How to get customer feedback in 2022

The importance of customer feedback is certainly not new for 2022, but understanding the importance of it and understanding how to actually obtain it are two completely different things. Asking customers for feedback can be quite intimidating as no business wants to irritate, inconvenience, or make customers feel uncomfortable by asking for their feedback. Even worse, there’s the fear of receiving, and having to deal with, negative feedback. That’s why we’re not only going to cover the benefits of asking customers to give feedback and what this can mean for your business, but we’re also going to give you some actionable tips on how to get customers to give your business feedback in the first place. So if increasing your customer feedback is a key priority for 2022 read on!

Why getting customer feedback is important

Customer feedback provides invaluable insight into the experiences and encounters your customers have had with your business. It enables you to understand why people keep coming back, why one product is more popular than another, or why your website sessions have dropped significantly, to name a few examples. Customer feedback can be used in your analytics to gain a customer-centric view of what’s happening throughout your business. This insight will direct you to problems that may need solving, or the areas to invest more heavily in that are providing more growth opportunities. You can even use customer feedback to grow your business and attract new business.

While there are boundless benefits to gaining customer feedback, how do you actually go about getting it? Below, we’ve outlined 8 of our favourite methods of gathering feedback, enjoy!

Actionable tips to gain customer feedback

Getting overwhelmed by the volume of different routes you can take to collect customer feedback is pretty common. There are countless ways to connect with customer feedback and it can be difficult to find a starting point. However, it’s very clear that taking a proactive approach to gathering and acting on customer feedback ensures that your business centres around the needs of your customers, even when those needs start evolving. Here are Review Tui’s 8 actionable tips to gain customer feedback:

1. Customer feedback surveys

Curating an insightful customer survey is an excellent way to gain feedback. While this method may sound mundane and has been around for a while, many innovations have fallen under this category that reinvigorate what a survey truly is. While many businesses still choose to use paper feedback slips there are a number of digital solutions to create a multi-channel approach. There are a lot of questions you can ask customers, however, it’s important not to overwhelm them with too many! Using answer types such as short slider questions, scale questions, pop-up surveys, and more are great for keeping surveys engaging. Emailed surveys, in particular, are excellent because customers can fill them out at their own pace and privately and securely.

2. Make it a habit

One of the best ways to get customer feedback is to make a habit of asking for it. Whether this is your customer support team asking if someone would be happy to fill out a survey after the issue has been resolved or by making a point of emailing a link to every customer it’s important you ask. You can set Key Performance Indicators and targets for staff or create automation rules with marketing software to make sure feedback is consistently requested.

3. Utilise QR codes

QR codes are one of the newer ways of gathering customer feedback. A QR code can link through to an online customer feedback survey. By simply placing QR codes at customers' tables at a cafe or restaurant, or on their product, they can leave their feedback 'in the moment' rather than once they've returned home and forgotten their experience. QR codes are now a familiar tool for many and can be utilised to connect people to feedback surveys in new and exciting ways. Add a QR code on packaging so they can give you feedback when they receive a product, add it to the tables of your restaurant or cafe so people can provide feedback in the moment. The options are almost limitless!

5.  Use your website or app

Leaving feedback in person can be quite daunting, so many people turn to the web to articulate how they’re feeling about their experience with your business. That’s why having a space on your website where customers can leave this feedback can be invaluable. Not to mention that people often think of ways your website (or app) could be improved while they’re using it, so it’s great to ensure there’s a place that’s right there where they can leave feedback.

6.  Monitor your social media accounts

Maintaining a strong community sense by engaging with your followers/customers on social media can be a game-changer. By reading and replying to comments and direct messages you can gain a clear sense of how people feel about your company. This is a free and useful method of gaining customer feedback, however, it’s important you have the resources to dedicate to managing and monitoring such messages as this can be a time-consuming job. You can search for mentions of your company on Twitter or Facebook to see what people are really saying, good and bad. And while you might not want to intrude on these conversations listening to the sentiment and pain points can help you improve future customers’ experiences.

7. Exchange a reward for the valuable feedback

A little encouragement can do no harm, especially when it comes to gaining feedback! Often, only disgruntled or extremely elated customers are motivated to leave feedback. That's why offering a little extra motivation can go a long way. By this, we mean offering some sort of incentive in exchange for a customer’s valuable feedback. This could be either a discount on future purchases, free shipping, a free sample, or anything else applicable to your business. Ensuring this incentive isn’t portrayed as a bribe by making it clear that both good and bad feedback counts ensures you’re making a genuine effort to improve your business through the input of your valued customers.

8.  Request feedback on the order confirmation page

Another effective method is to request feedback on the order confirmation page (that is if you operate an online business). Think about it: what timing could be as ideal to request feedback about a customer’s experience as right after they’ve made their purchase? When the experience of searching for the product, navigating your website, and so forth is front-of-mind is the ideal opportunity to ask for feedback. Simply leaving a link to an online survey will do the trick!

Ultimately, gaining feedback is all about making it as easy as possible for the customer. The less effort required for them to leave a review or give feedback, the more likely people are to do it. While many people are scared of asking for feedback through fear of gaining negative feedback (discover how to respond to negative feedback here), there are so many benefits that come from asking which makes it well worth your while. Collecting and analysing customer feedback is an asset to any business, providing insight into how to better cater to your customers and, as a result, increase repeat customers and overall business. However, since customers have their own busy lives to attend to, leaving feedback isn’t always a priority for them. That’s why when asking for feedback, it’s vital to consider the approach that’s best aligned and is easiest for your customers. Here at Review Tui, we embody this and understand that gaining feedback should be easy for both parties. Uncover how we achieve this by clicking on the button below.