How do you segment and prioritize your customer feedback and requests?

A really relevant step to enhance your process is creating a feedback loop with your customers! Not only collect feedback but also let them know the results (how their input has influenced your product or service). By doing this, you not only strengthen customer trust but also encourage lasting engagement.

Remember that you are selling to someone, focus more on the right persona than the segment and start to test, sometimes is better to focus on one industry and go all in.

Impact - Categorise feedback based on potential impact. High-impact feedback could be very crucial in addressing critical bugs, suggesting major feature improvements, or revealing unmet needs. Urgency - Prioritise urgent issues that significantly affect user experience or revenue. Think about crashes, security vulnerabilities, or payment processing problems. Customer Type - Accurate Segmentation of feedback based on customer groups like power users, new users, or specific demographics. This helps tailor responses and prioritise features relevant to different segments. Sentiment - Group your feedback by sentiment – positive, negative, neutral – to gauge overall satisfaction and identify areas for improvement.

Some feedback can change the course of the product journey, for better, or for worse. It’s important to set a clear north star for the product you are building, or the customer will set that north star for you. Be clear.

To segment and prioritize customer feedback, categorize it first, then use methods like the MoSCoW method, RICE score, or Kano model. The MoSCoW method sorts feedback into must-have, should-have, could-have, and won't-have, focusing on essential features. The RICE score evaluates feedback based on Reach, Impact, Confidence, and Effort, prioritizing high-impact, feasible changes. The Kano model categorizes features by user satisfaction levels, prioritizing basic needs and performance improvements. Use tools like spreadsheets, kanban boards, or product management software to track and rank feedback, ensuring a user-centric product evolution.

You'll never fix everything that everyone wants fixed! Take a look at your future product roadmap. Are there certain features that customers want that were already planned? Consider moving the timeline on these newly prioritized features. It's really easy to chase after easy fixes. Focus on the ones which will drive the most benefit for your customers and your revenue.

In this path to validate customer feedback and requests, it's important not to get too obsessed with proving correctness to something you fixate. There's a reason that your customers tell you the problems they face—it's important to navigate these problems from the lens of assumptions so you arrive at the right set of problems to pick and solve. Viewing customer responses as a means to validate your objective decisions or using them without direct alignment with your product strategy can hurt in the longer run of building your startup.

To segment and prioritize customer feedback, categorize it by impact, feasibility, and alignment with business goals. Implement validated feedback using frameworks like lean startup, agile methodology, or the build-measure-learn cycle for fast, iterative development. Utilize project management software, code repositories, and testing tools to manage and monitor the process. For example, prioritize and develop high-impact features using agile sprints, regularly measure progress, and gather further feedback to refine the product, ensuring customer satisfaction and continuous improvement.

One important aspect to consider is that it's in your benefit to have positive feedback posted publicly and negative feedback sent to you directly. For an early-stage company, a few negative Google reviews can really hurt you. But you still want that negative or constructive feedback to improve your products/services/processes...so a successful strategy I've seen is to solicit feedback like this: "If you're happy with your experience, we'd love it if you left us a 5-star review detailing your experience on our page here *link*. Or if you were not happy with your experience, we'd love to hear from you directly so we can find a solution. Please email us at *address* and we'll get back to you promptly."