How do you collect, analyze and share your customer feedback?

As someone immersed in this problem space for the past six months, the struggle of collecting and synthesizing large and disparate data sets is very real, but there are some promising developments. When trained correctly, generative AI can help uncover key themes in different data types. From summarizing calls and documents to pulling out emergent themes in larger data sets, some exciting new technologies can help make sense of various data sets quicker than any human can.

Full disclosure - Dovetail is laser-focused on solving this problem for organizations of all sizes. If you want to learn how our solution helps you collect, analyze, and share customer insights at scale, check out our website.

Collecting and analyzing structured and unstructured data is indeed one of the hardest things with research. In general, I recommend that you partner up with your UX teams who share this pain and are usually pretty good at it. One of the popular tools in this space is Dovetail but there are many others depending on what you want to do. Website engagement, message testing, regression analysis, max diff insight and more. One of my favorite tools for pre-launch research is conjointly

Ah, the classic “feedback scavenger hunt”! We’ve all been there, trying to piece together customer insights from a labyrinth of surveys, spreadsheets, and snippets in Slack (though I do believe Slack can be used strategically).

Keep in mind, all feedback is good feedback. It's better to have MORE than less!

Of course, the goal is to turn that feedback chaos into a streamlined, insightful narrative. Here’s some best practices I would recommend to collect, analyze, and share customer feedback like a pro:

• Have a single source of truth (but seriously). I use Notion right now and organize the materials by use case or pain point. Here, I add links to EVERYTHING that relates to the main category with a couple bullet points on what has been learned. This includes link to Slack messages, Gong calls, Salesforce notes, etc.

  • If you have a Content Management System like Seismic or Highspot, you can do this as well. Here you can actually see what sales people are engaging with.

• Have a goal in mind. What are you hoping to achieve with this feedback? This will help you consolidate the sources into a compelling narrative.

• Turn that source of truth into an actionable deck based on what you want to DO with that feedback.

  • Examples of things you may want to do with this data:

    • Help prioritize the product roadmap: We heard from x number of customers that want y feature.

    • Win/Loss: Ideally, you would lose a tool like Clozd, but if you're strapped for budget like I am, you can set up Gong filters to pull examples.

  • I recommend doing this quarterly, but if not, then bi-annually and sharing across various teams. Don't keep these GOLD insights in a vacuum!

    • Happy to talk through best practices on how to present this information to various teams (Sales vs. CS vs. Marketing vs. Product, etc.)

• When in doubt, validate the feedback with customers. I've seen the best success in doing this with CAB (Customer Advisory Board) meetings.

  • Get CAB excited to be a part of the journey! I like offering "sneak peeks" of new in-flight product/feature updates.

Some other ways to analyze your various sources:

• Unified Dashboard: Invest in a dashboard tool like Tableau or Looker. These can pull data from various sources (Google Sheets, Salesforce, etc.) and present it in a coherent, visually appealing manner. This will help you spot trends and outliers at a glance.

• Text Analysis: Use text analytics tools like MonkeyLearn or Lexalytics to sift through open-ended responses and social media comments. These tools can categorize feedback, identify common themes, and even detect sentiment.

• Customer Segmentation: Segment your customers based on demographics, purchase history, or behavior. This will allow you to see if certain feedback trends are more prevalent in specific customer groups. Tools like Segment or Amplitude can help with this.

Sharing the insights: the storytelling phase (and my favorite part)

1. Regular Reports: Create a monthly or quarterly feedback report. Keep it concise and visual – think infographics and key takeaways rather than lengthy documents. Tools like Canva or Venngage can make your reports visually appealing. Then I like sharing the updates in a #CustomerFeedback Slack channel, but also saving links to all of those Slack updates in Notion so your teams can easily find any and all historical updates.

2. Feedback Meetings: Hold regular meetings with your team to discuss feedback. Use these sessions to brainstorm solutions and share insights. Keep it interactive – think of it as a mini workshop rather than a dull presentation.

3. Internal Communication Platforms: Use tools like Slack or Microsoft Teams to create dedicated channels for customer feedback. Share highlights, trends, and urgent issues in real-time. Pin important messages and use threads to keep discussions organized.

Pro Tips:

1. Social Engagement is a Goldmine: Sometimes, all it takes is a quick scroll through the community discussions to find the exact insight I need. Or asking a question in a Community Slack channel.

2. Transparency is Key: Let your customers know how their feedback is being utilized to improve the product and enhance their experience. This builds trust and demonstrates your commitment to customer satisfaction.

3. Automation is your friend: Consider automation tools like Zapier or Integromat to create workflows that automatically pull data from your various feedback sources into your dashboard. This way, you’re not manually updating spreadsheets or chasing down data.

4. Make Customer Friends: Want more credibility when sharing POVs based on customer feedback? This is the key. Identify a list of customers, engage with their products/content, build a relationship by writing a fan letter and requesting a brief meeting, gather insights and feedback during the conversation, offer helpful feedback or assistance, maintain ongoing communication, and leverage these relationships for credible, informed input on product or GTM decisions.

5. Foster a culture where feedback is valued and acted upon. Celebrate wins from positive feedback and view criticisms as opportunities to improve. When your team sees feedback as a treasure trove of insights rather than a chore, you’ll find that gathering and using customer feedback becomes a natural part of your workflow.

So there you have it – from scattered feedback to actionable insights, all while keeping it fun and engaging. Now go forth, gather those golden nuggets of customer wisdom, and let them guide your product marketing brilliance! 🚀