Building A Blueprint with Customer Feedback

If no one told you, let's be the first. Customer feedback is a gift that keeps on giving. It isn’t just about ratings and reviews. It’s a clear "from the camel's mouth" roadmap that helps you plan your next moves. It's the perfect source to cater to what your customer actually wants.

For entrepreneurs, customer feedback can show you where your service hits the mark, where it misses, and where there's untapped potential. It’s not about catering to your customers' every whim. It's about customer feedback patterns and leveraging them to generate a business plan stemming from honest opinions.

Why Feedback Is Important for Business Longevity

No one likes to rely on guessing. It's such a roll of the dice that could come at a high risk depending on the investment. Ideally, if we all had answers on exactly what our clients and customers want, then we'd take that route rather than guess. Luckily, customer feedback exists. Keeping customers at the center of your business development strategy helps your business thrive based on literal input. A 2024 report from McKinsey & Company found that businesses that consistently used customer feedback in product development experienced 30% faster growth than their competitors.

Do You Use Customer Feedback in Business?

• Of course! It's so insightful.
• Here and there. By word of mouth.
• Not at all. Knowing all this is a lifesaver!

How to Gather Customer Feedback That Matters

There’s no one right way to collect customer feedback, but the key is consistent collecting. Only a handful of honest conversations are needed to reveal what your analytics alone can’t.

Start by choosing a few simple ways to gather customer feedback regularly.

Ways to Gather Info:

• A follow-up email after a purchase, asking how things went

• A quarterly feedback form for long-term clients

• DMs, comment replies, or post-purchase phone calls

  
  

Tip: Don’t just ask, “How did we do?” Ask specific, open-ended questions. For example:

• “What almost stopped you from buying?”

• “What could we have done better?”

• “What’s one thing we could change that would make this easier for you?”

  
  

  When you take the time to ask intentional questions, the customer feedback you get becomes extremely valuable

Turning Insights into a Business Development Strategy

The magic of information is all in what you do with it. Think of it like blueprints for a house. If the roof is leaking, you would focus on a nice area rug. At least, we really hope not. But the same goes for business. If customers are saying something doesn’t work, or something works really well, it’s a signal to lean into that.

Look for repeated comments regarding:

• Confusing parts of your process

• Features or offers that customers love

• Opportunities you may have missed

• Things that customers feel could be better

  
  

From there, align that customer feedback with your own goals. Using this insight to generate a business plan means building from truthful demand and not guessing. It helps you adjust your systems, improve your message, and stay updated with your market even as it evolves.

Conclusion: Start with What You Already Have

You don’t need to hire a research firm or run a complex survey to know what your customers need. You already have all the information you need through emails, DMs, reviews, and conversations. Your next move can happen strategically using opinions straight from the camel's mouth. Your people. Your audience. The blueprint is already there; you just have to follow it.