Customer Feedback Archives

Customers Feel They Aren’t Being Heard – Here’s What You Can Do

The 2016 Customer Experience report was released recently, and many of the findings highlight how customer service is failing. One highlight focused on customer feedback and a potential reason as to why customers do not provide it when asked.

Respondents shared their thoughts on whether or not companies took action based on feedback provided. As you can see from the slide below, the overall thought that companies did react to feedback declined since 2013, from 49% saying that it was extremely likely or very likely that companies respond to 31% in this study. Similarly, the perception that it was very unlikely or extremely unlikely that companies would react rose 12 percentage points between 2013 and now.

This may or may not be true; companies could be taking in the feedback and making actionable changes, even if it’s not apparent to customers. But, if a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it, does it make a sound?

When customers take the time to give a company feedback, they want to feel that their voice is heard. There are some ways that companies can send the message to their customers that will likely improve satisfaction and encourage customers to continue to share their thoughts.

Close the loop: this is likely the most time consuming way to show that a customer’s voice is heard, but it can be very effective. When a customer has an issue, follow up with the customer once it’s resolved. It’s important to do a few things here: 1) Make sure the issue is actually resolved; if not, make sure it happens ASAP, 2) find out how the customer perceived the resolution process and ask for suggestions on improving it, and 3) follow up with a note of thanks for their feedback and let them know the ways that you are working to make a better experience in the future.

Share feedback findings with your customers: whether it’s on your website, on your social media sites, or in email marketing campaigns, it’s wise to incorporate a “We hear you” message. Let customers know that you DO listen to feedback, and share some of the ways you’re making improvements. Even if they are minor changes or updates, it will send customers a positive message.

Highlight the negative feedback: this may seem counter intuitive, but it can be an effective means of letting customers know you listen. Similar to sharing findings, you can highlight a customer issue and directly show how you’ve worked to make improvements. Include customer information, such as a first name and even a photo (with their permission), and follow up with them to get their thoughts on your plan to improve. It’s personal and sends a strong message to your customer base.

Get your customers involved: are you seeing a trend in a particular issue that seems to be a pain point for many customers? Get them involved in making change. When customers leave contact information, it’s easier to reach out to ask them if they’d take part in a focus group or online survey that digs deeper into that particular issue. It’s a double win – you are making customers be part of the process while gaining even deeper insight into customer perception. Additionally, it can create increased loyalty, as you are turning dissatisfied customers who may be on the verge of walking away into part of the solution.

Consumers are inundated with feedback requests constantly; it’s no wonder the response rates have dropped and customers feel like it’s just one more thing to do. Make the most of your program and stand out by utilizing some of the ideas above.

Have you found success in creating an effective feedback program? How do YOUR customers know you’re listening? Please share your thoughts in the comment section and let us know!

Starbucks Says They Listened, But Did They Hear Right?

Looks like Starbucks is in some hot water with their customers.

Citing the voice of the customer, Starbucks is changing their rewards program starting April 1st. If you haven’t seen the changes, Starbucks shared the changes on their website:

In looking at this, I’m not sure they really heard what customers were saying, even though the company states that this change was made because a rewards program based on amount spent was a top customer request.

While this may be true, it’s important to segment customers – those who are regular visitors buying more complex beverages and those who have less expensive, simpler purchases. With this new model, they are sending a message to the lower spending base – spend more to earn the same rewards. Say, as an example, someone visits daily and purchases a regular, no frills cup of coffee for $2.00. With the old system, in a 30 day month, they will receive 30 stars, receive two free rewards, and reach Gold Status. With the new system, at the end of that same month, they will have 60 stars; double the stars, but still over a month away from a free reward.

The company says that even though customers are spending more to reach the same levels as before, they have incorporated additional ways to gain more points.

It also meets a need of the customer who, until now, has split purchases because they wanted more than one star when making bigger orders. With this new system, no order splitting is needed, which is a time saver for the customer and staff.

It’s not all bad, but it definitely has customers up in arms. It struck me that the company states this was a result of customer feedback, which is great, but it may be a case of listening and not hearing exactly what customers are saying.

I have no idea what steps Starbucks took between collecting the voice of the customer and developing this new program, but my hope would be that they took a step back in between the two to learn more, perhaps surveying their loyal customers and segmenting the data by spending patterns. From there, creating a system that works well for all customers would ease the “pain” that comes with any new program or procedure and not alienating one group or another.

Customer sentiment on this issue will be interesting to follow once April rolls around – maybe it will be the case that it’s not as bad as customers fear, and the sentiment will quickly change to the positive. Only time will tell on this one.

Do Loyalty Programs Work? Chipotle Says No…

What is the goal for your company’s loyalty program – is it to simply reward those who frequent your business most often, or to gain new customers/increase customer visits? If it’s the latter, you may want to rethink your strategy.

Loyalty programs face stiff competition these days – customers can be pretty selective, and they aren’t as quick to add another card or key ring tag to their already full arsenal. This is likely reserved for businesses they visit most often.

Sure, a great program may entice some infrequent customers to visit a bit more often, but does your data show this to be true?

Recently, Chipotle was making the internet rounds after sharing information about why they don’t use a loyalty program. Jack Hartung, Chipotle’s Chief Financial Officer recently shared that about half of the company’s customers only visit on an infrequent basis, maybe two or three times a year.

In the past, the company believed, like so many do, that if some of the infrequent customers visited a bit more as a result of the loyalty program, it would generate enough to justify the cost of the program. However, in looking at it more closely, the company realized that this rarely happens to the extent where this is true, and, when taking in consideration the cost of ALL customers using the loyalty program, including the extremely loyal customers, there is actually a negative ROI in many cases.

So what is Chipotle’s answer to this?

Realizing that loyal customers serve as great word of mouth and referrals, the company strives to do its best every time. According to Hartung, “The vast majority of our attention goes to doing what we do, but doing it better than ever.”

Get the word out, in a fun way: one of the company’s goals is to educate the public on their products and why Chioptle is a good choice. One method they’ve recently rolled out is education through gamification – Friend or Faux is a site that allows customers to learn more about how Chipotle’s menu items stack up against fast food options. It also rewards players with a “buy one get one” mobile offer.

The company knows the value of big data, and is considering the launch of mobile payments. Realizing that they will miss out on this piece by not incorporating a loyalty program, they are considering other alternatives. Mark Crumpacker, Chipotle’s chief creative and development officer shared that they are considering mobile payments, perhaps through ApplePay, as a means to collect data from their customers. He states, “We will provide our customers, at some point, various options through which they can pay for their food and we will capture data from them, whether that’s through a third party or through the ability to use our own gift cards.” While this not be as comprehensive as data that could be obtained through loyalty programs, Crumpacker feels that “it’s enough, the way we envision it, that it will do the trick.”

Chipotle is one company that is thinking of the overall big picture in maintaining loyal customers while increasing the visits of infrequent customers or even those who have never visited a restaurant. Rethinking the goal of your loyalty program and looking at the data will tell you if you’re meeting the objectives, or if it’s time to take a page from Chipotle’s playbook.

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