Web chat the preferred customer service channel, not social media or apps

by Marketing ON 23 April 2013

Consumers prefer to communicate with brands via web chat more so than social media or smartphone apps, a new study by customer service firm Fifth Quadrant has found.

More than 400 consumers and a total of 53 businesses were surveyed for the study that found web chat is the most used medium for customer service queries after social media and smart phone apps. The study noted that web chat was perceived to have the highest suitability for general enquiries, technical issues, purchase or sales related questions, and complaints or service issues.

The technology to facilitate web chat has been around for over five years, but only one quater of Australian businesses today are currently using web chat. However they are catching on, with the use of web chat technology has multiplying over the past two years.

Head of research at Fifth Quadrant, Chris Kirby, says, “Web chat has a great value proposition for consumers. It is a convenient offer of help at an appropriate time. When carried out properly, it is non-intrusive and simplifies the consumer’s experience.”

Three in five survey respondents reported feeling confident that their web chat services were well resourced and that they would be capable of scaling up support services in demand for the customer. However respondents didn’t feel quite so confident with their social media channels as a way to provide customer support and service with just under half being confident to scale up social media support in that area.

The way the different channels are managed might explain the disparity between the systems. Four out of five organisations left the responibility of the web chats to the businesses call centre/customer service enquiry divisions. Whereas traditionally social media and smart phone services are usually managed by the marketing or IT departments.

Infographic of the week: the good, bad and ugly impact of customer service

by Marketing ON 19 April 2013

Thank God it’s Friday, which means the weekend is only roughly eight hours away, but even more exciting than that, it is time for our infographic of the week!

Cloud-based customer service software firm, Zendesk has released this infographic based on research completed by Dimensional Research about how customers are influenced by the type of customer service they receive.

Customers were surveyed on what constitutes good and bad customer service, with the study finding that bad experiences are more easily called upon than positive ones and good customer service will more often than not result in an increase in purchases.

Enjoy.

Forget social media, smartphone apps are the new customer service tool

by Marketing ON 8 January 2013

Customers are increasingly expecting smartphone application customer service options as they remember enquiries during down time, according to a new study.

Research from Nuance Communications found that more than half of Australians prefer to use an app for routine enquiries such as checking an account balance from their bank or confirming a flight schedule, adding the smartphone to social media as another ‘always-on’ customer-service channel that users expect.

Convenience and round-the-clock availability were the two biggest drawcards for using an app for customer service, Jason Stirling, senior vice president and general manager, Nuance Asia Pacific, revealed.

“Australians are no longer asking for innovation in customer care – they expect it,” Stirling says. “The face of customer care has changed and the companies that keep pace will not only improve customer loyalty, but they will also gain a clear competitive advantage over their industry peers.”

Additionally, the use of an app to complete an enquiry often leaves the customer with positive feelings about the brand. Almost 60% of respondents admitted they have positive perceptions of a company that offers a customer service app, while 69% would tell a friend about their positive app experience.

The research also uncovered a growing appetite for mobile applications. The majority of smartphone owners surveyed (70%) download up to 10 apps a month, with the most downloaded customer service apps coming from telecommunications companies, installed by 39% of Australian smartphone owners. Banking apps were used most frequently with nearly 70% of smartphone owners access their banking apps weekly or more often.

Other popular customer services apps include retailer apps, downloaded by 29%, and travel apps downloaded by 17%.

The ‘Nuance Mobile Attitudes’ study was conducted by Roy Morgan during April 2012 among a nationally representative sample of 800 smartphone owners aged 18 years and older.

Value trounces loyalty online as shoppers abandon Australian made

by Marketing ON 6 December 2012

Australian shoppers are more than willing to abandon local online operators for international sites in their search for value and speedy delivery, a new study by Ernst & Young confirmed.

The management consultants issued a warning to online retailers to get the basics right or continue to lose customers to overseas operators in a shopping climate where there is little loyalty to local businesses and consistent global pricing is increasingly expected.

While 57% say they support Australian sites, this is merely lip service, according to John Rolland customer leader, advisory, at Ernst & Young.

“While the idea of supporting Australian-based online stores is paid lip service, Australians are not automatically defaulting to shopping from domestic online sites.

