In this blog, we talk about the value of measuring the customer experience, why it’s so crucial and the benefits that follow.
But how can you be sure you’re in need of a measurement program?
Today, we’re uncovering 4 critical signs, it’s time to start measuring the experience.
4 Signs To Start Measuring the Experience
You’re finding it hard to retain customers
Your customer churn rate is one of the most telling signs that it’s time to start measuring the customer experience. If you’re finding it hard to retain customers, it’s most likely you’re not matching their preferences or you’re not servicing them in a way that drives loyalty.
Customers should always feel like their needs are being met. They should feel satisfied leaving your establishment and energized to return.
One of the most effective ways of doing this is by measuring the customer experience. By asking probing questions and analyzing data, you can get a better understanding of preferences and motivations. Whether the insight tells you about a product you don’t carry or a sub-par service experience, it can help you resolve the issue in real-time for continued loyalty.
Employees feel lost
Your employees are the backbone of your company, they interact with your customers and are in charge of day-to-day operations. If your employees are constantly feeling lost, unmotivated or confused about how to engage with your customers, it’s time to start measuring the experience.
By gathering insights from your customers, you can encourage employees to work in tandem with your business objectives. Crucial data like customer satisfaction, time to respond, and top-performing employees, can be used to motivate and drive satisfaction. For example, holding a bi-weekly meeting with staff where you present regular insights can inspire employees for their next shift, gamify the experience through friendly competition, and motivate more efficient operations.
Pro Tip: Not sure how to go about sharing the data you’ve collected? With Loop Insights, presenting your findings is simplified. Using new features and enhancements you can create and access custom downloadable dashboards that align with business objectives. Set subscriptions to have data emailed to you or download specific panels or pages in PDF, JPEG or PNG. This can be used for presentations at team meetings or sent to key stakeholders.
You’re finding negative complaints
Without prompting customers for feedback, negative complaints can find themselves online and verbalized to colleagues, friends and family. This is never something a business wants to face, as it impacts reputation and the ability to attract new customers. If you’re seeing an increase in negative complaints, it’s a sign to measure the customer experience.
Measuring the customer experience not only deters unsatisfactory incidence from happening in the future (which in turn reduces negative sentiments), but it can also interject before the customer is able to leave the premises. With the Loop Experience Platform, for instance, you can send surveys and get notified in real-time when a customer responds. Negative sentiments can be auto-routed to management to resolve in real-time. Doing this reduces the number of negative reviews and winning customer satisfaction.
You’re unsure of trends in the market and where your product/service stands
Trends in business are crucial to meeting customer expectations and keeping ahead of the competition in rapidly changing markets. While doing regular research online can be helpful, in most instances these trends are too general and can be weeks or months behind today’s trends. If you’re constantly finding yourself being reactive to trends, or hearing about new preferences months after competitors have adopted them, it’s time to start measuring the customer experience.
Asking for customer feedback and measuring the experience gives you actionable insight, in the moment, directly from the source. This insight is reliable and specific to your business, so any changes you make are more likely to yield satisfactory results. If you’re using a solution like Loop to assist you in your measurement objectives, you can even measure trends over time to get proactive in any future changes you’re looking to make.
Getting Started with Measuring The Customer Experience
Evidently, there are a number of issues that measuring the customer experience can resolve. From motivating employees to taking a more proactive stance to your program, if you’ve identified with the aforementioned signs, here we’re sharing how to get started in measuring the customer experience.
What are you looking to tackle?
Before you take on a measurement program, it’s important to understand what exactly you’re looking to accomplish. Is it more positive online reviews? Reduced churn? Or a more strategic approach to customer experience? Knowing your objective can help you collect the most relevant and valuable data for your business.
Identify your customer journey including; touchpoints and channels
Touchpoints and channels are uncovered when you know your objective and have mapped the customer journey. They are the cornerstones of a successful measurement program and can be the determining factor, of what kind of data you receive and how much.
As a brief overview; Touchpoints are individual points of measurement in your establishment like a restroom, entryway, food court, etc. They are the main points of customer interaction, that when measured can help you enhance the experience.
Channels on the other hand are the method by which you choose to communicate with your customers, such as text messages, WhatsApp, email or Facebook Messenger. The selection in channels is vital to connecting to your intended audience.
For more on touchpoints and channels, how to map your journey and identify channels and touchpoints, check out our comprehensive eBook; An Introduction to Touchpoints & Channels.
Considering customer experience technology
Adopting a customer experience solution is essential for effective measurement. Sending feedback surveys, communicating with customers in real-time, and collecting insights can be either impossible or greatly overwhelming if you don’t have the right tools in place.
The Loop Experience Platform, for instance, was designed for measuring the customer experience and delivering actionable data. Using Loop, you can streamline the process of sending feedback surveys, having conversations, and collecting/measuring insights. Everything is consolidated in one solution and available via an app so employees can take conversations on the go. What’s more, Loop comes with a highly knowledgeable team dedicated to assisting you in your measurement initiatives.
