I have never answered this type of email. Why? Because at this stage, I don't know your product, and I don't want you to annoy me (you may not think it's annoying, but really, it is).
That being said, I sent spontaneous feedback emails exactly twice:
- The first was to the guy who wrote the 'learn you a Haskell for great good' free online tutorial (now book, website is still free). I just wrote to let him know that his tutorial was awesome and that it was the only tutorial I'd read that made sense of monads.
- The second was to Hipmunk. Again, after using Hipmunk for the third time or so, and having such a great and painless experience, I sent an email saying how much I appreciate the service, and thanking them for keeping it free (although I'd gladly pay for it).
I guess you could say that neither my emails contained feedback. In both cases, I felt that it would be a shame if these people stopped doing what they're doing, thinking that nobody cares (I know, Hipmunk is not gonna go away, but well, I guess was just not rational)so I just wanted to let them know that I found there work remarkable.
What I'm trying to say is that the best way to get feedback from users without pissing them off is simply to do something that they really really like, and that they want to you to keep improving.
"What I'm trying to say is that the best way to get feedback from users without pissing them off is simply to do something that they really really like, and that they want to you to keep improving."
To me, the type of email you sent is the most useless email I could receive. It contains: nothing I can help you with; nothing I can improve; nothing that you had a problem with... it's empty kudos.
Secondly, it's very difficult to create something people "really really like" without asking them why they don't like what you are currently providing. And since people don't care about products they don't like, they will rarely tell you what's wrong if you don't ask... they'll just leave, and you'll never know why.
To improve your email, instead of simply telling them that their service was great.. tell them what your favorite feature was or what was the most helpful about their service. At least that will give them some idea of why you liked it, and it might give them some idea how they can improve other parts of their service.
That being said, I sent spontaneous feedback emails exactly twice:
- The first was to the guy who wrote the 'learn you a Haskell for great good' free online tutorial (now book, website is still free). I just wrote to let him know that his tutorial was awesome and that it was the only tutorial I'd read that made sense of monads.
- The second was to Hipmunk. Again, after using Hipmunk for the third time or so, and having such a great and painless experience, I sent an email saying how much I appreciate the service, and thanking them for keeping it free (although I'd gladly pay for it).
I guess you could say that neither my emails contained feedback. In both cases, I felt that it would be a shame if these people stopped doing what they're doing, thinking that nobody cares (I know, Hipmunk is not gonna go away, but well, I guess was just not rational)so I just wanted to let them know that I found there work remarkable.
What I'm trying to say is that the best way to get feedback from users without pissing them off is simply to do something that they really really like, and that they want to you to keep improving.