Feedback as a strategic tool
Every B2B company claims to know its customers. The reality, however, is often quite different. According to the Harvard Business Review, up to 95% of new products fail because companies have failed to properly understand what the customer actually needs.
Feedback is therefore not just a ‘nice to have’ – it is a strategic tool that influences investment in sales, marketing and development. The problem is that most companies collect feedback incorrectly.
Mistake No. 1: Questionnaires that are too long and complicated
Many companies prepare twenty-page questionnaires with dozens of questions. The result? Customers fill them in half-heartedly, or not at all.
In a B2B environment, the situation is even more complicated – your customer is often a manager or technician in a manufacturing company who has little time and is dealing with urgent operational issues. If you send them a questionnaire that takes 30 minutes to complete, you’re more likely to do yourself a disservice.
Solution: Short, targeted interviews. 5–6 open-ended questions are enough to uncover 80% of the key insights.
Mistake No. 2: Closed or leading questions
“Were you satisfied with our product?” – this is a question that won’t tell you much.
The customer will answer “yes” or “no”, and you won’t learn anything about what you could improve. It is equally dangerous to lead the customer on: “You liked that we responded quickly, didn’t you?”
Solution: Open-ended questions. Instead of “Were you satisfied?”, try “What was the greatest added value for you during our collaboration, and where do you see room for improvement?”
Mistake No. 3: Defending your own solution
Many managers or salespeople tend to respond during a conversation with: “But that’s not true, we do it differently.”
The problem is that this immediately closes the door to honest feedback. The customer will withdraw, won’t want to criticise, and you’ll miss out on valuable information.
Solution: During the conversation, just ask questions and listen. Don’t try to defend your position. The aim is not to defend the status quo, but to understand the customer’s perspective.
Mistake No. 4: Delegating interviews to the wrong people
It often happens that interviews are conducted by a junior sales representative or an assistant. The result? A lack of context, the ability to probe further, and, most importantly, the authority for the company to implement the conclusions.
In our experience, it is most effective when interviews are conducted either by someone from senior management or by an independent third party.
Why a third party? Because customers are much more open. They will share things they would never tell their own supplier.
Mistake No. 5: No follow-up on the findings
Many companies do collect feedback, but it then ends up in a drawer.
Customers have invested their time, but nothing changes. That is the worst-case scenario – you lose both trust and opportunity.
Solution: Always focus on recurring themes and commonalities across multiple customers. Derive specific actions from these ‘key findings’. And above all – incorporate them into your marketing, sales or services.
A real-life example
A lighting manufacturer abroad collected feedback via questionnaires. The responses were superficial and revealed nothing new. However, when they started asking customers by phone, they discovered that the biggest problem wasn’t the products, but a lack of communication regarding delivery delays.
Thanks to this insight, they changed their communication process – and within a few months, customer satisfaction and the number of repeat orders increased.
Summary
Feedback is crucial for every B2B company. If you collect it incorrectly, you’re more likely to do yourself a disservice.
The most common mistakes:
- Questionnaires that are too long
- Closed-ended questions
- Defending your own solution
- Delegating to the wrong people
- Failure to act on the results
However, properly conducted in-depth interviews will reveal your customers’ real needs and provide clear evidence for business and marketing decisions.
How to get started
Check out our webinar on YouTube, where we explore the topic in depth and share specific real-world examples: Webinar recording on YouTube.
And if you’d like to find out how to use interviews specifically for your business, get in touch with us.
At AITOM Digital, we help B2B manufacturing and industrial companies develop strategies based on facts, not assumptions.