How to Get Customer Feedback and Why It’s Essential for Business Success

“Quality in a product or service is not what you put into it. It is what the customer gets out of it.”

Peter Drucker was a renowned American management consultant and author. His writings and work have significantly influenced modern business corporations. Through his contributions, he helped lay the foundations of how businesses operate today. This is why, he is also known as  “the founder of modern management”.

What Peter Drucker is effectively saying is that it is the customer who has the say on what is valuable and good or otherwise. You may believe you’re offering the best product or service to your clients. However, this is only true if your clients perceive it that way too.

Thus, to make sure your opinion and your customers’ perception are indeed the same, the question becomes how do you know what your customers’ perceptions are so you can meet their expectations?

As a management consultant and business mentor, I often need to help my clients truly understand the importance of customer feedback. It is through collecting and acting on customer feedback indeed that helps you keep a pulse on your business. This is how you make sure you don’t only meet but exceed customer expectations which in turn keeps you at the top of your game.

When I talk to my clients about boosting business growth and increasing revenues, oftentimes the very first step we take is to try and understand their clients, as their perception is the reality we are working with.

Whether a retailer, a service provider, or a manufacturer, there is always a way to get good, constructive customer feedback that will help you improve your offering. Depending on your size and type of business you are in, some approaches will be more suitable than others but generally these are the ways you can go:

Market Research Companies

Market research companies are often used by large businesses. The scope of information required, due to factors like geography or diverse product offerings, can be overwhelming. These organizations rely on experts to handle research effectively. Researchers can conduct interviews or online surveys, and collect and analyse the data for you. The advantage of availing of market research companies is that as outsiders they are objective when it comes to analysing the results. That is to say, data won’t be distorted as is sometimes the case with employees defending the status quo. Market research can be expensive for small businesses. For service providers with fewer clients, it may not be worth the cost. These firms can often collect necessary information themselves.

Internal Interviews

Small to mid-sized businesses might be better off conducting interviews on their own instead of using a market research company. For small-scale retailers or professional service firms, assigning one person to handle client interviews is straightforward. This can be done either over the phone or in person. With the right attitude and carefully prepared questions, an interview can be completed in just 5–10 minutes. People are often open to sharing their experiences when approached thoughtfully.

The information collected could be invaluable if the analysis is handled objectively. With that in mind, oftentimes small businesses organise the interviews internally and then have a market research company handle just the analysis. What is crucial here however is how you formulate the questions. Make sure they are clear and concise and most importantly, the answer they invite for is the answer to what you want to know.

Online Surveys

There are several survey platforms out there that are very straightforward to set up and use and are thus a good option for both large and small organisations. Many of these platforms offer a free version which is particularly good if your respondent pool is small enough. Otherwise, there’s a fee but compared to what you’d pay a market research company, it is nothing. Some of the most popular platforms are for example:

Qualtricks – A lot of professional research companies use Qualtricks as it offers a wide range of tools. It is only free of charge for up to 250 responses however which makes it good for small to mid-sized organisations if expense is a factor for you.

Survey Monkey – This platform is highly popular among data scientists and offers a wide range of tools. However, the free version limits survey respondents and doesn’t allow data export, which can be frustrating.

Survey Gizmo – Another great platform that could also be used for free. Its free version offers an unlimited number of surveys, fancy templates, and data exported into a spreadsheet. It is good for small service providers for example as it has a limit of 50 respondents on its free version.

Google Forms – This might be the best option cost-wise. It’s free and has no limit on the number of respondents. It offers various themes, the option to embed photos and videos, and automatically adds data into Google Spreadsheets. This makes it incredibly convenient and efficient.

The advantage of using online surveys is that they are easy to set up and less time-consuming compared to interviews. If you are to go with an online survey however please keep in mind that the longer it is, the fewer responses you will get. The survey should be no longer than 5 minutes and make sure the respondent knows that at the very start.

Employee Feedback

This approach works well because customers are asked for feedback on the spot. It captures their thoughts while they are making a purchase, making them more likely to be open and honest. Employees may hesitate to share negative feedback. Unfortunately, this reluctance prevents you from accessing the most valuable insights.

You can encourage employees to share negative feedback by offering incentives. Alternatively, make the reporting process anonymous to ensure no one feels personally blamed. You could have your employees give customers a brief (3 to 4 questions) survey to fill out on the spot. Customers can then drop the completed surveys into a sealed box.

Whatever approach you take to collecting customer feedback it is most certainly better than not listening to your customers at all. Your customers’ perception of your organisation is practically what drives you forward or holds you back. By asking what customers like and dislike, you can address issues with your products or services. Additionally, this feedback can inspire creative solutions that may become a competitive advantage. Customer feedback could be indeed a great source of innovation when put into use smartly.