Effective B2B Strategies to Collect Customer Feedback

According to a study by G2, 92% of B2B buyers are more likely to purchase after reading a trusted review. But how to get customer feedback in the first place? And what to do when it could be more enthusiastic?

Let those who never took someone’s opinion personally cast the first stone. It’s hard to stay indifferent when the critique comes down our way. However, there’s a way to deal with it while sustaining less emotional damage. 

Instead of dreading it, let’s “make feedback normal. Not a performance review.” These words of wisdom illustrate feedback as an everyday and standard practice that aims to help both sides and isn’t aimed at nitpicking or finding fault at every little move.

To put that theory into practice, we shed light on the most efficient ways to collect customer feedback, sharing Clutch reviews from our B2B clients to illustrate each case.

Why does B2B customer feedback matter?

Customer feedback helps B2B companies identify areas for improvement and refine their products and services. Ask, and you shall receive. 

There’s no better way to gain insights into your customers’ needs, preferences, and pain points than turning directly to them. Effectively addressing their opinions and criticism makes you more trustworthy and builds strong customer relationships while increasing the chance of attracting new ones.

Based on our experience, we identified the following advantages of getting customer feedback. Let’s see how it can give your business a competitive advantage.

Improvement and innovation

Praise for us

Lesson for us

As our CEO, Mat Jachna, says, “Customer feedback tells us what we do right, what we do wrong, and – most important – what we can do better.” In this case, we've learned that the initial project stage is crucial to lay the foundations of how to proceed, what to achieve, and what to expect. Following our client’s suggestion, we've tweaked our processes to focus on those initial meetings with future clients.

However, the point is not always to fix errors or bad practices. Often feedback can drive innovation by highlighting new features or ideas that customers desire, leading to innovative changes and happy customers.

Increased customer satisfaction and loyalty

Praise for us

Lesson for us

You may have stellar quality products and the highest converting marketing campaigns imaginable, but only by listening and meeting your clients’ needs can you win their loyalty. Here, our client pointed out a small issue that was a quick fix but sped up the entire design process and communication on both ends.

Additionally, when customers feel heard and see their feedback implemented, they are more likely to stay and recommend your services to others. And there is nothing better than a good business endorsement. 

According to an Influitive and Heinz Marketing survey, 84% of B2B decision-makers start the buying process with a referral. That’s how companies like Consafe Logistics, Kiwi Jobs (now OLX), ShineX, and Tutlo contacted us.

Competitive advantage

Praise for us

Lesson for us

We all thrive on praise, especially when it comes from satisfied customers. But if our goal is to improve and stand out from the competition, we must listen to positive and negative reviews.

We’ve learned that serving excellent customer experience means adjusting your language to their technical expertise. Our clients don’t need to know every industry jargon, so we always present complex processes as simply and straightforwardly as possible. 

Getting and implementing customer feedback allows us to make necessary changes, meet customer expectations better, and build a stronger position in the marketplace.

Product or service validation

Praise for us

Lesson for us

Feedback from customers serves as a validation mechanism for businesses. How else would you know if your product or service resonates with your target audience?

Regarding this, Mat shares another important piece of advice: “Collect customer feedback to determine what and who in your business delivers value to your clients.” Depending on the responses, highlight your strong points and work on the weak points moving on to the next project.

In this case, we jumped into action too soon, not leaving our client and ourselves enough time to delve into details. That caused a few small hiccups along the way but also showed the importance of the project’s preparation stage.

Enhanced brand reputation

Praise for us

Lesson for us

Customer feedback shapes your company’s reputation. “It shows other prospects that we do great work,” says Mat. Positive testimonials from satisfied customers can boost your online image and attract new customers. But don’t hide away from negative feedback; handling it consistently demonstrates your commitment to customer satisfaction even more than scoring only 5-star ratings.

Although this critique was minor, we ventured to design a better project structure. Now, we go through it with every client at the beginning of our cooperation. This way, both sides can adhere to agreed deadlines and understand their role and accountability at each stage.

How to collect B2B customer feedback?

Did you know that 67% of B2B buyers prefer to see a mix of positive and negative reviews before purchasing? That combination adds credibility to your business and shows potential customers you can handle unfavorable opinions. But you have to ask for them first. B2B buyers often provide feedback through email, online surveys, or interactions with sales or customer service representatives.

Here are some effective ways to collect customer feedback:

• Surveys: Designing custom surveys is a common way to gather specific information about customers’ preferences and experiences using your services or products. You can create online surveys using free tools like Google Forms, Lucky Orange, Qualtrics, or SurveyMonkey. Remember to keep the outline concise and easy to complete. Otherwise, your respondents abandon the survey halfway through.
• Social Media Listening: Do undercover work and monitor your social media for mentions of your brand, products, or services. When you notice customers interested in your business online, engage with them and encourage them to share their feedback.
• Online Reviews: Conversing with users online can bring you closer to your customers. Encourage your clients to leave reviews on platforms like Google and Yelp or industry-specific review sites like HubSpot Ecosystem.
• Customer Interviews: If you want to gather in-depth feedback from a specific client, suggest a one-on-one interview. You can conduct it in person, via phone, or videoconference. An alternative is using a client review platform. In 6Minded, we collect customer feedback through Clutch.
• Customer Support Interactions: Before you go overboard sending your clients long surveys, pay attention to customer support interactions, such as emails, live chats, or phone calls. Our clients used to flood our email boxes asking about access to the domain registration portal, delaying the website’s launch over a simple task. We now ask clients to connect the subdomain during development to avoid last-minute crises.
• Net Promoter Score (NPS): Would your customers recommend your services and products to others? You can find out by implementing the Net Promoter Score (NPS) survey to measure customer satisfaction and loyalty. This metric is an important addition to your customer experience analytics.
• Customer Feedback Portals: Dedicated online portals let customers provide feedback, share ideas, and upvote suggestions from others. You can use it to maintain customer engagement, showing that you value their opinions. If you’re unsure how to create one, turn to experienced web designers instead.

Collect customer feedback and keep improving

Now you know how to collect customer feedback and – what’s most important – how to use it to make informed decisions, improve your services, and build strong customer relationships. Keep your ears and eyes open, and don’t hesitate to ask clients for reviews directly. They will gladly voice their opinion. And we hope this article showed you how to use it to your advantage.