How to harness customer insights in the age of information overload
Most companies still grapple with how to effectively collect and use customer data. This blog offers tips for cutting through the noise and use insigh...
Product feedback is an invaluable tool that drives product innovation, planning, and development. For example, customer feedback can reveal an unmet need for a new product or where your product falls short compared to your competitors.
Collecting product feedback on an ongoing basis helps to ensure that you’re delivering a top-notch product experience. By collecting customer feedback at every touchpoint throughout the customer journey, you can make informed decisions to fine-tune your product and customer experience.
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However, collecting product feedback through traditional means, such as surveys, isn’t a straightforward and simple process. In this blog, we’ll look at the value of product intelligence, the challenges of collecting product feedback and how to overcome them, and expert tips and best practices for collecting product feedback.
In this blog, we’ll explore:
- The value of product intelligence
- Challenges of collecting product feedback
- How we gathered these expert tips & strategies for collecting product feedback
- The most effective strategies for collecting product feedback
- Frequently asked questions
The value of product intelligence
For enterprise tech companies, customer insights are everything.
— CallMiner, Inc. (@CallMiner) July 25, 2023
Head over to our blog for 5️⃣ ways these organizations can use solicited and unsolicited feedback to improve #CX, drive product innovation, boost revenue and more: https://t.co/lGYScr47Z1
Product feedback is a vital component of product intelligence. Businesses combine customer feedback gleaned from surveys and focus groups with unsolicited feedback collected by monitoring customer comments in online product reviews, social media posts, and interactions with customer service or call center representatives.
This data is then combined with sales and marketing data, data from customer relationship management (CRM) platforms, and web traffic data to derive deeper, more meaningful insights into customers’ needs and how well your product meets those needs—as well as what you need to improve to ensure a positive consumer product experience.
Additionally, product feedback and product intelligence data can be used early in the development process to identify product flaws and errors and improve quality control.
Challenges of collecting product feedback
While product feedback and product intelligence data is a goldmine of valuable insights, tapping into those insights can be challenging for several reasons.
- Limited scope of traditional methods: Surveys, focus groups, and user testing are limited in scope, collecting product feedback from a very small portion of customers.
- Skewed responses with traditional methods: Traditional product feedback collection methods such as surveys are often skewed by respondents who have strong positive or negative opinions about a product. For instance, customers who have complaints may be more likely to respond to a survey to express their frustrations.
- Reviewing and analyzing conversations is time-consuming: Customer interactions with call center representatives can be a treasure trove of unsolicited feedback. However, reviewing a large number of conversations is time-consuming, and it’s difficult to analyze the vast amount of information without the right tools.
Conversation intelligence solutions like CallMiner help to overcome these challenges, monitoring and analyzing 100% of customer interactions not only through the contact center but also across the web, live chat, email, social media, SMS, surveys, and other channels where customers interact with or discuss your brand and products.
The CallMiner platform analyzes every interaction across every channel, determining the meaning and intent behind customers’ words and the sentiment and emotion that’s driving their behavior, giving you greater visibility into the experience of all customers, rather than a select few. This allows you to connect the dots between insights and action to make data-driven decisions in real time and deliver an exceptional product experience at every touchpoint, throughout the buyer’s journey and beyond.
How we gathered these expert tips & strategies for collecting product feedback
For more insights on the importance of customer feedback and the most effective strategies to collect product feedback, we reached out to a panel of product developers and marketers and asked them to answer this question: “What are the most effective ways to collect product feedback?”
The most effective strategies for collecting product feedback
Keep reading to learn what our panel had to say about the most effective ways to collect product feedback and inform your product development strategy.
Joe Troyer
Joe Troyer is the CEO & Head of Growth of DigitalTriggers. They have been featured on SEJ, Forbes, The Huffington Post, NBC, and various other top media publications.
“Emails are currently one of the most common methods for conducting product feedback surveys…”
For this purpose, you could utilize an online survey application such as SurveySparrow. Either lengthy product feedback forms or concise surveys can be distributed.
Because you don't want your respondent to lose interest or abandon the survey in the middle, you must limit the number of questions in an email survey to those that are most relevant.
Each query in your product feedback survey should be designed with a specific objective in mind. You don't want them to ramble incoherently, but rather to provide you with coherent, specific responses.
