Imagine knowing the exact thoughts and feelings of your customers about your business, products, or services. Being able to use their exact likes, dislikes, and wants to guide your decisions, helping you improve and grow your business.
Luckily, you don’t need a psychic ball to make this a reality. There is a way to gain this valuable information by gathering customer feedback and reviews.
This won’t just help you make business decisions, but as we’ve talked about before in our guide to customer reviews, this process will also help establish you as a reputable brand, help new customers find your business, and prove that you are trustworthy and worth their time and investment.
Although it might seem like a daunting task, we’re here to show you the many ways that you can start asking customers for feedback right away with this ultimate guide.
The different methods of asking for feedback
You might feel unconformable asking your customers for reviews, but studies have shown that such requests aren’t seen as negative and do actually result in feedback. (Söderlund and Mattsson, 2015)
There are many ways you can ask customers for feedback. Like any business strategy, you don’t have to use all of these methods, and you’ll find that, depending on your type of business and industry, some of these methods will suit you better than others.
It’s about finding a system that works for you. But to get you started, we’ve rounded up some of the best ways to ask for feedback into three different categories: digital, in-person, and social.
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Digital ways to ask for feedback
First up, let’s talk about the ways of asking for feedback digitally. Typically, these can be the easiest methods to automate (meaning you get more hands-off time to focus on your business) and tend to work best for e-commerce businesses or service-based businesses with online booking systems.
1. Email
Email is a great tool to ask for feedback, particularly after a customer purchases from you. Sending an email after they received their item or service is a simple, but effective way to get feedback at the right time.
This process can be automated too, using simple templates like:
“Hi [customer name]
Thank you for purchasing with us!
Did [item name] meet your expectations? We’d love to get your thoughts. Let us know how we did here: [link].
All the best,
[Your name]”.
These types of emails work best when they are personal (signed off/sent from your email rather than your business) and short and to the point. It’s also best to make it clear in the subject line that it’s a request for feedback, using simple messages like “How did we do?”.
Timing-wise, aim for 2-7 days after the customer receives their item. This gives them enough time to test the product out while still being fresh in their mind to leave a review. However, each business is different – if you’re offering something more instant (like food or a service) you might want to send it the next day.
If it’s something more long-term (like a fitness program) you might want to hold off until a few weeks in so customers have had time to see and experience the results.
2. SMS messages
This is very much similar to email, but involves texting your customers instead of emailing. The great thing here is that SMS messages are more likely to be opened by your customers very quickly, as data shows that 90% of SMS messages are read within three minutes of delivery.
Because of the format, these prompts are best used for small, quick feedback prompts. A good example could be after someone has visited a hair salon, or after a plumber has left.
“Hi [Name]! Thanks for using [Your business name]. Let us know how we did here”.
3. Website popups
If you have a business website, you can implement pop-ups to request customer feedback while customers browse. These can be set up to appear on certain pages (for example, on a checkout page after a purchase) or appear after a set amount of time.
This type of feedback is good to get a quick response from both customers, and potential customers who haven’t purchased yet. You can even set them up to appear if a customer is about to abandon a shopping cart – giving you a chance to see why they might have changed their mind on the purchase.
It’s best to ask simple questions for this kind of feedback, with customers able to answer by clicking preset options, selecting a rating from 1-10, or providing a simple one-line text box. For example:
- “Did you find anything you need today?”
- “How easy was your purchase experience?”
- “Can we do better?”
- “What’s stopping you from completing your order today?”
4. Website surveys
As well as pop-ups to ask simple, quick bits of feedback, you can also link visitors to more in-depth surveys for more detailed feedback. These surveys are usually best placed on certain pages of your website, such as the order confirmation page after a customer orders or even FAQ pages.
For example:
“Thanks for ordering! Your items will be with you soon, and confirmation has been sent to your inbox.
How was your purchasing experience today? Let us know how we did here”.
“Did you find the answers you were looking for today?
Let us know how we can improve here”.
Pst, if you want inspiration for your website, find our guide on website design tips for small businesses here.
In-person ways to ask for feedback
If you physically see and interact with customers, getting their feedback in person might be the best method for your business. After all, it’s much easier to ignore an email than it is to ignore someone you’re having a conversation with.
1. Post-results conversation
This method is about asking for feedback at the critical moment when a customer will see the results of your work. For example, if you’re a hairdresser, this is the moment where you’re holding a mirror up for clients to admire their fresh look, or the moment you’ve fixed a leaky dishwasher and they see it working perfectly after your efforts.
