Learning from Customer Feedback

Customer feedback = growth Go find criticism & use it (steal this) 👇 — A lot of founders avoid critical feedback. Instead, I actively seek it out. After the end of every demo, I ask customers frankly on how we stack up. After every lost deal, I explicitly ask for 1-2 reasons why we didn't meet expectations. Is it hard to hear? Of course. But it’s BY FAR the fastest way to improve, and (call me crazy) it lights a fire in me ever time. Compound this over 5+ customer calls each day and you end up with a gold mine of actionable data. Aside from being a good way to get lots of direct feedback, it generates real revenue (even if it’s indirect), by: → Turning customers into loyal fans/friends/partners → Boosting retention → Primitively solving problems Most importantly, these conversations help me see Supademo through our customers' eyes. And I use their POV to drive improvement. I can ask: → "Would I be amazed using our platform for my product?" → "Would this actually drive revenue for me?" → "Would I want to put this in front of my customers?" If it's not a "hell yes" - I know we’ve got work to do. This is why I'll never stop searching for reasons why our platform isn’t winning more. // So if you’re a founder, and you haven’t heard any criticism in a while... Go find some.

Had a tough conversation last week. A long-time Pavilion member told me I'd broken his trust.  When you run a community, there are going to be lots of people that love what you do and lots of people that… don’t.  Here’s what I’ve learned about having difficult customer conversations. FIRST, SOME CLARIFICATION He was right. On the substance of the feedback, he was right.  He was also angry. And… sort of nasty. He'd been with us since the early days. Contributed ideas. Showed up. Built relationships. Mentored some of the younger folks who were up and coming.  Then we got bigger. Changed things. Made promises we didn't keep. He felt forgotten. At the same time there was an edge to his comments that felt almost masochistic. So what do you do when someone is sharing useful feedback but doing it in such a way they’re sort of acting like an asshole. Step 1: Don’t debate Not my natural instinct.  I can get quite defensive and want to defend myself. Often, your angry customers are sharing something that is explicitly not true. And they’re unfair. And… It doesn’t matter Because we're not here to score points. We’re here to listen. Step 2: Find the signal Once you know that you’re not in a pissing contest and you can stabilize your fight or flight instinct, you can get to work. What’s being said that’s true? What’s being said that’s useful? You don’t lose anything by simply working hard to find the pieces of feedback that are relevant and accurate. Step 3: Be grateful The hardest feedback to hear is the feedback that's true. Trust takes years to build. Seconds to break. And forever to repair. But here's what I've learned about trust and feedback: The people who care enough to tell you when you've failed them are gold. Most people just leave. They ghost. They talk behind your back. They smile and nod and disappear. The ones who sit across from you and say "You broke my trust"? They are giving you a gift. They're saying: "I still care enough to be angry." They're saying: "I want this to work." They're saying: "Fix this." Every leader breaks trust sometimes. We make decisions that hurt people. We prioritize wrong. We forget our promises. The question isn't whether you'll break trust. The question is what you do when someone tells you. Do you defend? Do you deflect? Do you justify? Or do you shut up and listen? Trust isn't built in the big moments. It's built in the response to failure. In the willingness to hear hard truths. In the commitment to do better. Not just say better. Do better. I’ve made my share of mistakes over the years and the single biggest thing I’m working on is the ability to listen without defensiveness. And to get to work incorporating that feedback on the journey to improvement. Every single day.

I read customer feedback every day. Even now, at our scale. Most CEOs stop doing this after 50 employees. I never let go of it. Here’s why:   The closer you are to your customers, the closer you are to building something they truly need.   My daily ritual: • I monitor every customer request in Canny. • If I miss anything, I review an AI summary (but I rarely miss them). • I spend time in our community, talking directly to users.   People say this doesn’t scale. They’re wrong.   Some users send me full PRDs. Others record videos showing exactly what they need. Some even write docs about what we should build next.   I’ve hired multiple product managers directly from our community. They were users first. They knew every detail of our product before joining.   Our roadmap? Half community requests, half our vision.   The result: We went from $0 to $10M ARR bootstrapped, in one of the most competitive categories out there.   Your customers will tell you how to build a billion-dollar product if you’re actually listening.   How close are you to your customer feedback loop?