Although multiple-choice questions are the best option, you can also ask them open-ended questions if you want a detailed response.
Customers who have been there for a lengthy period of time typically provide detailed responses. Even so, the business is responsible for keeping it as brief as possible.
Daniel Cooper
Daniel Cooper has 14 years of app and software development experience. He is the managing partner of Lolly, a remote software/app development agency in the UK, US, and Canada.
“Imagine your product is a party and your customers are the guests…”
You don't want to be that host who's clueless about whether his guests are having fun or not, right? The best way to know is to mingle and ask!
Surveys are your mingling tool. They're like small talk—quick, casual, and can reveal a lot. Direct interviews are your deep conversations, revealing insights a casual chat might miss.
User testing? That's like watching your guests. You see if they're struggling with the snacks (usability issues) or bored (lack of features). Lastly, don't forget the power of social listening—overhearing can be quite enlightening!
Eric Dalius
Eric Dalius is the Executive Chairman of MuzicSwipe. Eric Dalius acts as the key advisor and lead strategist, helping to guide the company’s plan to redefine the music discovery process.
“With NPS surveys in place, a lengthy product feedback questionnaire is unnecessary…”
A solitary question is sufficient. Many question how a simple question can be one of the most effective methods to gauge a customer's mood. The Net Promoter Score poses a straightforward question similar to the one below.
How likely are you to recommend our company to your family or friends? The responses are graded on a 10-point scale. The simple inquiry measures the customer's perception of the product. The consumers are classified based on their ratings.
- Ratings of 9 and 10 indicate the presence of promoters.
- 7 and 8 are considered passive.
- Anything less than 7 is a detractor.
After categorizing and classifying, the Net Promoter Score can be calculated using the following formula:
NPS = Proportion of Promoters minus Proportion of Detractors
NPS scores can range anywhere from -100 to 100.
A negative score is undesirable, whereas a positive score is desirable. Numerous businesses use NPS to enhance their consumer service and alter their business practices.
NPS is one of the most effective feedback metrics due to its simplicity. It takes the consumer a few seconds to respond, and you can compare your NPS score to the rest of the industry to determine your standing.
Sean McPheat
Sean McPheat is the CEO at MTD Sales Training. Sean is viewed as a thought leader within his industry and has been featured on the likes of CNN, ITV, BBC, having over 400 different media credits to his name.
“User surveys are a practical way to collect product feedback…”
They provide quantifiable data through targeted questions sent via various channels but must be well-designed to be effective.
User interviews or focus groups offer a more in-depth look into user experiences, yielding valuable qualitative insights. However, they require careful participant selection and a comfortable environment to encourage open discussion.
Alex Jasin
Alex Jasin is the co-founder and CMO at Refine Packaging, which specializes in creating customized packaging solutions that help businesses enhance their brand image and product presentation.
“The most effective way to collect product feedback is by asking your customers directly…”
Send out online surveys to your most active customers and ask specific questions about your product's features, design, usability, and value. Include open-ended questions to gather broader input. Ask customers if they have any recommendations to improve your product and how it could better serve them.
Customers are your most valuable source of information and feedback that can lead to real product innovations. Listen closely to their perspectives and respond by implementing reasonable improvements to enhance their experience and express your gratitude for their time and insights.
Will Zhao
Will Zhao is a senior engineering leader at Airbnb with over a decade of experience building and leading high-performing teams at Silicon Valley tech companies. He is also the founder and CEO of the software and tech site SoftGist.com.
“From my years of experience developing software products, I found the following 3 ways to collect product feedback to be most effective…”
- Customer interviews and focus groups: Customer interviews and focus groups allow for an in-depth, empathetic understanding of user needs and expectations. The human connection makes it more likely users will provide genuine, thoughtful answers compared to surveys.
- Usability testing: Usability testing illuminates real user difficulties first-hand. Features we assume to be intuitive often bewilder users in practice. Usability testing with a prototype or MVP is still one of the best ways to uncover pain points and opportunities before launch.
- Analytics: Analytics offer an unbiased, scaled view of real user interactions. For example, funnel analysis shows drop-off points. And A/B testing is an important tool to validate hypotheses on how changes impact key metrics. In general, data-driven insights are an important complement to qualitative feedback.
Doris Joyce
Doris Joyce is a co-founder and product developer at Electrly.
