Customer perception: its importance and how to improve it

Your brand’s success hinges on customer perception. How customers perceive your brand affects everything, from customer acquisition to retention, sales, and your bottom line.

Customers with positive perceptions will likely become repeat purchasers who share your brand and products with those closest to them.

This comprehensive guide defines customer perception and explains why it matters. You will also learn to measure it and gain tips for increasing positive customer perception. 

Customer perception refers to customers’ opinions, beliefs, and feelings about your brand and products. Perception varies by person based on their unique experiences.

Customer perception can ebb and flow over time, so creating a consistent and cohesive brand experience is important. Your business’s branding, advertising, customer service, and product quality impact public perception.

Customer perception is essential in building trust and loyalty among current and potential customers. It also impacts brand reputation, influences purchasing decisions, and more.

There are several reasons to focus on improving customer perception. We’ll expand on the top 10 reasons customer perception matters to help you understand its importance.  

You should care about customer opinions because a positive perception of your brand drives customer loyalty. Customer loyalty refers to the sustained positive relationship between customers and businesses.

Customers feel loyal to a brand when they have positive experiences with them. For instance, they may have an exceptional customer support team interaction or enjoy your influencer marketing campaign.

Loyal customers are repeat customers, sustaining predictable revenue. They are also great brand ambassadors, recommending your products to friends and family.

Related: How to develop brand and customer loyalty 

The way customers perceive your brand can either hinder or boost brand loyalty. Based on their understanding and experiences, customers will form opinions of your brand, contributing to your brand reputation. A positive brand reputation helps a business drive sales, attract new customers, and retain existing ones.

Think of brands with an overwhelmingly positive brand reputation. Brands like Nike champion self-mastery and athletic excellence, from amateur to professional athletes. Because of its aspirational reputation and association with athletic achievement, Nike is a leading apparel brand.

Positive customer perceptions are indicative of repeat purchase behavior. Customers who perceive a business’s products as high-quality or valuable are likelier to make repeat purchases. 

Shopping for other brands becomes almost laughable when customers connect strongly with brands. A good example is Apple Mac users vs. Windows PCs. A Mac user who has developed a strong loyalty to Apple products will probably scoff at a recommendation to purchase a Windows PC.

Customer satisfaction and perception are intrinsically linked.

Satisfied customers are likely to have a positive perception because your company's products or services and overall customer journey exceeded their expectations. On the other hand, dissatisfied customers are likely to have a low perception because of negative experiences, such as frustrating customer support interactions.

Think about your favorite brands and how you view them. Are you satisfied with their product value and brand experience? You likely are.

Your brand's unique value proposition shapes customer perception and helps differentiate your brand in the market.

By understanding how customers perceive your brand, you can refine your value proposition to further differentiate and strengthen your market position.

Satisfied customers who view your brand favorably will likely share it with their friends and family. In fact, Salesforce data shows that 72% of customers share positive brand experiences with others.

Word-of-mouth marketing is an underrated form of marketing. It’s essentially free marketing when you think about it. 

Customer loyalty increases when customers positively perceive your brand and products. Even more, when customers positively perceive your brand, you can improve retention rates.

Happy customers with seamless brand experiences will likely continue shopping for your products. High retention rates indicate stable business revenue and help predict future growth. Keep them happy and their perceived value high, and the cycle continues.

A customer-centric model focused on continuously improving customers’ experiences and perceptions can grow your business. Positive brand experiences influence customer perception, which informs their willingness to advocate for the brand and become repeat purchasers.

Companies that collect and act on customer feedback—creating a feedback loop—can continuously improve product development, customer service, and brand messaging that customers love and drive business revenue.

Tracking customer perception helps businesses identify areas for improvement. Companies should track perception with brand perception surveys. They help monitor perception levels as well as identify aspects of your brand that harm customer perception.

For example, customer perception feedback could indicate that your marketing messaging strategy should be more inclusive. Use this valuable feedback to make changes that support better customer perception. 

Improving customer perception enhances trust and credibility by creating better customer experiences. Customers develop trust in brands that consistently deliver positive interactions, which builds customer credibility and impacts their perception of your brand. 

