How to respond to customer feedback (with examples)

Whether it’s positive or negative, when a customer shares feedback with you, it’s a gift. However, many businesses don’t treat customer feedback as the gift it truly is.

This is a common mistake, and it happens often because both positive and negative feedback can be difficult to listen to. Gathering feedback is one thing, but using that feedback to improve the customer experience is something quite different. 

With customer feedback, you get to see your business through their eyes. That brief glimpse can completely change the course of the relationship. The direction it takes depends on how you handle the situation.

We’ve compiled a quick list of best practices for responding to customer feedback so you can make the most of it, whether it’s glowing, scathing or so-so.

Responding to customer feedback, whether positive or negative, is a good practice to get into the habit of doing for several reasons:

Your timeframe to engage a customer is slim. If you wait too long to follow up, it tells customers that you don’t care or aren’t paying attention. That’s already enough to make an unhappy customer cancel their services or post a negative review online.

Make a point of responding to feedback within 24 to 48 hours. Simply acknowledging feedback in the first instance can buy you more time to repair the relationship. Plus, it shows the customer that you’re ready and willing to do what it takes to retain them.

Even when dealing with positive feedback, it’s important to show customers appreciation when they take the time to praise you. Engaging with customers after a positive experience shows your gratitude and opens up more opportunities to build on their satisfaction.

It may seem like a no-brainer, but when reading particularly harsh feedback, it’s difficult not to take it personally and get annoyed. You’re human, after all. When you feel under attack, your natural instinct may be to retaliate.

However, remember that customer feedback is not personal. It’s the reality of doing business. When you read feedback that makes your hackles rise, take a few minutes out to recompose yourself. Make a cup of tea. Take some deep breaths. Give yourself a pep talk if you need to. Then respond respectfully.

A lot of customers leave vague feedback. For instance, they might say that they experienced terrible service but not provide any further details. Was the waiting time too long? Was a particular employee rude?

Make a point of getting more information. Start by doing your homework. Consult with your team and check their customer history to determine what’s happening. If you can’t find any answers, follow up with the customer for more information.

Addressing feedback quickly is important, but you don’t have to hold the entire conversation online. You’ll earn more respect from a customer if you invite them to discuss matters further on the phone. It shows initiative and reinforces the fact that you want to resolve their issue above all else.

So, when an email exchange goes nowhere, switch it up and continue the conversation over the phone or in person.

Positive feedback is feedback from your customers that praises or names something they like about your products, services or company. Examples of positive feedback include a customer survey that compliments your latest product or a response to your Net Promoter Score® (NPS®) survey in which a customer rates themselves as a promoter. 

Hooray for happy customers! When a customer provides positive feedback, it’s cause for celebration. Before you break out the good biscuits, here are some best practices to consider:

Let’s suppose you own a custom jewellery company called XYZ Jewellery that creates unique pieces for customers in the UK. You recently received this piece of feedback from a happy customer. 

“I am highly impressed with my topaz ring from XYZ Jewellery. The design process was amazing fun and you really took my ideas to heart. Sheila was great to work with. Shipping was fast and the ring was beautiful. I will be buying more pieces in the future!”

When responding to this customer feedback, you may reply with something along these lines:

“Thank you for your kind feedback. XYZ Jewellery is happy that you are satisfied with your purchase. We will pass on your note to Sheila. We look forward to working with you again soon!”

Negative feedback is when customers provide criticism about what they don’t like about your company, customer service or offerings. This may be a response to a feedback survey noting an issue with a product or an NPS survey where a customer rates themself as a detractor.

Every business, however excellent it is, will receive poor feedback at some point. Remain calm. Use these tips to handle negative feedback:

For this example, imagine that you run an auto repair shop called XYZ Auto. An unhappy customer shares this feedback in a recent survey that you sent out to customers.

“I came to have my car repaired in June at XYZ Auto and was very disappointed with the customer service. Billy didn’t look up from his phone when I walked through the door and he took a long time to notice that I’d come inside. He was rude and dismissive when I spoke to him about the issue with my car. Terrible service. Not to mention the fact that my repair took longer than expected.”

It’s safe to say that this interaction rubbed this customer up the wrong way. When responding to negative feedback like this, you may say something like: 

“We’re sorry you didn’t have the best experience at XYZ Auto. We strive to provide the highest quality service to our customers. We would love to discuss your experience and see how we can improve our business. Give us a call during business hours on XXXXX XXXXXX.”

These examples of positive and negative feedback are important. But how do you obtain that feedback from your customers in the first place? Well, you can gather customer feedback throughout the feedback cycle in a few different ways. 

You can use a single method or multiple methods to create a Voice of the Customer (VoC) programme. If you pick the right methods for your business’s customer interactions, you’ll gather plenty of great feedback in no time.

You can send your customers feedback surveys in many different forms: website surveys, product surveys, NPS surveys, customer satisfaction score (CSAT) surveys, customer effort score (CES) surveys and so on. You can choose the survey that aligns with the feedback you want to collect. There’s a survey for every touchpoint in the customer journey. 

All you need to do is select the survey that works for your goals, find the right CX solution (such as SurveyMonkey), build your survey and send it out to customers. Then sit back and watch the positive and negative feedback roll in. Surveys can be as short as one multiple choice question, or they can include open-ended questions or several questions to gather additional feedback.

An easy-to-use contact form on your website means that customers can get in touch quickly if they encounter any issues or problems. It puts the power in their hands to access your customer service team when a problem arises. Relying only on feedback mechanisms where you contact customers can lead to frustration when an issue arises and a customer can’t contact you.

Customer forms play a crucial role in understanding customer opinions. They provide a platform for you to connect with customers and solicit their views about your products or services, customer service team and company. 

These forms can be a great way to obtain feedback from customers who like your company but aren’t ardent enough fans to leave reviews. Customer forms can also help you dig deeper into issues or strengths that you’ve identified via other feedback mechanisms and find out in more detail what customers think.

Convenience is key for consumers, which explains the growing popularity of live chat options on business websites. These chatbots allow customers to get help with minor issues in a timely manner. They can also be programmed to request feedback after a customer has performed an action, such as making a purchase or paying a bill. 

Since live chat is a low-touch option, many customers who are too busy to complete a survey may be willing to click one button to quickly give you a star rating. The downside is that you’ll miss out on thoughtful, open-ended feedback that can help you get to the root cause of problems.

Be kind and courteous when responding to private customer feedback, such as an email sharing a customer’s negative experience with a retail employee. Ensure that you express concern, restate the problem, offer a solution and take it offline if need be. 

Remember that this is your chance to turn a negative customer experience into a positive one. So make it count!

When a customer leaves feedback in a public forum such as Google Reviews or Yelp, respond promptly, regardless of whether the feedback is positive or negative. In the case of a glowing review, take the time to thank the customer for sharing their experience and being a loyal customer. 

This helps you to nurture a strong customer relationship that can help bring new customers to your business.

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Net Promoter, Net Promoter Score and NPS are trademarks of Satmetrix Systems, Inc., Bain & Company, Inc. and Fred Reichheld.