How to Get (Useful) Customer Feedback in 4 Steps

Whether it’s good customer feedback or bad, you can use both to refine your products and the customer service experience. But customer feedback shouldn’t be collected on a whim or randomly. If you do that, you’re missing out on key insights you can use to scale your business.

Instead, you need a system for gathering, sorting, and analyzing customer feedback. We’ll show you how to create a customer feedback system in today’s post. But first, let’s look at what customer feedback is and why it matters.

What is Customer Feedback?

Customer feedback is simply the thoughts and feelings customers have about your business.

Sometimes it’s bad. Sometimes it’s good. Sometimes it’s neutral.

Customer feedback can come in many forms:

• Surveys
• Emails
• Customer support tickets
• Social media conversations
• Phone calls
• Etc.

Regardless of how you get customer feedback and what customers say, it’s always useful.

What’s the Importance of Feedback from Customers?

The importance of feedback is on par with the importance of customers themselves; it’s the lifeblood of your business.

If you want to achieve customer success, where your customers love your brand and products, they can’t wait to rave about you to their friends and family, and they don’t even think about your competition, you need to know exactly what they believe about your business.

Think about it this way:

• “Acquiring a new customer is anywhere from five to 25 times more expensive than retaining an existing one,” according to Harvard Business Review.
• “The #1 most common source of new leads are referrals,” according to Hubspot.

Customer feedback can tell you how to retain more customers and encourage them to be your word-of-mouth marketers. The better you know what they want, the more easily you can provide it.

But to do that well, you need a system in place.

How to Create a Reliable Customer Feedback System in 4 Steps

There are many customer feedback methods you can use to gather and implement responses. Below, we walk you through 4 easy steps you can take to gather and use customer feedback.

Step 1: Ask for Feedback from Customers

Asking for feedback seems simple; you just have to ask, right?

That’s partially correct. The other part is you have to ask the right questions to get useful answers.

Here are a few guidelines to keep in mind when constructing your survey:

• Keep it short and concise. Customers don’t have time to read through long paragraphs filled with jargon. The shorter and simpler the better.
• Use questions that will help you reach your business goals and cut out any unnecessary ones.
• Write open-ended questions that give customers the opportunity to tell you what they really think.
• Write one question at a time. Don’t include a string of questions for question number one that forces customers to overthink their answers. Keep it simple, silly.
• Don’t use loaded or leading questions like “We recently upgraded our app and now it’s #1 in its category. What do you think about that?” Instead, ask “what do you think about our recent upgrades?”

And here are a few tools you should consider using to collect feedback:

• Plain-text email surveys.
• Survey software like SurveyMonkey.
• In-app surveys using a tool like Intercom.

Step 2: Record Net Promoter Scores (NPS)

Net Promoter Scores (NPS) are one of the most effective ways for gauging how your customers feel about your business.

Here’s how it works:

You ask customers a single question, “How likely are you to recommend us to friends, family, or colleagues?”

Then you give them a scale from 1 to 10 to choose from.

After you receive customer replies, break them up into 3 categories:

• Scores from 1 to 6 are “detractors.” They are strongly dissatisfied and not only unlikely to recommend you to others, but probably willing to speak negatively of you.
• Scores of 7 or 8 are “passives.” They’re satisfied but unlikely to promote your business.
• Scores of 9 or 10 are “promoters.” They love you and your products and are excited to spread your brand to everyone they know.

The more promoters you have, the more viral potential your brand and products have. The more detractors you have, the more trouble your business is in. Use these metrics to understand what you’re doing right and wrong and adjust your tactics and strategies accordingly.

Step 3: Run Usability Tests

User experience (UX) is hugely important, especially for SaaS businesses and other software companies. But even ecommerce businesses or other online companies benefit from creating a smoother, easier UX.

And not all companies know whether it’s easy to interact with their products and services or not. That’s why you need to test the usability of your website and applications regularly.

