Use Customer Feedback for
growing your online business

Your ecommerce business’s bedrock of support is your online customers. Responding to your customer’s feedback is the key to unlock growth of your business. But important to note, not all feedback is the same; and different feedback holds different level of significance at different stages of growth. As we explore businesses assiduously, we encounter three stages of growth in a business – Preliminary phase, Intermediate phase and Scale Growth phase.
Preliminary phase
This is the initial phase of growth, a time to confirm that a large number of folks want or need your product. It is considered as the most important phase as you need to fit in your product in the right market. If you fail here, growth will cease to exist. The early feedback you get from people while starting out is critical.
Essentially, you need to make sure that you are actually solving problems for your customers. It is recommended not to build a solution around a problem that is just a fantasy. If a problem exists, you need to know what solutions people currently use to solve the problem; and you can get the feedback talking to your customers. Ask your customers how they will feel if they could no longer use the product.

If 40% of the people in the study are “very disappointed” for not having your product, you definitely have won in the early phase of growth. To note, you cannot mostly build your business with “nice to have” products, rather you need your customers to view your products as a “must to have”. And you need to talk to this group of people who need your product and make sure they use it more often. Ask them the benefits they find out of your product and what more they expect, and if at all they consider for alternatives. You need to understand this feedback and iterate to get the most out of this phase. Talking to them will help you differentiate your product from the lot judiciously.
Intermediate Phase
If 40% of respondents in the study are “very disappointed”, they are a good reason for you to move ahead in this phase. You focus on delivering the “must have” experience to your customers in this phase and ask for feedback on how better you can match the benefits of your product with their needs. You need to position the product through the eyes of your customers. All you can do is to highlight the features, set the right expectations, and drive your customers to what the product is going to do for them. Ask your customers open ended questions to know their intent, and what they expect from your product and what can be the reason to look for other alternatives. Collect customer feedback and iterate, and this helps you grow your sales horizontally.
Scale Growth Phase
By now, you have figured out the gaps and bridged them to make sure that your product fits into your customer needs. You even have a process to deliver the value. The big task on the cards is to focus on acquiring the right people and in the right way. This phase demands a lookout for prospect outreach. Ask your customers how they discovered your product. You need to use analytics to discover the essentials out of huge chunk of data. This will give you an idea of what’s already working for you and what else need optimization. Remember, word of mouth will help you grow and that’s only possible if you have done all well in your preliminary phase. ck and iterate, and this helps you grow your sales horizontally.