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min read
December 16, 2025
Customer's Voice and Product Success: 3 Key Insights by Lisa Orr, Sr. Product Manager at Zapier
Pat Osorio
It's no secret that understanding and satisfying your customers is the key to a thriving business and product success. From observing customers "in the wild" as they use your product or talking to them directly about their experiences, gathering customer feedback is a critical part of a product manager's job.
In a quick conversation with Lisa Orr, Sr. Product Manager at Zapier, we asked her to share three ways a product manager can leverage customer feedback to make great products. Let's get to them:
Open for Feedback
Successful companies know the importance of strong communication with their customers. This
means being open to feedback and establishing effective communication channels, whether that be a community slack channel, email, support tickets, micro surveys, or even by booking live feedback sessions.
One of the best ways I've found for gathering ongoing feedback is to post calendar links directly into our product help docs so you can jump on calls with customers when they're feeling the most pain. If the customer is already looking up how to use your product, chances are they have some valuable insights to share on product usability!
Fix the Pain Points
Once you've got a steady stream of customer feedback, it's time to put it to good use. Analyze the information you've gathered, identify any recurring issues or pain points, and work to address them in your product. A quick tip: you can use a customer feedback analytics platform for that.
You can also do an even better job at this if you are using the product yourself, aka "dogfooding", allowing you to anticipate pain points and opportunities for innovation. By being quick to act on customer feedback, you'll not only increase customer satisfaction but also build loyalty, as they'll appreciate your efforts to make their experience better.
Amplify the customer's voice
Never underestimate the power of a single customer quote. Whenever I share product insights with stakeholders, I make sure to include at least one customer quote along with their name, role, and company. This helps stakeholders truly identify with the customer and the pain (or joy!) they are feeling. You'll have your stakeholders rallying around questions like "Have we solved Bob's problem yet? We have to help Bob!". Sharing customer quotes humanizes the customer and reminds your team that there are real people behind the numbers.
Focusing on the customer's voice is vital for the ongoing product success. By understanding your customers, being open to feedback, and addressing their pain points, you'll establish lasting relationships and gain a competitive edge in your market.
In conclusion, the power of the customer's voice in product success cannot be overstated. Lisa Orr shared valuable insights on how product managers can leverage customer feedback to create great products. By being open to feedback, fixing pain points, and amplifying the customer's voice, businesses can establish lasting relationships and gain a competitive edge. To further enhance your customer feedback efforts, consider utilizing Birdie, a feedback analytics platform for Product Teams. Birdie provides powerful tools to analyze and act on customer insights, helping you drive product success.
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What is the voice of the customer in product management?
The voice of the customer is the collected feedback, opinions, and needs that customers express about a product, whether spoken in interviews, written in support tickets, or observed as they use the product. In product management it is the raw material for deciding what to build and improve. Capturing it well is a core part of a product manager's job.
How can a product manager leverage customer feedback to build better products?
Lisa Orr of Zapier describes three moves: stay open to feedback through channels like Slack communities, email, support tickets, and micro surveys; fix pain points by analyzing feedback to find recurring issues and acting on them; and amplify the customer's voice by sharing real quotes with stakeholders. One practical tip is posting calendar links in your help docs so customers can book a call exactly when they feel the pain. Using the product yourself, or “dogfooding,” helps you anticipate issues too.
What's the difference between collecting customer feedback and acting on it?
Collecting feedback is opening channels and gathering a steady stream of comments; acting on it means analyzing that stream, finding recurring pain points, and actually changing the product. Many teams collect diligently but stall at analysis, so the feedback never improves anything. The value comes from being quick to act, which is what builds customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Does amplifying the customer's voice actually influence stakeholders?
The evidence here is behavioral rather than a statistic: Lisa Orr shares a customer quote with the person's name, role, and company every time she presents insights, and stakeholders start rallying around questions like “Have we solved Bob's problem yet?” Putting a real name and face to the feedback makes teams identify with the customer's pain. It humanizes the numbers and drives action in a way raw data alone does not.
Do I still need customer quotes if I already have quantitative data?
Yes, because numbers show scale but a single customer quote creates the emotional pull that gets stakeholders to care and act. Quotes with a name and role remind the team there are real people behind the metrics, which builds urgency. Use quantitative data for the case and quotes to rally people around it.
Can dogfooding replace listening to real customer feedback?
No, using your own product helps you anticipate pain points and spot opportunities, but you are not a stand-in for your actual customers. Dogfooding complements feedback channels and interviews; it does not tell you how the broader user base experiences the product. Keep both: dogfooding for early instinct, real feedback for the truth about customer needs.
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