Best Practices for Collecting Feedback in Consulting

Stop sending surveys. Seriously. They're a bad habit that gives you polite, sanitized data, not real insights. I found a way to get a 78% response rate and honest feedback by doing the exact opposite of what every marketing book recommends. Here are 5 customer research methods that beat surveys every single time: 1) WhatsApp Voice Notes > Written Surveys: ↳ People speak faster than they type ↳ Emotion comes through in voice tone ↳ No survey fatigue Method: Send a voice note asking ONE specific question "Hey [Name], quick question - what made you choose us over [competitor]?" 2) Watch Usage > Ask About Usage: ↳ What people do ≠ what they say they do ↳ Behavior reveals truth, words reveal intentions Method: Screen recordings + heatmaps show reality Ask: "How often do you use feature X?" → They say "daily" Data shows: Last used 3 weeks ago 3) Churned Customer Calls > Happy Customer Testimonials: ↳ Satisfaction bias makes happy customers less honest ↳ Churned customers have nothing to lose Method: Call customers who cancelled in the last 30 days "What could we have done differently to keep you?" Most brutal, most valuable insights you'll get. 4) Social Media Stalking > Focus Groups: ↳ Real conversations happen on Twitter/LinkedIn ↳ Unfiltered opinions in natural settings Method: Search "[your brand] OR [competitor] OR [problem you solve]" People complaining/praising without knowing you're watching. 5) Customer Success Team Coffee Chats > Executive Surveys: ↳ Front-line teams hear the real feedback daily ↳ Filter gets removed when it's informal Method: Weekly coffee with CS/Sales teams "What are customers actually saying?" Not the sanitized feedback that reaches leadership. The Pattern I've Noticed: The closer you get to natural conversation, the better the insights. → Formal surveys = What customers think you want to hear → Informal chats = What customers actually think My personal favourite: Join Customer WhatsApp Groups/Communities- I have joined discord & reddit communities Don't moderate. Don't participate initially. Just observe. How they talk about problems. What words they use. Their real frustrations. Pure gold for messaging and positioning. The Reality:Most "customer insights" are actually "customer politeness." People won't tell you your product sucks on a formal survey. They will tell their friend on a WhatsApp call. Your job? Be the friend, not the survey. Which method are you going to try first?

Getting the right feedback will transform your job as a PM. More scalability, better user engagement, and growth. But most PMs don’t know how to do it right. Here’s the Feedback Engine I’ve used to ship highly engaging products at unicorns & large organizations: — Right feedback can literally transform your product and company. At Apollo, we launched a contact enrichment feature. Feedback showed users loved its accuracy, but... They needed bulk processing. We shipped it and had a 40% increase in user engagement. Here’s how to get it right: — 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝟭: 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗙𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 Most PMs get this wrong. They collect feedback randomly with no system or strategy. But remember: your output is only as good as your input. And if your input is messy, it will only lead you astray. Here’s how to collect feedback strategically: → Diversify your sources: customer interviews, support tickets, sales calls, social media & community forums, etc. → Be systematic: track feedback across channels consistently. → Close the loop: confirm your understanding with users to avoid misinterpretation. — 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝟮: 𝗔𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘆𝘇𝗲 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 Analyzing feedback is like building the foundation of a skyscraper. If it’s shaky, your decisions will crumble. So don’t rush through it. Dive deep to identify patterns that will guide your actions in the right direction. Here’s how: Aggregate feedback → pull data from all sources into one place. Spot themes → look for recurring pain points, feature requests, or frustrations. Quantify impact → how often does an issue occur? Map risks → classify issues by severity and potential business impact. — 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝟯: 𝗔𝗰𝘁 𝗼𝗻 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝘀 Now comes the exciting part: turning insights into action. Execution here can make or break everything. Do it right, and you’ll ship features users love. Mess it up, and you’ll waste time, effort, and resources. Here’s how to execute effectively: Prioritize ruthlessly → focus on high-impact, low-effort changes first. Assign ownership → make sure every action has a responsible owner. Set validation loops → build mechanisms to test and validate changes. Stay agile → be ready to pivot if feedback reveals new priorities. — 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝟰: 𝗠𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁 What can’t be measured, can’t be improved. If your metrics don’t move, something went wrong. Either the feedback was flawed, or your solution didn’t land. Here’s how to measure: → Set KPIs for success, like user engagement, adoption rates, or risk reduction. → Track metrics post-launch to catch issues early. → Iterate quickly and keep on improving on feedback. — In a nutshell... It creates a cycle that drives growth and reduces risk: → Collect feedback strategically. → Analyze it deeply for actionable insights. → Act on it with precision. → Measure its impact and iterate. — P.S. How do you collect and implement feedback?

