Implementing Feedback Loops in B2B Platforms

An open channel of communication between customer facing teams and product is extremely critical when building technology for events. * The last thing an event marketer wants to see with an event around the corner is a feature launch that changes how everything works. Events are stressful enough and having to re-learn things in their tech platform is the last thing people want. * Either we prioritize feedback and are able to execute and go live in time for a customer’s event or we’re not. It’s pretty black and white and a day can make all the difference. So a really tight loop of feedback with customer facing teams to understand what will truly drive impact is important to making these key decisions. We’re very mindful that if we commit to something we better get it done and if we're uncertain it’s better to be transparent up front and let customers know so people can plan accordingly. To make sure we account for this, we ensure that our product team closely listens to customer-facing teams, making sure essential features are surfaced and prioritized. Our process includes: Open Slack Channels: Our decision making is documented transparently in company-wide slack channels so that if anyone has additional context or alternative approaches that could address customer feedback or influence prioritization, people are open to chime in and add their input.  Transparent Roadmapping: We maintain an open product roadmap that is accessible to our customer-facing teams. This transparency allows everyone to see what’s being prioritized and why. This also makes it easy for customer facing teams to call out features they think would need more communication before going live or things they feel need to be prioritized.  Feature Flags: We often soft launch features so that existing events aren’t impacted but we can always turn them on when needed. Product works closely with customer facing teams to identify features that may need this approach.  Agile Adjustments: Based on feedback, we are able to make quick adjustments to our priorities. Our sprint planning tries to account for 10-20% of unplanned work so we have room to act quickly. This agility ensures that critical features can be developed and launched in time for key events. Regular Feedback Loops: We hold frequent meetings with our sales, customer success, and support teams. We’re able to gather insights and feedback directly from users to understand the immediate challenges event marketers face. Product also showcases early previews of how features will work even when they’re in the design, prototype or QA stages to make sure we’re getting feedback in as early as possible. In the world of event technology, every feature can make or break an event. This is why it’s crucial for us to have a clear and open line of communication between our product team and those who interact with our customers daily. By doing so, we ensure that we’re addressing the most urgent and impactful needs of event marketers.

1. B2B deal sizes are north of $10,000 - $100,000+ 2. We agree that building the top of the funnel is expensive 3. We agree that 90% of the buying process happens when sellers are NOT in the room (shoutout Nate Nasralla) But we rely on CRM inputs from sellers on why they lost deals 🤔 In any industry, your buyers and customers are the foundation of your success, but B2B is awful at getting feedback. B2C: 🥗 Uber Eats asks us to review our website experience after ordering 🛋 Wayfair asks us to review their furniture delivery 📞 Facebook asked me to review my phone call quality in Messenger 📜 Quora asked me if the content they showed me was relevant 🖇 LinkedIn asked me if the post I was seeing is valuable. B2B: - Buying process: Nothing - Post-sales: product usage + NPS survey So how do we fix this? 1/ Incentives --> First, response rates. People have "survey fatigue" but they don't have "charity fatigue". I love animals, especially dogs (I have a black English lab named Nash), so I've partnered with a local animal shelter to give the option of a gift card or donate to the rescue (win/win) for filling out a survey (drastically increased responses and helps the pups). 2/ Structure --> Strategic questions for each scenario and A LOT of answers to the SAME questions. 1️⃣ Lost deals: Send structured and automated surveys (w/ incentives) asking why they didn't move forward 2️⃣ Won deals: Send a short post-purchase survey asking to rate their experience and why they chose you (make it part of your process). 3️⃣ Won deals (6 months in): Send a survey specifically measuring product-market fit (w/ incentive). 4️⃣ Centralize feedback: Put all this feedback in one place, identify sales, marketing, and product gaps each quarter, and adjust accordingly. 3/ Consistency --> Consistency feedback gives you more data to identify team trends, individual trends, department trends, etc. (sales reps, competitors, product gaps). -------- In a world flooded with AI, automation, and shortcuts, the companies that stay closest to their buyers/customers, have the shortest feedback loops, and take *action* to improve have a better shot at winning. P.S. By far the biggest surprise in pilots has been the deals that can be won back, which we call Rebound Deals (most buyers are no decision and have a specific ask and timing).

A striking stat caught my eye recently: while 82% of companies use NPS surveys, only 34% find them truly valuable. This perfectly captures a massive disconnect in how B2B companies approach customer feedback. We're running programs that should work well, but don't really help us much. I think NPS, and similar VOC programs, when applied in a B2B context have two major flaws. - That 5% of your customers can speak for the other 95% - That you can build a great company getting customer feedback once a quarter Neither of these work in B2B, where 5% of a customer base is a tiny sample, where every customer relationship is complex and unique, and where speed matters a lot. What B2B businesses need are high-velocity feedback loops that move beyond periodic surveys. By capturing and analyzing every customer interaction in real-time — from support tickets to sales calls — you create a direct line to customer voice. This is exactly what we're building at BackEngine. This shift does two critical things: - Gives you insight into what 100% of your customers are actually saying - Ensures those insights instantly reach the teams who can act on them The result? Engineering teams fix issues before they impact multiple customers. Product teams validate decisions with comprehensive data. CS teams prevent problems instead of reacting to them. Executives maintain a real-time view of the business. NPS still has its place for tracking long-term sentiment. But in today's market, maintaining startup-like customer connection as you scale isn't optional — without it, you'll eventually hear what you need to know, but it will likely be too late.

𝗜𝗳 𝗬𝗼𝘂’𝗿𝗲 𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗙𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗟𝗼𝗼𝗽𝘀, 𝗬𝗼𝘂’𝗿𝗲 𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗦𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺𝘀, 𝗬𝗼𝘂’𝗿𝗲 𝗚𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴. In service design and journey management, we talk a lot about touchpoints, channels, and experiences. 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘁𝗵: - No journey gets better without feedback. - No system evolves without learning loops. A feedback loop is the engine that turns friction into insight, and insight into action. In great systems, feedback loops are: 1. 𝗩𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 – Customers, brokers, employees can see the impact of their feedback 2. 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲𝗹𝘆 – Data isn’t stuck in a quarterly report, it’s now 3. 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 – It doesn’t just inform, it drives change 4. 𝗖𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗱 – People know they’ve been heard 𝗜𝗻 𝗯𝗿𝗼𝗸𝗲𝗻 𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺𝘀, 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗱𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻:  🚫 Static maps and surveys nobody reads  🚫 Call logs without analysis  🚫 Dashboards with no ownership  🚫 “That’s just how the process works” 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗶𝘁: - If a customer hits the same billing error twice, that’s not bad luck, it’s a broken loop. - If frontline staff keep hacks and workarounds to themselves, that’s a missed loop. - If leadership only hears what’s escalated, that’s a distorted loop. 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗶𝘀 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿. 𝗦𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗹. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗼 𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆? ✅ Embed feedback into your journeys—not after them ✅ Make insights operational, not optional ✅ Connect customer data to employee experience ✅ Design loops at every level—from micro-interactions to org-wide transformation 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻’𝘁 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗼. 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻’𝘁 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻’𝘁 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺. #ServiceDesign #OrganizationalDesign #BusinessDesign #SystemsDesign #Research