“Monitoring conversations about your product/brand on social media and running surveys and polls is an effective way to acquire product feedback…”
Since more than two-thirds of the world's population uses social media, you only need to figure out which platforms your clients frequent. Obtaining customer input via social media is easy and cheap since the survey and polling tools are built into the app. Also, user comments allow you to access detailed information.
Giving incentives is another way to collect product feedback.
Customer feedback is essential because it can yield data that can revolutionize your product marketing or development. Hence, you can encourage more user comments and reviews by giving them an incentive encouraging them to provide feedback.
By offering rewards such as discounts and giveaways, you can increase your respondent pool regardless of which method you use to collect the feedback.
Andrew Dunn
Andrew Dunn is the Vice President of Marketing at Zentro Internet, an internet service provider offering remarkably fast, exceptionally reliable service at a surprisingly reasonable price.
“If you have a SaaS or digital product, in-app surveys work best…”
Your customers are already using your app, so they won't mind filling out a short survey. This is the biggest hurdle to collecting feedback.
You can include a pop-up that asks your survey question. Don't make your survey mandatory.
Apps that restrict access to features until surveys are filled out always give off a bad impression. Making it optional shines a bright light on your brand and product.
Sahil Kakkar
Sahil Kakkar is the CEO of WebSignals. WebSignals is one of the most prestigious and globally recognized companies in Digital Marketing with immense expertise in cloud-centric SEO Management solutions.
“Collecting product feedback is crucial for understanding customer needs and improving your products…”
A survey is an effective way to gather feedback. It is an effective method for collecting product feedback as it allows you to gather quantitative and qualitative data from a large number of users.
Conducting online surveys using tools like Google Forms, SurveyMonkey, or Typeform. Keep the surveys concise and focused, asking specific questions about user experience, features, and satisfaction. Offer multiple-choice options and open-ended questions for detailed feedback.
Also, by carefully designing and distributing surveys, and then analyzing and acting upon the feedback received, you can gain valuable insights to enhance your product and meet customer needs more effectively.
Marc Bishop
Marc Bishop is the Director of Business Growth at WYTLABS, a value-driven marketing agency working exclusively for e-commerce businesses.
“User Interviews are an effective way to gather feedback…”
It is a qualitative research method used to gather in-depth insights about user experiences, needs, and perspectives.
You can arrange one-on-one interviews with customers to gather qualitative feedback. Use open-ended questions to explore their experiences, pain points, and suggestions. Interviews provide rich insights and allow for deeper understanding.
One technique for conducting an interview is user journey mapping. Use the interview to map out the user's journey, understanding their experiences and emotions at each stage. Identify pain points, areas of satisfaction, and opportunities for improvement.
In addition, by conducting interviews and actively listening to participants, you can uncover valuable insights to inform product decisions, enhance user experiences, and drive meaningful improvements.
Luis Fernando
Luis Fernando is an HVAC expert and a civil engineer with extensive knowledge of structural engineering principles, theories, specifications, and standards. Luis has over 15 years of experience in the heavy-duty industry and is currently working as an industry expert at FortisHD, an online marketplace for heavy-duty equipment.
“Interview people one-on-one…”
User interviews are a useful tool for gathering in-depth qualitative feedback from people who have used your product firsthand. Outline the interview's goals in detail.
Decide the particular features of the product you want to investigate and what knowledge you intend to get from participants. This will guide your interview questions and discussions.
Try to include a wide variety of people who correspond to your intended audience. Take into account variables like demographics, usage trends, and level of skill. This diversity makes sure that you learn from a variety of viewpoints and have a thorough awareness of user needs.
Simon Brisk
Simon Brisk is the co-founder of Click Intelligence, a digital marketing agency specializing in link building & SEO with offices in Cheltenham and London.
“Interviews and focus groups are effective ways to get direct feedback from consumers…”
When you are focused on getting feedback from fewer people, you get better insights. These interviews, whether conducted face-to-face or over the phone, allow you to ask more detailed questions.
They also allow the participants to respond in-depth and be more specific. You need to be well-prepared before going into an interview or a focus group. Try to keep the conversation to the point and ask questions you need answered.
Guillaume Drew
Guillaume Drew is a Shopify Expert & the Founder of Or & Zon, the #1 online retailer of natural & sustainable bedding.
