Once you understand what customers need, it becomes relatively easy to provide those features in your product. It also becomes relatively easy to retain customers \u2014 since they won\u2019t have to go elsewhere when you\u2019re doing what they expect from you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So yes, feedback is crucial. But the question is how do you get it? For answers, I\u2019ve collated how ten top brands effectively get customer feedback so you can learn from them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1- SiteGround<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
SiteGround<\/a> is one of the most popular webhost providers on the Internet. They\u2019ve won several awards, from Best Hosting Support <\/em>to Hosting Uptime Award<\/em> to Best Shared Hosting<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But the brand doesn\u2019t seem to let its success go to its head. It prioritizes the value of customer feedback<\/strong>. SiteGround provides three different channels through which customers leave feedback 24\/7: tickets, live chat and phone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On top of these three customer feedback channels, the hosting service takes it further by asking users to rate each customer service rep that attends to them after a live chat. Once you finish chatting with a SiteGround rep and close the chat window, you\u2019ll be automatically redirected to a new window where you\u2019re asked rate your experience with the rep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once you rate the agent by tapping anywhere from one to five stars and clicking the Rate <\/strong>button, you\u2019re redirected to another window where you\u2019re asked to leave a review.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After clicking the Submit a review <\/strong>button, you\u2019ll be redirected to Yelp<\/a> \u2014 a third party site where the feedback you submit is seen by other people looking for reviews about the brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Image source<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n SiteGround is one of those businesses who see that customer feedback is as important as the business itself.<\/strong> And this is why they\u2019ve made it super easy for their users to leave reviews about their brand and service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hyatt is a hotel that is well-known for delivering great customer experiences. They seem to always know what their users want when they want it. How do they do this? They\u2019ve built their entire brand around customer feedback. Virtually every company that\u2019s been able to figure out most of their customer needs has a great feedback gathering process. And Hyatt is no different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The multinational franchiser of hotels uses two main channels to collect feedback from customers:<\/p>\n\n\n\n For (1) social media<\/strong>, they encourage customers to share their experiences with their hotels, resorts or vacation properties on Twitter and Instagram using any of their two hashtags \u2014 #WorldOfHyatt<\/a> and #WorldOfunderstanding<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n I<\/em><\/a>mage source<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n This is one easy way to get feedback because users already want to share their experiences with friends on social media when they visit interesting places like Hyatt hotels and resorts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So it\u2019s a win-win for the brand and its consumers: customers share beautiful pictures of themselves in Hyatt\u2019s properties with their friends on social media and Hyatt gets the feedback (and publicity, too).<\/p>\n\n\n\n For (2) feedback forms on target pages on their site, <\/strong>Hyatt adds a special \u201cfeedback\u201d button on their hotel reservation page (and even some other pages, too):<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Image source<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Once that button is clicked through, you get this box below (in the red square) where you can leave feedback about your experience with the brand:<\/p>\n\n\n\n This way, Hyatt is collecting feedback from multiple sources and that plays a major role in how they seem to always be able to \u201cfigure out\u201d who their customers are and what they want.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Read more on How Hyatt rebranded their business with customer feedback here.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the things Uber drivers are known for these days is how much they care about their ratings. This is because, if users (riders) keep rating them poorly, they get in trouble with the car sharing service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Uber has this on their website<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cReal-time feedback about drivers means Uber can correct for issues big and small \u2013 while ensuring that only the best drivers stay on the road. We take this feedback seriously \u2013 depending on the circumstances, rider feedback may lead to deactivating a partner from the system or serve as validation that the driver is providing great service.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n So once Uber notices a certain driver has been getting too many downvotes from users, it penalizes the driver. In other words, feedback pretty much determines who drives (makes money) on Uber and who doesn\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And they made it so easy for riders to leave the feedback:<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Image source: <\/em>Techcrunch<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n With simple taps on the mobile app, you can rate a driver anywhere from zero to five stars, and even add comments if you have anything to say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Like what you read? We\u2019ve written a full post on How Uber delivers an excellent customer experience.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n If there\u2019s a brand that once suffered majorly from a backlash due to the lack of gathering customer feedback, it\u2019s Dell<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This giant computer brand had the whole internet against it when a dear user was dissatisfied by a Dell product. If they\u2019d been listening to customers before they had an unhappy user turn on them, maybe they\u2019d have been able avoid the unfortunate flack they received.