“Online shoppers can be unforgiving. If you don’t have the basics right at the outset, people will abandon your site at the very first step — and you’ll have to work doubly hard to get them to come back.”

Competitive prices and fast, reliable delivery top the list of ‘must-haves’ for online shoppers, according to the survey of 625 Australians and additional insights drawn in from Quantum Market Research’s ‘AustraliaSCAN’ study.

If the site doesn’t deliver these basics, one in four shoppers will abandon the purchase immediately after their initial search for information.

There is also now a widespread understanding that the online world is a global marketplace, with 54% believing Australian retailers should offer the same prices as overseas.

“We now have a great deal more insight into how much things cost in global markets, so we’re less willing to put up with significant disparities in cost,” Rolland says.

“While the gap is beginning to close, we can’t continue to underestimate the importance of competitive prices and value to the Australian consumer. This is as relevant now given continued volatility and low consumer confidence as well as during good times.”

News Ltd’s technology editor, Jennifer Dudley-Nicholson, recently compared experiences buying a book online from local operators Dymocks and Angus & Robertson with global giant Amazon. The Australian sites were only able to deliver the not-obscure novel that Dudley-Nicholson was shopping for within a period of 5 to 21 days, while Amazon was able to deliver it in a few days for a cheaper price.

Rolland says the research confirms that while Australians felt the origin of where something was made or where the business was based was important, value for money always won out.

“Previously ‘Australian made’ would invoke an element of national pride, but it has a different transactional value now,” he said.

“When judging the reputation of a business, 47% of Australians considered value for money number one versus 24% who believe ‘Australian owned’ is most important.

However, Australian operators still have cards to play, with 66% of shoppers preferring to buy in store and the role and relevance of brand all-important.

“While clearly important, price is not the end game. Whether local or overseas, the successful sites will tick all the boxes when it came to the basics, but will also engage with consumers at an emotional and more personalised level,” Rolland concludes.

Coles’ next-gen customer feedback project

by Marketing ON 26 October 2012

Campaign: Tell Coles

Client: Wesfarmers

Agency: Twist of Lime

Background

Core to Wesfarmers’ turnaround strategy for Coles was to become a more customer-centric organisation. Integral to achieving this was developing new capabilities in shopper insights to continuously understand and learn from the everyday shopping experiences of customers in Coles stores. Store experience is a crucial part of the marketing mix and a potential point of difference. Furthermore, overseas retailer experience showed that improved store experience increases loyalty, time in store and average spend per shop.

Prior to this program being implemented, Coles had no systematic ability to capture customers’ store experiences continuously. Ad hoc research studies were expensive, slow and limited to a small selection of stores, not representative of the full fleet of stores.

Coles identified the opportunity to create efficiencies and new capabilities by developing a store experience survey that ‘streamed’ feedback from the stores through the organisation. By continuously listening to and learning from its customers, Coles believed it had the opportunity to drive improvements both at store level and at the store support office.

Objectives

The logistical limitations of traditional customer research were very apparent when we reviewed our list of requirements. We could not wait weeks to collect the data and report results. Generating hundreds of individual reports to stores and store operations teams was not going to be cost- or time-effective. Rather, our objective was to continuously collect data on customer store experiences across the fleet of 750 stores in real time, around the clock.

We also recognised that many of the recipients of the reports, such as store managers, would be unfamiliar with research. They would likely not see survey results as a priority compared to the range of other business operations metrics they have to deal with each day. Therefore, we needed to create a system that delivered feedback that could be easily understood and acted on by the stores. The feedback needed to be presented in a way that was engaging and with the highest levels of automation possible.

Most importantly, we needed to identify opportunities to improve the experience of Coles customers in the key areas of product and range, price and promotion and team member experiences. In other words, the feedback needed to be actionable and ‘real’ and prompt Coles store team members to think ‘Why did that happen?’ and ‘How can I improve that?’ Finally, the program would provide the insights team with the opportunity to ‘piggyback’ ad hoc surveys on to the store survey, significantly reducing spend on expensive stand-alone market research studies. We could also learn about shoppers’ habits, motivations and needs and Coles could use this information to develop marketing and operational capabilities.