Instead of releasing a new app, for instance, release a beta version of the app to a limited number of users for a reduced price (or for free). Then ask them for feedback and use it to create a better app.

This kind of usability testing can be replicated in nearly any business, not just web-based ones. Choose what you want to test, offer a cheap way for people to use it, and get their feedback. You can also get feedback from strangers using a website like User Testing.

This will help you design products and services that cater to the customer and virtually guarantees you create something they want.

Step 4: Organize Feedback

Now you’ll take the feedback you’ve gathered from the previous steps and add it together with the feedback you’ve scraped from other sources, i.e. chatbots, sales calls, social media, etc.

Now that you have all this feedback, you want to break it up into categories.

For instance, you have a positive and negative category. But you don’t want to stop there. When customers give you specific advice about specific products or features of those products, that advice should be broken into subcategories such as:

• Feature requests
• Software bugs
• User experience
• Price
• Customer support
• And so on.

The categories you use will depend on the type of business you run and the type and amount of feedback you get.

If you need help parsing through long responses, you can use an app like MonkeyLearn to break the text into well-defined opinions.

Once you have your feedback organized, you’ll have a goldmine of ideas for improving every facet of your products and customer experience. And the more feedback you gather regularly, the faster you can make these changes to continually delight your consumers.

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Want an Easy Way to Get Better Feedback on Your Customer Support?

The strategies we laid out for you today will help you get more honest feedback from your customers, but it won’t be all positive. No business is going to get 10 out of 10 on their NPS.

And while we can’t help you improve your products, we can help you gain a higher feedback score for customer support.

How?

Through visual communication.

Zight (formerly CloudApp)’s free screen recorder brings HD video and webcam recording, GIF creation, screenshots, snipping tool, and annotations to the cloud in an easy-to-use, enterprise-grade app so you can quickly create and share visual content.

We help customer support teams:

• Easily create support materials and tutorials
• Optimize customer support workflows
• Provide customers with detailed answers and close Zendesk tickets faster
• Improve your team’s CSAT scores
• Track bugs and document problems
• Improve customer support initiatives

Learn more about Zight (formerly CloudApp) for Customer Support here.

Bonus Tips for Maximizing Customer Feedback Utilization

Creating a reliable customer feedback system is just the beginning. To truly leverage customer feedback for your business’s growth and success, it’s essential to go beyond the basics. Here are some bonus tips to help you maximize the value of the feedback you collect and create a more customer-centric organization.

Tip 1: Create a Customer Feedback Loop

A feedback loop is a process that ensures feedback is not only collected but also used to make improvements and then communicated back to customers. Here’s how to create an effective feedback loop:

1. Collect Feedback: Use the methods discussed previously to gather feedback.
2. Analyze Feedback: Sort and analyze the feedback to identify common themes and actionable insights.
3. Implement Changes: Make the necessary changes based on the feedback.
4. Close the Loop: Inform customers about the changes you’ve made as a result of their feedback. This can be done through email updates, blog posts, or social media announcements.

Tip 2: Personalize Your Responses

When responding to customer feedback, especially negative feedback, personalize your responses. Acknowledge the customer’s specific issues and let them know how you plan to address them. This shows that you value their input and are committed to improving their experience.

Tip 3: Use Feedback to Train Your Team

Customer feedback is a valuable resource for training your team. Share feedback with your employees regularly, highlighting both positive and negative comments. This helps your team understand customer expectations and learn from mistakes. You can also use feedback to develop training programs that address common issues and improve overall service quality.

Tip 4: Segment Your Feedback

Not all feedback is created equal. Segment your feedback based on different customer demographics such as age, location, and purchase history. This allows you to understand how different segments of your customer base feel about your products or services. Tailor your marketing and customer service strategies to address the specific needs of each segment.

Tip 5: Incorporate Feedback into Product Development

Involving customers in the product development process can lead to more successful products. Use feedback to identify features that customers want and prioritize them in your development roadmap. You can even create beta testing groups from your loyal customers to test new features and provide feedback before a full launch.