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But of course, Dell learned from the situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Former Vice President of Global Services at Dell, Jan Uhrich, said: \u201cWe believe that through customer feedback, we are able to grow and evolve our solutions for increased efficiency and ever-better customer satisfaction. Consistent results across multiple categories exemplify Dell\u2019s dedication to putting customers first.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n So how does Dell now collect feedback? IdeaStorm<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The computer giant began to take feedback so seriously that they built a separate website (IdeaStorm) just for Dell users to leave reviews and complaints. And reviews that get the most comments and votes from other Dell users on the forum become prioritized and taken more seriously by the company.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Read more on How Listening to Customers Helped Dell Leap from Worst to First.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Whether it\u2019s their watches, phones, desktops or laptops, Apple<\/a> marketers operate like mind readers of their target audience. They keep releasing new versions of their products and customers don\u2019t seem to get tired of buying them. Why? Apple makes collecting feedback a major priority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Steve Jobs once said<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd one of the things I\u2019ve always found is that\u200a\u2014\u200ayou\u2019ve got to start with the customer experience and work backwards to the technology. You can\u2019t start with the technology and try to figure out where you\u2019re going to try to sell it. And I\u2019ve made this mistake probably more than anybody else in this room. And I\u2019ve got the scar tissue to prove it. And I know that it\u2019s the case.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n So how does Apple collect feedback? One of their most visible customer feedback channels is the Net Promoter Score (NPS) system:<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Image source: <\/em>Hiver<\/em><\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The NPS helps you ask customers the simple \u201cHow likely are you to recommend this business to a friend or colleague?\u201d question. On the scale of one to ten, users who rate you anywhere from zero to six are not so likely to recommend you; they\u2019re called detractors<\/strong>. Those who rate you between seven to ten are more likely to recommend your business \u2014 these users are known as promoters<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Image source: Atlassian<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n If you get more promoters than detractors, your Net Promoter Score will be positive. And if your detractors are greater than promoters, you\u2019ll get a negative score. A positive NPS simply means most of your customers are happy with your business. But a negative score means you\u2019ll need to dig deeper and find out what you need to do to improve customer satisfaction.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n You can read more about How Customer Feedback Surveys Helps Apple Maintains Industry Leadership here.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Timberland<\/a> is a huge footwear brand in the fashion industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There was a time the brand felt all they needed to know about their customers is that they are shoe lovers (and they are!). But after long years of a blurred product roadmap and unfocused marketing efforts, Timberland finally realized they needed to get closer to their customers and find out who they really were, above and beyond their adoration of shoes.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Former Brand President at Timberland, Stewart Whitney, said<\/a>: \u201cWhen you go after lots of consumers, with lots of messages, the odds are higher for a misfire…The fact that we didn\u2019t stand for anything distinctly meant we didn\u2019t really resonate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n So the brand decided customer feedback had to be a priority for them if they were ever going to be able to target a specific audience and boost revenue. Timberland then teamed up with global retailer VF Corp and collected customer feedback from 18,000 buyers in eight countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now if you shop on the Timberland<\/a> site, you\u2019re encouraged to write a review.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On top of that, Timberland also encourages customers to leave feedback via a button on the right side of most of their webpages:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once that button is clicked, you get redirected to a page where you\u2019re asked to submit customer feedback:<\/p>\n\n\n\n This way, Timberland has moved on from guessing what their customers need from their brand to actually finding out what they need by asking them.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Read more on How Customer Knowledge Got Timberland Back on Track.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Top fashion retailer Nordstrom<\/a> is another brand that is well-known for being up-to-date with the expectations of customers. And what\u2019s their secret formula for knowing what their customers need and when they need it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n You guessed right: customer feedback. Nordstrom uses quite a lot of their resources to gather data from their customers. One of the most notable customer feedback generation efforts for the brand is Innovation Lab.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n They established this lab <\/em>as a means for their employees to see what information their customers have provided so far, and encourage employee input on how Nordstrom can serve the public better using that information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Data Scientist at Nordstrom Innovation Lab, Erin Shellman, puts it this way: \u201cThe goal of the Nordstrom Data Lab<\/em> is to deliver data-driven products to inform business decisions internally, and to enhance customer experience externally.