How to collect customer feedback (and actually follow up)

Most small businesses collect feedback somewhere: a comment card box, a contact form, an online review. Far fewer follow up on it. The customer who complained never hears back, and the compliment never reaches the employee it was about.

1. One short form, everywhere

Ask for:

• Kind: complaint, compliment or idea
• Tell us more
• Name and email, both optional

Optional contact details get more honest answers. Put the form on your website, as a QR code at the register and in your receipts.

2. Read every one

New feedback starts in Read: someone reads it and decides who follows up. Complaints go to the manager of that location; ideas go to whoever owns that part of the business.

3. Follow up

Following up means someone contacts the customer. A complaint answered within a day often turns into a loyal customer. A compliment is a chance to say thanks. For ways to reply, fix what you hear and spot the themes that keep coming up, read how to collect customer feedback without nagging your customers.

4. Close it

Closed means resolved or thanked. Unanswered complaints are easy to spot because they're still sitting in Following up.

5. Share the good stuff

Pull a weekly list of compliments by location and share it with the team. It's free morale.

Feedback vs. surveys

This form is for feedback people volunteer. To measure how you're doing over time, ask the customers you've just served the same question with a survey and a Net Promoter Score: a QR code at checkout or the link in your own receipt. Read how surveys and NPS work.

Using the template

The free customer feedback form template sets up the form and the read, follow-up and close steps. Add a location field to compare stores (see locations), and try surveys with NPS for a score you can track.