What is the best way to collect customer feedback?

Collect it where customers already are: inside your product, by email and in chat, and give them a public board to see and vote on existing requests.

What does closing the feedback loop mean?

Telling customers what happened to their feedback, especially emailing them when something they asked for ships.

How do I organise customer feedback?

Keep it in one list, give each request a number, merge duplicates, group them into themes, and add who asked and how much they pay.

How often should I email customers about requests?

Once per release per person. Group everything that shipped for them into one message.

Do I need a tool to collect feedback?

Not at first; a spreadsheet works for a handful of requests. A tool helps once duplicates, voters and follow-ups outgrow a spreadsheet.

Guide

How to collect customer feedback and close the loop

Updated 2026-11-02 · 6 min read

Short answerCollect feedback where customers already are (in your product, by email and in chat), put it in one list, give each request a number, decide what to do, and tell the people who asked when it ships. Closing the loop is the step most teams skip.

The loop#

Feedback is not a form, it is a conversation with four beats:

Collect it, wherever customers already are.
Organise it, in one place, with duplicates merged.
Decide, and say what you decided.
Close the loop: tell the people who asked when you ship.

Most teams do the first and some do the second. The last two are where trust is built.

1. Collect where customers already are#

In the product. A small widget with an ideas panel catches feedback at the moment of friction.
By email. Make one address that turns messages into requests, so support threads are not lost.
In chat. If your customers are in Slack or Discord, file requests from there.
On a public board. Lets people see and vote on what exists instead of repeating it.

Capture the words they used and who they are. Do not rewrite a request into your own language too early.

2. Organise in one list#

Give every request a short reference, such as SN-12, so people can refer to it in a pull request, a chat or an email. Merge duplicates so votes add up. Tag themes. Keep internal notes next to the request, not in someone's head.

3. Decide and say so#

Move each request through clear statuses: under review, planned, in progress, shipped, not planned. Update the status when it changes. People tolerate "no" far better than silence. See how to prioritize.

4. Close the loop#

When something ships:

Link the change to the request (a pull request that says "Closes SN-12" can do it).
Write the release notes for users.
Email the people who asked, once, with a link to the note.

"You asked, it shipped" turns a suggestion into a relationship. It also teaches customers that asking is worth their time.

Mistakes to avoid#

Collecting feedback and never replying.
Emailing someone five times for five requests in one release. Send one message.
Hiding the process. A public roadmap and changelog do the explaining for you.

Automating the copying#

Doing this by hand means copying between a board, a tracker and an email tool. Shipnoted does the copying from your git: see how the loop works.

Questions and answers

What is the best way to collect customer feedback?: Collect it where customers already are: inside your product, by email and in chat, and give them a public board to see and vote on existing requests.
What does closing the feedback loop mean?: Telling customers what happened to their feedback, especially emailing them when something they asked for ships.
How do I organise customer feedback?: Keep it in one list, give each request a number, merge duplicates, group them into themes, and add who asked and how much they pay.
How often should I email customers about requests?: Once per release per person. Group everything that shipped for them into one message.
Do I need a tool to collect feedback?: Not at first; a spreadsheet works for a handful of requests. A tool helps once duplicates, voters and follow-ups outgrow a spreadsheet.