Retailers and brands need to focus on customer needs. Image credit: Secoo
By Mickey Alam Khan
NEW YORK – Feedback and insights from customers are an important part of discovering what they need and want, but there is a vital method of doing so to ensure accuracy.
While retailers have the ability to tap into the “what, where and when” of consumer needs through data and surveys, brands need to keep these feedback initiatives short and targeted to the correct groups. During a session at Forrester’s CX NYC 2019, an analyst dove into these notions from the Customer Experience Index, which revealed that customers in most sectors are looking for easy access to customer service representatives and a way to solve problems quickly and efficiently.
“When somebody reaches out to you with a problem, you should know who they are,” said Michelle Yaiser, director of CX Analytics at Forrester. “If you at least have to ask them their name or account number then you should know all their information.
“It makes them feel appreciated.”
Customer inquiries
When asking customers for their insight on experiences, retailers need to only ask the necessary questions.
In several instances, for a prolonged period of time a retailer will ask the same questions in regards to the same subject and the results will continuously be the same. If the retailer has no plans to change its operations in this area, then the retailer should avoid wasting time by asking this same question.
Rendering of Michael Kors' future SoHo store. Image credit: Michael Kors
On the other hand, for experiences that are changing, retailers need to learn to change their inquiries as well.
It is extremely important to look to a sample market of consumers by picking one customer base and designing the sample around that. It is crucial for retailers to craft an accurate sample, or the results can be skewed.
Retailers need to focus on the most important questions, in the areas that matter most to them.
In Forrester’s Customer Experience Index, the researcher looked at a variety of sectors and customers’ biggest concerns in those sectors.
For investment firms, customers are most concerned with finding representation to answer all of their questions, the firm knowing their account history, resolving problems quickly, easy contact with a live person and having access to their financial advisor when they are needed.
Investment firms should consider testing when their highest call volume is and adding more personnel around those time periods or making it possible for customers to send messages after hours.
For both luxury and mass-market automakers, customers want an easy and quick service experience.
According to J.D. Power’s Customer Service Index (CSI) Study, drivers report greater satisfaction with service experiences when dealerships incorporate more digital communications, despite automakers’ delay in harnessing technology.
Per the report, German automaker Porsche offers the most satisfactory dealership service experience among both luxury and mass-market car brands. While the luxury average is 862 on a 1,000-point scale, Porsche scored 893 (
see story).
Porsche Panamera GTS. Image credit: Porsche
In multichannel retail, the top concern is finding help when experiencing an issue on an ecommerce site. Other concerns include the ease of finding an in-store assistant for help, the ability for frontline associates to answer questions effectively, how fast problems are solved and the consistent availability of needed products and services.
Retailers and brands can use a variety of different metrics to measure the customer experience, including beacons.
Beacons are the least likely to see significant leaps and dips in change because they measure brand-wide audiences instead of niche segments.
However, if beacons do change dramatically it is likely a decrease due to some kind of event such as a scandal.
Driver metrics are specific attributes of experiences and are operational. They are predictive of results from other forms of measurement.
Many times when a brand is introducing a new initiative, customer satisfaction will drop as consumers get used to a change. Eventually, satisfaction will rise even further than it was before.
Brands and retailers can stop tracking the new initiative once customer satisfaction rates reach a plateau.
Feedback examples
One example of how brands can tap into customer feedback for better understanding is NetJets.
With affluents increasingly drawn to personalized services and unique moments, private aviator NetJets relies on constant customer feedback from its owners to improve everything from aircrafts to the overall onboard experience.
Berkshire Hathaway-owned NetJets personalizes its owner experience before takeoff, assigning every client a personal service number and encouraging its services teams to build relationships with each owner. A commitment to safety – including an in-house metrology team and rigorous pilot training – also contributes to a more luxurious experience for owners (
see story).
"What really drives a good experience is providing what they need, where they need it and when they need it," Ms. Yaiser said.
