A step-by-step guide to customer feedback analysis

You had access to a goldmine, but you didn’t consider digging as it was too much hard work. Same as you had plenty of customer feedback, but you didn’t analyze it as the data was too big.

customer feedback

You had access to a goldmine, but you didn’t consider digging as it was too much hard work.

Same as you had plenty of customer feedback, but you didn’t analyze it as the data was too big. This is a costly mistake a company could make. Customer feedback is valuable information for a business that can help improve customers’ experience with the product. The collected data is crucial for both CX and the product team. Collecting feedback is one thing, and analyzing is another. Too many growing SaaS companies still don’t understand the value of analyzing customer feedback and using it to improve their service.

According to the research, 52% of people consider taking action on customer feedback can help the company improve its services. So, as a company owner, you must give great importance to customer feedback analysis.

How to analyze customer feedback?

1. Store all the data in one place

Before you analyze customer feedback, ensure you’ve collected it all in one place. Even if you’ve collected some incomplete data, put it all in one repository. If you are using a software or tool, export your data in a visual-friendly format. Do not toss away any data you’ve collected; it might prove valuable to your company. According to research, 89% of businesses will compete mainly on customer experience. As customer experience is greatly influenced by customer feedback, you should think carefully before discarding any customer information.

2. Categorize and Sub-Categorize Feedback

Now that you have collected all the customer feedback in one place, it’s time to categorize and re-categorize it. Firstly, notice if the data shows any pattern. Then, choose any theme, topic, segment, sentiment, and more that anyone in your organization could understand. Now start categorizing and subcategorizing your data accordingly to get a clear picture of what customers think about your organization.

3. Sort feedback into positive, negative, and neutral

After you have categorized and sub-categorized your data, divide it into positive, negative, and neutral. Sorting your data according to these properties will help everyone on the team to identify and analyze what went well or worse. While negative data will help you highlight the loopholes, positive data will keep your team motivated. Lastly, the neutral category will help you identify any scope for improvements. Splitting your categorized data into these properties will allow your team to focus on all aspects equally and uniformly.

4. Searching for root causes

Having all three kinds of feedback in one place makes it easier to find their root causes. You don’t need to work hard to find the reasons behind positive feedback since you’re already doing well in that area. However, you must appreciate and recognize the people on your team who continue to deliver outstanding work. However, you must identify the causes behind neutral and negative comments. For example, out of 1,000 negative and neutral reviews, 600 mention delivery issues. You should then determine what issues the customers have with the delivery service and act accordingly.

5. Planning actions

Once you have identified all the root causes that lead to negative or even neutral customer feedback, you can begin planning strategies on how to address them.

Based on the example given in the 4th point, you could hire a new courier or just set up a meeting with them to alert them about the problems. Sketch an action plan that’s feasible and effective enough to neutralize the negative stream of comments that you’ve received. Perhaps, it would be great if your designed plan could turn negative feedback into a positive one.

According to the studies, 90% of customers are influenced by positive reviews when buying something.

Smart work begins with investing in automated tools.

Analyzing hundreds of feedback manually isn’t an efficient way of doing the work as it will consume a lot of your time and will restrict you from focusing on other important tasks. Investing in automated tools is the best way to analyze customer feedback. With automated tools, you can get access to a detailed report and insights about customer feedback data in minutes.