by 
Whether it’s a disgruntled complaint or a five-star review, customer feedback can be an invaluable resource for business leaders looking to improve their products, services, or business operations. These comments can trigger minor or major changes, but both can have a big impact on customer satisfaction and overall sales if implemented correctly.
To share some of the most informative feedback they’ve ever received from a client, eight members of the Young Entrepreneur Council share their stories below. Here’s what customers had to say about their product or service and what these business leaders learned from it.
Members shown from left to right.
Photos courtesy of individual members.
1. “Your product is too expensive”
The most informative feedback I have ever received was when a customer felt our product was overpriced. It wasn’t negative; instead, it was constructive criticism from that customer. They said they would be willing to pay a higher price if the quality was better, but they felt it was not worth the price we were charging. This feedback was very helpful in informing our pricing strategy going forward. We held several product meetings after this honest feedback. We decided what features could be added to our product to solve the related problems that our customers may face on a daily basis. Additionally, we have added these features and refined our pricing plans. The improvement has been positive and we have received many good comments from customers since. – Kelly Richardson, Infobrandz
2. “The return process is cumbersome and inefficient”
The most insightful feedback we’ve ever received from a customer was about “delivery time and product returns” for one of our e-commerce brands. This customer was unhappy with the product return process because it took him a long time and he was unhappy with a few past transactions. They had contacted customer support several times but did not get a solution, and they contacted us through the contact form on the website. Our field investigation revealed many issues with delivery partner services, such as slow work and lack of training. We ended up canceling the contract with that specific delivery service and brought in a new supplier. This experience has helped us become more rigorous with quality controls, especially customer support and delivery services. – Brian David Crane, Spreading Good Ideas
3. “There is no proof that you are selling a quality product”
I will never forget when a client showed me why we needed social proof like reviews on our site. Their comments on our support channel were, “How do we know you’re selling a quality product?” I knew that if one person felt this, others must too. I quickly understood the importance of asking customers to leave reviews. Reviews show that real buyers trust your business and will result in more on-site engagement. I also learned from these comments in other ways. For example, I also use live sale notifications and trust seals to display social proof on my site. – Chris Christoff, MonsterInsights
4. “You don’t value your services enough”
The best feedback I’ve ever received from a customer was that I should charge more. These comments completely changed the way I did business before and taught me an important lesson about the value of my work. Before, I was undercharging for my services and not valuing my time and expertise enough. These comments have helped me realize that I am worth more than what I previously held myself accountable for and that I need to be confident in my awards to be successful. It was a valuable lesson that helped me grow my business and better serve my customers. – Sujay Pawar, CartFlows
5. “You shouldn’t speak negatively about your competitors”
The best comment I’ve ever received from a customer, and the most painful to hear, was, “Never speak negatively about your competitors. The reason they told me that was because I had done exactly that. From the experience of other customers, I knew that a purchase this customer was about to make from a competitor was inferior to my product and all other companies with a similar offer. I felt they would make a big mistake buying this product. But, instead of tactfully extolling the virtues of my product to the company in question, I told them bluntly that the company they were considering doing business with misled potential customers with false claims and did not not keep the promises they had made when they tried to win the sale. They called me on it, and it was a lesson I never forgot. – Brian Greenberg, Insurer
6. “Your website load time is too slow”
I once received very informative feedback from a client of mine that led to major improvements for the site. The client contacted us via chat and complained that our website was taking forever to load. We acted quickly on the feedback and found the complaint to be genuine. The website was indeed having load time issues. The feedback we received from this client paved the way for us to improve our website loading time for a better user experience. Over time, we have recognized a significant increase in our organic traffic as well as user engagement. From there, I learned the value of customer feedback and found that paying attention to your customer suggestions definitely pays off. – Stephanie Wells, Formidable Shapes
7. “One of your employees is disrespectful”
We had a customer service manager on our team who was rude and generally unhelpful. One of our clients contacted me on social media and said he felt frustrated and disrespected by this leader. This return has opened our eyes. To avoid such issues, we have implemented a customer satisfaction survey to obtain customer feedback on their experiences with our team. Through this survey, we learned that the majority of our customers were satisfied with our service, but a significant minority were not. This feedback has helped us make changes in our team to improve the customer experience. – Abhijeet Kaldate, Astra WordPress Theme
8. “Your product is missing a key feature”
One of the best customer feedback I have ever received was when a customer told me that our product was missing an important feature that would make it even better. In response to this feedback, I worked closely with my team to design and implement this new feature, resulting in increased customer satisfaction and engagement. Overall, this feedback taught me several important lessons about listening to customers and incorporating their ideas into our product. I’ve learned that it’s crucial to stay open-minded when receiving customer feedback, and incorporating their suggestions can help us create a more valuable and better performing product. – Adam Preiser, WP Crafter
