I often talk about the ‘three pillars’ of online client feedback (collecting, analysing and action), and undoubtedly collecting the right feedback on your websites and apps is a vital first step.
Collecting the right ‘qualitative information’ from clients takes careful planning and a firm understanding of the journey they take. It must help guide your business and its sales funnel towards growth and client retention, while being timely and not alienating your customers or visitors.
Here are 10 top tips for collecting feedback in your online ordering funnels, ensuring it gives your organisation the maximum assistance while keeping your clients happy.
1. Identify where visitors are leaving
Web analytics will tell you exactly why clients are leaving. For instance, with Google Analytics or Adobe Analytics (formerly known as Omniture) you can pinpoint exactly the spot where your visitors are not reaching their online goals.
2. Use the right framework
You need to capture feedback in the moment, but it can be difficult to decide what to ask and when. A framework will provide a structure to collect the feedback you need and keep it consistent for every funnel or product. Each step in the funnel also has its own goal and best way to collect feedback.
There are three basic stages to cover in your framework:
- Firstly, the beginning of the funnel, where you capture and analyse feedback to understand the quality of your product content and offer relevant product information so more visitors will enter your sales funnel.
- Secondly the actual purchase within the funnel, where you capture ‘exit insights’ from visitors who didn’t complete the order and ascertain why visitors did not proceed in the ordering funnel.
- Thirdly, the confirmation page at the end of the funnel, where you gain insights into areas of improvement across the ordering process and the effort it took clients to reach their goal to ensure buying from you is an easy and efficient process.
3. Keep it short
Not many people want to spend 30 minutes providing you with feedback. Limit the number of questions (a maximum of three or four), keep them short and simple and allow users to leave comments.
4. Be relevant
Don’t just ask for general feedback: be specific. The more relevant your question is and the more it fits with what the client is trying to achieve through your website or app, the more useful the feedback will be. Also, don’t be intrusive and be careful with the use of automated triggers when visitors are still busy, as this will have a negative effect.
5. Pick one funnel
Choose a funnel that has the right volume of visitors and can directly establish an ROI. An ordering process lends itself well for a first feedback encounter, as there is lots of traffic and the problem is clear: why do visitors pull out of an order process? Concentrate on specific areas to gain knowledge and insights quickly. Then monitor improvements, the impact on the client and the impact on your business.
6. Think in trends
Trends are far more useful than individual statistics. Ideally, use relevant metrics such as goal completion rate (GCR) and customer effort scores (CES). This allows you to measure the effectiveness of your services and any improvements you make. It’s also very helpful to relate trends to specific parts of your sales funnel for fine-tuning.
7. Capture those leads
You need to close the sales loop and ensure all your hard efforts lead to a profitable conclusion. If a visitor is trying to order but gets stuck in the process, you want to know why, but you also want to be able to convert this lead into a buying customer. Make sure contact details can be left as feedback too; they can offer a great chance to convert an interested visitor into a new client.
8. Provide the right incentives
Why not stimulate and reward clients for their feedback? This shows your clients and visitors that you value their input and are prepared to give something in return for their efforts.
9. Prioritise and connect
If you have VOIP connections (call me now/call me later) or a chatbot, then use these channels too. If someone wants to order but can’t reach their goal, why not directly trigger a chat session with a sales assistant to help them?
10. Think mobile
Mobile devices have transformed ecommerce in recent years, so these channels should be a key part of your business’ feedback strategy. While a mobile screen does not offer the ability to track mouse events, within an app (or on a mobile website) you can always present a passive feedback form that can be triggered by a button.
The confirmation page can be a great place to ask for feedback within your mobile app. A user is unlikely to go looking for a feedback form when irritated the ordering funnel hasn’t worked for them, so feedback on an app needs to be well placed.
Stop guessing, start knowing
There’s no point trying to guess what your clients require; you need to find out from them directly. Capturing the right insights, in the right way, is crucial for optimising online sales, but don’t make it too complex to start with.
Once feedback flows in, you can tweak your setup and optimise it further to see what works best for your specific situation. Often it will be a process of trial and error, but the secret to success lies in collecting feedback effectively.
