Monday, March 1, 2010

Customer comments: Can you read between the lines?

Can you read between the lines when customers make comments? What your customers DON'T say can be as important as what they do say. Here's a fictional example of comments on a blog post from the Ihearyou Tea Company. Our fictional post was about lemon herbal tea the company also sells.

Comments:
customerone: "This is a great tea- I take 4 bags & make up a pitcher at a time."
customertwo: "I like this lemon flavor, but I really like blending the lemon and blueberry teas together. It's better tasting that way."

These two statements contain a lot of useful information.
What the customer didn't say: Customerone just "told" you they would buy your tea in pitcher-sized bags if it was available. Customertwo just "told" you your blueberry flavor sucks.
What the customer did say: Both customers said your lemon tea was a good tasting product. Customertwo told you that lemon-blueberry might be a viable product.

Picking up on these subtle cues can give you a wealth of free feedback. You just have to look for it.

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