Measuring customer perception is extremely useful for business growth. Several effective methods exist, from sending customer perception surveys to assessing brand media coverage.

The best way to measure customer perception is to ask for customer feedback.

You should distribute customer perception surveys at crucial stages of the customer journey, like post-purchase. These surveys inquire about the brand’s value, pricing, and interactions with the customer support team.

Analyze the survey data, looking for response trends and red flags indicating collective dissatisfaction. You should also track perception over time to determine how the average customer perception shifts.

Track your brand’s online reviews and ratings regularly across review sites to measure customer perception. Customers often share feedback on their brand experience, affecting how others view your brand.

Keep in mind that customers with polar extreme experiences tend to share more than those with average experiences. That means reviewers with an overwhelmingly positive customer perception are likely to share their experiences as well as those with negative customer interactions. Monitor your business’s average star rating and the number of positive vs. negative reviews.

Net Promoter Score is a customer experiences metric used to measure loyalty and customer sentiment at key points in the customer journey.

NPS surveys ask, “On a scale of 1 to 10, how likely are you to recommend [Brand or Product] to friends?” An open-ended question can be used to understand the reasoning behind the respondent's quantitative answers.

Net Promoter Score has long been a tool for collecting customer insights. Based on customer data, take action to improve engagement, customer experience (CX), and retention rates.

Customer Satisfaction Score is a customer experience metric. CSAT surveys gauge customers’ overall satisfaction with a brand or its products. CSAT surveys help you determine how customers view your brand’s value. CSAT surveys ask customers how they would rate a product or service on a scale of 1-5. 

To calculate CSAT, add the total number of respondents who answered with a satisfied rating. Then, divide that number by the total survey responses and multiply by 100 to get a percentage. 

You can also follow up CSAT survey questions with qualitative questions scrutinizing the value for money, product quality, and customer service for deeper insights.

Start measuring CSAT with our Customer Satisfaction Survey Template.

Customer Effort Score measures the effort one puts into interactions with a company. You can calculate this metric using a CES survey, which asks, "On a scale of 1 to 7, how easy was it to solve your issue today?” A score of 1 means very difficult, while a 7 means very easy.

A low CES correlates with a less-than-satisfying, even frustrating, experience with several friction points. The customer feels like an afterthought and likely negatively perceives the brand. A high Customer Effort Score indicates a satisfactory or exemplary experience. The customer feels they were able to achieve a goal, like quickly troubleshooting a problem, which favors a positive perception.

While it may seem simple, Customer Effort Score is worth tracking, especially if your goal is to measure perception. Consumers reward customer-centric behavior, like easing pain points with loyalty. They also notice a difficult and frustrating customer journey, creating a negative perception.

How your brand is portrayed on social media tremendously impacts customer perception. Is your brand getting recognized online for its quality products or brand message? If you don't know, now is the time to monitor popular social platforms. Half of U.S. adults say they used Instagram in 2024.

You should track mentions of your brand and products on social media to monitor changes in customer perception. You can make proactive improvements by staying up-to-date with customer social media posts and responding to negative feedback where appropriate.

Customer feedback is invaluable. You can gather it through various avenues, including surveys, focus groups, and even customer interviews, which can help you understand the experience behind direct and indirect interactions.

When conducting one-on-one interviews, you can dive deep into respondent feelings and opinions, asking follow-up questions to understand their reasonings. In this setting, you can also analyze speech patterns, body language, and facial expressions in real-time. These non-verbal cues can also inform your understanding of their viewpoint.

Remember, how the interview is conducted may also impact their perception of your business. 

Pay attention to customer behavior and purchasing patterns to better understand customer perception.

For instance, if customers consistently preorder your latest product releases, you can assume they view your brand positively. Sporadic or infrequent purchasing patterns may indicate a lack of brand loyalty.

Customer perception is impacted by everything from brand image to previous customers’ experiences. This may sound daunting but don’t worry. We’ll discuss the top 10 things that influence customer perception and share steps for improvement. 