Every company says they listen to customers. But most just hear them. There's a difference. After spending years building feedback loops, here's what I've learned: Feedback isn't about collecting data. It's about creating change. Most companies fail at feedback because: - They send random surveys - They collect scattered feedback - They store insights in silos - They never close the loop The result? Frustrated customers. Missed opportunities. Lost revenue. Here's how to build real feedback loops: 1. Gather feedback intelligently - NPS isn't enough - CSAT tells half the story - One channel never works Instead: - Run targeted post-interaction surveys - Conduct deep-dive customer interviews - Analyze product usage patterns - Monitor support conversations - Build customer advisory boards - Track social mentions 2. Create a single source of truth - Consolidate feedback from everywhere - Tag and categorize insights - Track trends over time - Make it accessible to everyone 3. Turn feedback into action - Prioritize based on impact - Align with business goals - Create clear ownership - Set implementation timelines But here's the most important part: Close the loop. When customers give feedback: - Acknowledge it immediately - Update them on progress - Show them implemented changes - Demonstrate their impact The biggest mistakes I see: Feedback Overload: - Collecting too much data - No clear action plan - Analysis paralysis Biased Collection: - Listening to the loudest voices - Ignoring silent majority - Over-indexing on complaints Slow Response: - Taking months to act - No progress updates - Lost customer trust Remember: Good feedback loops aren't about tools. They're about trust. Every piece of feedback is a customer saying: "I care enough to help you improve." Don't waste that trust. The best companies don't just collect feedback. They turn it into visible change. They show customers their voice matters. They build trust through action. Start small: 1. Pick one feedback channel 2. Create a clear process 3. Act quickly on insights 4. Show results 5. Scale what works Your customers are talking. Are you really listening? More importantly, are you acting? What's your approach to customer feedback? How do you close the loop? ------------------ ▶️ Want to see more content like this and also connect with other CS & SaaS enthusiasts? You should join Tidbits. We do short round-ups a few times a week to help you learn what it takes to be a top-notch customer success professional. Join 1999+ community members! 💥 [link in the comments section]

I've seen too many enterprise software companies get caught with customers in the 𝗙𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗽: • Promise too much = lose focus • Listen too little = lose trust I was super lucky to have two incredibly product-minded co-founders in Ted and Joshua. Of the many things I learned from them, one that has really stuck with me is that while customers understand their pain points better than anyone, they're not best positioned to solve that pain - they're too close to it and just don't have as many data points across variants of that pain, resulting in a failure of imagination as to the optimal solution. Customer feedback is absolute gold, but that doesn't mean every nugget should get directly translated into the product roadmap. The topic came up during the AMA after our Logicbroker All Hands last week - here's what I shared with my team:  1. 𝗟𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗹𝘆 - Make sure the customer is heard and build a 3D model of their pain in your head by probing into the granular details of what they're dealing with 2. 𝗦𝗲𝘁 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆 - Thank them for the feedback and communicate how this will inform related product research as we work towards an optimal solution 3. 𝗘𝘅𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 - Have we already solved this pain point, but in a counterintuitive way? Educate the customer on how other clients are successfully handling this today. Encourage them to try it out and share back additional feedback to round out our understanding 4. 𝗗𝗼𝗰𝘂𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 - Advocate for clients by employing methodologies like RICE (Reach x Impact x Confidence / Effort) to map feedback to prospective projects in a structured way that will automatically reprioritize initiatives as incremental data points are collected over time  5. 𝗙𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝘂𝗽 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗹𝘆 - In subsequent client QBRs, share new learnings around initiatives their feedback has matured. Be transparent about where they fall in the company's priorities and update on new related releases that may partially address their original pain point  Valuing customer feedback and protecting the product roadmap are not mutually exclusive. These two goals are inherently intertwined and mutually reinforcing. Building every client request will degrade the product, but ignoring client feedback will also degrade the product - it's a fine balance. Customers don't need a 'yes' - they need to be able to trust that you're listening and leading with purpose.