How to prevent your company’s most valuable data set from rotting away

The results of the 7th A/B test of the month have come in for the Product Growth Tiger Squad - Variant B is the clear winner. The team has a chance to improve month 3 retention by 0.47%. You’ve been at this with such intensity, that at this point, you remember every key product metric by heart to the second place of decimal.

A product tale as old as time

You arrive at the next Product Leadership Weekly. While getting deserved plaudits as you walk through the results, one uncomfortable question arises from a teammate -

‍“Taking a step back. What do we believe are the top 3 customer pains points we can solve for new users that may put us on a path to improve this month's 3 retention metric by maybe 10 percentage points?”

Another team-mate chimes in, ”Well, there is no good way to know that”.

The question asker however, isn’t satisfied. They clear their throat and say…

“I mean, we get 10,000+ Zendesk tickets a month, our CS and Sales team record every call on Gong, we collect thousands of in-app and Typeform survey responses weekly. And, that’s not even counting all the product feedback we get on Twitter, app stores, and our community forum. We are drowning in customer feedback from all angles.

These are our customers. People whom we build the product for. People who pay the bills that keep the lights on here. They are telling us every day in great detail across 10 different channels, exactly what they like and don’t like about our product. We need to be doing better here”.

An awkward silence echoes across the room. Besides the fizzy sound of Pamplemousse LaCroix from your neighbor, it is pin-drop silence.

You think about breaking the silence by sharing your plan for the 8th A/B test of the month, and corresponding dashboard already configured for track it.

But before you can utter something, the Chief Product Officer calmly chimes in-

”I’d agree. We have a tremendous opportunity to unlock a step functional improvement in our product growth if we can truly harness the voice of our customer, map each customer pain to revenue impact, and align our entire team on it. That’s how we win our category and have the highest Customer Lifetime Value amongst our competitors. We live in the age of AI. Customer Feedback is no longer a process but a data set, and arguably the most important of them all. ”

Prevent customer feedback from rotting away

So, how do we prevent this valuable dataset from rotting away in silos across your support tickets, reviews, forums, social media, sales calls, and more? Here are a few ways to approach this:

1. Centralize and Organize Your Data

With feedback scattered across multiple channels, the first step is to centralize this information. Use tools that can aggregate data from various sources into one accessible, searchable database. This consolidation makes it easier to analyze trends, identify recurring issues, and prioritize action items.

2. Use AI and Machine Learning

AI and machine learning technologies can sift through vast amounts of data to highlight sentiments, categorize feedback, and even predict churn risk based on customer complaints. These insights can guide your product development efforts towards solving the most impactful customer pain points.

3. Incorporate Feedback Loops

Make feedback analysis an ongoing process, not a one-time event. Establish regular reviews of customer feedback across all departments, not just product development. This ensures that your entire team remains customer-focused and that valuable insights are acted upon promptly.

4. Idenity and Act on Feedback with the Most Significant Impact

Not all feedback is created equal. Use your consolidated and analyzed data to prioritize issues based on their impact on customer satisfaction and revenue. This prioritization helps ensure that resources are allocated efficiently and that the team is focused on making changes that will have the most significant impact.

5. Close the Loop with Your Customers

Finally, communicate back to your customers about the changes you've made based on their feedback. This not only improves customer satisfaction but also encourages further engagement and feedback. It shows that you're listening and value their input, which can turn even dissatisfied customers into loyal advocates.

Read about the Enterpret Maturity Model

Your Voice of Customer is a treasure trove of insights waiting to be unlocked. When your team is able to effectively managing and acting on this data, we can make significant leaps in product development and customer satisfaction, ensuring that our most valuable dataset never rots away.

Get in touch if you'd like some help.