TellColes flier

Strategy

Our strategy with ‘Tell Coles’ fell into two levels:

operational: gaining respondents’ feedback and getting it back to the store and operations managers for their continuous review and action, and
store support: analysing the feedback data to identify general insights and improvement opportunities.

While simple in concept, the challenges in setting up ‘Tell Coles’ were substantial and often unprecedented. To deliver our strategy, a whole suite of new web-based technologies had to be developed, which collectively delivered a custom and world leading capability. This included developing a mobile optimised survey platform, online automated dashboard reporting aligned to the operational management structure, automated email push reporting to deliver results to managers’ mobile devices each Monday in time for their operational review meetings, and dynamic word cloud technology for exploring open-ended customer feedback and identifying themes.

Execution

Our goal was to help Coles become nothing less than the most customer-focused retailer in Australia. From the outset, therefore, the Coles Shopper Insights team engaged with representatives from Coles Operations and listened to their needs and designed technology solutions to address them.

For six months, the Coles Shopper Insights team, Coles Operations Group and its partner Twist of Lime (a joint venture between web company WDU and research agency Evolve) worked together to devise a solution. The resulting ‘Tell Coles’ program was piloted in 240 stores from November 2009 to September 2010. The program was launched in all Coles and Bi-Lo stores nationally in October 2010. TellColes feedback2

Invitations were distributed to stores, and short training sessions were run with team members on how to approach and invite customers to participate in the program. The invitations included QR codes to launch the mobile version of the survey (around one in 10 surveys is on a mobile device). Customers were encouraged to participate by offering a $5 discount off their next $100 grocery shop and entry into a monthly $1000 prize draw.

An SQL (structured query language) database and ASP (active server page) front dashboard were designed to report results to stores and store support. Designed with users in mind, the dashboard displays results each week and identifies key improvement opportunities according to defined criteria. The results are collated to match the user profile: store managers see only their store feedback, while regional managers receive an aggregated view of all the stores in their region.

Customer comments can be mined using integrated dynamic word clouds to highlight the key themes from the customer feedback. An online analysis tool was also developed to allow the Coles Shopper Insights team to further drill down into the results, and allow analysis of ad hoc questions, which can be added to the program at short notice.

TellColes console words

Results

‘Tell Coles’ has now been running at full capacity since December 2010. Currently, an average of 25,000 surveys are completed each month, with more than half a million individual customer surveys received to date, making this one of the largest research programs in Australia outside of the government Census. Testament to the value of this information to Coles, the internal reporting dashboard has received more than a million page impressions. Estimated savings on equivalent research costs over the life of the project have been estimated at over $4 million.

The feedback has been used extensively by stores to improve the in-store offer to customers. Since the program commenced, overall satisfaction with shopping in Coles stores has significantly increased, with one of the greatest improvements seen in the fruit and vegetable department. By matching feedback with basket spend data, it has shown that higher satisfaction drives increased basket size, implying considerable financial benefits from the program.

Improvements in customers’ experiences of Coles are evident in many areas, big and small. An example is the Coles store in Dalby, which was receiving hundreds of customer comments regarding having no cover in the car park, despite being located in tropical north Queensland where it is either extremely hot or pouring with rain. Based on the consistency of customer comments, Coles was able to negotiate with the centre owner to have shade sails erected, resulting in very happy customers.

This level of information ensures Coles is always looking at the performance of stores through the eyes of the customer. By asking customers to say what they think of their store, Coles is giving itself the greatest opportunity to provide a superior shopping experience. Embraced by customers, store managers, line managers and the executive team at Coles, ‘Tell Coles’ is now an integral part of everyday business at one of Australia’s largest and most important retailers.

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Virgin brings the romance back with slick new campaign

by Marketing ON 5 October 2012

Virgin Australia has released its latest brand campaign, ‘The romance is back’, emphasising the quality of its aircraft and staff.

The TVC shows a Virgin aircraft being magically assembled as each part of the plane flies into place, highlighting a slick interior, larger screens on chair backs and well equipped tray tables.

The message, ‘It takes more than just amazing aircraft to make an amazing airline’, appears before the shot pans across to an army of Virgin hostesses clad in signature red dresses and purple scarves advancing towards the plane.

