could ask something like “Do you have any tips for how I could have better helped you?”

Corpell Anonymous box makes it easy to do both. And most importantly, it lets your recipients do it anonymously so the feedback may be more candid. Managers can create one box for each of their employees and have them place their answer page link in their e-mail signature line. Or, employees can each create their own box and do the same. Create as many boxes are you want at corpell.com.

Any other ideas for how to use Corpell Anonymous Box with e-mail? Post a comment below!