How to get user feedback when user outreach isn't working
Hey, I've got 80 user sign ups for my consumer SaaS product, but only 1 subscription.
I need to collect feedback from these users to find why many sign up don't use the core feature, or why they use the core feature, but don't pay.
I designed this initial product as an mvp to just validate the core functionality, so this is important.
Things I've tried:
- commenting / sending DMs to people on reddit who mention the problem I'm solving
- adding a feedback button to the product dashboard
- emailing signed up users requesting a user interview (following up once)
- also: added posthog to measure funnel/recordings, improved onboarding for personalization (activation) since originally many didn't use the core feature
I'm now considering requiring a user interview to be scheduled before a user can access my product. I shied away from this as a consumer web app, but now feeling I may be forced to do it. I wanted to test if people wanted the core feature before learning mobile development and building an iOS app.
In the past it was easier to get user interviews when I was building other products.
What would you do in this situation?
You could make the free users access a short trial (7 to 30 days). Then ask for a subscription. If they don't sign up, set up an email sequence that does follow up for an interview and continues to sell the value of your company and product. The follow-up sequence would be a mix of valuable content, request for feedback, and sales.
Thank you! I already actually do this, but again, surprisingly low response / schedule rates. I'm starting to wonder if the market is so saturated that people aren't as eager to provide feedback because their pain point isn't a burning need.
To enhance user onboarding, prioritize a seamless experience. Avoid pre-interviews, whether voice, video, or questionnaires.
For users who didn’t convert, consider offering a free month of your service in exchange for their feedback. The format of the interview—voice, video, or questionnaire—should align with the perceived value of your product.
Can you elaborate on what you mean by should align with the perceived value of the product? Do you mean if it's a highly valued product a voice call is fit but if not survey? If so, I'd wonder how perceived value can be measure because with the right audience the value is high and wrong audience it's low.
Btw the issue is that many sign up, but don't use the core feature. Those users won't care about a free month and even my $20 gift card offers for their time are not converting.
I meant perceived value as the value you are perceiving. If your monthly fee is $5, and that's what you are offering in return for a few questions answered, a short poll would be more suitable. If you are charging $50 a month for a service, it would be fair to have a voice or video talk for that value.
Have you considered that your users might not need the core feature? Offering a free trial of the core feature while collecting their credit card information could be a viable strategy.
Shouldn't feedback from early users be perceived as extremely valuable regardless what they are charging?
if someone is selling $5/month or $1k/month and they have 1 customer only they should talk to users regardless.
Consider this: if your product is priced at $5 a month, a user may not be inclined to spend half an hour on the phone with you. They likely value their time more than that $5.
Ok so if you're referring to a customer's perceived value of a product, generally yes it will result in lower conversations, however, from a product builder's perspective there's no substitute to a user interview. So I'd suggest increasing the value a user will get to get conversations to occur and doing outreaches.
If they love the service/product and they want to make it better, many will still be glad to chat even for free
It's hard to get people's time, you need to give them something in return.
When does this work?
basically think about it from the other person's side, you are asking for their time, what are you giving them in return, where are they mentally when you engage them - are they busy/bored/interested/having issues, how much should they value spending the time with you.
Making your onboard harder might work if it's highly valued, low competition and sold well
or you can offer general free consulting on the area your offer solves without attaching it to the product directly
Thank you! I'm building a calorie tracker with a novel approach to help their nutrition so I can focus on a nutrition advice call to get feedback and help them.
My concern is many other apps don't require a call to be used in the onboarding flow so I wonder if I should make this change as a default requirement, what the call schedule rate may be.
You should be blocking onboarding only if it creates or extract more value.
You can offer the free consultation calls separately which includes questions that help you understand the potential users or use the website to market it