Unf*cking Your CX #28: Stop Hoarding Feedback and Start Fixing Sh!t

Feedback Addiction Is Killing Your CX

Let’s stop pretending your feedback strategy is working.

You’ve got dashboards overflowing with metrics, NPS trends, and survey results. You send out endless VoC requests and run weekly analysis meetings. And what do you have to show for it? A bigger pile of data and a whole lot of nothing.

Customers are tired. They’re screaming into the void, giving you their valuable time and insights, but you’re treating feedback like a box to check. You’re collecting data for the sake of it—hoarding it like some kind of CX trophy—without fixing the broken experiences behind it.

Here’s the hard truth: Feedback isn’t your problem. Your inability to act on it is.

Why Feedback Is Failing in CX

1/ The NPS Obsession

NPS looks great in executive meetings. It’s simple, easy to explain, and gives leaders a warm, fuzzy feeling that everything’s okay. But here’s the kicker:

• NPS doesn’t fix churn.
• NPS doesn’t make up for a delayed delivery.
• NPS doesn’t stop customers from leaving your brand.

If you’re treating NPS as the ultimate CX goal, you’re not solving problems—you’re chasing a number.

2/ Survey Overload

Do you know why customers ignore your surveys? Because they’ve seen this movie before. You ask for their opinions, then do absolutely nothing about it.

• Every "How did we do?" email after a broken experience is like rubbing salt in the wound.
• Every post-interaction survey you send without follow-up is a reminder that you don’t care.

Reality check: Customers don’t want surveys. They want solutions.

3/ You’re Hoarding, Not Acting

Your VoC team gathers feedback, analyzes the hell out of it, and delivers a 32-slide deck every quarter. But when it comes to driving change? Crickets.

• Where’s the ownership?
• Where’s the action?
• Where’s the business impact?

You don’t need more data—you need accountability and execution.

The Hidden Costs of Feedback Addiction

1/ Broken Trust = Broken Loyalty

When you ask for feedback and fail to act, you’re making a promise you don’t keep. Customers notice—and they won’t keep giving you their time if you’re not using it to improve their experience.

2/ Wasted Time and Money

Let’s talk numbers. How much are you spending on VoC tools, survey software, and analytics platforms? Now ask yourself: How much of that budget drives real results? If you’re not fixing problems, you’re burning cash.

3/ Stagnation Over Innovation

Every moment you spend analyzing your NPS or running yet another survey is a moment you’re not spending fixing broken systems, improving processes, or innovating your customer journey.

How to Unf*ck Your Feedback Strategy

1/ Stop Asking, Start Fixing

You don’t need to send another survey—you need to fix the sh*t customers have already told you is broken.

• Example: Instead of a generic post-purchase survey, ask why customers are abandoning your product returns process. Then fix it.
• Pro Tip: Cut 50% of your surveys and focus on touch points tied to churn or retention.

2/ Connect Feedback to Business Outcomes

Your surveys are full of "how do you feel" questions. Scrap them. Instead, connect feedback to operational metrics that actually impact your business:

• Example: Link NPS declines with specific operational data like late deliveries or long hold times.
• Pro Tip: Combine VoC data with churn rates, cart abandonment stats, and repeat purchases to uncover the full story.

3/ Close the Loop

If customers take the time to give you feedback, the least you can do is tell them how you used it. Closing the loop builds trust and loyalty faster than any NPS score ever will.

• Example: "We heard you. Here’s what we fixed." That’s how you turn feedback into action.

3 Player Tips for Smarter Feedback

1/ Ditch the Generic Questions

Why: Generic surveys often provide feel-good data like "satisfaction scores" that don’t tie to actionable insights. Customers will answer vague questions, but their feedback won’t help you fix core problems.

What to Do Instead:

• Example 1: Replace “How satisfied were you with your experience?” with “What made this experience easy or difficult for you?”
• Example 2: If churn is a problem, ask questions like, “What could we have done to prevent you from canceling your subscription?”
• Pro Tip: Structure your survey around decision-making points in the customer journey. Instead of asking how they feel, uncover why they feel that way.

2/ Tie Data to ROI

Why: If your feedback insights aren’t driving revenue, reducing costs, or improving retention, they’re a waste. CX needs to prove its business value.

What to Do Instead:

• Example 1: If feedback reveals delivery complaints, pair it with operational data to uncover trends like, “Late deliveries lead to a 25% churn increase in Region X.”
• Example 2: Use feedback on a poor returns process to identify high-cost pain points and streamline the workflow to save operational costs.
• Pro Tip: Use feedback as an early warning system. For instance, correlate rising complaints about onboarding with churn rates in the first 90 days.

3/ Tell Customers What Changed

Why: Customers get fatigued giving feedback without seeing results. Closing the loop rebuilds trust and loyalty while reinforcing that their input matters.

What to Do Instead:

• Example 1: After addressing customer concerns about delivery speed, send an email: “You told us late deliveries were a problem, so we partnered with new carriers to guarantee faster shipping times.”
• Example 2: If survey responses point to poor mobile app usability, announce the improvements you’ve made and thank them for helping shape the solution.
• Pro Tip: Close the loop with both internal teams and customers. Let your employees know how feedback is driving change, so they stay engaged with the process.

Two Frameworks for Smarter Feedback

1/ The Feedback ROI Funnel

Step 1: Collect

• Focus feedback collection on high-impact moments in the customer journey.
• Example: A SaaS company asks customers who churned in the last 30 days about specific pain points: Was it onboarding? Support? Feature gaps?

Step 2: Connect

• Combine feedback with operational and financial metrics.
• Example: Link survey data on poor onboarding with product usage stats to show that customers who don’t use Feature X are twice as likely to churn.

Step 3: Act

• Prioritize issues based on ROI potential.
• Example: If complaints about slow returns spike and it’s costing $100K in lost revenue monthly, focus on streamlining that process first.

Step 4: Communicate

• Share changes driven by feedback with customers.
• Example: “We’ve reduced return processing times by 50% because you told us it was a frustration. Thanks for helping us improve!”

2/ The Priority-Action Cycle

Step 1: Focus Feedback on Critical Touchpoints

• Zero in on key interactions, such as post-purchase or post-support.
• Example: A retail brand focuses on collecting feedback specifically after delivery delays, asking customers how they would prefer the issue to be resolved next time.

Step 2: Prioritize Fixes with the Highest ROI

• Rank issues by their impact on churn, revenue, or satisfaction.
• Example: If feedback shows checkout friction is leading to abandoned carts, prioritize optimizing the checkout process over less critical improvements.

Step 3: Build a Feedback-Action Loop

• Create a closed-loop system where feedback leads to fixes, and fixes are communicated back to customers.
• Example: After fixing a recurring product issue flagged by feedback, the brand shares a “You asked, we listened” campaign across social media.

Thought-Provoking Question

"When was the last time your feedback strategy drove measurable business outcomes—or is it just a time sink?"

Feedback is not the goal. Action is.

Every survey you send, every VoC tool you buy, every dashboard you build—it’s all meaningless unless it drives results. Stop chasing NPS scores. Stop sending meaningless surveys. Stop analyzing data for the sake of analysis.

Start fixing problems. Start connecting feedback to outcomes. Start closing the loop.

Your customers don’t care how much feedback you collect. They care what you do with it. It’s time to stop hoarding and start delivering.