5 Methods to Encourage Your Users to Give Feedback
Discover 5 proven methods to encourage your users to give feedback and improve your product through customer insights.
Arthur
5 Methods to Encourage Your Users to Give Feedback
Only 4% of dissatisfied customers take the time to complain. The rest leave in silence. This statistic should concern any company that wants to improve. Because without user feedback, it’s impossible to know what’s working or what’s causing problems.
Encouraging your users to give feedback has become a strategic priority. Companies that collect and leverage customer feedback are 60% more likely to retain their customers, according to Bain & Company.
In this article, we’ll explore 5 concrete methods to get more quality feedback. No abstract theory, just techniques you can apply today.
Why Your Users Don’t Give Feedback Spontaneously
Before looking for solutions, let’s understand the problem. Your users don’t lack opinions. They lack motivation and opportunities.
The three main barriers:
- Perceived lack of time: “I don’t have 10 minutes to waste filling out a questionnaire”
- Perceived lack of value: “What’s the point? It won’t change anything”
- Technical friction: “Do I need to create an account to leave feedback?”
Each barrier has its solution. The goal is to make sharing feedback as simple and rewarding as possible.
Some revealing numbers:
- 70% of consumers would leave feedback if simply asked
- A form with more than 5 questions loses 50% of respondents
- The best time to ask for feedback? Right after a positive interaction
Method 1: Ask at the Right Time
Timing is everything. Asking for feedback at the wrong time is like interrupting someone mid-conversation. At best, you’re ignored. At worst, you annoy them.
Opportune Moments
After a successful action:
- Order delivered and received
- Problem resolved by support
- Goal achieved in the application
- First use of a feature
During high engagement moments:
- Subscription renewal
- Regular use (10th login, 50th action…)
- After a positive exchange with your team
Moments to Avoid
- During the purchase process (too intrusive)
- After an error or bug (frustration)
- Too early in the user journey (not enough experience)
How to Identify the Right Timing
Analyze the user journey in your analytics tool. Spot engagement peaks and satisfaction moments. That’s where you should place your feedback requests.
With Skedox, you can trigger feedback forms at the precise moment when the user has just completed a key action. This contextualization increases response rates by 40% on average.
Method 2: Radically Simplify the Process
Every additional click reduces your chances of getting feedback. The golden rule: if your user has to think to give feedback, it’s too complicated.
The Micro-Feedback Principle
Forget 20-question surveys. Prefer short formats:
- A single well-formulated question
- A visual rating system (stars, emojis, 1-10 scale)
- An optional text field for those who want to elaborate
Example of effective micro-feedback:
“How would you rate your experience today?” [Very Satisfied] [Satisfied] [Neutral] [Dissatisfied] [Very Dissatisfied] “Any comments? (optional)”
This format takes 5 seconds. And everyone can find 5 seconds.
Eliminating Technical Friction
Check these points:
- No account creation to leave feedback
- Form accessible in one click from email or application
- Mobile-first design (60% of responses come from mobile)
- Auto-save if user is interrupted
NPS: Simple and Universal
Net Promoter Score asks a single question: “Would you recommend our product to a friend?” with a scale of 0 to 10.
Its advantages:
- Instantly understandable
- Comparable over time
- Benchmarkable against your industry
Method 3: Show That Feedback Has Impact
Nobody wants to talk into the void. If your users think their feedback ends up in a black box, they’ll stop giving it.
The Virtuous Feedback Circle
- You collect feedback
- You analyze and prioritize
- You implement improvements
- You communicate about changes
- Users see the impact of their feedback
- They’re more inclined to give feedback in the future
Step 4 is often neglected. Yet it’s the most important for creating a virtuous circle.
How to Communicate Impact
Personalized follow-up emails:
“Thanks to your feedback, we added feature X that you requested.”
Public roadmap page: Show features in development and those resulting from user feedback.
Changelog with mentions:
“New feature: CSV export - Thanks to everyone who suggested this improvement!”
Individual responses: Take time to respond to detailed feedback, even with a simple “Thank you for this valuable feedback, we’ll take it into account.”
