Why is it so challenging to see things through our customers’ eyes?
Human nature might have something to do with it. We naturally focus on our perspective. However, to be successful in marketing products or services, it’s crucial to shift our view and see the world through our customers' eyes.
You can use this perspective shift to find inspiration from your customers and grow your business. After all, you’ve already done the heavy work of finding them, building a relationship with them, showing them business value, and onboarding them.
Let’s now focus on your existing customers and grow their customer lifetime value (CLTV).
This article shares three approaches to listen to your customer’s voice and take action - with real-world results of how each approach unlocks growth.
Approach 1: Deploy Customer Feedback Surveys to Capture Customer Outcomes Data at Scale
It might feel intimidating to deploy a customer feedback survey at scale, but here’s why it’s essential:
With data, you can take action.
Action leads to outcomes.
Outcomes can generate growth.
How to use customer feedback surveys at scale:
Identify Desired Outcomes.
Start with the outcome you want to share and map back to the customer data points needed.
For example: “Our customers saw a 25% increase in support team productivity when using our product, saving an average of 8 hours per week while increasing customer satisfaction by nearly 7%.”
To make statements like this, you need to ask the right questions and prompt your customers to share their results. In this example, the data points collected show time saved and changes in customer satisfaction.
2. Build your survey to collect data.
Consider the following when building your survey:
Who: Which contacts do we need to hear from?
What: What critical information does the organization need input on regularly? (hint: focus on their results or accomplishments)
When: How frequently should we request feedback?
Where: Use a simple online survey for easy data scoring and reporting.
Why: What are your objectives besides building baseline data and reporting on customer satisfaction?
How: 5 questions in 5 minutes. (This isn’t up for discussion!)
3. Integrate Data Collection
Ensure that your CRM (or customer success platform) is set up to track these key outcomes. Make sure you think about repeatability and how to scale this - build for the future.
Keep it simple to repeat the survey and consistently share data for annual metrics and board reporting.
Consider surveys for different customer segments or stages of the customer journey
Use the data to mine for customer advocates who can share their outcomes through case studies, testimonials, and customer references through follow up sessions
Real-Life Outcome: Agency identified multiple process improvement initiatives from customer feedback surveys leading to increased client satisfaction
When I was an account leader at a marketing agency, we conducted a generic annual client survey. Past surveys didn’t provide much insight because a lot had happened in a year, and clients didn’t remember all the positive results and accomplishments.
We decided to change our approach by focusing on more frequent pulse check surveys that dove into specific outcomes and accomplishments. When it came time for the annual survey, our clients were primed to provide feedback.
After just one year, this initiative led to:
Deeper connections and more satisfied clients stemming from cross-agency process improvement initiatives born directly from client feedback.
10% increase in agency satisfaction.
Approach 2: Share Customer Feedback Data Across Your Organization to Spark New Ideas
Your customer-facing teams are not the only ones responsible for customer happiness and retention. It is paramount to keep your entire company focused on the customer’s needs.
Without this focus, teams veer off in different directions to do their own thing, quickly losing sight of what is most important to customers. So how can cross-department teams use customer feedback data in a new way?
Marketing: surveys will power data-driven thought leadership content.
Product: surveys identify patterns within client outcomes to create new service offerings.
Sales: surveys can demonstrate to prospects how your product solves specific problems more effectively than competitors.
Hiring: surveys are used to recruit team members with expertise in addressing specific and emerging client outcomes.
Leadership: surveys capture market and client evolution at scale with easy-to-use CRM reports.
Real-Life Outcome: Feedback from the Sales team ignites development of innovative agency channel partner program
With one of my SaaS clients, the Sales team identified a critical unlock using customer feedback. The majority of their customers were used to working with their agency partners to track performance data and lacked the internal resources to use our SaaS tool.
Prospects continued to share the same feedback with Sales: “Our agency normally does work like this. We love what your tool does, but we don’t have anyone on our internal team with time to use it.”
Sales brought this feedback to leadership, who tapped me to develop an agency partner channel program to grow our customer base. This feedback from Sales was critical for opening up a new growth channel.
Through this partner relationship which began with feedback from Sales, the founders gained valuable feedback on product development and customer retention. After one year, our results were astonishing:
$6M+ partner opportunities created
$2M connected partnership revenue
Deep product roadmap feedback from agency power users
Approach 3: Provide value scripts to help customers easily share ROI feedback with stakeholders.
A flip-the-script approach to feedback is to proactively deliver results and data to your customers on the value that your company provides.
Ask: “What do we need to do as a company to ensure that more customers experience value?”
Most buyers expect rapid time to value. Each team at your company must understand: if customers cannot quantify the value and outcomes your product or service brings, retention and growth will be an uphill battle. It’s important to make it easy for your customers to communicate the value of your product or service by providing them with a script to share the value and outcomes of working with you.
𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭/𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞? Brainstorm with your teams and deliver this information in a simple format monthly.
𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫? Measure, document, and celebrate these outcomes to keep them top of mind.
𝐂𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠/𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐰𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬? Use language that all roles at your customer’s organization can understand - users, influencers, decision makers, and buyers - especially the CFO.
Real-Life Outcome: proactive delivery of value and outcomes data spurs customer expansion at renewal.
After consistently delivering a monthly report detailing the value our SaaS product was providing to a customer, the customer team decided to 3x their investment in our product with a large expansion at renewal time.
The customer had been using our product to uncover opportunities that their marketing team could use as competitive advantages and our regular reports quantified the dollar impact of their investment in our product – and more importantly - the return we were providing. The buying committee agreed that their investment in our product was small compared to the ROI they experienced using our product.
Final Thoughts
By focusing on customer-centric initiatives, you can unlock growth and elevate your business.
These three approaches—deploying customer feedback surveys, sharing customer feedback data across your organization, and delivering value scripts to customers—show how listening to and acting on your customer’s voice can lead to significant results.
Start implementing these strategies today and watch your business thrive.
About the Author
Kelly Olson
Fractional Chief Customer Officer
Kelly is a seasoned Fractional Chief Customer Officer and leader, known for pioneering customer success strategies in SaaS and agency settings, driving retention and growth with a strategic, empathetic approach honed over two decades.
Read Kelly’s bio
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