How Contrast uses Cycle to build out its feedback system as they grow
"At Contrast, Cycle has revolutionized the way we handle feedback, prioritize features, and build better products. It has not only helped us retain customers but has also accelerated our sales and created trust among our customers."
Luuk de Jonge, Product @Contrast
TL;DR
Challenges
Managing overwhelming feedback from different sources, prioritizing features, and ensuring customer retention. Contrast tried different tools like Productboard, Airtable, and Notion but found them inadequate and lacking scalability.
Solution
Centralize feedback, gain full context for prioritization, and close the loop with customers to ensure retention. Overall, Cycle helped them to significantly improve their feedback management and product development processes.
About Contrast
Contrast is a webinar company that specializes in creating engaging experiences between companies and viewers, with a strong emphasis on high-quality video
Luuk is Product and one of the first employees at Contrast, contributing significantly in various roles such as go-to-market, product management, and product marketing.
Industry: SaaS
Headquarters: Paris
Founded: 2021
Company size: 10-20
Contrast’s Story
Their journey began in the events industry, where they encountered several technical constraints that needed to be addressed. They built a strong community on Slack and pivoted to become one of the best existing webinar companies.
"Before discovering Cycle, we encountered several challenges that hindered our growth and customer retention. The major problems we faced were:
1. Dealing with overwhelming feedback: feedback poured in from our customers, scattered across various platforms, making it difficult to manage and prioritize effectively. It was imperative to establish a good process from the start otherwise we would never use this feedback effectively.
2. Ensuring customer retention: as an early-stage company, retaining customers was vital. A solution was needed to address their needs and concerns promptly.
3. Prioritizing features: with numerous feature requests and limited resources, it was challenging to make informed decisions about which features to develop first.”
"My true aha moment was when I created a feature in Cycle and connected different insights to it, having full context while writing my PRDs. I also loved the Slack integration."
Luuk de Jonge, Product @Contrast
Tried Productboard, Airtable, and Notion – No Success
"I tried using Productboard for a while, but it proved unsuitable for an early-stage company, and I disliked 80% of its features.
I then created an Airtable form, combined with HubSpot notes and Notion, which worked well until we wanted to make some changes. As our company grew and evolved, the setup became non-scalable and lacked versatility."
“Cycle is the single source of truth for everyone when it comes to product feedback.”
Salim Semaoune, Co-founder & CTO @Contrast
How Contrast Uses Cycle
The Whole Team Utilizes Cycle: After Sales, CX, and the entire team provide product feedback, PMs process it, and collaborate effectively in Cycle. Then the rest of the team collaborates (read and comment) in Cycle, including the leadership team, engineers, and designers.
Contrast aggregates feedback from four main sources: Slack (70%), Intercom, Hubspot, and Tally (sales qualification forms).
Their usage revolves around four main use cases:
1. Single source of truth when it comes to product feedback
2. Full customer context when writing PRDs
3. Better prioritization: based on customers’ feedback
4. Enhanced collaboration during delivery: “Cycle facilitated collaboration within our team, allowing PMs, engineers, and designers to seamlessly work together and address customer feedback.”
5. Supporting key meetings, such as: weekly high-level key customer requests, biweekly customer voices, and roadmap planning.
"Customers' trust and delight increased a lot. Several customers told us they don’t care about the roadmap but they trust the team because they see us shipping fast relevant features for them and communicate clearly."
Tim Minton, Co-founder & Head of Product @Contrast
Impact
Since adopting Cycle, Contrast is convinced they have been prioritizing better, leading to cost-savings.
Luuk’s productivity has increased significantly. "I would simply not do all of this if we were not using Cycle".
Customer retention is also at an all-time high thanks to transparent & frequent communication.
"We would not be able to keep customers up to date with the releases (close the loop) if we did not have Cycle."
"In conclusion, I highly recommend Cycle to fellow CPOs and PMs. Cycle's unique advantages lie in its ability to help align teams, centralize feedback, rapidly iterate on product development, and gain the trust of customers."
Luuk de Jonge, Product @Contrast