Gain immediate feedback on your business

Getting some (feedback)

There are numerous ways of getting feedback easily. If you are an established business it's a bit different to when you are starting out. I'll cover some ways that work well for both groups. I will list stuff you can do in real life, not in an ideal laboratory setup as most of us do not have budgets for that.

Start up feedback

First feedback

• Get it from friends and family, simply present your idea and look for reactions

• Observe and note reactions, why they think it is good or bad, and utilize everything to improve

Test your idea with friends and family members who showed interest in your idea

• Do a low-budget test, if it's an app, use a paper prototype or Figma if you know how. If it's a non-digital service/product, do a test in your home, garden, or wherever.

• Write up small 5-10 question cards and ask for feedback based on the test

Approach people who might be your target market in real life - I know it's scary

• Approach them with a few nonleading questions about the issue you are trying to solve

• Document this properly later on

Do a coming soon page and start collecting emails

• Utilize the emails for updates and surveys

DO NOT

• DO NOT USE POP-UPS

• NO POP ups

• No full screen takover BS

• No fun widgets, robo chats, ai mumbo jumbo

• Do not think that you are a customer - it does not work that way. Many tried and failed because of this "I am a customer", "I am a user"

Established business

Be your own customer

• Your business is established, you are probably very detached from actual experience

• For hospitality, try using a disguise, try booking, try eating or other services

• For apps, try finding your app, try using a promo code, try signing up

• The point is to see if annoying things are happening to customers. Many people ignore the fact that even the best businesses fail at the basics.

• Are you solving a problem? - Yes

• Are you providing easy access to your solution? - Yes

• Reason for buying from you? - Yes (if the answer is no - fix it)

• In most cases, it is the journey from finding out about your product/service to actually getting to spending money on it

Enable customers to leave feedback along their journey

• If they are buying something via the web - do not interrupt, wait till they finish buying and then ask for feedback

• If they bought something do wait for them to at least get the product and try it

• If the customer is eating at your restaurant, ask for feedback after the meal, and do not take offense.

• If the customer is a user of your Software, enable them to give feedback. To learn where exactly, interview a few of the customers to pinpoint where

• Enable customers to leave feedback in a convenient format not for you but for them. If an app is misbehaving let them record it and send it via the app, not email

• Create a feedback loop so you can constantly improve

Contact people who leave very positive reviews and very negative reviews

• Turn negative reviews into opportunities with design thinking methods

• Document the positive and see if you can somehow expand on that and apply it to the negative reviews

• Note what works well and what does not

• Ask negative reviews to come back after implementing changes

• Do not try to please everyone - you have a target market and you should be able to please them

Launch surveys via emails but use something that people care about, give them some value for it.

• Do not ask people to fill in the information you already have about them, names, gender, etc

• If it takes more than 5 minutes to complete, then give a discount or some other reward

• Do not ask people to give you their time for free

Observe your customers (where applicable - Do not put cameras into showers, rentals, saunas, etc.)

• Observe your customers using your digital products

• Observe how your customers buy things, book things, and how they are receiving your service if applicable.

• Observe their plates when they come back to the kitchen if they are empty or full etc

• Observe people how react to your prices

TEST new things before you add them

• if you want to add a feature to your digital product, test it beforehand

• If you want to add a new thing to sell on your website, check it with social media

• If you want to add a new service to your hotel, see if there is any demand for that

Document complaints and use them to improve

Some feedback might be shocking, it might surprise you in ways you can't even imagine. On the other hand, the feedback might not be news but a confirmation of your fears. I know some of these will be obvious, but you would be surprised how many do not use them.

What to do with feedback?

You can always pretend it doesn't exist. I would suggest you organize the feedback and analyze it. Mark areas of improvement and start finding solutions and suggestions.

When you have an idea of how to approach certain solutions & suggestions, I would say test them first. Do a prioritization matrix, some affinity mapping, and workshops.

Now if the words above have nudged your brain in a funny way. Meaning you have no idea what I am talking about, drop me a message and we can schedule a call. I will be more than happy to help you and your business out.

Once you have your priorities straight, you can put them on a roadmap. Now a roadmap can be anything, it's a strategic plan that defines a goal and includes milestones needed to achieve it. So you can have a plan for anything on anything. The point is that you have it, if you do not have it - you guessed it --> contact me.

Or google it and make it on your own. Essentially the collected feedback will play a hand in achieving your milestones. If you can squeeze in some of the prioritized solutions in your roadmap you will in the end have a better product.

Customers value things that are convenient and make them feel valued. If you have repeat customers who notice things have improved based on their feedback. They will feel more valued and happy. In turn, they will bring you more customers. It works like that. Super simple marketing - just ensure what you are selling is good and the act of getting it is as smooth as possible.

When you sorted out your roadmap what you need to do is implement feedback loops. See feedback and research is not a one-off. It's a continuous process that changes with time.

Who will gather the feedback?

Who is best suited to gather feedback for your business? Should you collect feedback? It depends on your type of business. It's not quite the same for all but if you are in charge of this or want to learn then read on.

Automotive industry
Honestly, no idea how they collect feedback. The way I see it is they talk among themselves and decide that feedback is enough. I don't they observe people who drive. They do their feedback gathering in lab environments. I don't think they talk to people who drive their vehicles for long periods or short periods with tons of km.

When you see a new car with 100 new buttons, where all you need is simplicity. It's a sign that some manager somewhere told engineers that he has a good idea and it's needed.

They should gather feedback from dealerships and service shops. But they should also gather feedback from customers directly via the web, email, QR code, etc.

White goods and similar
These guys are something else. Have you ever seen two identical washing machines? I mean the principle behind them did not change much. It's either a touch screen or a knob that you turn. The programs should be a standard by now. Yet people still design washing machines with complex programs.

Most clothes today have on them specified the temp and the composition of fibers. This also shows what types of programs you would need at home. Who collects feedback on this? I have never ever heard that somebody was asked for feedback on this. It's a giant industry but it seems isolated from the customers.

They should be asking for feedback via the web when people try to understand how to operate the machines.

Websites & apps
Usually, they try to collect feedback but it's in the most absurd ways possible. I was scrolling through one website trying to find something I wanted to buy. I was interrupted by a full-screen pop-up that asked me something, I was so furious I went with their competition.

Most IT companies today will look to hire a UI/UX designer, and this means that a person is responsible for visuals, research, usability, content, and anything you can imagine. For feedback, they should have a UX designer at least. A Product designer or even a manager could be responsible for getting feedback. Anyone but the UI designer.

Real estate
These guys are the champions of not giving a fuck. They build something and never check back in. They don't analyze their mistakes or complaints. Nope.

Both the building company and the architect should collect feedback. They are both crucial for the longevity and happiness of people living in their products.

Hospitality
Usually, owners think their food/service is the best on this good green Earth. The same people who never eat or use the services the same way their guests do.

The feedback gathering depends on the type of business, but it should fall on waiters, managers, and service providers.

Conclusion

The owners are ultimately responsible for assigning people to gather feedback. They are responsible for their business success or failure. You can't blame employees, if they are not trained it's on you. If they can't do their jobs properly due to lack of means, it's on you. If they are not gathering feedback it's on you.

If you do not educate yourself on how to improve your business, who will? If you hire a gardener to fix your car and then you are surprised when your car is spewing black smoke. At least it smells nice on the inside.

The point is that it is ok to not know everything. Ask for help, hire experts to help set you up. It's cheaper in the long term to have an expert teach your staff how to do things than to hire a bunch of juniors and let them figure it out.

So if you need help sorting your company out, schedule a call.