From time to time, you might notice a drop in the number of stories you receive about your organisation. While this can feel a bit discouraging, it’s important to remember that the true value lies in the quality of the feedback and how it's used - not just the quantity!
There are lots of reasons why feedback might slow down, and most of them are completely normal. It could be the time of year, like during holidays, or simply that services are really busy and asking for feedback isn’t top of the list. If you’re working with a smaller group of people, it can also just be harder to hear from them regularly.
Another example is after the initial Care Opinion launch. Launching CO in your organisation takes a lot of effort, and it’s completely natural for the initial momentum to dip over time. When that happens, you might notice a drop in the number of stories being shared, even if engagement started strong.
To help you navigate this phase, whatever the reason, we’ve pulled together some practical tips and ideas to help reignite interest and encourage more valuable feedback.
Review your current practice
How are staff currently encouraging feedback? Are they actively asking, or relying solely on passive methods?
Promotional materials are helpful for raising awareness about Care Opinion and providing the necessary information for people to leave feedback - but on their own, they're rarely enough to inspire action. The real impact happens when staff take the initiative to ask for feedback directly.
Think about the key moments you interact with patients, service users, families, or carers. These touch points are valuable opportunities to invite feedback. Don’t assume this will come naturally to everyone - some staff may benefit from additional training or clear, practical guidance on how and when to ask.
By taking a moment to ask, staff help people feel heard - and that simple step can lead to real improvements in care & support. Talk to staff and services to help them find feedback methods that feel more natural and work better for them.
Leadership support
Ongoing support and encouragement from your organisation’s leadership team is key. Their continued involvement helps keep Care Opinion visible across the organisation and reinforces its importance to staff at all levels.
Is there a space in your regular leadership meetings or catch-ups where Care Opinion could be added to the agenda? It might be a great way to keep the conversation going and keep it front of mind.
It could also be really powerful if someone from the leadership team wrote a short blog encouraging staff to stay engaged - or even better, gave a shout-out to individuals or services when a great story comes in, or when feedback leads to a change in practice. A little recognition can go a long way!
Review the materials you use
Perhaps you feel that your service would benefit from a more personalised “ask”. If so, why not create your own bespoke materials?
You can access our full logo suite, along with a range of downloadable templates that you can personalise and print: Care Opinion materials. We also provide a brand colour palette to help keep your materials on-brand: Care Opinion colour palettes.
Some services have even taken it a step further by designing their own greeting cards to help promote Care Opinion in a unique and personal way: Read the blog here
Before printing any personalised materials, we kindly ask that you share them with us first. This allows us to check logo placement and ensure everything aligns with our brand guidelines.
Staff training
At Care Opinion, we run regular free webinars for staff that cover the basics of using the platform well. They're a great way to build confidence and get more out of Care Opinion: Training and support webinars | Care Opinion
Some organisations also choose to create their own training to help keep Care Opinion front of mind for staff. A few ideas we've seen work well include:
- Offering responder training for anyone who wants to start replying to stories
- Including Care Opinion as part of induction for new team members
These small steps can really help build a culture of listening and learning across the organisation.
Improve your response quality
Research shows that people really value timely, personalised responses to their feedback. In fact, many authors have told us they appreciate hearing directly from services and like having their comments addressed online.
It’s worth taking a moment to review the responses from your organisation - could they be even more engaging or personal? Is there an opportunity for more frontline staff to get involved in replying to stories?
Even small changes can make a big difference to how people feel heard and valued.
Show that you are a listening organisation
People who take the time to share their experiences through Care Opinion want to know they’ve been heard. More than that, they want to feel confident that their feedback is being used to make real improvements.
Yes, the reporting tools are great for tracking trends - but there’s so much more to Care Opinion than just data. It’s about people, stories, and learning. Think about how you can show authors that their voices are making a difference.
Simple actions go a long way:
- Use the ‘change made’ feature in your replies to highlight what’s been done in response to feedback.
- Share powerful stories through your usual communication channels - like newsletters, blogs, noticeboards, social media, or staff meetings.
- Setting up a regular way to spotlight feedback - if you don’t already have one, consider creating a feedback focus day, week, or month. Some teams use “Feedback Friday” to share stories and celebrate what’s been learned.
- Display the Care Opinion story widget on your website. It’s a great way to show transparency and your commitment to hearing from service users.
Showing that you're listening helps build trust and encourages others to speak up too. Every story is an opportunity to improve care and strengthen connections between staff and service users.
We hope these ideas help you feel confident in keeping feedback flowing and meaningful, even during quieter periods. Remember, every story shared is an opportunity to learn, grow, and improve care & support. By staying proactive and showing that you’re listening, you’ll continue to build trust and strengthen relationships with the people you support.
As always, your Care Opinion support lead is here to help if you need any advice or resources along the way.