Created by Clemenger BBDO Sydney, the campaign also appears in print.

Two-faced shoppers: Showrooming ‘wrong’ but we’ll do it anyway

by Marketing ON 5 September 2012

While the majority of Australian shoppers say ‘showrooming’ – researching a product in-store before buying it online – is wrong, their words appear hollow as the practice continues to grow.

MagnaGlobal’s ‘The Changing Face of Retail’ study, conducted among 1000 Australians in June, found that 39% agreed that ‘it’s wrong to get a shop assistant to show you something in-store and then go and buy it online’, while 29% disagreed.

However, for the two in five who think it’s wrong, their sentiment appears to be lip service with most Australians having shopped online and four in five citing physical stores as their preferred place to browse.

MagnaGlobal’s study shows that almost all Australians with an internet connection have now shopped online, with 85% of the population having bought a product over the internet and one in four doing so on a weekly basis.

Managing director of MagnaGlobal, Victor Corones, says for most consumers the shopping process has changed and now relies on both online and offline environments. “The online environment provides depth of detail around brands and products and commands the greatest attention across considered purchases and from those unfamiliar with a category,” he says.

“With shoppers having different needs and expectations from both environments, retailers need to tailor their brand appeal to deliver against consumers’ expectations and provide a seamless shopping experience.”

The study also reveals that “the majority of Australians now feel real pressure to research everything online before making a purchase and many feel overwhelmed by the volume of information and deals available”. This is highlighted as an opportunity to help customers navigate and filter the information they require.

International sites are being used less often than Australian sites, with 7% of consumers shopping weekly on international sites, while 12% shop weekly on local sites. The primary driver of accessing offshore sites is to find a unique product, not find cheaper prices, with 28% of shoppers using them more often than they did 12 months ago.

Net Promoter Score: the most valuable tool for companies serious about their customers?

by Alex Andre ON 18 August 2012

With online retailers growing four times faster than traditional bricks and mortar outlets, competition is rife between brands in the digital space. And in businesses such as ours, the customer experience can quite often be a ‘virtual’ one, potentially making customer loyalty even more challenging.

There are so many different ways to measure customer loyalty and seek feedback, it’s almost too hard to know where to begin, and all too easy to get lost in the detail. But at the heart of any good retail operation, online or offline, there is one concept that remains the most accurate indicator of customer loyalty – the likelihood of your customers recommending you to others. It’s also a very strong indicator for your businesses future growth.

Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a tool fully embraced by some businesses, yet to others still remains a completely foreign term. We recently started measuring our NPS at Edible Blooms, and the value we are getting out of it is just incredible. If you’re not using this concept in your business, I urge you to seriously consider it.

I’ve outlined some tips below that might help you get started, or perhaps make a few refinements if you already have it in place:

1. It’s a simple concept – so keep it simple!

All you need to do is ask your customers to rate out of 10 how likely they would be to recommend you, and let them provide additional feedback if they’d like to. If they score 1-6 they’re deemed as a ‘detractor’ of your brand, 7-8 a ‘passive’, and 9-10 a ‘promoter’.

How many customer surveys do you get sent asking for feedback? Does your likelihood to respond increase the shorter they are? I know mine does. Don’t be greedy wanting to know every intimate detail of their experience, if it reduces the number of respondents your data becomes less accurate anyway.

So keep it simple – it makes it easier to implement, and might even be the difference between implementation or being in the ‘too hard basket’, and it also makes your data more accurate by hearing from more of your customers, because you do want to hear from them – all of them.

2. Timing is everything…

Make sure you ask the ‘big question’ at exactly the right moment, whenever that may be for your business. You want to get a measure of their complete experience with you.

One of the most critical aspects of our customer experience is when the gift is actually delivered to the recipient, so we ask our customer (the sender) the big question two days after the gift has been delivered, and this timing is proving spot on. It allows for a very accurate NPS, and also gives us the opportunity to remedy the situation if need be in a timely manner, not two weeks later when the customer is long gone.

Our timing hasn’t always been right. Before launching NPS we did ask our customers for feedback, but it was too early, before they could really assess how we went. Since launching NPS our number of respondents has increased by more than 10 times. We still have a way to go before we get 100% response rate, but we’ve managed to improve this dramatically by getting the timing right. And we also feel more confident of the accuracy of our score (currently 70), knowing we’re hearing from more customers.

