Qualitative vs. Quantitative in B2B
To data or not to data.
As Product Managers, we’ve probably all encountered our fair share of challenges where decisions must be made swiftly, although we don’t have all the information. Here’s one real-life case where a seemingly insignificant request, which I initially dismissed based on data, turned out to hold meaningful customer insights. And it made me think again about qualitative vs. quantitative data analysis in the B2B context.
Quantitative Data in B2B
In B2C, there’s usually an enormous amount of behavioral data to base assumptions and conclusions on. Whereas in B2B, it’s often the qualitative research that’s helping us understand our customers. In my case, making the best out of what’s remained legitimate per GDPR, I’m fortunate to have access to quantitative data. Although by far not comparable to the desired state, it is already enviable by many peers in the B2B domain.
The "Feedback" Session
It all started when a Customer Success (CS) Manager requested an additional feature for the "feedback" session in our product. This "feedback" session is essentially a text placeholder displayed to our users at the end of a lengthy quiz, in order for them to voice any feedback. And CS said that many customers wish to go beyond the default setting and be able to configure the recipient of the feedback.
Although it sounded relatively reasonable, maybe even a “quick win”, I still had to evaluate the quality of this opportunity – is it a problem painful enough to solve? So I went to our data analysis platform and saw that merely 1% of all users were actually using the "feedback" session. Without digging more, it was good enough a reason for me to reject the request due to low user engagement. I was convinced that I had dismissed another “non-problem request” and saved our precious development resources for more impactful features.
An Unexpected Encounter
Months later, during a customer interview, a side remark from the customer surprised or even shocked my perspective and made me realize how wrong I was.
They said that it’s significant for them to receive feedback from the users who completed the quiz, so that they can improve the quiz. At the end of the day, their job is to help more users participate and finish the quiz. When I asked, why no one engaged in the feedback session, they said:
Because there are not many people who are willing to give feedback these days.
That’s when I realized why every piece of feedback must be treated seriously and sent to the right recipient. And it was a false judgment to dismiss the original request.
That was also a moment of a wake-up call that although sounds elementary, I still need a reminder to not use either quantitative or qualitative data as the single source of truth, but rather leverage a blend of both. Especially in B2B, where there are many personas and jobs to understand, it’s very risky to only rely on behavioral data, without digging into the why. The rest of the story? Set the goal to: encourage users to give more feedback and enable the correct recipients to respond.
What’s your moment of epiphany? Share your stories and thoughts with us!