The Benefits of Customer Feedback Are Enormous—Here's How to Collect It

Brett Farmiloe
Thu, 14 Nov 2024 00:08:43 +0000
Customer-satisfaction, Customer-experience, Customer-journey, Customer-communication, Feedback, Client-relationships, Client-feedback, Customer-feedback

Customers are the lifeblood of any business. Their input is pivotal for driving the innovation of new products and services as well as enterprise growth. Here business leaders share how they gather valuable feedback from their customers and how that feedback contributes to their company's success.

How to collect useful customer feedback

1. Engage in deep, ongoing conversations with clients

"Collecting and analyzing customer feedback is not just a part of our process—it's the foundation of our entire approach to product and service development. Our method of collecting feedback goes beyond traditional surveys or feedback forms. We engage in deep, ongoing conversations with our clients, often spending time at their physical locations to truly understand their day-to-day operations. This immersive approach allows us to gather insights that might not surface in more formal feedback channels.

"To implement this approach in your own business:

Create multiple channels for feedback—Use surveys, social media, direct conversations, and on-site visits to gather diverse perspectives.

Engage in active listening—Don't just hear what customers are saying, but try to understand the underlying needs and pain points.

Analyze feedback systematically—Use data analysis tools to identify patterns and trends in customer feedback.

Involve customers in the development process—Consider creating a customer advisory board or beta testing group for new products or services.

Close the feedback loop—Always communicate back to customers how their input has influenced your decisions and developments."

—Daniel Lynch, Empathy First Media

2. Conduct face-to-face focus groups and meetings

"Face-to-face discussions are highly beneficial for gathering user feedback. Conversations in real-life settings can provide information that online surveys alone may miss. When people communicate directly, ideas tend to build off one another in ways not seen on internet forms. Users may feel more comfortable openly sharing thoughts compared to anonymous online replies.

"There was one particular focus group we had for PTA presidents, school administrators, and parent volunteers. We'd set up a comfortable room with snacks and drinks, aiming to create a relaxed atmosphere where people felt free to speak their minds. As we started talking, one of the PTA presidents mentioned offhandedly how much time she spent coordinating with local businesses for sponsorships. That casual comment led to a whole conversation about the challenges of local fundraising, and led to a brainstorming session where ideas were bounced back and forth with the participants building on each other's thoughts. By the end of the session, we had the kernel of what would become our local business outreach tool—a feature that now helps schools connect with and manage local sponsors more efficiently.

"What I love about focus groups is how they allow for this kind of organic discovery. You might go in with a set of questions or topics, but often the most valuable insights come from the unexpected tangents and personal stories that emerge. It's also a chance to see the body language and hear the tones of voices that you would miss in written feedback or surveys. The enthusiasm in someone's eyes when they talk about a potential feature, or the collective nods around the room when a pain point is mentioned—these are gold for understanding what really matters to your users.

"While virtual feedback has its place, face-to-face remains very useful. When consumers feel heard in discussions, they can provide guidance on how to meet their desires that they may not have been able to fully express in isolated online responses. Making room for real-life conversations appropriately respects the user's perspective and values their insights."
—Darian Shimy, FutureFund

3. Monitor social media conversations

"We offer a 'create your own engagement ring' feature on our website, where individuals can choose different settings, diamonds, and other details. We developed this unique feature as a direct response to customer feedback. Specifically, we conducted surveys and monitored social media conversations where individuals repeatedly mentioned their desire for more personalized options. This approach has allowed us not only innovate our collection and processes, but position our company as a customer-centric business that actively listens and cares for our clients. It has resulted in increased market share and enhanced client repeat purchases."
—Barkev Meserlian, Barkev's

4. Interview customers to uncover deeper needs

"Customer insights are a goldmine for driving innovation, but the real magic happens when you dive deep into the 'why' behind their feedback. For example, when we launched our website design plugin, we noticed several users were struggling with the customization options. Instead of simply adding more tutorials, we interviewed a handful of these users to understand their frustrations. It turns out they wanted a more intuitive interface that allowed for easy drag-and-drop functionality without sacrificing design flexibility.

"This feedback led us to completely overhaul the plugin's UI, introducing a modular design system that combined the best of both worlds—ease of use and advanced customization. The result? A 30% increase in user adoption and a flood of positive reviews highlighting how the new interface transformed their workflow.

