Customer feedback: questions answered

What is customer feedback?

Customer feedback is anything customers tell you about your product, service or website: ratings, survey answers, comments, support requests, reviews and feature requests. It shows what works for them and what gets in their way.

Some of it you ask for, with a survey or an interview. The rest arrives on its own, in support tickets, reviews and social media posts. Both are worth reading, for different reasons.

What are the four main types of customer feedback?

There is no single official list. A useful way to split it is by two questions: did you ask for it, and is it a number or words? That gives four types.

• Solicited, numbers - survey scores such as NPS, CSAT, CES or a Yes / No answer
• Solicited, words - interview answers and survey comments
• Unsolicited, numbers - star ratings on review sites and app stores
• Unsolicited, words - support tickets, chat logs, social media posts and review text

You will also see feedback split by tone (positive, negative, neutral) or by subject (product, service, website, price). Use whichever split helps you decide who should act on it.

Can you give me an example of customer feedback?

A customer rates a support chat 2 out of 5 and writes "It took three replies before anyone answered my question." That is customer feedback: a score you can count and a reason you can act on.

• An NPS answer of 9 with the comment "Setup took five minutes"
• A "No" on "Did this page answer your question?" with "It doesn't say how to cancel"
• A review that says "Great product, but delivery took two weeks"
• A feature request: "Can I export this to a spreadsheet?"
• A support ticket asking where to find an invoice

Good feedback is specific. "Great service" feels nice but changes nothing. "I couldn't find the delivery date before paying" tells you exactly what to fix.

Why collect customer feedback?

You collect customer feedback to learn, in customers' own words, what they need and what gets in their way, so you know which problems to fix first. Analytics show what customers did; feedback shows why.

• Find and fix problems before customers leave
• Decide which features and content to work on next
• Write product and marketing copy in the words customers use
• See whether a change made things better
• Show customers you listen, which makes them more likely to answer next time

How do you collect customer feedback?

Ask one or two short questions at the moment the experience happens, on the page, in the app or right after a purchase or support chat. Add a regular relationship survey such as NPS, and read the feedback that arrives on its own in support tickets and reviews.

Each method reaches different customers. On-site and in-app surveys catch people in the moment, email reaches customers who no longer visit, interviews explain the reasons, and support tickets show the problems nobody had to be asked about. Our guide, linked at the end of this page, compares eight methods and when to use each.

What is another word for collecting feedback?

Common alternatives are gathering feedback, asking for feedback, soliciting feedback and customer listening. When it becomes an ongoing programme, companies often call it voice of the customer (VoC).

How do you ask customers for feedback?

Be short, say why you are asking and how long it takes, and ask one specific question. Send or show the request right after the experience.

• After an order: "Thanks for your order. How easy was it to check out? It takes one tap."
• After support: "We have closed your request. How satisfied were you with the help you got?"
• On a help article: "Did this page answer your question?"
• On a pricing page: "Is anything stopping you from signing up today?"

Leave out "We value your feedback" and other filler. The question itself shows that you care about the answer.

How do you collect customer reviews?

Ask soon after a good experience, such as a delivery or a solved problem, and send a direct link to your review page so it takes one click. Ask every customer, not only the happy ones.

• Time the request for after the product has arrived or been used
• Link straight to the review form on Google, Trustpilot or your app store page
• Never offer a reward only for positive reviews: most review sites ban it
• Reply to reviews, especially the critical ones

Reviews are public and help other buyers decide. Private feedback, such as a short survey on your site, is where customers tell you what to fix. Asklet collects the private kind: anonymous answers on your pages, which you read in your dashboard.

How do you manage customer feedback?

Keep it in one place, group it by theme, fix the theme that costs you the most, and tell customers what changed. A short monthly review is enough for most teams.

• Collect survey answers, support tags and review notes in one list
• Tag each item by theme, such as billing, setup or a specific page
• Count the themes and pick the one with the most impact
• Give each theme an owner
• Compare answers before and after the fix