Customers are becoming increasingly vocal, using multiple channels to voice their views about the companies they do business with. Instead of trying to muffle customers' voices or censor their opinions, savvy organizations are leveraging this feedback to make customer-centric improvements.

The Container Store is one company listening closely to its customers, who are increasingly interacting with the brand online. This shift in online interaction spurred the organization's leadership to ensure that The Container Store's website was resonating well with customers, was easy to use, and provided answers to all their questions. "It was very important to leverage feedback for technical reasons," says Catherine Davis, the company's direct marketing director. "We wanted to make sure that we were providing the best website and wanted to give customers a way to get back to us."

The original plan was to enable customers to give feedback about The Container Store's website, allowing them to pinpoint areas they felt could be improved. Davis notes that whenever there are site updates it's possible that there are also technical glitches that aren't caught during testing, so it's important to give customers an easy way to tell The Container Store about them. This allows the company to fix problems and improve its customers' online experience. The retailer implemented OpinionLab's feedback platform to support the feedback process. The Container Store's website now features a feedback button on each page that when clicked opens a "comment card." Customers are asked to rate the content, design and layout, and ease of use of the website; share errors or complications while using the site; and provide any additional comments. The company closes the feedback loop by communicating any changes based on customer feedback back to its customers.