Electronic customer feedback survey devices are popping up all over. From simple push-button pads to more comprehensive touch screen kiosks. Let’s face it, there is no better time to gather feedback than right at the moment of truth. And there are great companies providing these solutions like Service Systems, HappyOrNot, FeedbackNow (recently acquired by Forrester) among others. But are they considered to be more of a nuisance, “toy” or a benefit?
So many companies miss the opportunity of engaging with their customers when it matters. It is crucial to listen to your customers whether it’s positive or negative. When you get good feedback you can make sure to keep the momentum and spread the positivity with staff. But the negative feedback is what you really want to be monitoring and improving. This is the time to listen closely and delve deep into the root cause of what triggered the experience fail. By continuous monitoring, you can put measures in place to improve!
“Spend a lot of time talking to customers face-to-face. You’d be amazed at how many companies don’t listen to their customers.” - Ross Perot
Now I know we have some Neigh-Sayers out there when it comes to real-time in-store feedback. But the good outweighs the bad plenty fold.
Let’s look at two of the most popular objections:
There is a common misconception that children press only the “Poor” button on the service pads. This is completely untrue. Keep in mind that with feedback pads generally only poor alerts are sent in real time so managers can respond to them. This gives the illusion that kids only press the poor button.
Even when they do press the button, it is still not a waste. If a manager appears at each poor press, it creates the perception that a store is serious about customer service and that management will react to customers needs at the press of a button. This creates awareness for both the parents of children who press buttons on the pads as well as customers who are “testing” the system. It shows them and the greater public that the system is in place to promote customer service excellence and this can only create positive momentum which enforces brand loyalty which will, in turn, increase your bottom line.
Even though this does happen it is nothing to be worried about. When a staff member provides consistently good service it will show in his results and they will not need to press their own button. If however, a staff member does tamper, a trend will develop on their results and can quickly be noticed by management.
Having real-time alerts helps management intervene as soon as customers rate a staff member poorly so they can resolve the issue and reprimand the staff member.
There will always be someone who notices the tampering and can report dishonest staff. Pad tampering or self-rating should be seen as grounds for a warning or dismissal as the data that comes from the system has a cost associated with it, and tampering is a criminal offence.
So now that we got past those objections, where do you use it? The possibilities are endless:
Real-Time alerts are one of the biggest advantages of using electronic surveys compared to regular surveys. No more “lost” surveys. Competition is more fierce than ever before, and listening to your customer might just be what you need to do for your business to dominate. Asking the perfect question at the right spot could be a home run for your business. If you can recover a customer who had a bad experience, they could end up being more valuable than customers that have average experiences.
As with any tool, always remember, it’s as powerful or destructive as the person utilizing it. The analytics gathered should be studied, and strategies put in place to improve your business. Companies that lead in Customer Experience make more money and do so more predictably.
By listening to, and engaging with your customers you can become a customer experience ninja
Service Systems partners with the brick-and-mortar retail industry. With a broad understanding of retailers pain points, we aim to complement and improve the retail experience by introducing various technology solutions that elevate a data-driven approach to retail business management and consumer engagement, ultimately forging the desired road-map to success.
If you are keen to learn how we can help you succeed, mail us ninja@servicesystems.co.za or call us +27872374783