Small Business Marketing Expert Patrick McFadden on How to Capture the Voice of Your Customer

Patrick McFadden

Indispensable Marketing President and Marketing Consultant Patrick McFadden discusses how customers can be a great source for insights for your small business, how to capture these insights and make them actionable in response to a HARO reporter query.  Plus, Patrick weighs in with a real life example that teaches small business owners about the power of “feedback.”

Q: What are some simple and unobtrusive technology tools that small business owners can use to collect feedback from customers? 

A: We like to implement the online form builder  wufoo.com , which can be embedded into any webpage or have a stand alone page to collect feedback from customers. This tool allows business owners to assign rules to questions and answers that help control what happens when the survey taker chooses a certain answer. embed the survey form into any webpage in a simple and unobtrusive way.

Q: What are the kinds of data and information a small business owner should seek from customers? How can they figure out what’s important and what’s not?

A:  Constantly seeking feedback from your customers is a great way to learn how to market your business more effectively. The data and information a small business owner should seek includes: what made your customers hire you, the words and phrases and actual experiences that keep coming up over and over again, and the description of the perfect experience for buying what you sell.

One word of caution, business owners should not accept vague answers like “you provide good service.” While that may be true and good to hear, you can’t work with that. Business owners must push a bit and ask what good service looks like and maybe even if they can tell you about a specific instance in which they felt they got good service.

Q: How can a small business owner put this information into action to improve their business?

A: Well, if your customers are explaining what they value about what you do, you may want to consider making that the marketing message for your business. One of our clients message is “We help medical practices get paid faster”, “Getting Medical Practices Paid is What We Do.”

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1. The Challenge: VMI was like many service providers — positioning their value around what they thought clients wanted : “Office furniture installation and assembly — let us handle creating your perfect workspace.” But the actual buyers — facility managers, project managers, furniture reps — weren’t looking for “perfect workspaces.” They were trying to avoid installation nightmares . Their real priority? ✅ Great installation days. ✅ No chaos. ✅ No missed deadlines. ✅ No angry phone calls from clients. 2. The Insight: After conducting stakeholder interviews under our marketing strategy consulting engagement , the Indispensable Marketing team uncovered critical feedback: “We need installers who maintain a professional site and follow instructions.” “We lose relationships when installations go badly.” “I need quotes back quickly or I can’t sell the job.” This wasn’t just about services , it was about trust, problem-solving , and professional reliability . So we reframed their differentiators not by what they did, but how they showed up : Same-day project quotes Problem-solving on-site Update protocol with clients Professionalism guarantee Lasting Impression Insurance 3. The Shift: We shifted the positioning from vague benefits to real-world, emotional triggers : Instead of: “Let us create your perfect workspace.” Now: “Get the perfect installation day, every time.” That subtle shift aligns with who’s actually buying (and who feels the pain when things go wrong). The end-user may care about the workspace. But the buyer cares about the install . 4. The Lesson for Others: If you’re selling a service, don’t describe what you do. Describe what the client wants to avoid or achieve — and who the real buyer is. Then, systematize what you’re already doing well and give it a name. Just like our team did with: “Same Day Quotes” “Lasting Impression Insurance” “Reliable Presence Protocol” 5. The Outcome Within weeks of updating their messaging and positioning: The company reported more qualified leads asking the right questions Furniture reps began referring them because they were “easy to work with and made them look good” They were shortlisted for larger, multi-phase projects due to increased confidence in their process But most importantly, they stopped competing on price — because they weren’t selling perfect workspaces anymore. They were selling peace of mind on installation day.
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