In SaaS, customer feedback is often treated as a support or product input. But in the hands of great Customer Success leaders, it becomes something far more powerful: a revenue engine.
To uncover the most effective ways feedback can drive upsells, prevent churn, and unlock new opportunities, we asked top CS executives one simple question: How do you turn customer feedback into revenue? Here are 30 proven strategies you can put into practice today.
Mick Weijers
Founder
Customer Success Snack
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mickweijers
Feedback-Led Expansion:
The best upsell moments are when sentiment is high and value is realized. Automate triggers so a positive review or NPS creates a CRM task for the human touch CSM. Or create automated flows for your tech touch portfolio. Never miss a window of opportunity.
Enable Support to Expand the customer:
Most teams miss the window where customers want to expand by adding layers of friction. Enabling your Support team to do small upsells is a great solution. Create a playbook, guard rails, and make sure they don’t have to ask for permission.
Advocacy in Action:
Feedback is more than product input. Turn it into advocacy by building communities, speaking opportunities at events, and advisory boards. When customers co-create webinars, stories, and thought leadership, their credibility accelerates pipeline and renewals far more than any brand campaign. Dare to ask! A custom chocolate bar, cake, or brownies go a long way to activate the psychology behind Give-to-Get.
Sam Brown
VP of Customer Success
Datasnipper
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sam-brown-62983b3a
Truly understanding the problem that the customer is trying to solve by sharing the feedback. Often, you can actually solve the problem in a different way, which can lead to an upsell to a package that has the ability to solve the customer’s problem.
When customers share negative feedback, this is an opportunity to turn a detractor into a promoter by solving their issues. Often, these customers want to feel valued and will use more of your product suite if you show your willingness to help.
Collecting common themes of customer feedback and making a business case to develop a specific feature, which could then be monetized at a later date. In these cases, you can use the customers as design partners.
Emilie Dubau
Head of Learning Consulting (Customer Success)
AIHR
https://www.linkedin.com/in/emiliedubau
Drive Revenue-Focused Product Development.
Collaborate closely with your Product team to analyze customer feedback, paying close attention to requests impacting ARR the most (large customers or high volume of customers). Don’t just track requests; quantify the potential added value for these customers. Evaluate if a new feature could justify a price increase or be sold as a premium add-on. Once developed, create target account lists for both prospects and existing customers who would derive the most value. Crucially, always close the feedback loop with the customers who originally asked for it.
Run Tests.
Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good. If you receive consistent feedback about a potential new service, embrace a ‘lean’ methodology by creating a first version or a pilot program. Actively market this pilot to (a select group of) customers and get them to purchase it. Real payment is the ultimate form of validation. This allows you to gather invaluable, real-world feedback to refine the service, ensuring you’re building something the market will actually pay for.
Mobilize a Cross-Functional Churn Task Force.
Protecting existing revenue is as crucial as generating new revenue. Establish a dedicated, cross-functional “churn task force” that includes members from Product, Marketing, and Sales, not just Customer Success. This team’s mandate is to analyze the most common sources of negative feedback and customer friction, and then take swift, decisive action. By making churn a company-wide priority and reporting on progress during all-hands meetings, you embed a customer-centric culture and ensure the entire organization is invested in protecting your revenue base.
Bobby Brown
Chief Customer Officer
Nextlane
https://www.linkedin.com/in/bobbyallenbrown
When customers leave both positive and constructive feedback on Customer feedback surveys about the level of hands-on “service” they received or expected and did not receive. Then we cross-reference if they are signed up for our services plans, if not, they are good prospects to be targeted.
The same as above, cross-referencing customer feedback (using AI tools like Adoreboard) on what or how they expect the product to work, based on this, there can be opportunities to offer additional features or functionality that is available and perhaps the customer is not aware of.
Identifying “At-Risk” accounts early and finding ways to save them. The saying “Happy customers who recognize value will expand” is true. Unhappy customers will not expand, so identifying unhappy customers and finding out what will make them happy not only prevents churn, but it will also drive growth.
Martine Niermans
Sr Director of Customer Success EMEA
Zendesk
https://www.linkedin.com/in/martineniermans
Positive feedback: Turn advocates into references to get more new business.
