![\"Spreadsheets](\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/spreadsheet-2-1024x696.png\")
Many people assume that the need for a feedback tool comes from growing your business. You either:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Have more employees and need to sync between them better<\/li>\n
- Have more customers and need to organize their feedback better<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
These are both valid reasons for thinking about switching to a feedback tool. They\u2019re also the most common ones. However, there\u2019s more to it than that.<\/p>\n
There are several other situations that can indicate it might be time to start using a specialized tool. Today, we\u2019re going to go over them.<\/p>\n
Feedback is getting lost<\/h2>\n
Users\u2019 feedback slipping between the cracks is one of the most severe indicators of needing a feedback tool.<\/p>\n
This issue can have several reasons:<\/p>\n
- \n
- You don\u2019t have a fixed feedback process in place (you get it, but don\u2019t end up doing anything with it).<\/li>\n
- You\u2019re getting more users, but don\u2019t have enough user-facing people to keep up with their feedback.<\/li>\n
- You\u2019re using too many external channels that have the ability to receive feedback (social media, surveys, chat, email, etc), and no way to consolidate it all.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
\u2026and, it can also be a combination of the above.<\/p>\n
It happens so the best of us\u2014sometimes. However, if it\u2019s a recurring event, feedback getting lost is a major<\/em> problem.<\/p>\n
If it\u2019s urgent issues that are getting lost, users won\u2019t get solutions for their problems. They can\u2019t use your product.<\/p>\n
If ideas, feature requests, or other feedback is getting lost, users will feel like they\u2019re not being listened to. It\u2019ll make them thing you don\u2019t care about your customers.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/giphy-5.gif\")
<\/p>\nEither way, your business, your reputation, and your product are going to suffer.<\/p>\n
The unfortunate thing is that a lot of users won\u2019t tell<\/em> you their messages are getting lost. They\u2019ll just leave, and you\u2019ll never know what was wrong. Losing customers is bad enough, but it also means you can\u2019t improve.<\/p>\n
Fortunately, there are still some who do<\/em> speak up, and these people are usually very<\/em> upset.<\/p>\n
User feedback tools are built for making sure nothing gets lost:<\/p>\n
- \n
- If it\u2019s a feedback board, the users themselves are responsible for posting on it. This means that it can\u2019t get lost in a single support agent\u2019s inbox.<\/li>\n
- Most feedback tools allow integrations with support channels such as Intercom, email, etc. This means that getting feedback into one, consolidated tool is just a matter of a click.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Remember\u2014for every one person who actually complains, there are probably tons who don\u2019t. If you feel like you\u2019re already getting put down for losing feedback, it might be time to start using a feedback tool.<\/p>\n
Your support teams have too much on their plate<\/h2>\n
Customer-facing employees have a lot of responsibilities regardless of how small or big the company is.<\/p>\n
- \n
- In an early stage company, they have to build and shape the entire user facing strategy.<\/li>\n
- In a more established one, they have to move into customer success and retention.<\/li>\n
- Either way, they\u2019re always dealing with an expanding user base, and a growing amount of feedback coming in.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Customer-facing teams aren\u2019t just there to answer emails. They have a considerable role to play in keeping your business growing.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Support-tix-fix.avif\")
<\/a>Source: SherpaDesk<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Sometimes, we find ourselves in a position where our support people are overwhelmed and burned out. Hiring new ones isn\u2019t always an option because of financial issues.<\/p>\n
It might also be too soon to hire a whole other person to help, if the overload isn\u2019t massive.<\/p>\n
In the case of the workload being too much, but not enough to hire more help, a specialized feedback tool can help with clearing some of the stuff on the plate.<\/p>\n
- \n
- Integrations with support channels reduce the amount of manual work needed for gathering feedback in one place.<\/li>\n
- Internal discussion features allow communication between team members without having to move out of the original source.<\/li>\n
- All feedback being in one place means less time moving information around.<\/li>\n
- Segmentation and voting systems can help with prioritization.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Keeping track of feedback in a tool also means more general peace of mind. Instead of trying to remember who asked for what, when, and why, and stressing about it, everything is in the tool whenever you need it.<\/p>\n
Communication issues between product teams and customer-facing teams<\/h2>\n
We\u2019ve talked about the communication problems between these teams<\/a> before.<\/p>\n
Support teams usually operate by gathering more general information, whereas product might need additional context or details.<\/p>\n
With more feedback coming in, there\u2019s also more need for context for better prioritization. Discussion and digging into issues is an integral part of an effective feedback cycle.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/understand-problems-1024x625-1-1024x625.jpg\")
<\/p>\nVery basic systems are often not enough for effective communication between the teams. There\u2019s no place for additional discussion, comments, questions, or context.<\/p>\n
If product needs more information, support needs to go back to their own source, have a conversation with the user, and then go back to product.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s endless back-and-forth, that can easily be eliminated or reduced by a feedback tool.<\/p>\n
Product feedback tools put all the user feedback in one place, and also allow several people from a company to collaborate on it.<\/p>\n
Software like Canny acts as the glue between product and support, allowing them to work on problem-solving and context together.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/middle-layer-3.png\")
<\/p>\nProduct teams can go in and see the feedback for themselves, and engage in discussions with the users to create context for their work.<\/p>\n
You want to be more transparent externally<\/h2>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Screen-Shot-2019-06-03-at-1.53.03-PM-1024x517.avif\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/appy-email-1024x656.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Screenshot_2019-11-12-15-44-36@2x.avif\")
<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Screen-Shot-2019-11-12-at-3.40.06-PM.avif\")
<\/p>\n![\"Canny](\"https:\/\/no-cache.hubspot.com\/cta\/default\/5705808\/e1d55d08-a2cf-44a3-a9a0-f3ca5ff21dfa.png\")
<\/a><\/span>