“Product feedback is crucial to completely satisfying customers…”
Customers feel a sense of belonging when their feedback is taken into account.
One of /the ways that a business can get insights is by using the live chat feature on their website. It helps to collect customers’ data in the simplest way possible.
It can also help to answer any of their queries or issues promptly. It is typically used to convert potential customers into buyers.
Another way is to use social media to get valuable feedback. It is for customers who do not prefer to talk to brands or representatives directly.
They leave a comment on any social media handle about the product or service. Brands can use these comments to clear up any misunderstandings or problems. The feedback from the comments can also help a brand promote what the audience wants more of.
David Zhang
David Zhang is the CEO of Kate Backdrop. They sell high-quality, elaborately beautiful backdrops, perfect for events, photos, etc.
“We have thousands of feedback from customers on how to improve our products, and…”
We have found that the most effective way to collect product feedback is through surveys, focus groups, and interviews. Surveys can help us capture quantitative data on how customers feel about our products or their experience with them.
Focus groups provide more qualitative insights into customer opinions and behaviors, while interviews give us an in-depth look at each individual’s unique experiences.
For example, at Kate Backdrop, we ran a survey, conducted focus groups, and held interviews with our customers to better understand their thoughts on certain products. We found this data very helpful in deciding product changes or feature additions.
We also find that leveraging social media can be a great way to gauge customer reactions and preferences, as people often take to Twitter or Instagram to leave reviews. In addition, incentivizing customers with discounts or rewards is another effective way of gathering feedback—people are more likely to respond if they feel like their opinions are valued.
Shervin Mohseni
Shervin Mohseni is the President of GLO Gummies and an entrepreneur from Orange County, CA. When he isn’t busy running his business, he enjoys training MMA, surfing, and spending time with family.
“Collecting product feedback is crucial for understanding customer preferences, identifying areas for improvement, and enhancing the overall customer experience…”
Here are some effective ways to collect product feedback:
- Customer Surveys: Create and distribute online surveys to gather feedback directly from your customers. Keep the surveys concise, focused, and easy to complete. You can use platforms like SurveyMonkey or Google Forms to design and distribute surveys. Offer incentives or discounts to encourage participation.
- Product Reviews and Ratings: Encourage customers to leave reviews and ratings on your website or third-party platforms. Monitor and respond to reviews promptly, addressing any concerns or issues raised. This allows you to gather feedback and showcase positive customer experiences to potential buyers.
- Social Media Listening: Monitor social media platforms for mentions of your brand and products. Engage with customers who share feedback or comments, both positive and negative. Social media listening tools like Hootsuite or Mention can help you track and analyze mentions across various platforms.
- User Testing and Beta Programs: Invite select customers to participate in user testing or beta programs for new products or features. This allows you to collect detailed feedback from a targeted group of users who can provide insights and suggestions based on their firsthand experience.
- Customer Support Interactions: Pay attention to customer support interactions, such as emails, live chats, or phone calls. Support agents often have direct conversations with customers and can gather valuable feedback. Implement a system to document and analyze common customer concerns and suggestions that arise during these interactions.
- Online Communities and Forums: Participate in relevant online communities and forums related to your industry or product niche. Engage with users, answer questions, and encourage discussions. These platforms can provide valuable insights into customer preferences, pain points, and feedback.
- In-app Feedback Tools: If you have a mobile or web application, consider implementing in-app feedback tools. These tools allow users to provide feedback directly within the application, making it convenient for them to share their thoughts and suggestions while using your product.
Remember to analyze and interpret the collected feedback, identify patterns and trends, and take actionable steps to address the feedback. Regularly communicate with customers about the changes or improvements made based on their feedback, as it demonstrates that their opinions are valued.
Victoria Yu
Victoria Yu has a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the Paul Merage School of Business at the University of California, Irvine, emphasizing marketing, business organization, and management. She works for Making That Sale as a sales and marketing specialist.
“There are two ways for product designers and developers to get product feedback…”
Explicit feedback and implicit feedback. To get a comprehensive review of your product, it’s necessary to obtain both from users.
First, explicit feedback is obtained by directly asking end users for their thoughts and opinions. This gives you a first-hand description of what features they like, dislike, or have trouble using.
More importantly, explicit feedback will tell you how severe an issue is depending on how many people complain about it and the strength of emotion they show in their reviews. With this information, designers and developers will know exactly what to fix, and which issues to fix first.