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another notable feedback tool Nordstrom uses is a form that pops out right in the middle of your screen after you\u2019ve spent some time on their site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Through these means, the fashion brand is able to seamlessly collect information from customers and react accordingly to keep satisfying them.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Learn more on How Customer Satisfaction ranks Nordstrom at the top of its industry.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n After Spotify, Deezer<\/a> is arguably the most popular music streaming site today. The company launched in 2007 and now has over 16 million active listeners, about 5 million of whom pay for access to an impressive catalog of over 35 million songs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But as virtually every brand out there has started catching up with the customer feedback trend \u2014 seeing the value in it, Deezer has also launched the Deezer Community to always be updated on what consumers are saying about them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They created this community with the aim of having their users talk to one another about music and Deezer. It\u2019s a new development in their company that just launched about a week ago \u2014 October 30, 2017. In the news on their site, Deezer says:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere\u2019s no better way to discover music than through other people. As the saying goes, the more we share the more we have. Whether you\u2019ve first discovered music through your older brother\u2019s rap tapes, your mother\u2019s favorite radio station or your father\u2019s vinyls, the fact remains that music has so much more meaning when it is shared. This is why we\u2019ve created the Deezer Community, so you can share your thoughts on music and find music lovers like you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n So for Deezer, starting a community where users and customers talk to one another is the way to go to keep up-to-date and savvy about what consumers are saying and thinking.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n More info here: How customer centricity allows Deezer to boost subscriptions.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Best Buy<\/a> is a giant consumer electronics company in America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The uses a number of channels<\/a> to collect feedback, but one that\u2019s really notable is how it rewards customers to write reviews about its brand and products. Once you purchase an item on their site and leave a review, you get rewarded with bonus points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Every customer who writes a review scores 25 bonus points which can be redeemed when they\u2019re next making purchases on Best Buy. The concept works for customers who think, \u201cWhy don\u2019t I just write the review and earn free money?\u201d And who doesn\u2019t like freebies?<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"feedback](\"https:\/\/skeepers.io\/app\/uploads\/2022\/10\/feedback-4.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"top](\"https:\/\/skeepers.io\/app\/uploads\/2022\/10\/top-brands.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"customer](\"https:\/\/skeepers.io\/app\/uploads\/2022\/10\/customer-answer-1.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/skeepers.io\/app\/uploads\/2022\/10\/feedback-customer.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n2- Hyatt<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n
![\"instagram](\"https:\/\/skeepers.io\/app\/uploads\/2022\/10\/instagram-feedback.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"feedback](\"https:\/\/skeepers.io\/app\/uploads\/2022\/10\/feedback-arrow.jpg\"){kind=icon}
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"feedback](\"https:\/\/skeepers.io\/app\/uploads\/2022\/10\/feedback-website.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n3- UBER<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"uber\"](\"https:\/\/skeepers.io\/app\/uploads\/2022\/10\/uber.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"uber](\"https:\/\/skeepers.io\/app\/uploads\/2022\/10\/uber-feedback.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n4- Dell<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"laptop](\"https:\/\/skeepers.io\/app\/uploads\/2022\/10\/laptop-website.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"website](\"https:\/\/skeepers.io\/app\/uploads\/2022\/10\/website-intro.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n5- Apple<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"apple](\"https:\/\/skeepers.io\/app\/uploads\/2022\/10\/apple-watch.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"NPS](\"https:\/\/skeepers.io\/app\/uploads\/2022\/10\/NPS.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n6- Timberland<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"timberland](\"https:\/\/skeepers.io\/app\/uploads\/2022\/10\/timberland-coat.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"timberland](\"https:\/\/skeepers.io\/app\/uploads\/2022\/10\/timberland-feedback.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"timberland](\"https:\/\/skeepers.io\/app\/uploads\/2022\/10\/timberland-test.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n7- Nordstrom<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"feedback](\"https:\/\/skeepers.io\/app\/uploads\/2022\/10\/feedback-web.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n8- Deezer<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"community](\"https:\/\/skeepers.io\/app\/uploads\/2022\/10\/community.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n9- Best Buy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"best](\"https:\/\/skeepers.io\/app\/uploads\/2022\/10\/best-buy-bonus.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
![\"starbucks](\"https:\/\/skeepers.io\/app\/uploads\/2022\/10\/starbucks.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"consumer](\"https:\/\/skeepers.io\/app\/uploads\/2022\/10\/consumer-facts.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n