Customers will tell you what’s wrong with your website. Just not on the website.
They tell customer service on the phone. They mention it to the counter. They leave a Google review. Most of it never makes it back to whoever runs the site.
Where Feedback Actually Comes From
For me, it came from three places:
- Google reviews. Public, and usually about the whole experience, not just the website.
- Calls and emails to customer service. The most specific feedback you’ll get, because the buyer is stuck on something right now.
- Sales and counter conversations. Questions buyers ask in person that the website should have answered.
None of these show up in analytics. You have to go ask for them.
Small Fixes Count
Not every piece of feedback is a redesign.
Some of the fixes that came in were as small as a misspelling in the technical specs, or a spec that was obviously missing a decimal point. Obvious once someone said it, and easy to miss in a catalog of thousands of parts.
A wrong spec is worse than a missing one. A buyer who orders off it gets the wrong part, and now it’s a return, a phone call, and a buyer who trusts your pages a little less.
Spelling and spec fixes take minutes. Make them as soon as they come in.
Asking For Reviews
Most reviews don’t happen on their own. You have to ask.
I asked in person, at the branches. It was part of a local SEO campaign to bring more traffic and sales through each location. I made a flyer with a QR code and reported the numbers at the monthly sales meetings: the number of reviews and the percentage change for each branch. It turned into a competitive game between the branches.
I also tracked monthly revenue from sales. It wasn’t a huge difference, but reviews and revenue grew almost in parallel.
Asking in person works because the customer is standing there after a good experience. A QR code makes it one step instead of five. And tracking it made it something the sales team could see, not just a marketing project.
Turning Feedback Into Fixes
Feedback only helps if it gets to the person who can change the website.
- Keep one list. A shared spreadsheet works. What was said, where it came from, and what page it’s about.
- Ask customer service and sales once a month. What did buyers ask this month that the website should have answered?
- Read your Google reviews for patterns. One complaint is a bad day. The same complaint three times is a fix.
- Fix the small things right away. Typos, wrong specs, broken links, outdated hours.
- Save the bigger things for a monthly look. Missing pages, confusing navigation, a checkout that doesn’t fit how buyers order.
Every question your team answers over and over is something the website could answer instead.
Reply To Reviews
Good or bad, reply.
A short thank you on a good review shows other buyers someone is paying attention. On a bad one, say what you fixed or how to reach someone. Keep it short and don’t argue.
Buyers read the replies as much as the reviews.
Feedback And The Rest Of The Journey
Feedback tells you what buyers say. Heatmaps show what they do. You need both. More in What Heatmaps Show That Analytics Don’t.
For the full buyer’s journey, see 5 Stops on the B2B Buyer’s Journey (And Where You Lose Them).
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