The Gift of Customer Feedback with Isabelle Zdatny

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This episode of Amazing Business Radio with Shep Hyken answers the following questions and more:   

1. What is survey fatigue? 
2. How can negative feedback act as a valuable tool in preventing customer churn? 
3. Why should companies prioritize genuine feedback over high survey scores? 
4. What are the best practices for creating effective and concise customer surveys? 
5. How many chances do customers typically give companies after a poor experience? 

Top Takeaways

• Customer feedback is a gift. Negative feedback uncovers areas for improvement, potentially saving businesses from losing customers to competitors. 

• Customer loyalty is fragile. High customer expectations and the ability to switch to competitors easily mean companies must work even harder to keep their consumers happy. “Nice to have” industries like online retailers, hospitality, and airlines must invest more in experience to establish trust and loyalty with their customers.  

• Customer service is increasingly becoming more important than price. More and more customers are willing to pay extra for convenient, hassle-free experiences.  

• Companies need to look beyond the Voice of the Customer. Other sources, such as customer history, support interactions, and social media, can help companies understand the full scope of their customers’ experiences.  

• Isabelle shares stats from the 2025 Consumer Trends Report by Qualtrics. Here are some highlights: 
  • 61% of consumers shared that trust in the information that companies provide to them is a top priority. 
  • 53% of bad customer experiences result in a decrease in spending. 
  • Customers are less willing to give feedback than they were a few years ago. Compared to 4 years ago, customer feedback after a bad experience has dropped by 8%. The number of customers who do not tell anyone about their experience has increased by over 6% 
• Plus, Shep and Isabelle discuss why getting honest feedback is more important than getting high metric scores. Tune in! 

Quotes:

“The overall quality of customer experiences has improved. What’s changing is customer expectations. Consumers are less tolerant of bad experiences, so when they happen, they are more likely to either decrease or stop spending money on a business.” 

“Customers are experiencing survey fatigue. They are bombarded with long, irrelevant surveys about their experiences, and they don’t see the companies taking action based on the insights they provide.” 

“If customers take the time and effort to fill out a survey, it says that they care about you getting better and about the future of your company. If the company doesn’t thank them or acknowledge their feedback, it creates an erosion of trust.” 

“All feedback is a gift. If customers are telling you about a pain point, you should cherish that because they could churn without ever letting you know why.”

About:

Isabelle Zdatny is the Head of Thought Leadership with Qualtrics Experience Management Institute. She produces industry-leading content on experience management trends and best practices, including the 2025 Consumer Trends Report. 

Shep Hyken is a customer service and experience expert, New York Times bestselling author, award-winning keynote speaker, and host of Amazing Business Radio.