Through customer feedback, we can get product feedback where we can identify upsell and cross-sell on extra products, build product roadmaps for future selling opportunities, and enhancements
Turn feedback on customer experience to sharpen playbooks to make sure the experience is done better, and the customer will renew.
We connect feedback to revenue potential to target specifically :
Once feedback is categorized, quantify and prioritize by:
- Frequency (how many customers are saying it?)
- ARR impact (what’s the revenue tied to these accounts?)
- Customer segment (SMB vs enterprise)
- Stage (trial, active, renewal)
- Where we see the biggest opportunities are.
Kevin van Eekhout
Head of Customer Success EMEA
Sinch
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kvaneekhout
Feature feedback/requests, capturing needs and future value across the customer base, which we can monetize
Positive NPS/CSAT Scores, turn happy and ROI generating customers into success stories for lead generation
Meetings with Product Team, our product team is constantly interviewing customers to stay aware of what is important for our customers and the trends in the market. Through this, we can adjust our strategy to ensure we maximise customer value and thus value for Sinch as well.
Io Michels
Head of Customer success
Channable
https://www.linkedin.com/in/iomichels
Use AI to understand why they’re saying it. When a customer complains about a missing feature, don’t just log the request. Dig into the unstructured data(support tickets, call transcripts)to find out the real business problem they’re trying to solve. Then, use those insights to develop a new premium feature or paid add-on that not only fixes their immediate problem but also anticipates the needs of your entire market segment.
Customer success stories are our best currency. Use AI to scan for positive feedback and high health scores. When a customer hits a major milestone, a system should automatically flag them for a case study or a referral request.
Use predictive AI models to identify the customers who are most likely to churn before they even know it themselves. Instead of sending a generic “How are things going?” email, your team can proactively reach out with a solution to a problem the customer is about to face. By addressing their future pain points, you’ll not only save the account but also have the perfect opportunity to introduce them to a higher-tier solution. (In some cases, systems also provide prescriptive AI, which helps CS with suggestions on next steps)
Richard Jonkhof
Chief Customer Officer
Relay42
https://www.linkedin.com/in/richardjonkhof
I’m a strong believer in building together with your customers, inviting key customers to advisory boards, roadmap sessions, or early access programs, which turns feedback into investment. This not only strengthens relationships but often leads to higher stickiness, increased ACV, and new monetisation paths that are validated before launch.
Feedback often reveals where customers are trying to stretch your product beyond its current capabilities. Similar feedback from multiple customers could identify features or integrations missing at multiple customers, and therefore a sign of unmet demand and a potential productised upsell
Jeff Perales
Chief Customer Officer
Incision
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffperales
Turn insights into upsell opportunities – Enterprise customers who want to know how they compare to others in their industry, or even between their own sites, are looking for your analytics upgrade. Use the opportunity to offer data-driven insights as an upsell or take advantage of the feedback and create one.
Know their tech stack – If your customer shares information about their tech stack during regular updates or success planning, take note. You not only provide further value by upselling a good integration, but you can also make sure you are core to the operation.
Monetize your own enablement (wisely) – If a customer is already seeing great value out of what you provide but doesn’t have time to take advantage of advanced features, it might be time for a paid success package to ensure they are getting the full ROI out of your solution.
Evelien Sanders
Director Customer Success W-EMEA
Okta
https://www.linkedin.com/in/evelien-sanders-9124742
Use Feedback to build on your product roadmap
We listen to customers and understand potential product gaps. This not only makes customer success seen as the customer advocate. It also drives further adoption, strengthens the relationship, and sets the foundation for expansion.
Case studies and reference material
Our customers’ success is our greatest asset. Testimonials and case studies are more persuasive than any marketing copy.
Use feedback to increase customer lifetime value (LTV).
Customer complaints and negative feedback are not setbacks; they should be seen as an opportunity to improve. By proactively addressing and resolving issues, you prevent churn and turn a potentially unhappy customer into a loyal advocate. When you consistently use feedback to improve the customer experience—from product performance to support—you increase satisfaction and potential revenue growth.
