(5:01 Q&A Video) “Customer Feedback Keeps Brands Focused Amid Competitive Noise”

In this 5:01 video, Cynthia Gumbert explains how continuous customer input improves marketing, sales, product decisions, and brand trust. She shows why listening helps companies stay focused instead of reacting to every new competitor. Cynthia also reveals how providing value outside sales and renewal cycles builds stronger, longer-lasting customer relationships.

Customer feedback creates measurable value when leaders use it to improve decisions across the organization. Cynthia Gumbert, Chief Marketing Officer at Litera, explains how a structured Voice of the Customer program can strengthen marketing, sales, product development, customer advocacy, and brand trust.

The approach helps companies validate their messaging and remain focused when new competitors create pressure to change direction. Consistent customer engagement also strengthens relationships outside sales and renewal cycles, turning customer listening into a source of insight, differentiation, and sustainable growth.

“This is beyond a marketing initiative. It is important for our CEO to work on sentiment and brand with a capital B. It is not branding. Our brand is how customers think about us and how they feel about us. This has been a top-down initiative across the entire leadership team.” – Cynthia Gumbert

To learn more, watch the 5:01 video or read the article below.

To catch the full interview with Cynthia at “Reinventing Legacy Companies in an AI-First World.” CLICK HERE.

Article: "Customer Feedback Keeps Brands Focused Amid Competitive Noise”

This article is based on an interview with Cynthia Gumbert, Chief Marketing Officer at Litera

Turn Customer Feedback Into a Company-Wide Growth Decision System

A Voice of the Customer program should help multiple teams make more informed decisions. Cynthia explains, “80% of it is probably getting their input and distilling it for us to become better marketers, salespeople, product developers, and product managers.” Customer feedback therefore becomes an internal business resource rather than something collected exclusively for testimonials, case studies, or promotional campaigns.

The organization must also create a clear process for translating customer observations into action. As Cynthia says, “It’s their voice coming internally to us,” where it can influence marketing language, sales conversations, product priorities, and customer advocacy. Leaders should establish recurring feedback forums, document the themes that emerge, assign responsibility for acting on them, and communicate how customer participation influenced decisions.

Use Customer Insight to Validate Messaging and Resist Market Noise

Customer feedback can reveal whether a company’s language will be understood and trusted before that messaging reaches the broader market. Cynthia explains, “The words we use and the way we talk about what we do are heavily impacted by our advisory boards and our steering committees.” These forums allow teams to test product ideas, positioning, statistics, and marketing language directly with customers before making larger investments.

This input becomes especially valuable when competitors introduce new messages and create pressure to react. Cynthia recalls customers saying, “Please stop copying. Just stay your course because it’s working, even if it might not sound quite the same.” Instead of repeatedly changing direction, companies can use customer insight to identify which market developments require action and which ones are simply adding more noise.

Create Customer Value Beyond Sales and Renewal Conversations

Voice of the Customer should be supported by the executive team because customer perception is shaped by the entire organization. Cynthia makes this distinction clearly, saying, “This is beyond a marketing initiative, too.” She explains that brand is not simply branding activity, but “how they think about us and how they feel about us,” making customer sentiment a shared leadership responsibility.

Relationships become stronger when customers receive value outside transactional conversations. Cynthia says, “They’re hearing from us when we have something to give to them, not when we’re asking something of them.” Advisory opportunities, useful insights, feedback discussions, and peer connections give companies reasons to remain engaged between sales and renewals, creating stronger conditions for trust, advocacy, retention, and future growth.

Conclusion

Customer feedback should influence how a company communicates, prioritizes, and builds relationships. Cynthia Gumbert’s approach shows how a dedicated Voice of the Customer program can improve decisions across marketing, sales, product development, and leadership while keeping the organization grounded in what customers genuinely value.

The strongest programs create clear forums for listening, test messaging before major investments, and convert recurring insights into company-wide action. Companies that consistently listen and respond can resist competitive distractions, develop more credible messaging, maintain stronger relationships, and create a sustainable foundation for growth.

ELEVATING CONTENT MARKETING STANDARDS RAISES A CRUCIAL QUESTION:
Why shouldn’t the very act of creating thought leadership content also spark new conversations with in-pipeline deals, top prospects, and high-priority customers for revenue expansion? Or serve as the cornerstone for learning and applying voice-of-customer strategies? That’s the power of ABM Podcasting—engaging B2B buyers and customers in meaningful conversations that uncover essential go-to-market insights, support long sales cycles, reinforce your market perspective, build peer-level trust, and dismantle objections that kill deals.

Steven MacDonald

Steven MacDonald is the founder of Content Strategies, CEO of a MarTech SaaS Company, fractional CMO consulting with leading B2B companies and former Director of Strategy and Client Service at top ten digital marketing agencies.

Follow Steve on LinkedIn.

Steven MacDonald

Follow Steve on LinkedIn.