Reviewers may even have innovative suggestions on how to improve the product further.
On the other hand, implicit feedback is garnered through first-hand observation of users with the product. This reveals if consumers are using the product in the intended way or not, or if there’s an issue they’re not consciously aware of themselves—for example, if there’s a feature they didn’t know of that would make their experience better, or a safety concern developers hadn’t considered.
Because users aren’t aware of the proper way to use the product, they can’t mention it in explicit feedback. That’s why it’s important to gain both explicit and implicit feedback.
Ricky Allen
Ricky Allen is the Marketing Director of Ever Wallpaper.
“First and foremost, I recommend leveraging user surveys…”
Surveys are a valuable tool for collecting detailed customer feedback, allowing you to ask multiple questions to get highly specific answers. This gives you a better understanding of what customers think about your product so you can improve it accordingly.
I also suggest taking advantage of social media platforms. Social media lets you connect with customers in real time and gather valuable feedback. Additionally, it's a great way to build relationships with your customers and create a community around your product or service.
Finally, consider using email campaigns for collecting customer feedback. Email campaigns allow you to reach out directly to your customers and get detailed feedback promptly.
Seth Besse
Seth Besse is a seasoned entrepreneur and product leader, who has launched innovative technology products that enhance efficiency and broaden access to information. Seth and his team at Undivided.io are developing a groundbreaking platform—the first of its kind—designed to support families raising children with disabilities.
“Validate your ideas and concepts during the development phase using customer interviews, surveys, and focus groups…”
This customer-centric approach helps you gain a robust understanding of your target buyer, bridging the gap between their needs and your end product. You can then use this knowledge to create offerings they find truly helpful and want to use each and every day.
Also, by continuing to collect their feedback post-launch, you can make iterative improvements and guide future product development as their needs change.
Emily Onkey
Emily Onkey is the co-founder and CMO of Aplós. With more than 10 years of experience in consumer goods, Emily has worked with a who's who of brands, including Soludos, Tom Ford Beauty, and CB2, as well as Bonobos, which she helped scale to over $300 million.
“Use alternative distribution channels to reach your audience…”
While most people socialize on popular networking sites, they may discuss their challenges more on smaller forums.
Identify niche communities where folks who use your product might gather and participate actively. Engage in their conversations and build relationships to establish trust. Doing so will inspire them to share how they feel about your offering and may help identify additional pain points.
Cody Candee
Cody Candee is the Founder and CEO of Bounce, a platform that powers luggage storage and package acceptance in local shops and hotels in over 1,000 cities worldwide.
“Marketers are using SMS as a way to better promote their products, but now…”
This method also serves as one of the best methods to collect customer product feedback. Over 90% of all smartphone owners use their devices to search for products, and three-quarters of them do so more than once a month, which means this mobile tech serves as the most direct connection to the consumer product world.
Therefore, sending a text that asks for feedback, provides easy rating tools, or connects them directly to a product review landing page, ensures that they get your request and boosts the likelihood that they will provide feedback you desire. By using SMS as both a marketing and feed acquisition tool, you can obtain the information you need on your latest product and make any necessary adjustments going forward.
Kevin Miller
Kevin Miller is a digital marketing expert, former Google employee, entrepreneur, and angel investor. He was recently named Entrepreneur of the Year in the 2021 American Business Awards.
“Seek out negative feedback and reviews…”
Find the spaces where you can improve your products by sampling what your clients are already saying. We developed all of our products with our customers’ business growth in mind, and while we know we’re the growth experts, that doesn’t mean that how we present or package our products doesn’t impact the customer experience.
Where we get the most active (and constructive) feedback is in our content creation, such as guest blogs. We work closely with our clients to ensure the long-form content we create meets their standards and stays cohesively on brand with their websites.
We can only continue improving and moving forward through experience—trial and error. Content is an excellent medium for collaboration and understanding how to handle various communication styles.
Still, ultimately our “product” is the service we provide, including how we communicate, the touchpoints we choose, and even how often we ask clients for some of their time.
Shaunak Amin
Shaunak Amin is co-founder and CEO of SwagMagic, SnackMagic, and STADIUM. He is an experienced entrepreneur and operator and has helped launch and scale businesses in different industries.
