Mastering Product Feedback emails: How to Collect and Utilize Valuable Insights

Getting feedback is super important for any successful business. It gives you valuable insight into what's working well and needs improvement.

Before we get started, let’s get on the same page about Product Feedback emails. Product Feedback emails is simply the process of collecting feedback through email.

Email feedback in particular is a very attractive channel. One of the most significant advantages is that customers can articulate their thoughts and opinions in a detailed and well-constructed manner. Unlike surveys or feedback forms, emails allow customers to express themselves in their own words, providing businesses with more in-depth insights into their customers' perspectives. This can be extremely helpful in identifying areas of improvement and enhancing the overall customer experience. However, email feedback works only if done tactically. A wrong approach can fail to extract the right customer sentiments and irritate your customers with unwanted emails.

In this guide, we explore the various aspects of email feedback.

1. Understanding the Purpose of Feedback Emails

Why should you send out product feedback emails?

Why should you choose email over other channels (surveys/phone)?

2. Leveraging Feedback for Continuous Improvement (and showing off)

How to use the information you have collected through feedback emails?

3. Sending Product Feedback Emails Wisely

When to send the email?

What to ask in the email?

Understanding the Purpose of Feedback Emails

Advatages of this channel:

If you are ever wondering if feedback emails still work and are worth the effort, think about the following advantages this channel can provide.

By offering personalized communication with customers, feedback email fosters a deeper connection and helps customers feel valued. Inviting customers to share their feedback demonstrates that their opinions are important, which can improve loyalty and engagement.

Email feedback is also useful because it creates a written record of customer opinions that can be analyzed, categorized, and tracked over time. This data can serve as evidence for future decision-making and product improvements, and can even act as an early warning system for emerging issues or concerns.

Furthermore, email feedback can be tailored and targeted to specific subscribers who have interacted with a particular product or service. This ensures that the feedback provided is relevant and specific, allowing businesses to make precise improvements.

Lastly, email feedback is cost-effective and efficient, as it can be automated and sent to a large number of customers at once, saving time and resources. This allows businesses to gather feedback from a broad range of customers, which is crucial for success.

Many founders also question if surveys or phone calls are better feedback channels. Although some businesses prefer surveys or phone calls as feedback channels depending on factors like their product and the size of their customer group, feedback email has a lot of advantages over the other channels.

Feedback emails allow for a high level of personalization when compared to generic surveys or feedback forms. Customizing the email to the customer's specific interaction and addressing them by name, creates a better experience. This, in turn, leads to higher response rates, as customers are more likely to open and respond to an email invitation.

Next, product feedback emails are less disruptive compared to in-person interviews or phone surveys. Customers can provide their input at their leisure without interrupting their daily routines.

Lastly, automating product feedback emails through email marketing tools streamlines the data collection process, allowing for responses to be recorded in a structured format. This makes it easier for businesses to analyze and act upon the feedback they receive.

Leveraging Feedback for Continuous Improvement

Now that you have decided to use feedback emails as a channel to gather insights from your customers, we elaborate on what you can do to make the best use of collected information.

1. Organize and Analyze

In order to enhance the quality of the feedback received, it is essential to organize and analyze the feedback you receive. This approach will provide you with a better understanding of the data, allow you to identify common themes, and prioritize areas that require improvement.

Basic steps:

• Compile all feedback received using a spreadsheet or feedback management tool
• Create categories or tags based on common themes to effectively organize feedback
• Analyze the feedback data to identify trends, recurring issues, and areas of praise

For example,  think of a mobile app company. The company uses a feedback management tool to sort the feedback into categories like "User Interface," "Performance," and "Bugs." Upon analysis, they discover that most users appreciate the app's simple and attractive user interface. However, they also notice a recurring problem with crashes reported by users of certain device models that run the latest OS version. By organizing and examining this feedback, the company gains valuable insights into both positive aspects and critical issues, which help them make targeted improvements.

2. Prioritize

Prioritizing feedback is a critical aspect of ensuring that your team is addressing the most pressing issues that need attention.

To implement a feedback prioritization system, you should first evaluate each feedback item based on its potential impact on customer satisfaction, revenue, or other key metrics relevant to your business. Assign a priority level to each item, such as "High," "Medium," or "Low." Finally, consider the feasibility and resource requirements of implementing each piece of feedback.

For example, a food delivery service.  After evaluating the feedback, they notice that a considerable number of customers express frustration over delayed deliveries, particularly during peak hours. Recognizing the urgency of addressing this issue to maintain customer loyalty, the delivery service prioritizes this feedback over other less time-sensitive suggestions.

3. Identify actionable insights

It is important to focus on feedback that can lead to concrete actions.

