Why Feedforward is the new Feedback

As a consumer, whenever you’re faced with the opportunity to complete a survey about your experience with a brand, you’re invited. This information provides an understanding of what customers liked and disliked from their past experiences, insight that brands can use to better tailor their services.

Brands want to hear customer opinions and suggestions, even if they include negative criticism. A customer’s evaluation is a favorable addition to marketing and business efforts; it aids in understanding brand trust and reputation and is mutually beneficial for both the consumer and business. However, feedback isn’t the only valuable tool for businesses to improve from.

Get to know the concept of feedforward. Like feedback, feedforward asks open ended questions to the customer to suggest improvements for the future. Questions like “how can we improve moving forward?” or “what would you like to see in the future?” not only gives businesses an understanding of consumers already enjoyed, it helps customers conceptualize ideal upcoming experiences. The answers can provide insights for a brand and helps the customer feel they have control over their next brand interaction.

Although feedback is an important tool to fixing past shortcomings or continuing previous good habits, feedforward is a great addition to surveys or questionnaires for customers. It gives an open-ended opportunity for consumers to get involved and improve business and marketing methods. The addition of feedforward for brands means more opportunities to create customer-focused experiences using opinions directly from the source.