We promise Bar didn’t pay Samantha to say any of this, but boy, is it interesting.

If you only ask customers, “Where did you first hear about our brand?” in your post-purchase surveys, you’re only scratching the surface of what you could be doing.

Samantha C. Coxe, CEO at Flaus shared why questions about the user experience and product development are equally important in a recent episode of the Don’t VLOOKUP pod:

1. Behavioral signals help target and moderate Flaus outreach

Question to ask –> “How often do you floss (or perform x activity)”

Knowing which communication types to prioritize (and deprioritize!) is key to avoiding losing trust in the inbox.

“If these people are never flossers, they’re not becoming daily flossers immediately.” Treat those customers differently!

2. Uncover unusual (and hard to catch) website bugs

Question to ask –> “What is one thing that almost stopped you from buying today”

Sam shared a specific example of a customer who complained about the thin selection of reviews—an area where Flaus usually excels.

A deeper look uncovered a bug with bundles that would’ve otherwise gone unnoticed.

3. Validating new distribution channels

Question to ask –> “What is one thing that almost stopped you from buying today”

Based on the volume of responses naming the lack of Amazon availability as a major blocker for first-time customers, the Flaus team decided to reevaluate the distribution opportunity.

The main lesson here? The way customers describe a buying hurdle can be turned into a business opportunity.