To identify actionable insights, start by reviewing feedback for specific suggestions that can lead to direct improvements. Look for comments that provide clear steps or ideas that your team can implement. These insights can help you prioritize what changes to make and where to focus your efforts.

It's also important to disregard feedback that is too vague or not actionable. While all feedback is valuable, not all of it will be useful in helping you make improvements.

For example, an online clothing store. One of the common feedback they received was to add size charts in each metric for each product. This is an actionable insight that the team can implement to enhance the user experience and improve the customer journey.

4. Set up a process to share feedback with Relevant Teams

After arranging your feedback, it's crucial to determine the best way to utilize it. Every department in your company, including customer service, marketing (elaborated below), and product, can benefit from the feedback you've collected. To make it actionable, create a system for distributing relevant feedback to each department.

Not only does sharing feedback with the appropriate teams promote collaboration, but it also guarantees that the insights will be received by the right individuals for action.

Some examples to better understand:

• Product Development Team: The product development team can leverage feedback from customers to identify product improvement opportunities, uncover new features or enhancements, and prioritize development efforts based on customer needs and preferences.
• Customer Support Team: Customer support teams can use email feedback to understand common pain points or issues faced by customers, enabling them to provide more efficient and targeted support solutions.
• Sales Team: The sales team can benefit from feedback gathered through emails to understand customer preferences, pain points, and objections, enabling them to tailor their sales pitch and build stronger customer relationships.

5. Use Feedback for Marketing

One effective way to establish trust and credibility with potential customers is by utilizing positive feedback as a marketing tool. Gather and organize favorable customer testimonials or success stories from feedback. These can then be prominently displayed on your website, social media, or marketing materials.

Sharing the positive experiences of satisfied customers can boost the confidence of potential buyers and help them make a purchase decision. Testimonials can also address any concerns or doubts that prospective customers may have, giving them the reassurance they need to choose your product or service over competing options.

Here is a list of where all you can share your testimonials:

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6. Engage with respondents

Engaging with customers who provided feedback shows that you value their opinions and can lead to further insights or a stronger bond with your brand.

Send personalized follow-up emails to these customers. This demonstrates that their feedback was both received and appreciated. In the email, thank the customer for taking the time to provide feedback and ask if they have any additional thoughts or suggestions. Offering incentives is another way to encourage further engagement. These incentives could come in the form of discounts or rewards for continuing to provide feedback.

For instance, if a customer suggests adding size charts to an online clothing store, the store could thank them for their input and offer a discount on their next purchase.

By thoughtfully and personally engaging with respondents, you can create stronger relationships with the customers and enhance the overall customer experience. Continuous feedback collection allows you to stay updated on evolving customer needs and expectations, enabling proactive improvements.

Sending Product Feedback Emails Wisely

When considering how to collect testimonials, two essential factors must be taken into account. Firstly, the timing of the request plays a crucial role; in identifying the most effective moment to ask customers for testimonials. Secondly, determining the appropriate message to seek testimonials.

When should you send product feedback emails?

When planning the timing for sending product feedback emails, several crucial decision criteria and factors come into play. Some of the commonly used criteria include:

1. Product Type and Usage

Consider the nature of your product or service. Determine whether it's a one-time purchase product or an ongoing subscription-based service. Different products have varying usage cycles and lifespans.

For one-time purchase products, customers may have a limited window to use and evaluate the product's performance. In contrast, subscription-based services involve continuous usage over an extended period. Timing the feedback request based on the product's usage cycle ensures that customers can provide feedback at a relevant and meaningful point in their journey.

Further, tailor the timing to align with the typical duration of customer usage to capture feedback at the most relevant points in their journey. If customers have used the product for an extended period or have undergone multiple subscription cycles, their feedback will reflect a more comprehensive and informed perspective.

For example, for products like mobile phone cases, which customers buy once and use for an extended period, it's best to wait around 2-4 weeks after purchase before sending feedback emails. This allows customers ample time to use the product and gauge its durability and protection qualities, leading to more accurate feedback. Versus, for subscription-based services like cloud-based project management software, it's best to send feedback emails at the end of each billing cycle, just before the subscription renewal date. This way, customers can offer feedback based on their continuous usage and recent experiences with the software, leading to more informed feedback.

1. Product updates cycle

During Product Update Cycles, people are more eager to provide feedback due to the novelty and excitement of exploring new features. They perceive their input as influential in shaping the product's direction or expect improvements based on previous feedback.

Next, by seeking feedback after updates, you can demonstrate a commitment to customer satisfaction and foster a customer-centric approach to product or process development/improvement.

Further, by aligning feedback requests with product updates, you can fine-tune the user experience and optimize the value delivered to customers.

For example, after implementing a new checkout process and personalized product recommendations, an e-commerce platform asked for customer feedback a week later (strategic timing after the product update). The feedback revealed that the new checkout process caused confusion for some customers, leading to cart abandonment.