Numbers That Speak
- 77% of consumers have a better image of brands that solicit and use their feedback
- Companies that respond to feedback see their response rates increase by 25%
Method 4: Offer Appropriate Compensation
Incentives can multiply your response rates by 3. But be careful: poorly calibrated, they attract poor quality responses.
Types of Incentives
Monetary incentives:
- Discount on next purchase
- Gift card
- Account credit
Effectiveness: high, but risk of bias. Respondents may give superficial feedback just for the reward.
Non-monetary incentives:
- Early access to a feature
- Special badge or status
- Mention in credits or acknowledgments
Effectiveness: moderate, but attracts more engaged respondents.
Altruistic incentives:
- Donation to a charity for each response
- Contribution to a common project
Effectiveness: varies by audience, but generates more authentic feedback.
Calibrating Incentive to Effort Required
| Effort Required | Appropriate Incentive |
|---|---|
| 1 question (30 sec) | None or thank you |
| 5 questions (2 min) | Small gesture (10% discount) |
| Interview (15 min) | Significant reward (gift card) |
The Mistake to Avoid
Never condition the incentive on positive feedback. It’s counterproductive and potentially illegal. Reward the effort of responding, not the content.
Method 5: Vary Collection Channels to Encourage Users to Give Feedback
Your users don’t all interact with your product the same way. To maximize responses, multiply touchpoints.
Channels to Leverage
In-app / On-site:
- Permanent feedback widget
- Contextual popup after key action
- Visible “Give feedback” button
Email:
- Post-purchase satisfaction survey
- Quarterly NPS
- Testimonial request from loyal customers
Social media:
- Instagram/LinkedIn polls
- Story questions
- Mention monitoring
Customer support:
- Satisfaction question at ticket close
- Conversation analysis for recurring themes
Centralizing Feedback
The trap: collecting feedback everywhere without being able to consolidate it. You end up with scattered data, impossible to analyze.
Skedox lets you centralize all your feedback forms in a single dashboard. Whether your users respond via email, on your site, or in your application, you find everything in one place.
Adapting Format to Channel
- Email: prefer clickable closed questions directly in the message
- In-app: visual micro-feedback (emojis, stars)
- Phone: open questions, natural conversation
- Chat: instant reaction with quick options
Measuring and Optimizing Your Efforts
Collecting feedback is good. Measuring your collection effectiveness is better.
KPIs to Track
- Response rate: percentage of solicited users who respond
- Completion rate: percentage of started forms that are finished
- Response quality: average comment length, relevance
- NPS evolution: trend over several months
Benchmarks by Channel
| Channel | Average Response Rate |
|---|---|
| Post-purchase email | 5-15% |
| In-app popup | 10-25% |
| SMS | 15-25% |
| Permanent widget | 1-3% |
Test and Iterate
Like any marketing strategy, test different approaches:
- A/B test on question wording
- Test different solicitation moments
- Compare formats (NPS vs stars vs emoji)
Analyze results and continuously adjust.
Action Plan to Get More User Feedback
Here’s how to put these 5 methods into practice this week:
Days 1-2: Audit Existing Situation
- List all your current collection points
- Measure your response rates
- Identify key moments in the user journey
Days 3-4: Simplification
- Reduce your forms to essentials
- Remove non-essential required fields
- Test on mobile
Day 5: Implementation
- Configure a post-action micro-feedback
- Schedule a monthly NPS request
- Add a permanent feedback widget
Following Week: Communication
- Respond to received feedback
- Share improvements from feedback
- Publicly thank contributors
Create your first feedback form with Skedox and start collecting user feedback today. Setup in 2 minutes, no code required.
Conclusion: Encouraging Your Users to Give Feedback, a Profitable Investment
Encouraging your users to give feedback isn’t optional. It’s a necessity for any company that wants to improve and retain customers.
The 5 methods presented work because they respect your users:
- You ask at the right time
- You simplify to the maximum
- You show the impact of their feedback
- You reward their time fairly
- You adapt to their preferences
User feedback is a valuable resource. Treat it as such.
Companies that excel at feedback collection aren’t those with the best tools. They’re those that understand each piece of feedback is an improvement opportunity.
Start small. A simple NPS form after each key interaction can transform your customer understanding. And with the right tools, this transformation takes just a few minutes.
