So you want to know what your customers think of your brand? Good idea. At the end of the day, your business success hinges on your customers’ perceptions of your brand.In fact, people look more favorably on brands that ask for their feedback. By understanding what they like and don’t like, you can take action to retain your existing customers and acquire new ones. And to be truly customer-centric, you need that insight into your customers’ preferences and opinions in order to develop the products or services that will engage them the most.One way to start asking for feedback from customers is via email. That email may be a direct request for feedback or it could link to customer satisfaction or NPS survey.Either way, we’ve got you covered. Use our tips and templates to encourage customers to respond meaningfully with actionable feedback.
How to ask for feedback from customers
If you’re wondering what the best way to ask for feedback from customers is, take note of these seven tips:
Tips for asking feedback from customers
- Tailor your approach. Usually, you’ll send an email to multiple customers asking them to fill out a survey. But, you may also decide to ask for feedback from a particular customer or customer segment. Each will require a different approach – for example, if you want to address a specific customer, you can give some background on why you’re asking them (e.g. they were a beta user of a new product).
- Time it right. For example, if you want to ask for feedback on the onboarding process, give it a week or so after the onboarding is done. If you send automated emails to customers asking them to leave reviews on review sites, exclude email addresses of people who have left a complaint, say, in the last month or so. (By the way, a platform offering a unified view of your customer interactions can help you spot these instances more easily). Similarly, if you’re after a testimonial, send an email to customers who gave you positive feedback (e.g. via NPS) as soon as possible.
- Keep it short. Your email will work best if it’s brief – possibly under 100 words. These emails don’t need to be works of literary genius, and your customers are busy people. Keep it short and sweet and have a clear call-to-action (either a link or a button).
- Explain what you do with feedback. Customers are more likely to provide feedback if they understand how you’re going to use it – especially if you use it to make their own experience better. Provide some details on your approach to gathering and analyzing feedback, and mention where you’re looking to improve if appropriate.
- Give something back. Sometimes, you may be able to offer a reward for feedback or completing a survey. This could be a small discount, a $20 coupon, or something that’s personalized to the customer (e.g. if they frequently buy sports merchandise, you could offer them a discounted price for a sporting event). Discuss your strategy for gathering feedback with your colleagues responsible for the budget.
- Use illustrations, if possible. Like we mentioned above, you can have a button that users click on to take the survey for a more visible CTA. Depending on your brand’s image, you can also use one or two icons and illustrations to make the email look more interesting.
- Pay attention to the subject line. This is important because you want to make sure customers actually open that email. If you’ve decided to offer a coupon, put it in the subject line. Use the full name of your customer and mention how long it’d take for them to complete the survey. You can also take a look at some words that increase open rates.
How to use our template
Any words included in brackets are placeholder text you can replace with whatever makes the most sense for your business (or remove altogether if it doesn’t apply to you). When you see these symbols { }, it means this is an anchor text for a link.Feel free to modify these templates and insert a touch of personality. You can also mix and match language from the seven samples to create the one that works best for you.Keep in mind that the subject lines are examples to inspire your own. It's a good idea to tailor them to your audience and A/B test them in terms of language, length, and other factors you want to consider.
Engage and communicate with your customers
Keep positive feedback pouring in by taking advantage of Acquire's customer engagement platform, including tools like shared inbox, live chat, chatbots, and more.
7 sample templates for asking customer feedback
1. Asking feedback from customer email on product/service
Can you take our 3-minute survey? (Chance to win a $20 voucher)
Dear [Customer name],Thank you for using Acme! We’d love to hear what you think of our [product/service]. Your feedback will help us determine what features to add and how we can make the product better for you.If you have 3 minutes, please fill out our survey. [When you complete it, your name will be entered in a draw to win one of 20 $30 Amazon vouchers.]Thanks again!{TAKE OUR SURVEY}[Your name]
2. Asking feedback from customer email on customer support
Do you have any feedback for us?
Dear [Customer name],You recently spoke with our customer support team and we’d like to hear about your experience. Any feedback you have on how we can improve the speed and quality of our service would be [awesome/most welcome]!If you can, please take a moment to {answer a few quick questions} – it shouldn’t take more than 5 minutes.Thanks![Your name]
3. Asking feedback from customer email on customer onboarding
How was your training session? (4-min survey)
Dear [Customer name],We hope you’ve enjoyed getting to know our product so far. We’re committed to helping you use our platform to its full potential so you can [grow your business with us]. And that’s why we need your help.Could you spare some time to fill out our survey? Our questions revolve around your training and onboarding sessions, so we can understand what works best for you. It shouldn’t take more than 4 minutes in total, but it’ll be of invaluable help to us.Thanks!{TAKE OUR SURVEY}[Your name]
4. Asking feedback from customer email on recent order
Are you happy with your Acme experience? (4-min survey)
Dear [Customer name],Thanks for shopping with us! We hope you’re enjoying your purchase :)We’d like to ask for a favor – could you share your buying experience with us? It will take you about 4 minutes to complete our survey, but it’ll be invaluable to us for improving our services.Thanks!{TAKE OUR SURVEY}[Your name]
5. Asking for an online review from customer email
Give us a review for a 10% discount
Dear [Customer name],Thank you so much for [using Acme /shopping with Acme]. We hope you’re enjoying [our product/your order]!We have a small favor to ask – if you’re happy with our services, could you leave an online review on [Yelp/TripAdvisor/TrustPilot/Capterra]? It would mean the world to us :)As a way of saying thank you, we’re offering a [$15 coupon/10% discount on your next purchase/other].Cheers,[Your name]
6. Asking for a customer testimonial for your website or a case study (B2B)
Keep in mind that these types of emails are better sent from an account manager or someone else the customer has had contact with. If that’s not possible, be sure to make them as personalized as possible (after all, companies usually choose carefully who to ask for a testimonial, like someone who has recently said kind words on social media).
Thanks for the shoutout! Can you give us a testimonial?
Hi [Customer name],I hope you’re doing well! I saw that you gave us a shoutout on [Twitter/Facebook/LinkedIn] the other day – we were delighted! Thanks for your kind words.I don’t mean to impose, but I actually want to ask for a small favor: we’re putting together a series of customer testimonials for [a case study/our website] and we’d love to have yours included.Would you be interested in providing a few words on how you’ve been using our [product/service] and the value you’re seeing? Here’s a {link} where you can fill out your quote.Thanks again,[Your name]
7. Asking for a customer testimonial for your website or a case study (B2C)
Thanks for the shoutout! We've a small favor to ask
Hi [Customer name],We saw that you gave us a shoutout on [Twitter/Facebook/LinkedIn] the other day – we’re so glad you had a good experience with us!We’re reaching out to ask for a small favor: we’re putting together a series of customer testimonials for [our website] and we’d love to have yours included.Would you consider leaving a short quote about your purchase and your experience with Acme in general? Here’s a {link} to a quick survey you can fill out (it won’t take more than 2 minutes).Thanks so much,[Your name]