We hear it all the time that you need to get feedback from your customers.

Yes.

But how? How do you get them?

The value your company places on customer feedback is what will separate you from a good or great company.

“Feedback is the Breakfast of Champions” – Ken Blanchard

But feedback is only effective when you are able to get it right. In other words, feedback is helpful when you manage to get it from the right person, in a timely manner and format.

Knowing how to unlock and read the signs of user inputs is what sets apart a surviving from a thriving company.

1. Define Your Feedback Strategy

In order to create questions that speaks, you need a proper strategy and goals in place.

If there is one thing that you must do, it would be defining what you actually want feedback on.

We have all received and seen this rough sounding generic question “Don’t hesitate to give us your feedback”.

Turns out no one replies.

Why?

Because it doesn’t speak to anyone. It is not attractive nor helpful to anyone.

Think about what you want to get out of this feedback campaign:

  • Improve a specific feature?
  • Offer better onboarding?
  • Improve your conversion?

2. Use The Right Metric

Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT)

The customer is asked the following question: “How would you rate your overall satisfaction with the service you received?” with the one (very unsatisfied) to five (very satisfied) scale.

It has been demonstrated that using the two highest values on feedback surveys is the most accurate predictor of customer retention.

Net Promoter Score (NPS)

Customers are asked about their likeliness of recommending your product/company to a friend or colleague, on a scale of one to ten.

Customers are then categorized, and the NPS score is worked out by taking off the number of detractors from the numbers of promoters.

NPS gives you a quantitative idea of what is going on in your customers’ mind, but it doesn’t give you the WHY.

It is therefore crucial to follow-up and get into the why with your customers.

Customer Effort Score (CES)

The CES measures the easiness of using your product and service.

How much effort do your customers have to do in order to get the true benefits of your offer? Do they have a hard time performing the different actions?

Relying on the CES is useful when:

  • The client has just been in touch with support
  • The client has just upgraded, ordered a product or renewed their subscription
  • A new feature has been released or your company wants to get an overall customer experience metric

customer-effort-score

The 3 metrics presented above can be use to measure an overall satisfaction, as well as the satisfaction in specific area of your business, product or offer. You could imagine doing a CES only on the pricing, in order to make sure that your pricing plans resonate with your prospects.

3. Identify The Right Channel

  • Where are your customers staying?
  • How often are they using this channel?
  • Can you find a non-spammy follow-up process?
  • Some channels include:
    • Email (surveys, direct questions)
    • Website Widget (a widget while they’re using the service)
    • Support
    • Social Media

4. Ask The Right Way

  • Avoid technical or too-specific jargon
  • Speak in your customer’s tone
  • Ask at the right time (usually the best time right after an action you’re seeking feedback for just happened)
  • Respect the customer’s time

5. Be Proactive

  • Listen for unsolicited feedback (e.g. social monitoring)
  • Monitor your brand mention
  • Respond to every feedback

6. Keep Track of The Feedback

  • Analyze the feedback
  • Tag and use them
  • Communicate with the team

Conclusion

All-in-all, you will get the best feedback by iterating and testing different methods. There is no one-size fits all. Experiment and learn through your customers’ actions to see what is best for your company.

But as long as you are proactive and learn from your acts, you will go a long way!

Good feedback has the power to close the loop and build better relationships with your customers.

6 Tips To Get Outstanding Customer Feedback

PS. Other creative ways to get feedback: Facebook Polls or Instagram Live Video. Never disconnect from your customers. You always need to talk to them directly.

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