A Guide to Building Positive Customer Perception

You can do everything right—answer customer emails on time, provide valuable insights, and offer ongoing support—yet customers may still not see the value you bring. That’s because perception isn’t just about what you do; it’s about what your customers think you do.

When perception is negative, it leads to increased churn risk and missed opportunities for growth. It can also cause customers to speak negatively about your brand, further harming the perception of your company. 

The good news? Customer perception isn’t out of your hands. By improving communication, reinforcing value, and proactively addressing concerns, you can shift the way customers see your product and your team.

This blog will walk you through the key strategies to improve to make sure customers have a positive perception of your company. 

1. Have an effective onboarding experience

First impressions matter, and onboarding sets the foundation for how customers perceive your product.

If the onboarding process is confusing, slow, or lacks direction, customers may assume your product is difficult to use or not valuable enough to invest their time in. This can lead to low engagement and an increased likelihood of churn.

To prevent this, onboarding should be structured, personalized, and easy to follow. Customers need clear guidance on how to use your product and see early wins that reinforce their decision to choose your solution.

You can standardize onboarding with playbooks in Velaris, ensuring every customer follows a clear, consistent path. By tracking customer progress, you can quickly identify and support those who may be struggling, preventing them from disengaging early on.

2. Set clear expectations from the start

Many perception issues stem from misaligned expectations. If customers expect faster results, more features, or a different level of support than what’s actually provided, they may feel disappointed—even if your product delivers real value. 

Customers appreciate honesty. If your product has limitations or missing features, trying to downplay them can backfire when customers eventually run into challenges.

Instead, acknowledging areas for improvement and keeping customers informed about upcoming updates can create a more trusting relationship. Customers who see that your company listens to feedback and continuously improves will be more likely to stick around.

3. Be Responsive 

Even the best products won’t retain customers if communication is inconsistent or slow. Customers want to feel supported, and if they struggle to reach you or don’t get timely responses, they may assume they’re not a priority. 

Poor communication can erode trust and make customers question their decision to continue using your product.

To maintain a strong perception, communication should be proactive and transparent. Regular check-ins, clear timelines for issue resolution, and easy access to support make a significant difference.

4. Improve product usability and adoption

Even if your product is well-designed, customers may still struggle with adoption. If they find certain features confusing or don’t see immediate benefits, they might assume the product isn’t right for them. 

When adoption is low, perception suffers, and customers are more likely to disengage.

Tracking how customers use your product helps you address these challenges before they become bigger issues. If you notice that certain features are underutilized or that some customers rarely log in, it’s worth investigating why.

With Velaris’ customer health scores and AI-driven insights, you can monitor usage trends and flag customers who need additional support. This allows you to step in with targeted guidance, ensuring they stay engaged and see the value in your product.

5. Reinforce wins with customer education

If customers aren’t fully aware of key features, best practices, or potential efficiencies, they might assume they aren’t using the product to its full potential. This can lead to frustration or a sense that they aren’t getting enough value, even when the product is working for them.

Ongoing customer education helps bridge this gap by ensuring customers recognize their wins and continue discovering new ways to maximize value. Instead of leaving them to figure things out on their own, structured education efforts can reinforce success and keep customers engaged. 

A personalized approach to each customer’s needs ensures customers get relevant guidance instead of generic tutorials.

As your product evolves, so do customer needs. Regular webinars, office hours, and live Q&A sessions give customers an opportunity to ask questions and learn from other users, increasing their positive perception of your product. 

6. Proactively communicate value

Don’t assume customers recognize the benefits they’re getting—make it clear. Every interaction is an opportunity to reinforce wins and show them how your product is contributing to their success. 

Regularly checking in on customer goals and highlighting measurable improvements can change this perception. Data-backed progress reports and success stories reinforce that your product is working for them.

You can track customer KPIs in real time using success plans, making it easy to show customers how they’re progressing toward their goals. When customers can clearly see the value, they’re more likely to stay engaged and renew.

7. Collect feedback and analyze

If you’re not collecting feedback, you’re missing a major opportunity to influence customer perception. Customers want to feel heard, and systematic feedback collection helps ensure their opinions are taken into account. 

However, if feedback isn’t analyzed properly, it can be difficult to identify trends and take meaningful action.

Automating survey collection at the right moments helps ensure that feedback is both timely and useful. By analyzing responses, you can identify areas where perception may be declining and take steps to improve it.

With Velaris, you can automate NPS, CSAT, and CES surveys and aggregate responses in one place. This gives you clear insights into customer sentiment, helping you address concerns proactively.

8. Automate and personalize interactions

Customers expect timely, relevant communication, but they also want interactions to feel personal. If communication is overly generic, it can create frustration and make customers feel undervalued. 

Automation helps maintain regular touchpoints without requiring manual effort for every customer. However, automation alone isn’t enough—customers can tell when they’re receiving a one-size-fits-all message. 

Personalization is what makes the difference. Tailoring communication based on customer behavior, goals, and past interactions ensures that messages feel relevant and valuable. 

For example, rather than sending a generic check-in email, referencing specific usage patterns or past support tickets makes the outreach more meaningful.

9. Address customer concerns before they escalate

Many customers don’t voice their frustrations immediately. Instead, they may disengage silently, reducing their usage or ignoring outreach efforts until they decide to leave. 

By the time they formally express dissatisfaction, it’s often too late to repair the relationship. That’s why it’s important to spot early warning signs and address concerns proactively.

Tracking customer behavior and engagement trends can help identify when a customer may be at risk. A drop in usage, delayed responses to outreach, or repeated support tickets about the same issue can all be signs that a customer is struggling. 

Paying attention to these indicators allows Customer Success teams to intervene before the situation worsens.

Addressing customer concerns early not only improves retention but also reinforces trust. When customers see that their challenges are taken seriously and resolved quickly, their confidence in the company grows, leading to a stronger long-term relationship.

10. Engage with customers beyond support interactions

If the only time customers hear from you is when there’s a problem, their perception may be skewed toward those negative experiences. 

Building engagement outside of support—through customer success check-ins, thought leadership content, and community-building efforts—can create more positive touchpoints. 

Customers want to feel like they’re more than just another account. A strong advocacy program—where customers are recognized for their success, invited to exclusive events, or featured in case studies—can strengthen their relationship with your company. 

These interactions reinforce that your company is invested in their long-term success, not just troubleshooting issues.

The key is consistency—positive perception isn’t built through one-off actions but through a steady effort to communicate value and support customer success.

Conclusion

Customer perception plays a major role in retention and expansion, yet it’s often overlooked. Even when a product delivers value, customers may not always recognize it unless their experience is carefully managed. 

By reinforcing value in every interaction, personalizing communication, and addressing concerns before they escalate, Customer Success Managers can actively shape how customers view their product and service.

See how Velaris can help you reinforce customer value and strengthen retention—book a demo today. 

‍