“Case studies tell the complete story of how satisfied customers found the solutions to their problems by using your product or service…”
Rather than a two- or three-sentence review, these stories provide real-world experiences that you can back up with numbers, data, and analysis. This way, you'll have a detailed and factual picture of how people actually benefit from your offering.
Ensure you make it a win-win for your customers by stating what's in it for them by participating in your case study. Highlight their business by making them the story's hero while your product plays the supporting character that helps them solve their challenge.
Showcasing their company and its success on your website and industry events gives them free PR that helps expand their awareness and reach.
Derek Flanzraich
Derek Flanzraich is the CEO & Founder of Ness, a venture-backed startup building the next great credit card company, health-first.
“The problem with many customer feedback methods is that…”
They lack flexibility, but by using live chat website tools you can pivot to obtain the information you desire. Whether they are rating tools or survey landing pages, the information on them and the questions they ask the customer are set, meaning that nuances in feedback are often lost.
However, through live chat tools on a business website, the feedback obtained is fluid, can vary in the directions they take, and can capture the small details in real time that allow for a more thorough acquisition of customer feedback.
In addition, it is also very affordable and reduces staff hours to obtain. In using live chat features tools on your business website, you will be able to acquire feedback that includes the details that are most important to the customer.
Adam Hynes
Adam Hynes is the Owner of Ottoman Textiles.
“A reward-based approach is often the most effective way to collect product feedback….”
Offering customers incentives such as loyalty points, discounts, or even free products can encourage them to provide candid and valuable insights on their experience with your product. I recommend having an online feedback survey that is easy to access and understand.
This can help you gather a wide range of information, including customer preferences, feedback on products or services, and technical issues with your product.
But the best way to collect feedback is to have an available and responsive customer service team. This will enable you to provide prompt, accurate, and personalized responses, creating a sense of trust with customers.
Zach Dannett
Zach Dannett is the Co-Founder of Tumble, a platform providing beautifully designed, carefully crafted, and affordable home furnishings.
“Using product review tools like Okendo is the most effective way to obtain feedback…”
Customers can easily share their reviews using this method without having to switch between different platforms or exit the website. This centralization of the feedback collection process provides two distinct advantages.
First of all, this simplified method makes it easier to classify and analyze feedback from customers, which results in a more thorough assessment of the performance of the product. In addition, since you're prominently displaying authentic reviews on the website, implementing product review software increases customer confidence.
This factor is essential since buyers frequently rely on the insights and experiences of others when making decisions about purchases. There is more trust in the product when credible reviews are available and easily accessible.
Anna Parvatova
Anna Parvatova is the Brand Manager and Creative Director at SNS Nails.
“In my experience, a multifaceted approach yields the most effective results when it comes to collecting product feedback…”
I have found that reaching out to customers directly after their purchase is highly valuable. By sending personalized follow-up emails or messages, I can encourage customers to share their feedback and experiences with our products.
This proactive outreach ensures that we capture valuable insights while their impressions are still fresh in their minds.
Another strategy I have found successful is leveraging third-party platforms where our products are sold. By closely monitoring and analyzing sales feedback on platforms like Amazon or independent distributors, we can gather feedback from a wider range of customers who may not interact with us directly.
This approach allows us to tap into a broader customer base and gain insights from those who are purchasing and using our products through different channels. By combining these approaches, we have created a continuous stream of feedback that encompasses both our direct customer outreach and feedback from external sources, enabling us to gather comprehensive insights for product improvement.
Daniel Nyquist
Daniel Nyquist is the Chief Marketing Officer at Crosslist, an easy-to-use tool that allows sellers to list quickly on the world’s largest online marketplaces using a browser extension.
“The most effective way to collect product feedback is to make it a core part of your product development process…”
Asking for feedback doesn't mean you're giving up control, and it doesn't mean that you don't have a vision for what your product should be. It does mean that you're willing to listen to what people have to say about it and that you're willing to incorporate their suggestions into the final design.
That's why collecting feedback before you build is so important—you'll get the chance to put your ideas into practice before they're set in stone.
When I was designing my first product, I interviewed customers, invited them over for dinner and drinks, and asked them what they wanted out of my new product line. Some people had ideas that were way off base (like make it taste like coffee or add more sugar), but others had insights that were spot-on: make it less sweet or add an extra ingredient.
