How to ask inactive users for feedback—and make sense of the replies

Ask about the task the person was trying to do. “How did the recipes fit into your week?” is easier to answer than “Do you have any feedback on our platform?” It also gives you a better starting point for a follow-up question.

Then keep the original replies. A report is much more useful when a colleague can see how you got from someone's words to your conclusion.

This guide uses a fictional meal-planning app and invented replies to demonstrate the method. They are not research findings.

Choose a group you can describe honestly

For a first round, you might choose people who signed up during one week, saved at least one recipe, and have not returned since. That definition tells you which experience you are asking about.

Do not mix people who never started, regular users, and cancelled customers into one group called “inactive” unless you keep those differences in the report. Their reasons may be unrelated.

Check that contacting them is appropriate to your relationship and their communication preferences. Exclude people who have declined contact. Keep any sensitive account information in the appropriate secure system.

Ask one question

Subject: A question about your first week

Hi Nina,

How did the recipes fit into your week? If you tried one, I'd like to know what was useful or what got in the way.

Maya

Use the specific task you know they attempted. If you only know they signed up, ask what they hoped to use the app for instead. Do not claim to know that they cooked a recipe because they saved it.

The message asks for an account of their experience. It does not suggest the answer by asking whether they loved the app or found the design confusing.

Follow the answer, not a script

Suppose Nina replies:

Too many ingredients. I saved two recipes but never made them.

A useful next question is:

What would you normally cook on a busy evening?

That question can reveal the comparison Nina is making. Asking “Would you use a five-ingredient filter?” jumps to your proposed solution before you understand the problem.

If she says she has no time to explain, thank her and stop. If she offers a call, agree on a time and what you want to discuss. Do not make a phone call the automatic response to an unanswered email.

For a non-responder, one short reminder may be reasonable if it fits the relationship:

Hi Nina, one last check in case this got buried. Was there anything that made the recipes hard to use? No problem if now isn't a good time.

After a message that says “one last check,” there should not be another reminder in that sequence.

Keep quotes separate from interpretations

Download the feedback worksheet. It contains a labeled fictional example row. Replace it with your own records before using it for a report. Keep names and other identifying details out of broadly shared copies.

Original reply	Working label	What you can reasonably say	What you cannot conclude yet
“Too many ingredients. I saved two recipes but never made them.”	Ingredient complexity	This respondent found the ingredient list an obstacle.	Everyone wants five-ingredient recipes.
“I couldn't find the shopping list again.”	Navigation	This respondent had trouble returning to a feature.	The shopping list does not work.
“I went away for two weeks.”	Timing	Absence may explain this person's inactivity.	The product failed to meet their needs.

Use labels as a way to sort the material, not a substitute for reading it. A reply may belong to more than one category. Keep an “unclear” label rather than forcing an answer into the closest complaint.

Show the denominator and the gaps

A report should state how many people you contacted, how many replied, how the group was chosen, and when you asked. Include people with no reply in the response count; do not give them an invented reason for leaving.

For a small qualitative exercise, describe patterns in the replies rather than declaring what all customers think. People who respond may differ from people who do not. Count a theme consistently: three messages from one person are not three separate customers.

A compact report can contain the group definition, response count, recurring themes with quotes, unusual but important problems, and unresolved questions. Recommend the next thing to investigate, not a complete product roadmap based on a few replies.

Close the loop

If you later fix a problem someone described, a short update can be useful where continued contact is welcome. Explain what changed. Do not claim that every request was implemented.

If the reply is actually a support request, route it to support and record the handoff. If someone wants help completing their first task, the trial follow-up guide covers that different conversation.

To prepare the list, questions, and reporting instructions for OutreachGuy, use the customer feedback workflow.