Customers around this phase are willing to provide feedback because they appreciate the opportunity to share their thoughts on recent changes and problems they faced. Further, they feel valued to be a part of the improvement process.

1. Change in customer sentiments

Monitor customer sentiment (such as Net Promoter Score (NPS) or Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) scores) and feedback sentiment (emotions and opinions shared in product reviews, social media, or any other customer touchpoint). If you notice specific feedback trends or emotions expressed by customers, it can guide you on when to ask for more targeted feedback.

If sentiment analysis reveals an increase in negative emotions, it may indicate that customers are facing challenges or unsatisfactory experiences. At this point, you can send feedback emails to understand and address their specific pain points promptly.

When you notice a surge in positive feedback sentiment, it signifies happy and satisfied customers. Utilize this moment to request feedback on what features or aspects customers love the most, and also use these testimonials for marketing.

Test different timings and observe response rates and the quality of feedback. Continuously analyze data to refine your feedback collection strategy over time. Further, you can also segment your customers if relevant to send them at different timings. Customers within different segments may have varying preferences, usage patterns, and needs. By tailoring the timing of feedback requests to each segment's unique characteristics, you can increase the personalization and also the number of responses you receive. For example, if you sell SaaS, you can segment your customers as Free Trial Users vs. Paid subscribers. Or if you are an e-commerce store, you can segment them as High-Volume Shoppers vs. Occasional Buyers.

What to ask in your product feedback emails?

A testimonial request consists of four fundamental elements:

1. The Request: This crucial step involves politely reaching out to your client and requesting a testimonial. Be clear about what you're looking for and express your appreciation for their feedback.
2. The Testimonial Questions: Carefully select specific questions that prompt your client to provide detailed and relevant feedback. Tailor the questions to highlight the key aspects of your product or service that you want to showcase.
3. The Information Collection: During this stage, gather essential details from your client, such as their tenure as a customer, job title, and full name. This information helps add credibility and context to the testimonial.
4. Permission: Always seek explicit permission from your client before sharing their testimonial. This ensures you respect their privacy and comply with any applicable data protection regulations. Additionally, obtaining permission strengthens the relationship with your client by showing that you value their consent and trust.

Let’s dig a little deeper into each one of these:

The request: craft a compelling and sincere request to your clients/users.

Customize the testimonial request to align with your brand and communication style. Consider the tone, language, and branding elements to make it a seamless part of your customer interactions.

If your brand personality is fun and playful, incorporate some light-hearted language into the request. If your brand is more professional and formal, maintain a polished tone.

The request should cover the following message.

“Hello [Client Name],

I wanted to reach out and kindly ask if you could spare a moment to share your thoughts about our project collaboration. Your testimonial would be the perfect finishing touch to our incredible work together.

Thank you so much!

Best regards,Your Name”

Best practices for standing out:

• Polite and Personalized Approach: Personalize your request by addressing your client by their name and expressing genuine appreciation for their business. Use a friendly and courteous tone to create a positive impression.
• Specify the Purpose: Clearly state why you are seeking a testimonial. Let your client know that their feedback is valuable and will help potential customers understand the benefits of your product or service.

Example: “Your valuable feedback can make a significant difference for potential customers considering our services.”

• Provide Guidance: Offer some guidance on what aspects you'd like them to cover in their testimonial. This will help clients focus on the key points and provide more meaningful feedback.

Example: "Feel free to share your thoughts on how our product has benefited your business, the specific features you found most valuable, and any outstanding results you achieved."

• Incentives: Offer a small incentive, such as a discount or a freebie, to motivate clients to provide testimonials. Ensure that the incentive is relevant and aligns with your brand values.
• Visual Appeal: If possible, include visuals or multimedia elements in the request. Visuals can capture attention and make the request more engaging.
• Always Thank Them: Regardless of whether a client provides a testimonial or not, always thank them for considering your request. Expressing gratitude shows that you value their input and time.

Example: "Thank you, [Client's Name], for considering our request. Your input and time are genuinely valued, and we appreciate your support.”

• Write a Compelling Subject Line: Craft an attention-grabbing subject line that piques the recipient's interest and motivates them to open the email, increasing the chances of receiving feedback.
• Include Time Taken to Answer All the Questions: Mention the estimated time required to complete the feedback questionnaire. Providing this information upfront shows respect for your client's time and encourages them to participate.

The Testimonial Questions

If you're looking to really make the most of customer testimonials, you need to know what questions to ask. By asking the right questions, you can get some great feedback from your clients that will really showcase the best aspects of your product or service.

Here are some best practices and tips to create impactful testimonial questions:

• Focus on Specific Aspects: Identify the key features or benefits of your product or service that you want to highlight. Frame questions that prompt clients to share their experiences related to these specific aspects.