Branding and brand image are critical to how customers perceive a business. It’s important because customers who are emotionally connected to a brand generate a 306% higher lifetime value than disconnected customers.

How to improve it: Your brand should reflect your business and core customers’ values. For example, it would be in poor taste for a vegan leather brand with strong animal rights convictions to partner with a company that does not share its vision. Consider every aspect of your brand, from marketing collateral to product design. 

Businesses offering higher-quality products or services at fair prices can beat competitors and build trust. Customers can feel confident in their loyalty to a business when they know they can expect consistent quality. 

How to improve it: Examine your product or service offerings to improve customer perception. Conduct a competitive analysis to learn how your offerings compare to industry competition. Additionally, a Kano analysis can help you prioritize product feature updates that have the greatest ROI. This combination of analyses can inform product updates, identify customer service inefficiencies, and identify opportunities to improve messaging.  

Customer service interactions play an enormous role in shaping customer perception. Customers are more likely to have negative perceptions if they aren’t satisfied with your staff interactions. Pleasant and helpful customer-centric service is key to boosting customers' overall perception of your brand.

How to improve it: Send post-interaction surveys, such as our customer support satisfaction survey, to monitor customer service. These scores can help identify and smooth areas of friction in the customer journey.  

Prospective customers use online review sites, like Yelp and Google Reviews, to investigate your brand. Glowing and critical reviews impact prospective customers’ decisions to purchase from your company. 

How to improve it: Be responsive to online reviewers, especially customers who leave negative reviews. Respond promptly and politely to resolve their complaints and change their perceptions. Addressing positive and negative feedback shows other customers your business cares about its customers. 

Your brand’s social media engagement demonstrates your commitment to customer experience. 

How to improve it: Be active online by responding to comments, sharing customer stories, and posting branded content. Accurately present your brand, products, and values to help shape customer perception online. 

Ads campaigns and marketing strategies dramatically affect customer perception. Your advertising and marketing teams should use messaging that resonates with customers.

How to improve it: Create emotional connections to your brand to boost customer perception and build loyalty. 

Customers are likely to share their experiences with friends and family, whether positive or negative. This word-of-mouth can either help skyrocket your brand or harm your reputation. Research shows that 92% of consumers trust their friend's and family’s recommendations over all other marketing forms, highlighting word-of-mouth's strong impact on a business.

How to improve it: Create a referral program that rewards customers with a discount when they successfully refer friends. Highlight customer testimonials across digital touchpoints to amplify existing positive word-of-mouth. You can monitor the efficacy of your customer experience improvements by using NPS surveys.

Most customers seek the highest-quality products or services at the lowest price. It’s an age-old battle for businesses to balance value and price. Customers will perceive your product or service’s value based on price, branding, function, benefits, and reputation.

How to improve it: Use a price testing survey to price your products or services competitively and gain customer favor. Companies that provide value at a fair price positively impact customer perception.  

Pop culture and social influences will inevitably impact your brand and products. For instance, a photo of a celebrity using your product can majorly affect perception.

How to improve it: Cultural and social influences are not easily controlled but can be bolstered by businesses. Stay up-to-date with relevant social influences to take advantage of well-timed marketing strategies. 

Customers interact with companies across several touchpoints. These cumulative experiences contribute to a customer's perception. Happy customers with a positive perception are willing to return again and again, reinforcing their perception.

How to improve it: Your primary goal should be to enhance the entire customer experience. To do this, map your complete customer journey. Identify and resolve friction points that cause customer dissatisfaction. Create cross-functional teams to address the top customer pain points identified through surveys. Additionally, a closed-loop feedback system should be implemented where customers who report issues are contacted within a set timeframe.

Customer perception plays a huge role in any business's overall success. Customers who view your brand positively spread awareness and help build loyalty among others. SurveyMonkey can help you drive brand loyalty and sales by collecting customer service feedback. Customer experience teams can use SurveyMonkey to create and send surveys measuring customer perception.

Explore our Customer Satisfaction Survey Templates, or use NPS surveys to build a loyal customer base. Sign up for SurveyMonkey to get started.