Luckily, this is one of the most natural ways to steer the conversation in your favour – as your customer will often make the first remark. It’s just your job to capitalise on that moment.
- Client: “My hair looks amazing!”
- You: “It looks great on you! If you’re happy, would you mind filing out this feedback form?”
- Client: “You’ve done a great job, thank you for fixing the leak!”
- You: “You’re very welcome. Would you mind leaving us a review on [platform]? It really helps others find us as a small business”
2. Customer service prompts
Another way to prompt feedback in person is to make it part of a specific interaction. For example, if you have a physical store, make it a part of the counter experience to ask whenever a customer completes a purchase. Or, if someone asks you for help finding an item or asks a question, ask after you’ve finished helping them out.
“Thanks for shopping with us today! Would you mind leaving us a review? There’s a QR code to [platform] on your receipt”.
“Let me know if you need anything else! If you’re happy with our service, would you mind leaving us feedback? There’s a QR code on this poster here”.
Note how these interactions always give customers an easy way to leave feedback, such as printing QR codes on posters to hang in stores, leave on menus, and print on receipts.
3. Follow-up phone calls
Another way to ask for feedback is to call your customers a few days after their purchase or interaction. As well as being a good opportunity to get feedback, this is also a good way of demonstrating good customer care, improving your business reputation, and building long-lasting relationships.
“Hi [Name]! Just calling to check in and make sure that the dishwasher is working for you.’
Once they’ve replied, then you can lead them to the feedback part, much like the post-results conversation.
“I’m glad to hear it. If there’s anything else you need please let us know. In the meantime, would you mind giving us a review on [platform] to let us know how we did? It really helps our small business grow”.
Ways to ask for feedback on socials
Social media is another excellent tool for your business to help you reach, connect with, and build relationships with your customers. If you’re already on and using social media platforms for your business, then you can also use them to help gather customer feedback.
1. Make use of native features
Most social media platforms have built-in features like polls that you can use to your advantage as a business. By posting simple questions with limited answers, you can get quick responses or gauge sentiment towards your brand or product.
If you’re on Instagram, you can also use features like the Emoji sliders and question prompts in your stories in a similar way. The bonus about using the question prompts is that you can then post replies to each response you get, encouraging both more feedback (people love joining in on a conversation!) and building relationships by interacting with your customers and proving that you value their opinion.
By hosting these questions on social media, you can also take a more relaxed approach in the language that you use, and even open up more fun and playful feedback if that’s right for your brand.
- “What would you all love to see from us in the future? 👀”
- “Green or blue?”
- “Who’s excited for the launch of [new product?] 🤚”
2. Send direct messages
Direct messaging is another way to approach customers and ask for feedback. On social media, this format is a great fit for businesses if you notice particular users liking or interacting with your posts, and can make them feel a little like VIPs.
For these messages, you want to keep it personal and informal. It should feel like a friend reaching out, rather than a faceless corporation sending them paid adverts.
“Hey [name]! Thanks for supporting us! We’re looking to improve [product/service] and would love your honest thoughts”.
3. Make use of private groups
Having a private group on Facebook or a Discord channel for your customers can deliver you your very own personal well of customer feedback. These groups are great if you use them to test a new product or service, giving you direct feedback before launching. For example, if you have a patron group as an artist, you can share initial sketches of upcoming prints.
Depending on the type of product you offer, these groups can also provide you with a gold mine of information with little effort if your customers are connecting and talking to each other.
“Hi gang! We’ve been working behind the scenes on [new product] and want to give you all a sneak preview of what’s to come. Right now, we’re deciding between [X and Y]. What do you prefer?”
Make sure you respond to keep feedback coming in
We’ve shared many ways of asking customers for feedback and reviews that you can get started on right now. But no matter what method you choose, it’s important that you also respond to the feedback that you do get.
Responding to and acknowledging feedback is a great way to thank your customers for the time they’ve taken to help your business, strengthening your relationships with them and making them feel valued. The more you respond to people, the more you also encourage others to get back in touch, as they’ll know that you’re there to actually listen to what they have to say.
This is important even if the feedback or reviews that you get are negative. Although it’s tempting to try to ignore (or delete!) negative comments, they are just as valuable as any positive feedback you will get. And if you’re unsure of how to handle these situations, don’t worry – we’ve got you covered in this guide to responding to negative feedback.
There are also tools that can help you to collect customer reviews and display them on your website. Read our Senja review to find out why we think this is one of the best tools for social proof.
Need more advice to help grow your business? We’ve got you covered at Business4Beginners.