These insights helped me make sure that my products were exactly what people wanted them to be.
Kevin Zimmermann
Kevin is a seasoned professional with an impressive 20-year track record in product development. Throughout his career, he has successfully marketed and sold a wide range of products, establishing solid partnerships with both brick-and-mortar retailers and e-commerce platforms. After years of working with national brands, Kevin has embarked on a new venture, founding his own company called eBrandary.
“Early on in my career, I learned how important it was to get product feedback prior to a product launch…”
My goal was always to get my product into the hands of users. I used to sit out in the lobby of our office building with a table of product samples.
The goal was to catch people walking in and out of the building throughout the day, and after talking to them, if they were an intended user of the product, we’d exchange information so I could get product feedback from them.
A lot of times I can get feedback from them immediately. They can keep the product for free and be able to take the product home and provide me back with a lot of insights on the product and packaging later.
I still do this at times for physical products, but things have changed in the product world over the years. Now, I can get a lot of information from a service like PickFu.
I can upload high-quality images of a product and get some useful consumer insights within a day or so of launching the poll. Unfortunately, this is limited to what the user can see through pictures.
PickFu is good for early testing of ideation. If I need real-world feedback on a product’s usage, I’d still seek out people to give free samples to in exchange for feedback.
Tim Clarke
Tim Clarke is the Sr. Reputation Manager at RizeReviews.
“Nothing beats reaching out to your customers directly and engaging them in a…”
Brief interview to truly understand their needs, level of satisfaction, and other desires for you to improve your offerings.
This method is highly valuable as it is personalized, accurate, and much more insightful. You are able to tackle your customers' feedback and reviews using your critical thinking skills to make sense of their tone, language, and dynamics, as well.
Leveraging customer reviews is an impactful strategy to increase your performance, revenue, and best of all, your relationship with your key stakeholders.
Tom Golubovich
Tom Golubovich is the Head of Marketing at Ninja Transfers.
“Suggestions boards have always worked amazingly well for us in…”
Collecting product feedback from our customers and getting other customers to chime in and rate the feedback to see how valuable it truly is.
There are many tools that allow you to create simple yet effective suggestion boards where users can share feedback, comment on the feedback of others, and rate each submission which helps you organize and effectively process all product feedback.
Joshua Host
Joshua Host is the founder of Thrivelab, a telehealth platform on a mission to make hormone health accessible and affordable nationwide. He is a mission-driven founder with a track record for scaling platforms in various industries, including health tech, hospitality, and real estate development.
“Ask people to test your product…”
A tried and true way to collect product feedback is by having people test it. For instance, you can find someone on social media, through your social network, or a mutual friend who fits the demographic data of your target audience—and ask them if they're willing to engage in a risk-free trial and provide feedback at the end.
If many people can suggest improvements before your product has launched, you'll be set for success by launch time.
Patricio Paucar
Patricio Paucar is the co-founder of Navi, an independent telecommunications startup built to put consumers in control of their wireless shopping experience. Navi helps consumers choose the best phone and plan for them to make informed financial decisions regarding wireless options.
“Gathering focus groups to give honest, unedited feedback on your product is one of the best ways to take a good product and make it better…”
Once you’ve done this initially, consider product feedback an iterative process, and reward your sales team and customer success staff for soliciting feedback anytime throughout the sales process, including post-sale, onboarding, and beyond.
Take the good and bad feedback seriously. Sometimes the best product feedback you will ever get is the feedback you didn’t want to hear.
Eric Jones
Eric Jones is the CEO of Couture Candy, a 15-year-old special occasion fashion e-commerce business.
“Collecting product feedback is crucial for…”
Understanding customer needs, identifying areas for improvement, and making informed business decisions. Here are some effective ways to collect product feedback:
- Surveys: Conducting online surveys allows you to gather structured feedback from customers. Create targeted surveys that cover specific aspects of your product, such as usability, features, or overall satisfaction. Keep the surveys concise, clear, and easy to answer to encourage maximum participation.
- Feedback Forms on Your Website: Place feedback forms on your website to give customers a convenient way to share their thoughts. Provide open-ended questions and space for comments to allow for more detailed feedback. Consider offering incentives, such as discounts or giveaways, to encourage participation.