3. Give your detractors a voice

These are the people you want to hear from the most – it gives you the opportunity to make things right. And to do this you need to find out what went wrong. Build an extra space in your NPS form for comments, and give them a phone call if need be – that personal connection not only helps you get to the bottom of what really went wrong, it also increases your chances of turning them round!

We had a detractor last week we called within 10 minutes of them hitting the ‘submit’ button on their NPS survey. She was completely blown away by our responsiveness. She actually re-submitted her NPS survey, and this time completed it as a promoter. Just giving them a voice – sometimes that’s all it takes.

4. Use it to initiate change

A measure is only as good as what you do with it. And with NPS this couldn’t be truer – if you do nothing with the valuable feedback and insight generated through this tool, then you’ve missed the point.

Make sure you have a process improvement system in place to initiate change and prevent other customers experiencing what a detractor has already warned you about. On a positive note some great customer insight comes from promoters, make sure you do something with this as well, leverage from it.

5. Resource accordingly

Make sure you have an owner of your NPS in the business, a person or a team who are responsible for reporting on your NPS, and more importantly reviewing and actioning the results that come through. Whether it be contacting customers in a timely manner or managing the process improvement process, these are both key aspects of NPS that need to be appropriately resourced for.

Our relationship manager owns this process for us. Customers requiring a call are contacted within 24 hours, and process improvement is actioned almost straight away. The value we’re getting out of our NPS is testament to the priority she gives it.

6. Good or bad – use it as a motivator!

One of the most powerful ways to deliver a message is with an example of a customer’s experience with you – whether you’ve made their day… or ruined it. (Hopefully not the later on too many occasions!)

Use examples generated through your NPS to motivate your staff. Whether they be used in staff training or to make the team feel good about the amazing customer experience they deserve a pat on the back for.

7. Your goal – convert that detractor into a promoter

It’s certainly possible – some of our best advocates are customers who had a poor experience initially.

How do you do this? Contact them in a timely manner, listen to them, then do all you can to make things right and encourage them to return so they can put you to the test on their next experience with you.

8. Embed NPS into your organisation

To get the most out of NPS, it needs to be embraced by everyone in your organisation to some extent, obviously some more than others, but everyone needs to be across it and supportive of it.

Make it your number one measure. It should be right up there with sales performance, or even above it… you won’t regret it.

ACMA: New code to crack down on telco ads, save billions in ‘bill shock’

by Marketing ON 12 July 2012

Buzzwords used by telcos such as ‘unlimited’ and ‘capped’ plans which are often misunderstood by consumers will be cracked down on in a new mandatory code introduced to protect consumers.

The Telecommunications Consumer Protection Code, set to come into effect in September, will force telcos to be literal with the words used in their advertising, along with complying to a range of other regulations aimed at protecting consumers from issues such as ‘bill shock’, confusing mobile plans and poor complaints handling.

The code is being introduced following the Reconnecting the Customer public inquiry conducted by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) which estimated annual costs of $1.5 billion associated with consumers choosing the wrong plan, $108 million for the costs of telephone complaints and $113 million for the costs of writing off bad debts.

ACMA Chairman, Chris Chapman says the new code should give rise to a much needed, much improved, customer experience. “The code is a unique and ground-breaking document by world standards, bringing together best practice protections at all of the touch points in the telco customer lifecycle,” he says.

Previously the industry was regulated under a voluntary code. The results of ACMA’s inquiry found that better advertising practices, more effective information for consumers, tools to avoid bill shock, streamlined complaints handling, a customer care reporting framework and changes to the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) scheme were required.

Telcos will have to tell customers when they’re about to breach their ‘caps’, which in the future will be defined as ‘hard caps’ to clarify that if a plan is capped at a certain price the customer will never pay more than that capped amount.

Similarly, the term unlimited will really have to mean unlimited, with shaping and additional charges not part of the fine print.

“The code comes against the background of the rollout of the NBN and is a good example of forward-looking and evidence-based engagement in a converged world,” Chapman adds.

The new code was developed by the Communications Alliance, which formed an independently chaired steering group comprising industry and consumer representatives, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, and the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy.

