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Have you seen The Customer Experience Factbook?

In this 180+ page report, you'll find all the information and support you need to build a profitable, effective CX Improvement Program that spans every part of your business. You'll be able to implement and manage meaningful and profitable change, and grow your bottom line despite a slowing economy.

Get it on Amazon (Kindle/Print)
 

Real feedback 'more useful than secret shoppers'

The commonly used customer feedback method of 'secret shopping' - the practice of sending in mystery shoppers to evaluate a retail store - is neither credible nor realistic, according to Jeremy Michael, managing director for customer insight agency SMG UK.

While Michael suggests that the views of a few people per retail store per month who are not even real customers (and therefore do not have the same expectations as real customers) should not be used to drive business improvement initiatives or behavioural change programmes intended to encourage customer spending, advocacy and loyalty.

Many forward-thinking retailers and service providers (such as Burger King, Pets at Home, and Superdrug in the UK, for example) have chosen instead to move to a system of asking genuine customers to provide feedback on their in-store experience on a daily basis.

This method allows for fast, tangible improvements in actual customer service because the data tells the retailer exactly which areas to focus on to increase customer loyalty, with customer service commonly being a key driver.

As all of these results can be tied back to financial performance data (because the customers are real), retailers can be more certain that the insights based on the feedback gathered will result in real, day-to-day business improvements.

Although the latest UK Customer Satisfaction Index results revealed that overall satisfaction levels have increased slightly from July 2010, consumer confidence has fallen as a result of economic fears, spending cuts and growing financial pressures.

Arguably, in such a competitive marketplace, it is more important to understand the customer experience in order for retailers to survive and reward their loyal customers.

"In contrast to simple mystery shopper surveys," Michael concluded, "retailers must be aware there are a range of other equally cost effective methods that capture insights directly from existing customers and that can provide real feedback about real issues in nearly real-time."


Sources: SMG UK /
The Marketing Factbook.
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    Categorised as:

  • Customer Experience
  • Customer Loyalty
  • Knowing The Customer
  • Marketing Know-How
  • Marketing Technology

Have you seen The Customer Experience Factbook?

In this 180+ page report, you'll find all the information and support you need to build a profitable, effective CX Improvement Program that spans every part of your business.

You'll be able to implement and manage meaningful and profitable change, and grow your bottom line despite a slowing economy. Grab this goldmine of easily adaptable and up-to-date strategies, walk-throughs, trends, technologies, research, suppliers and partners, plus all the supporting arguments you need to build a solid CX strategy.

While most marketers could list maybe a dozen key points for improving their brand's Customer Experience (CX), the researchers and writers at The Marketing Factbook have identified FORTY main 'CX Keys' which will help you drive your customers to new levels of delight, loyalty, advocacy and profitability.

The areas in which customers have direct contact with your organization are perhaps the most obvious places in which CX improvements can be made, and this report addresses all 24 of these 'Direct CX Keys', applicable to offline and online businesses alike.

At the same time there are many other areas that indirectly affect CX (such as the supply chain, policies and processes) in which every business can make simple but far-reaching improvements. This report guides you through the problems and solutions for all 16 of these 'Indirect CX Keys', many of which are often forgotten or under-played even in the best CX strategies.

Get it on Amazon (Kindle/Print)
 
Copyright © 2001-2025 Peter J. Clark