Tip 6: Monitor Social Media

Social media is a goldmine for unsolicited customer feedback. Monitor social media channels for mentions of your brand, products, or services. Use tools like Hootsuite or Brand24 to track and analyze social media conversations. Respond to feedback promptly and use insights to improve your offerings.

Tip 7: Conduct Regular Feedback Surveys

Don’t wait for customers to come to you with feedback. Conduct regular surveys to proactively seek out their opinions. These can be quarterly or bi-annual surveys that cover different aspects of your business, from product satisfaction to customer service experience.

Tip 8: Reward Customers for Their Feedback

Show your customers that you appreciate their feedback by offering incentives. This could be in the form of discounts, loyalty points, or entry into a prize draw. Rewards encourage more customers to provide feedback and help you gather a larger pool of data to work with.

Tip 9: Benchmark Against Competitors

Compare your feedback scores with industry benchmarks or direct competitors. This helps you understand where you stand in the market and identify areas for improvement. Use this information to set realistic goals for enhancing your customer experience.

Tip 10: Leverage Technology

Invest in technology that makes it easier to collect and analyze feedback. Tools like Zendesk, HubSpot, and Salesforce offer robust customer feedback and support features. Use AI and machine learning to identify trends and insights from large volumes of feedback.

Tip 11: Implement a Feedback Culture

Make customer feedback a core part of your company culture. Encourage all employees to value and seek out feedback. This can be done by including feedback-related goals in performance reviews and recognizing employees who go above and beyond in addressing customer concerns.

Tip 12: Create a Customer Advisory Board

Form a customer advisory board consisting of loyal and engaged customers. This board can provide regular insights and suggestions, helping you stay connected to your customers’ needs and expectations. Hold quarterly meetings to discuss new ideas and get feedback on upcoming initiatives.

Tip 13: Use Visual Feedback Tools

Visual tools like video feedback and screenshots can provide more context than text alone. Encourage customers to use tools like Zight (formerly CloudApp) to share their experiences visually. This can help your team better understand the issues and identify solutions more effectively.

Tip 14: Track Long-Term Trends

Don’t just look at feedback in isolation. Track feedback over time to identify long-term trends. This helps you see if the changes you’re implementing are having a positive impact and allows you to make adjustments as needed.

Tip 15: Celebrate Successes

When customer feedback leads to significant improvements or successes, celebrate them. Share these stories internally to boost morale and externally to show customers that their feedback makes a difference. This can be done through case studies, testimonials, and success stories on your website and social media channels.

Tip 16: Train Customers to Provide Better Feedback

Educate your customers on how to provide effective feedback. Offer tips on what kind of information is most useful and how they can best articulate their thoughts. This can be done through blog posts, email campaigns, or even a dedicated feedback page on your website.

Tip 17: Prioritize Actionable Feedback

Not all feedback will be actionable. Prioritize feedback that offers clear, specific suggestions for improvement. Focus on making changes that will have the most significant impact on your customer experience and overall business success.

Tip 18: Maintain a Customer Feedback Dashboard

Create a centralized dashboard that tracks all feedback metrics. This should include NPS scores, survey results, social media mentions, and more. Share this dashboard with key stakeholders regularly to keep everyone informed and aligned on customer feedback initiatives.

Tip 19: Encourage Two-Way Communication

Feedback should be a two-way street. Encourage customers to ask questions and provide additional context to their feedback. This can be done through follow-up surveys or direct communication channels like live chat and social media.

Tip 20: Stay Committed to Continuous Improvement

Finally, stay committed to continuous improvement. Customer feedback is not a one-time project but an ongoing process. Regularly review and refine your feedback system to ensure it continues to meet your business goals and customer expectations.

By implementing these additional tips, you can create a robust customer feedback system that not only gathers valuable insights but also drives continuous improvement and customer satisfaction. Remember, the ultimate goal is to create a customer-centric organization where feedback is valued, acted upon, and used to enhance the overall customer experience.