It took me 2 years to understand the real growth engine for a D2C brand—Customer Feedback. When we started BabyOrgano, I believed that if our product was great, success would follow automatically. But I quickly realized that no matter how good you think your product is, the real validation comes from your customers. Early on, we relied on our vision, but the real transformation happened when we started actively listening to our customers. → A mother mentioned her child found the taste too strong, so we tweaked the formulation. → Some parents struggled with packaging, so we made it more convenient. → A customer suggested a better way to explain our product benefits, so we improved our messaging. Every review, every suggestion, and every piece of feedback became a roadmap for us to build something even better. The result? More trust, stronger relationships, and a brand that truly resonates with parents. Ratan Tata once said, “If you want to walk fast, walk alone. But if you want to walk far, walk together.” In the D2C world, your customers are the ones walking with you. If you’re in D2C, here’s something I’ve learned: Your customers are giving you a blueprint for success every single day. Are you paying attention to the customer feedback? #CustomerFeedback #Entrepreneurship #BabyOrgano

Stop treating customer feedback like Jira tickets, if you want to improve your product. I hear so many product managers still use terms like "request" or "feature request" or "customer request." And I really dislike this. It's already setting the wrong expectations and the wrong tone because it suggests that someone is requesting something from you. Hence, you should give them what they request. But here's the thing: feedback isn't a ticket. It's a signal. When you mix customer or sales "requests" directly into your product backlog, you've already said "yes" without thinking. You're playing feature factory, not building strategy. So what should you do instead? 𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁, kill the word "request." Call it what it is: feedback. Language shapes expectations. 𝗦𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗱, separate your workflows. Create a dedicated feedback repository - not mixed with your product opportunities. This protects your product integrity and gives your team actual space for discovery. 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗿𝗱 - and this is where it gets powerful - link relevant feedback excerpts to your opportunities, epics, or initiatives. Don't copy-paste. Link. Why? Because now you can: • Aggregate insights across time and customer segments • Detect trends (is that "AI chatbot" request gaining traction?) • Build prioritization confidence (are your top-tier customers behind this?) Here's what this looks like in practice: Let's say you get feedback about needing an AI chatbot. Instead of creating a ticket, you capture it as feedback. Then you realize - wait, this applies to both our desktop AND mobile teams. So you link that same feedback to opportunities in both workspaces. Now both teams have context. No duplication. No telephone game. Plus, you can clearly see how many customers have given this feedback and which segments it's coming from. The result? When your PM sits down to write a PRD or define a problem, 80% of it writes itself. They're not flying blind - they're guided by validated signals from actual customers. They can transparently communicate why certain decisions were made. The go-to-market teams feel heard because they can see exactly how their feedback connects to product work. It's not about ignoring what customers want. It's about treating their input as valuable data points that inform your strategy - not as a to-do list. Because at the end of the day, customers don't know what needs to be built in most cases. They have pains and wishes. But those are feedback signals that you need to sort and organize along with all the other signals - your five-year strategy, your one-year initiatives, your technical constraints. Request simply doesn't fit in that map. How do you handle the flood of feedback without turning your roadmap into a wishlist?

A client told me AI could do better work than my team at Autus Digital. That call stung. We pushed boundaries. We delivered what we thought was excellence. The meeting ended with those words hanging in the air. I hung up and immediately called my team. No sugarcoating. I shared the feedback directly. Then I made a decision that changed how we operate. We launched AI learning sessions that same week. I committed to reimbursing any AI tools they purchased. The response surprised me. The team didn't resist. They leaned in. Here's what I learned: The market doesn't care about your effort. It cares about results. For years, we encouraged personal touches in our work. We believed human creativity alone would win. But the client showed me a blind spot. Speed matters. Output quality at scale matters. AI amplifies both. We're not replacing the human element. We're multiplying it. 🚀 My team now delivers faster without sacrificing quality. The tools handle repetitive tasks. Our people focus on strategy and creativity that actually moves needles. That harsh client call became our catalyst. Sometimes feedback that hurts the most teaches the best lessons. If your clients aren't pushing you to evolve, you're probably not listening hard enough. The gap between what you think is great and what the market demands? That's where growth lives. What's the toughest client feedback that forced you to level up?

Years ago, I worked for a retail brand. After launching the group loyalty program, we planned to roll out a loyalty app. But I pushed back. I didn’t want to launch just another app. I wanted something so useful that customers would download it without needing incentives. During brainstorming, stakeholders pitched trendy ideas: gamification, community, app-only vouchers. While valid, none felt like they solved real customer problems. So, I spoke to our customers. Their feedback shaped the app’s first feature: scanning for merchandise availability in-store. So unexciting, right? But it solved a huge problem. Customers often couldn’t find their sizes and felt awkward asking staff for help. Meanwhile, shop staff were tired of running to the backroom to check. The result? Customers loved it. They downloaded the app. Staff recommended it enthusiastically. Lesson learned: Many loyalty managers chase “sexy” solutions instead of truly listening to customers. Even if a flashy idea seems worth solving, understanding how customers frame their problems is key. Listen first. Solve what matters. #CustomerLoyalty #CustomerExperience #LoyaltyPrograms