"The key takeaway is that customer feedback isn’t just about solving immediate problems; it’s about uncovering deeper needs that can spark groundbreaking innovations."
—Rasmus Myhrberg, Spark Plugin

5. Encourage team members to share input from customer interactions

"When striving for innovation, never underestimate the power of customer feedback. Regularly engage with your customers through surveys or direct conversations to uncover their preferences and pain points. Use this information not just to react, but to anticipate their needs.

"Also, foster a culture where team member are encouraged to share insights from customer interactions, as these collective perspectives can lead to groundbreaking ideas that resonate with your audience and drive your business forward. Always keep your clients at the heart of your strategy; their voices can be your greatest asset."
—Kate Hill, Kate Hill Flowers

6. Schedule regular customer success calls

"Collecting and analyzing customer feedback is built into not only our product development process, but also our customer success and sales operations. We have regular customer success calls to gather insights directly from our users, focusing on their needs and challenges. We collect insights to identify the potential for expanding our offering to meet the needs of a wider market. This continuous dialogue enables us to prioritize features and improvements that enhance our customers' experience and engagement with our product.

"We approach feedback with a dual focus: addressing immediate customer needs and aligning with our long-term vision for the field of foresight and futures work. By examining patterns in the feedback, we aim to identify solutions that cater to a wide range of users. This ensures that our developments have the broadest possible impact."
—Dani Pärnänen, FIBRES

7. Demonstrate to customers you take their comments seriously

"There's no point in collecting and analyzing customer feedback unless you are going to act on it. We not only monitor customer questions and comments that come through our support team, but we also actively reach out to customers to ask for their opinions and suggestions. This feedback is then collated and used alongside research into wider industry trends to determine which products should be our priority.

"The most recent example is our launch of a full range of sustainable and environmentally-friendly aluminum packaging products. While this was something we had always planned to do, we accelerated the introduction of the products based on increasing feedback from our customer base that they were actively looking for more sustainable packaging options and were struggling to find new and innovative solutions.

"Introducing a product that has been directly influenced by customer opinion has meant we are not only confident that we are giving customers what they want, but also allowed us to clearly demonstrate that we take comments seriously and act on them, increasing customer loyalty and generating a large amount of repeat business."
—Laura Grant, BlueSky Solutions

8. Send out email surveys

"While serving as COO for an internet company, my initial task was to understand why our sales were declining and why we were receiving poor customer reviews. I implemented a quick one-minute survey with four questions that I sent out via email to our current customers. The survey included simple rating-scale questions and one open comment box, asking customers to rate us from 1 to 10 on likely they were to recommend our service, how they felt about our pricing versus their experience, and how we could improve. After gathering and analyzing the data over 30 days, it became clear that our communication was the primary issue.

"In response, we introduced multiple channels for customer communication and notifications, including online chat, phone texting, a ticket system, and an app for network monitoring and notifications. These changes addressed the communication gaps our customers had identified, leading to a significant improvement in customer satisfaction and contributing to the successful development of our product."
—Zachary Johanson, Solvatica

9. Seek customer feedback before and after product launch

"Collecting and analyzing customer feedback is crucial in the shaping of any product. Before even launching a product, incorporating insights from early market research and speaking to as many potential users as possible is critical. In the market, engaging with a diverse customer advisory board allows for ongoing dialogue between the product team and key customers, ensuring their perspectives directly influence product direction.

"Additionally, user interviews, UX reviews, and in-application analytics provide qualitative data that can reveal nuances in customer experiences, identifying areas for improvement that may not be visible through quantitative metrics alone. Often underrepresented, firsthand feedback from customer-facing roles such as sales and support is invaluable. These groups are able to see trends and translate user needs into tangible improvements a product team can work with.

"Lastly, exit surveys during cancellation processes are another essential tool; they offer critical insights into the reasons behind a customer's decision to leave, enabling teams to address these concerns in future iterations of the product."
—Allan Wille, Klipfolio

About the Author

Post by: Brett Farmiloe

Brett Farmiloe is the founder and CEO of Featured, a platform where business leaders can answer questions related to their expertise and get published in articles featuring their insights.

Company: Featured
Website: www.featured.com