Top 5 Customer Feedback Mistakes to Avoid & Tips on How to Avoid

Outsourcing Feedback: A Lesson in Flexibility

Early in my career in product development, my team and I put our customer feedback processes in the hands of an external agency. We wanted to focus on product delivery, and feedback management seemed to be in the hands of experts. We realized it was a huge mistake, as the inflexibility and loss of knowledge were immense. We created easy-to-implement feedback channels with survey tools that were in our own hands. Taking the time to create and analyze our questions paid dividends in several ways. Most notably, increased flexibility in survey design and faster implementation of product improvements.

Leander Haidacher, Product Consultant and Coach, leanderhaidacher.com

Emotional Responses: A Barrier to Understanding

When providing a service with all dedication, especially if you are the person responsible for the relationship with the customer, it’s natural to develop some level of affection and/or feel personally hit by criticism. This can lead to emotional responses and feelings of being personally attacked. I recall an instance when the director of an institution, one of the largest for which I was responsible, criticized the engagement plan. She claimed she was unaware of the actions that had been carried out for a year or that nothing in the plan had been applied. I required support from other team members to understand that the criticism was not directed at me personally. After stepping back and becoming less emotional, I realized that there was a miscommunication within her institution. The person she had delegated to monitor the actions did not pass on the information to her. From this situation, I’ve learned not to take criticism personally and not to respond or react immediately.

Fernanda Da Cal, Renewal Manager and Customer Experience Manager, Elsevier

Balancing Automation and Human Interaction in Feedback

A grave mistake around customer feedback was assuming that technology could replace the human touch. At one point, I relied heavily on automated surveys and chatbots to collect and respond to feedback, neglecting the personal connection with our customers and the importance of the human element. Once I realized this, I rectified it by balancing both tech-driven feedback systems with human interaction. We maintained automated surveys for efficiency but also started engaging in one-on-one conversations, addressing concerns personally and adopting a more hands-on approach. This change allowed us to build stronger relationships and trust with our customers, proving that technology should complement, not replace, human interaction in customer feedback management.

Harry Morton, Founder, Lower Street

Survey Design: Countering Bias with Forced-Rating

One of the most impactful mistakes I made around customer feedback was not paying enough attention to survey design, which led to skewed and unreliable results. I learned that a poorly designed survey can yield useless or inaccurate insights because of cognitive biases like central tendency bias, where people just pick the neutral score. I took several steps to improve our feedback collection process. Firstly, I invested more time in crafting well-designed survey questions that were clear, concise, and unbiased. Additionally, I implemented forced-rating surveys (no neutral responses) to counteract the central tendency bias. These changes significantly improved the quality of our feedback and allowed us to make data-driven decisions to enhance our products and services. It’s a lesson I’ve carried forward to ensure we continue gathering valuable insights from our customers.

Neil Hodgson-Coyle, COO, TechNews180

Customer Clarification: A Procedure for Better Understanding

When it came to consumer feedback, one big mistake I made was thinking I knew what the customer needed without asking for more information. I misconstrued their input and made adjustments that fell short of their expectations. I put in place a procedure for customer clarification to deal with this. Before making improvements, we contacted customers to get clarification on any unclear or ambiguous feedback. This enhanced our comprehension and demonstrated to clients how much we appreciated their feedback. It changed the way we used feedback and improved our capacity to apply customer insights to achieve significant improvements.

Matt Magnante, Head of Marketing, Fitness Volt

The Gap Between Words and Actions: A Feedback Dilemma

There’s often a gap between what people say and what they do, especially in customer feedback. Responses can be influenced by your recent interactions with them and their latest experiences with your company. Such biases might lead to feedback that doesn’t accurately predict their future actions. Unfortunately, this is a mistake I’ve made when developing new products to serve my existing customers. Because I did not receive authentic feedback apart from our existing relationship, it prevented my products from doing well in the marketplace.

Jason Vaught, Director of Content, SmashBrand

Discerning Value: The Art of Feedback Evaluation

One of the most impactful mistakes I made in the past, when it comes to customer feedback (which I know a lot of businesses used to make), is taking the “the customer is always right” approach. The reality is that, while the customer can provide you with great insight into your company and their experience, at the end of the day, it is just their individual opinion, and not all the feedback provided is actually going to be valuable to your business. 

The skill comes in identifying the feedback that truly is valuable to your business and has been provided as a way to help you improve, as opposed to simply a complaint about something (not that complaints aren’t ever helpful). Once you can identify these, you can seize the opportunity to improve your business in the best ways possible.

Lauren Carlstrom, COO, Oxygen Plus

Emotional Detachment: Learning from Critical Feedback

Getting too emotional or offended, rather than taking the time to learn the lesson, is a common mistake. I now tell anyone who works as a contractor for our organization to look at any critical feedback as a learning opportunity. Of course, it might cause some offense at first, but step back and come back to the feedback after the anger has settled. When you’re in a space where you can look at it objectively, then you are able to see so much more. For example, you’re also able to let things go and find the lesson more easily.

John Mooney, President, IML