“The customer is always right.” Except when they’re not… One of the biggest mistakes I see in companies: Listening too much to customer feedback — and acting on all of it. Yes, feedback is gold. But here are at least 3 things to keep in mind: 1️⃣ Customers don’t know your roadmap. 2️⃣ They don’t see your long-term strategy. 3️⃣ They just want their problem solved, right now. And if you’re not careful, you end up building a custom solution for one user instead of solving a real problem for many. That’s how you drift from vision. Even worse? You end up owning technical debt from features no one else wants. So, how do you handle feedback thoughtfully? This is what I’ve been using as a Head of Product: 1️⃣ Tag feedback by theme, not individual voice If you hear it once, take note. If you hear it 5+ times from different ICP-aligned users, that’s a signal. Look for patterns, not outliers. 2️⃣ Map it to your product vision Every idea should answer: “Does this move us closer to our North Star?” If not, thank them, but park it. 3️⃣ Distinguish “urgent” from “important” Just because someone’s loud (or ready to pay) doesn’t mean it’s scalable. Ask: “Will this make the product better for 100 others?” 4️⃣ Push back – thoughtfully Great customers appreciate transparency. Explain the “why,” and often they’ll offer an even better idea once they see the bigger picture. Customer feedback is a mirror, not a map. Use it to reflect, not reroute. How do YOU evaluate and filter feedback in your team?

There is only one type of company that will survive in the future. And no, this has nothing to do with AI. It’s the companies that collect, manage, and act on customer feedback. A few years ago, I was preparing to roll out a new program focused on enablement, education, and engagement. Instead of building it in a vacuum, I interviewed 20 different customers to get their feedback on what I was planning. Not only did this shape the final design, but when I rolled it out, I shared back with the broader customer base how their peers’ voices had directly influenced what we built. That one decision did three things instantly: 1️⃣ Showed we cared. 2️⃣ Illustrated that we listen. 3️⃣ Encouraged even more customers to share in the future. And the program? It became one of our most successful launches. Feedback isn’t just “nice to have.” It’s your survival strategy. Because when customers tell you what’s working and what’s not they’re giving you a free roadmap to: ❗ Fix broken experiences before they become deal breakers. ❗ Double down on what’s driving loyalty and expansion. ❗ Spot emerging needs before your competitors do. But here’s the part most leaders miss: every team in the business can tap into customer feedback and act on it. ✅ Marketing can refine messaging by listening to how customers describe their wins and struggles. ✅ Sales can tailor discovery questions based on feedback about what attracted (or repelled) prospects. ✅ Support sees trends in recurring tickets that point to product or education gaps. ✅ Services hears firsthand how onboarding and implementation shape customer confidence. ✅ Product can prioritize the features that customers say would truly move the needle. ✅ Customer Success uncovers both risks and expansion opportunities through ongoing conversations. ✅ Finance can better forecast retention and growth by understanding feedback-driven health signals. The insights are everywhere. The real power comes when companies can connect the dots across all teams and turn feedback into coordinated action. And this is where I see the biggest roadblock: Companies struggle to manage feedback across the business in a meaningful way. It’s siloed, scattered, and often disconnected from strategy. So let me ask: Is this a challenge you’re seeing in your organization too?

Over the last several weeks, Tipalti has hosted several customer advisory boards across the globe. One in NYC for US clients (by Far our best attended ever!), one EU CAB in Amsterdam, and our first-ever internal CAB with key customer-facing subject matter experts. CABs are an excellent way to engage with and deepen client relationships, but the real objective is to get deeper, more contextualized customer feedback to better inform your product and other business-related decisions. Here are a few insights I have garnered from our recent experiences: 1. The Impact of Listening: The power of Active Listening (aka #reflecting) can never be understated. Hearing first hand feedback from a customer while you look them in the eye, asking questions to clarify understanding, and then expressing that you are genuinely considering that feedback into your decision-making helps to improve your business while making customers more loyal. These conversations also help ensure your team is putting the customer at the center of their decision-making. 2. The Power of Human Connection: There is a distinct difference to capturing feedback in-person vs digital methods of capturing need. Businesses often prefer to use spreadsheets to make decisions and that is very important. But relying too heavily and solely on this, without getting the deeper understanding of Why clients care about certain things and without fully appreciating the Emotion and excitement or frustration levels tied to the feedback can lead you off track. There is an important place for human-to-human interaction in business and those who get that will ultimately run a more successful business imo. 3. The Value of Collaboration: These CABs are, by nature, cross-functional efforts to pull off. Customer marketing may pull the event all together, customer success and account management helps to recruit attendees, product guides much of the content and conversation, and customers may also help to inform the topics and agenda too. At the event, everyone is engaging with one another. After the event, these different groups need to synthesize the input, prioritize it, share the learnings with business leaders, and action the learnings. These are big undertakings but they pull the entire company together to focus on the customer as their north star and that alone is transformative. Thank you to Leslie Barrett, Paola Johnson, Veronica Wynkoop, Irina Musteata, Reut Golan, Gil Vind Picciotto and everyone involved in making these 3 CABs a great success!