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Make the Most of Your NPS Data

 

Keep Customers Happy

 

I recently shared information on how to calculate your NPS score. This is an excellent snapshot tool, and there are other ways to use it to get even deeper insight.

Collect as much data as you can – this means incorporating the NPS question on as many customer touchpoints as possible. That might mean on customer feedback surveys, your mystery shopping program, incorporated into your POS system (I’ve seen some retailers have this question pop up during the transaction process), in email marketing, etc. The more data you have, the clearer picture you have.

Segment NPS data – this could be trickier, unless you set up your programs to track the customer journey effectively. One client we work with does a great job of this. They capture feedback from customers across all points of the customer journey, from placing the order to delivery to billing and invoicing. As such, they have NPS data from each touchpoint. This allows them to see changes across the journey and identify pain points that may be influencing overall satisfaction.

If you don’t do this through the program design, you may be able to separate it out through the raw data. If this is the case, you can easily calculate NPS manually using an Excel formula.

Other ways to segment NPS data may that may be useful:

Look closer at the detractors. This is a no brainer really – why are they dissatisfied? Look for trends that may identify your pain points to work on improvements.

New vs returning customers. They are each important for different reasons of course. If your new customer NPS is low, you need to find out why and fairly quickly, as there may be issues that are preventing them from becoming returning customers.

For returning customers, look for NPS trends over time. Do the numbers remain stable or fluctuate? If they fluctuate, you may want to dig deeper to see if it’s dependent on time of day/day of week, seasonal, etc.

Drill down to location or district levels. Are there a group of locations (or perhaps one specific location) that are tanking your NPS score? It may not be a company wide issue, but a more localized one.

NPS is just one data point, but it can be used many ways to get a better picture of what’s happening and gauge customer satisfaction. You have the data – why not make the most of it?

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#ButtGate Made Worse by Short Fuse

Last week, a story went viral about a customer who left a less than stellar Google review for a restaurant in Tennessee. The owner, who pays attention to reviews (that’s a good thing), got a bit….upset with the customer and shot back a “review” of their own. In case you missed it, here’s a replay of the exchange:

 

Customer’s Google review:

 

Okay, so this review is a bit dramatic and could have been written differently and gotten the same message across, but there are some points to be made. After all, unclothed children are probably not a good idea in the dining room.

Instead of taking a breath and stepping back, the owner was reactive and posted this on the company’s Facebook page (it is now deleted):

 

You can only imagine the reaction it got from Facebook users.

After calming down a bit, the owners then posted this explanation, which has also been deleted. At least it’s a better explanation – mothers know that when it comes to criticizing children, parents do tend to get a bit sensitive.

 

 

There are always three sides to every story – his, hers, and the truth. I’m sure both sides are correct in their perception of what happened, but both reacted in a rather unnecessary way. However, it’s the business owner who will feel the impact of this – will people feel comfortable leaving less than stellar reviews going forward, or will they simply not return? Will people hesitate to visit, not necessarily because of the customer’s review (though that doesn’t help) but more because of the knee jerk response from the owners?

Honestly, this is a viral story at this moment – I’m sure it will blow over and no one will remember it in a few months. But for now, the reactionary response doesn’t seem worth it from a business perspective.

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3 Ways Digital Food Delivery May Impact the Restaurant Industry

 

Convenience is taking over the restaurant industry. What were once traditional restaurants and fast food establishments now have the opportunity to compete with restaurants that offer delivery services in an efficient, cost effective manner.

Digital delivery is making headlines as Uber continues to roll out its UberEATS program across the country over the last several months and again highlight food delivery apps.

It’s very similar to other digital delivery programs such as GrubHub , DoorDash, and Seamless – use the app, order food from a participating restaurant, and then sit back and wait for delivery.

So how does this impact the industry overall?

  • It makes things a bit tougher for “traditional delivery” restaurants, those who have always offered delivery services. With digital delivery options increasing, it puts some pressure on these traditional restaurants – their range of competitors opens up a bit, at least for the short term, so they need to make sure their value, service, and quality are prominently displayed. Considering upgrading their services to maybe include online ordering, if not available, may help offset the new competition.

 

  • Even casual dining restaurants may struggle a bit more than quick serve or fast food establishments who turn to food delivery app programs. A recent article states that the margin on delivery programs may be problematic for casual dining establishments (think Buffalo Wild Wings or Red Robin) while the impact on sales will not hurt fast food/fast casual restaurants such as Chipotle, Shake Shack, and Dunkin. These quick serve restaurants can benefit from digital delivery, as the margin will not impact sales as significantly.

 

  • While restaurants jumping into the delivery arena have a great opportunity, they will stilll need to implement new procedures and systems to accomodate this new service. While it’s not as significant as it would be if they were to start up their own in-house delivery service, it’s important to carefully considering the upgrades & adjustments BEFORE jumping in to a GrubHub or UberEATS – if your restaurant can’t handle the increased business, it won’t matter how much business these apps bring in. You will quickly lose those customers who have a poor first experience.

While delivery apps are definitely changing the restaurant industry, technology will not likely have the same impact as it has for retail. However, convenience reigns supreme, so restaurants of all types need to pay attention to the latest trends. But, should your restaurant join in the latest trend right away?

Maybe. Before jumping in just because it’s the new thing to do and “everyone is doing it” plan carefully, decide if it’s truly worth it, and let it play out a while before jumping in – by hesitating a bit, you’ll be sure that the trend is viable and worth getting into while having a solid plan in place to provide seamless service across all touchpoints.

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