How to get customer feedback?

There is no better source of knowledge about a company’s performance than customer feedback. 

Do you remember the last time you actually asked for the client’s opinion? Or the last time you shared it? 

Meanwhile, 93% of buyers are ready to give feedback if the company would just ask.  Also, 95% of dissatisfied customers will not complain and 90% of them will never come back to the store without saying a word.

In this article, we are going to look at the best ways to get insights from your clients. Let me start with the mistakes you should avoid while collecting feedback. 

You forget about segmentation and personalization

If you send the same set of questions to each of your clients and you're surprised that the response is bad, well… stop being surprised. 

Start with dividing your base into segments, using, for example, the following criteria:

• date of purchase/registration

• date of the last visit to your website

• value of the client

• type of the client 

Then determine which segment is ready to answer your questions. 

Choose the right moment and ask for their time.

You ask too many questions 

It’s completely understandable that you want to know as much as possible about your product or service. However, if you collect feedback online, you should determine a few things that matter the most for your business development. 

Sometimes one question is too much. Imagine what can happen if you ask fifteen or twenty.

Basically, if you desire to receive very extensive feedback, don’t count on it online. 

You ask questions that you know the answer to

Most of the time they are questions about clients (email address, industry they work in, time that has passed since the first/last purchase, etc.). You can imagine that most recipients will likely ignore them. 

Such a situation wouldn’t take place if you already did your segmentation correctly. 

When asking for insights, make sure you ask for the most honest and unique ones, not the ones you can provide yourself. 

You ask suggestive questions 

The whole point of collecting feedback is to gain knowledge that will help you grow your business. 

If you agree with this, you don’t want to receive convenient answers. What you want are valuable answers.

You are afraid of negative opinions 

That’s natural. What you should do, however, is to prepare for them. 

People are more willing to write an opinion when something goes wrong rather than when they are satisfied. But it doesn’t have to be a bad thing, for at least 2 reasons:

1. Negative feedback will help you determine flaws and show you areas for improvement. 

2. Negative voices make the positive ones wake up. When a bad review is published, you can be sure that the ambassadors of your brand/product will speak their minds. It’s exactly the motivation they need. 

You don’t respond to opinions 

79% of consumers want to see companies respond to negative reviews. If you don’t do that, your clients won’t see the point of sharing their opinion. What’s more, you will demonstrate a lack of professionalism.

Every voice matters—this is the attitude you need. Make sure everyone feels heard. Answer even the most negative comments.

Tip! When a negative opinion is published, respond to it in a humble and respectful way. Be careful not to start quarrels publicly. From there, it might be a good idea to move the interaction to a private channel. 

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All right, you already know what you shouldn’t do. Now let’s move to the tools and tips that will help you become a feedback master.

Collect feedback with web push notifications 

I hope we have already established that a request for feedback should be short and straightforward. 

That’s why web push notifications simply had to come up in this article. 

With them, you can create a poll to ask for quality opinions. Take a look:

Test web push - for free 

It’s easy, convenient, and user-friendly, both for you and your subscribers. 

Display feedback 

First off, it will serve as a sign of recognition and respect for users who express their opinions. Secondly, it will be a motivation to provide feedback to other customers.

And yes, display even the negative feedback. 

Don’t ask your customers to write 

Give them the option, of course, but make sure that the feedback-sharing process is as easy as possible. 

Let your clients express their minds by choosing the appropriate (already written) option or simply clicking on the number that represents their level of satisfaction. Again, web push notifications can be extremely helpful when it comes to collecting feedback this way.

That brings us to...

NPS

Net Promoter Score is a simple and common method that gives you information on how likely your customers are to recommend you to a friend. In other words, it helps you measure customer loyalty. 

The respondents can rate you on a scale of 1 to 10. I wish you tens, and tens only! :)

Reach out directly 

These days, many brands claim that excellent customer service is their USP. And even if it’s not, I assure you it’s expected by your clients. 

So show them you care by reaching out and asking for feedback. Personalize the message and sign it with your name. If asked directly, people are more likely to respond—believe me!

Be easy to contact

Not everyone wishes to give feedback openly, some people prefer more private channels. Your job is to give them this option. 

The best way is to set up a live chat or to put a feedback button on your website. It can also be a chatbot, just make sure it’s visible and user-friendly.

Offer something in return

As I mentioned above, a customer is more likely to share his thoughts after an unpleasant experience than a pleasant one. That is why you need to be encouraged to express positive insights. 

Probably the best way to do this is to offer something in return. It can be a discount, free shipping, free samples, etc. 

However, be careful—you don’t want to be too pushy. You don’t want customers to think that you’re trying to bribe them.

Create a thank-you page 

Someone took their time to share with you insights about your products/service. It is a common courtesy to thank for it. 

Create a thank you page to express your gratitude. It will show your customers that their opinion matters and encourage them to express their thoughts in the future.

Monitor feedback 

Not only on your website but also on social channels, Google, and review portals. 

Don’t worry, you don’t have to do it manually and check every single site every day. Track your online reputation using tools such as Brand24.

Analyze and test 

If you are looking for the best channel to collect feedback, test a few of them, to see which brings the desired results. 

If you are looking for the best set of questions to collect feedback, test a few of them, to see which brings the desired results. 

It can’t be ruled out that you will find out that different approaches deliver different performances depending on the target group. And that’s good. Don’t hesitate to combine the most effective methods in order to get the most customer feedback.

One more thing…

I hope your perspective regarding customer feedback has broadened. But before you rush into asking for opinions, make sure you know the answer to one question:

What will you do with the precious data you collect?