Example:How has [Product/Service Name] helped improve your productivity?What specific results have you achieved since using [Product/Service Name]?

• Ask Open-Ended Questions: Encourage clients to provide detailed responses by using open-ended questions. Avoid yes/no questions to gather more insightful feedback.

Example:

How has [Product/Service Name] positively impacted your business?Describe the most significant way [Product/Service Name] has contributed to your success.

Remember, While open-ended questions are essential, keep the overall questionnaire concise to avoid overwhelming clients. Aim for a balanced set of questions that cover different aspects of their experience.

• Innovative and Creative Questions: Think outside the box and create questions that resonate with your brand personality and customer base. Innovative questions can elicit more engaging responses.

Example:

If [Product/Service Name] were a superhero, which superpower would you attribute to it and why?Describe your experience with [Product/Service Name] using only emojis.

• Collect Visual Content: Ask clients to provide images or screenshots showcasing their experiences with your product or service. Visual content can make testimonials more impactful.

Example:

Could you capture a screenshot of [Product/Service Name] in action, showcasing how it streamlined your workflow?Share an image that represents your overall experience with [Product/Service Name]. It could be a screenshot, a photo, or even a doodle!

• Seek Permission to Quote: If you plan to use specific phrases or quotes from the testimonial, ask for permission upfront. Clients may be more willing to provide detailed responses if they know how their words will be used.
• Offer Assistance: Let clients know that you are available to help if they need any guidance or clarifications while answering the questions.

The Information Collection

The information collection stage not only adds credibility and context to testimonials but also reinforces your brand's authenticity and customer-centric approach. By incorporating these details, you can create testimonials that resonate with your audience and establish trust in your product or service.

Here's how you can dig deeper into this stage:

• Tenure as a Customer: Inquire about how long the client has been using your product or service. This information helps potential customers understand the depth of their experience and the level of familiarity they have with your offerings.

Example:

"Could you kindly share how long you have been using [Product/Service Name]? Knowing your tenure will give our audience a better perspective on your journey with us."

• Job Title and Industry: Request the client's job title and industry to provide context for their testimonial. Knowing their professional background can highlight the relevance of your product/service in different industries.

Example:

"To provide a comprehensive context for your testimonial, could you share your job title and the industry you work in? This will help potential customers understand how [Product/Service Name] addresses specific needs in your field."

• Full Name (With Permission): While the level of anonymity is an individual preference, obtaining the client's full name (with their permission) adds credibility to the testimonial. It demonstrates transparency and authenticity to potential customers.Example:

"We greatly appreciate your feedback, [Client's Name]. If you are comfortable sharing your full name, it would lend more credibility to your testimonial and allow us to credit your valuable insights."

• Data Privacy Considerations:

Always respect data privacy regulations and your client's preferences. If they choose to remain anonymous or provide only a first name, ensure that you honor their decision and communicate your commitment to protecting their privacy.

Main takeaways on how to craft your testimonial request emails:

1. Create a captivating subject line: This will be the first thing your customers see, so make it count. Using action-oriented language, incentives, or emphasizing the value of their feedback can increase customer engagement and lead to higher open rates and more responses.
2. Personalize your message: Addressing customers by their names shows that you value them as individuals, creating a positive connection with your brand. This personal touch sets your email apart from generic mass communications and increases the likelihood of a response.
3. Explain How Their Feedback Will Be Used: Customers want to know that their input is valued and will be put to good use. Let them know how their responses will be used to make improvements that align with their needs and preferences. This will motivate them to provide more detailed feedback and feel a sense of ownership and connection with your brand.
4. Be Clear About Time: Respect your customers' time by letting them know how long it will take to complete the survey. This shows consideration for their busy schedules and increases the likelihood of their participation. A shorter survey also reduces the chances of survey abandonment, ensuring valuable insights are gathered from more respondents.
5. Create a Clear Call-to-Action: A well-designed and prominent call-to-action (CTA) encourages customers to click and take action. By creating a straightforward and compelling CTA, you remove any potential barriers to customer engagement and feedback submission.
6. Show Gratitude and Offer Incentives: Thank customers for their time and effort and offer incentives such as discounts, special offers, or entry into a giveaway. This approach shows appreciation for their feedback and enhances the overall customer experience.

Conclusion

As a business, it's important to value customer feedback in order to improve products and services. Email feedback is a powerful tool that can help you achieve this goal while delighting your customers. To make the most of this opportunity, it's important to craft professional email requests that are personalized, clear, and simple.

By making it easy for customers to provide their feedback and showing appreciation for their time and input, you can foster strong relationships with them and use their insights to make informed decisions and improvements. This approach can drive continuous improvement and contribute to the growth and success of your business.

So why wait? Start leveraging email feedback today and unlock your business's potential for success!

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