Simple Methods For Retail Customer Feedback

Recently we sent out a simple survey to O2 Hydration's customers that is transforming our business more than anything has since Covid. Here's the stupid-simple method we used. 1️⃣ Send a survey to everyone who has repeat purchased your product in the last 12 months 2️⃣ Ask demographic questions to help you get a better idea of who they are. We asked, age, gender, occupation, and if they have kids 3️⃣ Ask their consumption frequency of your product. We did daily, 4-6x/wk, 2-3x/wk, 1x/wk, 2-3x/month, monthly, or almost never 4️⃣ Ask them this very important question: if your product went away, would they be very disappointed, somewhat disappointed, or not at all disappointed. If 40% or more say they'd be very disappointed, you've got product/market fit with that group of people 5️⃣ As a follow up to the above question, ask them why they answered that way 6️⃣ Last, ask what you could do to improve your product for them These are the core questions, and you can build on them as you see fit, but don't overcomplicate it or make it too long - people will drop off. Now, here's where the magic happens. Segment the responses by those that indicated they'd be "very disappointed" if your product went away. These are the people you need to build your business around. The demographic questions allow you to get a better grasp of who they are. But now you can dig into their consumption habits and, most importantly, why they love your product (question 5). Reorient your marketing around this group, and use the language they used in their survey results to explain your product's benefits. For O2, our core customer had shifted from a young 20s/30s dude to a 35-55 y/o busy mom, often a teacher or a nurse. This shift happened right under my nose, and without this survey I would have continued orienting my marketing toward the wrong consumer group 🤯 Pro-tip: explore the "somewhat disappointed" people's results to determine what you could do to improve for them (question 6) in an effort to move more of them from the "somewhat" group to the "very" group (product/market fit). Trash the "not at disappointed" results - they're dead to you 👀 If under 40% of your customers indicated they'd be very disappointed if your product went away, you've got work to do. If over 40%, you probably have work to do. Either way, now you know you're working on the right things for the right people. BONUS: If you want to get a better idea of who your competitors really are, and where you should be merchandised in the store, ask what products they'd go back to using if yours went away. Let me know if you have any questions, now or after this exercise. I love this stuff.

A lot of brands send out a “How did we do?” email about a week after someone buys something. Okay, cool. But that’s not really how people work. If the product hasn’t done anything for them yet, or worse, if it hasn’t even shown up, what are they supposed to say? Here’s what actually makes sense: Step 1: Wait until the product actually helps, when it solves a problem or just makes their day better. Step 2: Ask for a review in a way that’s about them, NOT just about your product. Bad: “Can you leave us a review?” Better: “You bought this to help with [insert problem]. Has it made a difference? We’d really love to hear your story.” Even better: “Still having back pain like before? Has the cushion helped at all? We’d love to hear how it’s working out for you.” It’s simple. Make it personal. Focus on their experience. You’ll get 3x more reviews. And way better ones.

Learning a >lot< more about your customers takes 3 steps and ~1hr/wk. It's very unsexy, but very effective: 1️⃣ Step 1: Talk to your customers (30 minutes) Scary, but true: I mean on the phone. Every week, rank your customers by spend. Call one customer from the top 25%.   Ask these Qs: ➝Why did you choose us? ➝What drove you to purchase? (Something we did?) ➝What social media and/or newsletters do you consume? Over time, this is guaranteed to give you two things: A short list of top problems to solve The marketing channels you should be active in 2️⃣ Step 2: Conduct online research (15 minutes) Talking to current customers may not reveal other problems in the marketplace. . .   You need to think about future customers.   I have an assistant do online research and present me with screenshots and findings: Quick tips here: ➝ In Saas? Review G2, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.  ➝ Services? Review forums. ➝ Products? Review Amazon and Reddit.   3️⃣ Step 3: Leverage Marketing Automation (15 minutes) Surveys. Use them. I have, and I recommend everyone does.    Three easy situations: ➝ If someone subscribes. . . Ask what drove them to. ➝ If someone buys a product. . . Ask if you solved their problem. ➝ If someone views a PDP but doesn’t buy. . . Ask them why. Record the results. Review them every week.    Every week, write down every customer problem you identify.    Not just the issues themselves, but the language used. That should directly inform your marketing and copywriting—don’t guess on phrasing or terminology.   There you go: 1-2-3 and you've built a customer feedback process.