Big data must-dos: retailers achieve 140% boost in cross selling

by Marketing ON 11 July 2012

Retailers using customer data effectively are achieving cross and up sell rates over 140% higher than those that are not, according to a customer relationship management firm. And with personalisation becoming increasingly important to the retail sector, operators need to take advantage of ‘big data’ by empowering frontline employees to act on purchase history and tailoring offers to the consumer’s preferred channel in the omni-channel chain.

The assertions come from CRM solution provider Pitney Bowes Software, who claims many retailers do not make use of their data, or at best, randomly cross-sell at the point of sale with a low likelihood of the offer being relevant to the customer.

In a challenging economic climate with strong price competition, using data to provide a highly personalised customer experience is key to ensuring customer loyalty, says general manager of customer analytics and interaction at Pitney Bowes Software, Chris Lowther.

“With such fierce competition both domestically and internationally, the Australian retail industry must ensure it keeps up with the data revolution,” Lowther says. “If it doesn’t, companies risk missing valuable insights that would help them improve their customer experience.”

The organisation has released five tips for retailers looking to capitalise on big data. One of these is collecting information for the future. While some retailers might not be ready to act on a data strategy yet it is time for all to start preparing for a more personalised future.

The second is to empower employees. Data is not just for the marketing department, but can be used to help sales staff interact with customers on a daily basis and prevent them from making the same mistake more than once.

Thirdly, retailers should trace their customer’s purchase history, a data point many are already collecting. However, not only should they collect information about what is purchased, but they should also collect information about how it was purchased in order to improve customers experience and assist with cross selling.

Fourthly, the software provider argues that data should be used to win back opt-outs. In-store employees empowered with data to identify opt-outs can gather valuable information on why the customer opted out, and create new opportunities to reinitiate communication witht he shopper.

Finally retailers are advised to track where customers are shopping. If someone only ever shops online, then sending them a store voucher could be a waste of time and money and is likely to end up in the bin, the report argues.

Customer loyalty is all about personalisation, and personalisation is about having the right data and being able to make use of it, Lowther adds. “Knowing your customers well provides opportunities to tailor offers for them and avoid situations which might see the customer ignore offers completely. Retailers must get their data in order if they want to stay head of the game. It is not as daunting a task as it might seem, and the results are invariably very rewarding.”

Study: Poor retail service driving online shopping and ‘showrooming’ trend

by Marketing ON 14 June 2012

‘Showrooming’ behaviour, where consumers check out products in-store before returning home to buy online, may be more widespread than first thought with over two-thirds of Australians engaging in the practice as its uptake is driven by long queues at registers, bad service and a scarcity of sales staff.

New research reveals that shoppers are increasingly treating physical stores as a dress rehearsal, with 69% having sought information about a product from a salesperson in a shop before buying online and 9% doing so regularly.

The study, conducted by Crossman Communications among over 1200 respondents, also found that more than one in two shoppers have tried to turn the tables on bricks-and-mortar retailers, asking them to match prices found online.

Managing director of Crossman Communications, Jackie Crossman, says the behaviour is being driven by both the attractions of online retail and below par service standards as retailers cut back on staff. “Retailers might be facing thinner margins in this tough economic climate but they have to look seriously at their service model if they are going to keep their customers satisfied,” Crossman says.

“Cutting back on staff to stem falling profits is not a solution. Sales assistants need to be well trained and to be there when shoppers need them.”

Public perception of service standards was poor according to the study, which found two-thirds felt staff numbers had been pared back too far, 43% regularly experienced long queues at the register and 32% regularly had difficulty finding a sales assistant when needed.

Staff knowledge and conduct was also called under question with 43% finding staff gossiping on mobile phones when they were needed, 21% regularly finding sales assistants not knowledgeable enough to answer their questions and 15% regularly experiencing rude or bad attitudes from sales staff.

The results of sub-standard service are a driving factor for online shopping in the minds of Australians, who show little regard for supporting bricks-and-mortar retailers over the attraction of online shopping. Of those polled, 65% agreed that if service was better in physical stores they would shop in them more often and 66% were content to buy goods online, even if it took business away from bricks-and-mortar retailers.