Traditional customer surveys are broken. Low responses, boring questions, and useless data leave you spinning your wheels. Still using them? You’re not just behind — you’re out of the running.
By 2025, 85% of customer service leaders will be rolling out conversational AI like GenAI to collect real, actionable feedback. And by 2026, generative AI will enhance 80% of conversational AI solutions, up from just 20% in 2023.
TheySaid are flipping the script, turning boring surveys into dynamic, human-like conversations that actually get results: higher responses, better insights, and smarter decisions — all in one.
For agencies and brands, this means sharper strategies, campaigns that hit home, and a serious edge in the market. At the forefront? Lihong Hicken, CEO of TheySaid, helps businesses turn feedback into a growth powerhouse.
Still stuck with outdated forms? Time to upgrade — the future’s already here.
Who Is Lihong Hicken?
Lihong Hicken is the co-founder and CEO of TheySaid, an AI-powered platform redefining customer feedback collection. With three successful exits, including helping UserTesting achieve its IPO, Lihong is a seasoned leader in user experience. Her vision? To solve feedback pain points by transforming static surveys into engaging, conversational AI interactions.
Traditional feedback tools, like boring old surveys, just don’t cut it anymore. Low responses and shallow data leave agency and branding execs guessing instead of deciding. As Lihong puts it:
“Traditional survey platforms often fall short due to cumbersome setup processes, boring questions, and no mechanisms for taking action.”
The consequences are clear: businesses collect surface-level insights without understanding their customers' deeper motivations or frustrations.
“You get the numbers but not the context,” Lihong says. “And without action, it’s all meaningless.”
To identify blind spots in your feedback process, Lihong poses a series of diagnostic questions every business leader should ask:
- How often do you gather feedback from your users, customers, partners, and employees?
- What is the biggest problem you solve for your Ideal customers?
- What do they like or not like about working with your company? (product, price, people, and what else)
- Who is stuck? Where in the customer journey are they stuck?
- How do you know if the customers are about to leave or buy more from you?
“If you can’t answer these questions well and back them with customer data,” Lihong warns, “you are running your business blind!”
By addressing these challenges, businesses can transform feedback collection from a task into a powerful tool for growth.
Why Conversational AI Changes the Game
In the world of feedback collection, static surveys have long dominated — delivering frustratingly low engagement and generic insights.
But conversational AI, pioneered by platforms like TheySaid, flips the script, transforming surveys into dynamic, interactive experiences.
According to Lihong, TheySaid focuses on four major areas to redefine how businesses collect and act on feedback:
- Simplifying survey creation — AI crafts well-designed, professional surveys in a single click.
- Engaging participants — TheySaid 2.0 transforms surveys into conversational experiences, using interactive AI to probe deeper into responses.
- Extracting valuable insights — The platform distills large datasets into intelligence with advanced prompt engineering.
- Closing the feedback loop — Organizations can act on feedback instantly so customers know they're actually listening.
Conversational AI isn’t just a tool for businesses aiming to stay competitive — it’s a game-changer. Lihong’s takeaway?
“Once the customers tried a Conversational survey once, it will be hard for them to go back to Traditional surveys. People can no longer go back from a smartphone to a Nokia. The era of traditional surveying is ending; it is just a matter of time.”
Maximizing Engagement and Response Rates
78% of customers will forgive mistakes if they receive excellent customer service. Still, many lose interest when they feel their feedback is ignored. This perception fuels disengagement and low response rates. Lihong explains:
“The number one reason people don’t respond to surveys is because they think the organization won’t act on the feedback! Mckinsey published this study about survey fatigue that detailed the reason. So, taking action in a survey is very important, and it is one of the strengths of TheySaid.
Conversational surveys make the survey experience more engaging and interactive; people say they actually enjoy chatting with the AI survey.”
TheySaid addresses this by transforming traditional surveys into engaging, conversational experiences. Their Journey-Based Pulsing program seamlessly integrates surveys at key customer touchpoints, making feedback a natural part of the customer journey.
“Most survey providers have lists of survey questions in their library. TheySaid is the only one that provides a Journey-Based Pulsing program you can plug in and run.
Right now, we have even better solutions with AI.” says Lihong.
With AI-driven question creation, TheySaid tailors surveys to each business’s goals and audience.
“You no longer need to be an expert in Survey or have a PhD degree. You can create perfect survey questions by chatting with your TheySaid AI and telling them about your goals and audience; it will recommend survey questions specific to your brand and products.
The result is good because you don’t just have generic AI. You have an AI that is trained in your company and industry. So, the questions and survey interaction are top notch and personalized,” adds Lihong.
Case Studies: Real-World Impact of TheySaid
The transformative power of conversational AI isn’t theoretical — it’s a proven tool for businesses across industries. Lihong shared two compelling case studies highlighting how their platform delivers measurable results.
Case 1: Solving a B2B NPS Dilemma
One B2B client struggled with their Net Promoter Score (NPS) program.
“They could gather scores but didn’t understand why customers gave those ratings,” Lihong explains.
The company’s customer-facing teams spent weeks chasing responses and manually asking follow-up questions to uncover deeper insights. This time-consuming process often led nowhere.
Enter TheySaid.
“With our AI NPS solution, their response rates tripled in a single day,” says Lihong.
The conversational surveys also achieved a remarkable 10.5 interaction depth, meaning the AI and respondents exchanged over 10 back-and-forth interactions to uncover rich insights.
“They didn’t just get scores — they got context and actionable data — and they could start taking action the same day,” Lihong adds.
Case 2: Revolutionizing Market Research in Rare Diseases
A market research agency specializing in rare diseases faced another challenge: lengthy and costly research processes.
“Traditionally, it took them three months and thousands of dollars to complete 20-30 interviews,” Lihong recounts.
Using TheySaid, they shortened the process to two weeks and gathered over 100 qualitative and quantitative responses at one-tenth of the cost.
“They trained our AI on their niche in under a minute, crafted surveys, and distributed them across multiple channels,” Lihong explains.
“The result was a real-time report with deeper, scalable insights.”
These examples underscore the value of conversational AI for businesses looking to optimize processes and gain better insights.
“With TheySaid,” Lihong concludes, “it’s about working smarter, not harder.”
The Future of Conversational AI in Feedback Collection
TheySaid is leading the charge in transforming customer feedback, showing that conversational AI is more than a trend — it’s the future. By addressing the limitations of traditional surveys, TheySaid empowers businesses with deeper insights, higher engagement, and actionable data.
From simplifying survey creation to enhancing customer interactions, conversational AI reshapes how businesses connect with their audiences.
As conversational AI continues to gain traction, the gap between traditional surveys and innovative tools like TheySaid will only widen.
“The era of traditional surveys is ending — it’s just a matter of time,” says Lihong.
Adopting conversational AI is no longer optional for brands and agencies ready to stay ahead — it’s a necessity.
Emerging trends like AI-driven personalization and real-time analytics are set to enhance customer feedback further. Businesses that embrace these advancements now will position themselves as industry leaders, equipped to adapt and thrive in a dynamic market.
