The future of customer feedback: Looking beyond NPS, ratings, and stars

We all know how truly revolutionary AI has been for business—from automating time-consuming, tedious tasks to pulling insights from data in seconds to reinventing how people search online. But it’s also done something unexpected: reinforce the need to be more human than ever.

Your customers want to be heard. They want you to listen to what they’re saying and act on it. They want you to treat them as humans—not data. And that starts with how you gather customer feedback.

Net promoter scores (NPS) and star ratings have long been the gold standard for customer satisfaction. But with the push toward more human interactions, the scorecard era is on its way out.

Instead of reducing customers to numbers and data, you have an opportunity to meet changing customer expectations, engage with them on a uniquely human level, and deliver on their demands for personalization.

How? Audio and video feedback.

The evolution of traditional customer feedback tools

Customer satisfaction and feedback surveys have come a long way over the past few years. They've shifted from having 20+ surface-level questions on a single scrolling page to highly personalized and specific questions that feel more like a conversation.

And now we've reached the next evolution of how we collect customer feedback: using audio and video surveys. Traditional NPS and customer experience feedback surveys are still powerful tools, but they have limitations when used as your sole source of feedback:

• They help you understand what customers feel, but not why, so you're guessing what could make a customer feel some way.

• NPS and rating surveys provide numbers without context, making it hard to act on feedback or create a better customer experience.

• Feedback surveys don't capture the nuances of video and audio—like tone, inflection, and body language.

NPS, ranking, and rating questions are still valuable customer satisfaction tools. But think of them as part of collecting feedback. Using audio and video-powered customer feedback forms is the other part, providing the context needed to get deeper, more actionable feedback. 

The future of customer feedback

The future of customer feedback isn't just AI-powered everything. Sure, AI will help you with smarter, faster data analysis, drawing deeper insights in mere seconds.

But the future of customer feedback is about shifting toward a more human mindset that emphasizes understanding and action, not just measurement.

"Positive or negative, the personal testimony of your customers is infinitely more valuable than ratings. They give you the means to engage in conversation, to respond to customers individually, to (re)create proximity, and to embody the personal relationship that forms the basis of customer attachment and loyalty." - Laura Spitz, Head of Marketing, Goodays

Your customers aren't just transactions—they're people who want to share their story with you. Forcing them to choose a number or stars prevents them from doing so and creates a one-way conversation. It lacks the humanity your customers want.

And, be honest, how likely are you to fill out a feedback form that feels like a chore vs. a conversation that will drive actual change? Probably not likely.

That's where video and audio-driven customer feedback tools can bring in the human element your customers crave.

A more human approach to feedback

We've all sent a text that someone reads the wrong way, and before you know it, you're tangled in an argument you never intended. Why? Because text messages don't give the recipient any context:

• Is the sender rolling their eyes as they text you?
• Are they laughing? Crying?
• Did they throw their phone across the couch after reading your message?

The tone, body language, and facial expressions you can observe in person or on video help you contextualize responses. And that's why feedback is quickly shifting toward a more human, connected experience that’s reliant on face-to-face communication.

This more humanized approach to customer feedback helps you have more conversations and build the empathy your customers can feel. Instead of treating them as measurements and numbers, you create personal relationships that drive loyalty and retention.

An added bonus? Conversational customer feedback becomes scalable. You don't have to set up calls with individual customers to see whether they're satisfied—simply send a single video survey to all your customers and make those conversations instantly scalable.  

Get deeper insights by combining human connection and AI 

Want customers to share feedback that gives you more than surface-level insights? Encourage them to tell their stories and give their feedback on video or through audio responses. The best way to do that? Ask your question on video, too.

Turn on your camera, record your question, and show customers that your customer satisfaction survey is more than just ratings and stars—connect as humans. 

You might be wondering what happens once the responses start rolling in. After all, listening to hundreds of video responses and then analyzing this qualitative data simply isn't scalable.

And that's why you need to bring together the power of human connection and AI. The human element in responses provides context and gives you deeper customer feedback, while AI analyzes qualitative (and quantitative) data in seconds. 

Meet Insights AI

Typeform not only makes data collection effortless, but we also give you the tools to analyze that data. And with powerful AI, you can pull meaningful insights from open- and close-ended questions quickly.

 "AI isn’t about hype—it’s about making work easier, not harder. Our AI helps you surface key insights instantly and take action faster—without a steep learning curve or a full team behind you." - Aleks Bass, Chief Product Officer, Typeform

Insights AI makes analyzing video answers scalable by identifying key themes and patterns, analyzing sentiment, summarizing findings, and even generating reports... in seconds.

Paired with the context and empathy video and audio answers provide, this analysis helps you create a better customer experience and show customers that you do indeed listen to them and act on their feedback.

Moving from measurement to customer conversations

Imagine being asked to fill out a form and share your thoughts on how a company can improve everything from its products to customer service. You carefully think through each question, providing what should be valuable feedback.

But months later, nothing's changed. You haven't even heard back from the company. So when they ask you to fill out another customer feedback survey, you completely ignore it.

Sound familiar? If you're only using customer feedback as a way to measure customer satisfaction, track customer sentiment, or collect data points, you're missing out on a chance to build long-term customer loyalty.

Or you can approach feedback with empathy. Turn it into a conversation, asking questions on video and letting customers respond with audio or video. But don't stop there—turn that empathy into action by:

• Following up with customers
• Acting on feedback
• By treating customers as humans, not just data

Thanks to expressive formats, like video and audio, and AI analysis, you can get deeper, more actionable feedback. Feedback you can implement to build customer trust. It's a true win-win: they feel heard, you drive engagement, trust, and loyalty.

The new standard: Empathy, not measurement

While NPS and ratings are still valuable ways to measure customer satisfaction, the new standard for customer feedback is a combination of these scores and a human-led, empathic approach to listening to your customers.

Numbers don't capture customer emotion or let your customers share stories and provide context—video surveys do. They make you more empathetic, allowing you to truly understand customers as people, not just data and numbers.

So if you want to future-proof your CX strategy, it's time to move past simple measurement. It's time to embrace video and audio feedback that makes customers feel heard.

Typeform makes it effortless. Create video surveys in minutes and use AI to analyze results and pull insights you can act on. It's empathy and efficiency at scale. Ready to try it out? Sign up for Typeform.

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