- Customer Interviews and Focus Groups: Engage directly with customers through interviews or focus groups. These qualitative methods provide in-depth insights and allow for open discussions. You can ask about their experiences, pain points, and suggestions for improvement. Consider offering incentives to participants for their time and input.
- Social Media Listening: Monitor social media platforms and online communities to listen to conversations and gather feedback. Pay attention to mentions, comments, and reviews related to your product. Engage with customers and address their concerns promptly to show that their feedback is valued.
- User Analytics: Utilize analytics tools to gain insights into user behavior and patterns. Analyze user interactions, click-through rates, and usage data to understand how customers are using your product. This data can provide valuable insights into areas that may need improvement or optimization.
Stefan Chekanov
Stefan Chekanov is the co-founder and CEO of Brosix. Brosix is a Secure Messenger focused on helping teams work together more effectively and share information in real time.
“Adding a testimonials section to your website is the most effective way to collect product feedback…”
Most people read at least one review before making a purchase decision. Even Google displays website and product reviews in search results snippets.
You can encourage your customers to rate and review your products with a pop-up window after buying. That gives your business credibility, allows you to share success stories, and enables you to get real feedback from customers.
Andrew Chen
Andrew Chen is the Chief Product Officer for Videeo, a white-label solution for brands that want to stand apart and deliver interactive shopping experiences through live and video commerce.
“Once you know what your goals and timeline are, it’s time to release a beta version of your product…”
Your beta product should only be accessible to a relatively small group of people. This makes it easier to gather feedback and make the necessary adjustments to your product.
Make sure the product is equipped with the core features during the soft launch, as you don’t want to lose potential customers from your test group once the product is ready to go live.
Employing multiple strategies to collect product feedback ensures you gain perspectives from a broad spectrum of users. With a product feedback management solution like CallMiner Eureka, you can capture and analyze 100% of customer interactions to derive deep product intelligence insights.
While there’s still a place for solicited feedback in your product feedback strategy, unsolicited feedback goes beyond surveys, focus groups, beta testing, and other solicited feedback methods, delivering the comprehensive feedback you need to drive product development and optimize the product experience.
Frequently asked questions
How do you ask customers for product feedback?
You can ask customers for product feedback by using surveys, feedback forms, direct interviews, focus groups, beta testing, or by encouraging them to leave reviews on your website or third-party platforms. Personalized emails or prompts within the product can also be effective ways to solicit feedback.
Leveraging tools like product feedback management and product intelligence solutions enables you to collect product feedback from customers without directly asking for it. CallMiner, for example, monitors and analyzes customer interactions across every channel, providing unsolicited feedback for honest, unbiased insights into what customers really want and need.
How do product managers collect feedback?
Product managers often use a combination of tools and strategies to collect feedback. This can include customer interviews, feedback forums, user analytics, direct feedback from sales and customer support teams, and beta testing sessions.
Product managers also leverage specialized software, such as conversation intelligence solutions, to monitor and analyze every customer interaction to glean valuable unsolicited feedback.
How do you ask for product feedback examples?
When collecting product feedback, you want deeper insights beyond whether the customer or user likes or dislikes the product. Asking for specific examples helps to pinpoint features or functions that fall short and identify areas for improvement.
Here are a few ways to ask for product feedback examples:
- Can you provide specific instances or examples where our product met your needs or where it fell short?
- Could you share a detailed example of a recent experience with our product?
- Could you share a recent experience with our product that stood out to you, either positively or negatively?
- Could you provide an instance where our product made a significant impact on your work or daily routine?
- Have you noticed any particular features or aspects of our product that could be enhanced? Can you provide a specific example?
- What's a memorable interaction you've had with our product?
- Can you provide an example of how our product compares to similar products you've used in the past?
What is quality product feedback?
Quality product feedback is specific, actionable, and constructive. It provides clear insights into user needs, preferences, pain points, and competitive advantages and disadvantages.
Quality product feedback often includes suggestions or solutions that can lead to product improvement. Rather than just stating a like or dislike, it delves into the 'why' and 'how' of user experiences.
For instance, CallMiner Eureka’s product feedback management solution monitors and analyzes every customer interaction, including the meaning and intent behind customers’ words and the sentiment and emotion that drive their behavior. The platform enables you to collect valuable unsolicited feedback across channels to gain deeper insights into the product experience and customer satisfaction.
