The vendor engineer explained a new product. My job was to take the product to UL for testing and approval. This was about 1984. It was a heater with electrical/electronic controls. We went over the schematic. “This circuit is here because the customer likes… This circuit controls something the customer doesn’t like.” I was so impressed about designing for best customer experience.
This memory returned when I saw this report from Interact Analysis. I like this market analyst reports better than most after having spent some time discussing methodology with a founder.
The report reveals that most companies haven’t a clue about what most of their customers want and need. I could say I’m shocked…but I’m not.
The study specifics:
Participant Demographics
- Company type: Hardware OEM, System Integrator, Consulting/Advisory Firm, Distributor/Channel Partner, +Others
- Countries: Participants took part from all over Europe, the USA, Middle East and Asia
- Participant roles: Executive/Leadership, Strategy/BI/CX, Commercial/Marketing, Product Management, Sales, Engineering/Technical, +Other
- Organization annual revenue: ranged from <$25M to over $1B
Methodology
This report is based on an online survey conducted in December 2025 and January 2026, capturing feedback from more than 200 individuals worldwide. All responses were validated to ensure data accuracy. Insights from 10 in-depth interviews with leading organizations further enrich the findings by adding qualitative context where relevant.
While nearly all respondents report some level of customer feedback activity, only 30% say they have a fully developed, structured program in place. Of these, almost two-thirds are companies with revenues above $1B, highlighting the resource advantage that larger organizations hold.
Smaller firms, meanwhile, often rely heavily on sales teams or informal, ad-hoc methods. This limits their ability to track trends consistently or gather representative insights.
Existing customers will tell you one story, but it is likely incomplete. A neutral, domain-expert approach enables richer insights, better representation, and a more accurate understanding of customer and market realities.
I worked with a company some years ago to talk with customers about implementing certain technologies. I heard stories, but I also wondered what they were holding back.
More than half of companies collect feedback sporadically, though most realise this is insufficient. Outsourcing elements of the feedback program reduces internal pressure while enabling organizations to maintain a consistent read on market sentiment.
The problem of who collects the data and where it goes.
While the C-Suite is the primary user of customer and market feedback – reviewing insights and applying them to strategic decisions – the sales team is most often responsible for collecting this data and managing the associated budgets.
However, sales teams may not have access to the right target groups for detailed, balanced feedback. Customers may also be less inclined to provide candid input when the request comes directly from their account owners, creating gaps in representativeness and depth.
I’ve also been at the bottom of the funnel either sending customer information or receiving “suggestions” from management about customers I knew well. The cognitive dissonance was overwhelming.
