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Move Over Coca Cola, Snickers Has Upped The Game

 

Coke drinkers have responded positively to the company’s “Share a Coke” campaign – pictures have been posted across social sites showing users with Coke bottles depicting their names, or sharing images with friends’ names. This has been an effective marketing tool, and other brands have taken notice.

 

Snicker’s recently launched a new campaign, and they are changing the packaging on their candy bars. It seems they are following Coca Cola’s lead, but making it even more fun.

 

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With fun new packaging highlighting adjectives to describe people, Snickers is fleshing out its “Who are you when you’re hungry” messaging – customers can now share a Snickers in a fun, new way, much like Coca Cola did, but in a more generic, fun way.

 

Strong branding allows companies such as Snickers and Coca Cola to try these new tactics while still making it simple for consumers to define the brand.

 

Let’s see how well this campaign takes off, and if it’s more successful than “Share a Coke” is.

 

 

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Mystery Shopping Goes Deeper Than Customer Service

 

Sometimes you’ll learn more than you bargained for with a mystery shopping program.

 

While mystery shopping focuses primarily on customer service levels and adherence to operational procedures, there have been times when fieldwork uncovers other matters that a company may or may not have realized before, giving unique insight and additional areas for improvement and/or awareness.

 

One example is related to discrimination; okay, maybe discrimination is a harsh word, but we’ve seen it happen in the past. As a program rolls out, shopper reports start to show trends where levels of service provided may differ based on who the shopper is. Consider these two examples:

 

1. An electronics retailer uses a program to ensure that associates are knowledgeable about the products and encourage a sale when customers show “buying signals.” A program noted trends in when sales were encouraged vs. discussions that did not encourage a sale. The client learned that the associates were more inclined to encourage sales from those who “dressed the part” and “looked” like a customer who could afford a higher end product. As an expansion of the program, shoppers were divided into two groups – one was required to dress in a casual manner, while the other group had a more “business” or “professional” appearance to gauge service levels across the two groups.

 

2. A home improvement retailer implemented a program in which shoppers were inquiring about products for a home project. At one location, two female shoppers reported that they felt as though they were not taken as seriously, possibly because they were female, with one reporting that the employee suggested she “let her husband handle the project.” As this appeared to be a location specific concern, additional shops were conducted, this type with males and females, to gauge the differences in customer service, if any. This was helpful to pinpoint any discrimination that existed and retrain associates as needed.

 

It can go even farther than differences in customer service provided. A recent article cited a study conducted in 2014 in which mystery shoppers visited retail stores and dressed differently, with some neat and professional in appearance, and others more casual. The findings of this study revealed similar results to what our clients experience, but also some surprising results, including:

 

  • Well dressed shoppers experienced more pressure to make a purchase than their casual counterparts
  • Well dressed shoppers were quoted higher prices in some cases than those dressed more casualyl/less neat

 

Whether intentional or not, humans tend to perceive situations based on what they see. It’s important for employees to be aware of their perceptions and provided consistent service across the board.

 

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You Have Two Ears and One Mouth

 

Have you heard this saying? My grandma would say this when I was younger, and I thought of it recently as it relates to customer service.

When companies ask customers for feedback, it’s important to listen. Not just to the good, but the not so good feedback. Your most unhappy customers are often times the best way to learn how to improve.

Of course, you’ll sometimes get the “always unhappy” customer that likes to complain for the sake of complaining, and will never be happy. Or, a customer who complains for the sake of getting free items on future visits. But, when you use your two ears carefully, you can uncover some good information for improvement.

There are a few ways to go about looking at your feedback for pain points and areas for improvement:

1. Overall data: is your overall feedback positive, negative, or neutral? Has it changed over time, or does it tend to change seasonally (ie at holiday shopping time, for example)? Looking for the trends will help you pinpoint where your company may need to make adjustments. For example, if you see satisfaction declining during the summer months, take a closer look to see what factors may be contributing to this – is staffing more difficult due to many employees taking time off, leaving customers without adequate help on the sales floor? Was there an influx of new hires, resulting in slower service as they learn the ropes? Identify trends and look for reasons behind the dips and work to find solutions to overcome this next time.

2. Find common themes: sometimes this is more difficult when there are not open ended questions on the feedback survey, but often times you can identify trends in service, products, or features that are causing issue for your customers. For example, do you get a lot of feedback on your loyalty program? If you see trends on customer difficulty/dissatisfaction with the program, take a closer look to see what might be going on. You can then possibly create a customized feedback survey that only goes to your loyalty card members to ask more in depth questions about their opinions and dig deeper into overall perception and features that may need to be revised.

3. Push the neutrals to the next level: while those customers who provide neutral feedback aren’t dissatisfied, they can be a great source for learning. These are the customers that are satisfied and will probably return, but they aren’t “wowed” or exceptionally satisfied. When a good chunk of the feedback is neutral, it’s simple to create branching to take the neutrals to the next level and learn from them. Incorporate a question that is set up to add an additional question for those who rate the service as neutral – ask them what would improve future visits, or more broadly, what would make them change their satisfaction to “exceptional.” The suggestions provided could be a great learning tool, and you could get ideas you’ve never thought of before!

Use those two ears carefully and listen for what is not being said as well. By employing an effective feedback survey and taking the information to dig deeper, you will learn some important information about your customers while learning how to continually improve.

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