Month: February 2020

Whether it’s an online store, brick and mortar retailer, or the hole-in-the-wall place you get your favorite burger with chipotle avocado magic on it, we’ve been on the customer experience side of a brand.

Have you ever sat down and really thought about why you choose certain companies over others?

Maybe it’s a great product.

Perhaps it’s how unique they are.

Or maybe they’re the only place that cooks a burger right.

How many coffee shops did you pass on your commute? How do any stand out?

The most successful brands know that there’s a lot that goes into making a company thrive. Yet, there’s one thing, no matter what you are selling, that all of the best franchises have in common:

Fantastic customer service.

Duh, right? You know that your company needs to make the customer experience a top priority. Is the service you’re providing your customer at its best, though?

Don’t just take our word for it. When a franchise is successful, the roots of that success can be traced back to amazing customer experiences.

Successful Franchises that Offer a Great Customer Experience

IKEA

When we say customer experience, there’s a lofty abstract way of thinking of it, or you can be like IKEA and take it literally.

Going into an IKEA is a real experience.

Every turn through their store allows customers to imagine themselves in a home rather than a retailer. There’s even the IKEA Place app that takes this idea to the next level by utilizing augmented reality to give customers a clearer image of the product in their home.

What if a customer gets hungry in the labyrinth of furniture? IKEA has that covered too with in-store restaurants. The customer experience for IKEA means giving excellent service and keeping their customers within their building, which helps drive conversion.

Apple

You can’t talk about successful franchises without bringing up Apple.

The tech giant has stayed on top because the first thing they always think of is the customer experience. Even the design of their open-concept stores allows customers to feel a sense of freedom.

Apple goes above and beyond just products. There are free classes in stores around the globe that aim to teach kids about coding.

All of this is fueled by employees selected from the best of the best in the industry. Apple is a company that knows customers will interact first and foremost with their payroll in stores. Those employees go through extensive training to ensure that the customer gets the absolute best experience possible.

Trader Joe’s

Compared to the previous two entries, Trader Joe’s seems like small potatoes (which they have organic options of in-store).

In the competitive grocery store industry, Trader Joe’s has grown to over 500 stores nationwide.

How do they make themselves stand out against such large competition? In addition to great prices and unique product offerings, Trader Joe’s knows about customer service.

A story from ten years ago shows just how far out of the way Trader Joes will go to service their customer.

A Reddit story about a woman’s grandfather, trapped home alone because of a snow storm, blew up the internet. In it, she tells of how Trader Joe’s delivered food (not typical for the grocery chain) to the Navy vet, and then didn’t even charge.

Those are the kinds of stories that stick with customers and why it’s hard to go very far without someone gushing about what they love at Trader Joes.

Key Aspects of the Customer Experience

These brands show that the most successful franchises focus on key factors with their customer service:

• Give customers more than they expect
  
• Ensure your team has the best customer service training
  
• Allow customers to see what you sell in action
  
• Technology is the key to interacting with customers
  
  

These factors take a lot of work to get right. How are you supposed to keep track of your growing customer base at all times?

That’s where Mentor’s customer feedback platform can make your company stand out.

Mentor goes beyond the typical customer survey and lets you have a direct and personal connection with your customers via email, SMS, and phone.

Customers themselves have options on giving your brand feedback, from open-ended text boxes to photo and video.

The most successful franchises got that way through constant growth and always keeping the customer experience at it’s best.

Mentor gives you the tools to take your customer experience to the next level too.

Explore more here.

Customer surveys have long been the gold standard for collecting feedback. However, innovation and technology have paved the way for new ways of interacting with customers and getting actionable feedback. Brands today are constantly searching for newer and better ways to improve customer experiences. A new study from Adobe and Econsultancy found that the single most exciting opportunity for B2B companies in 2020 is customer experience. So what does that mean for customer surveys? Let’s explore the types of customer surveys in the market today and if they’re effective.

The 3 Most Common Types of Customer Surveys

Net Promoter Score® (NPS)

The Net Promoter Score®, or NPS®, is one of the most popular customer surveys today and informs many of the customer experience solutions growing in the market. It measures customer loyalty by asking questions on a sliding scale, usually from 0 to 10. Here’s an example:

Based on your experience, how likely are you to recommend us to a friend or loved one? 

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Those responses are categorized into 3 main groups – promoters, passives, and detractors – to determine how happy your customers are with you and how likely they are to recommend you to others. Emails and text messages are good avenues to send NPS surveys as well as within pop-ups or chatboxes on a website.

Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) Survey

A customer satisfaction survey, or CSAT, is similar to NPS® in the sense that it measures customer satisfaction with your brand. However, they zero-in more on overall satisfaction with your brand rather than if they would recommend you to a peer – and often fall on a 5-point scale. 

How satisfied are you with your experience today?

1. Very unsatisfied
2. Unsatisfied
3. Neutral
4. Satisfied
5. Very Satisfied

CSAT survey scores are measured differently than NPS®. Take the sum of respondents who were “Very Satisfied” and “Satisfied” and divide that number by the total number of survey respondents. Multiply that number by 100 and you’ve got your CSAT score as a percentage for easy measuring.  

Post Purchase Surveys

When a customer purchases something from your business in-store or online, it’s vital to collect feedback on their buying experience so you can make improvements to the checkout process and overall experience. Post-purchase surveys include questions on a sliding scale that typically ask customers to agree or disagree to a degree with a set of statements from the first-person point of view. Open-ended questions offer a chance to get more in-depth feedback from customers.

Overall, I am satisfied with the quality of my product. 

• Strongly Disagree
• Disagree
• Neither Agree nor Disagree
• Agree
• Strongly Agree

Please explain your response.

Going Beyond the Customer Survey

All three of these customer surveys – the NPS, the CSAT, and the post-purchase survey – are great options for measuring your success as a company in the eyes of a customer. Aspects from each of these customer surveys are must-haves in whatever customer feedback platform you incorporate into your CX strategy.

However, what most of these customer surveys lack is a way to respond to customer feedback and solve problems swiftly. While all of the metrics that come with these surveys are vital for measuring the success of your CX efforts – that’s only half the job. Incredible customer service comes with not only knowing what the problems are but being able to fix them. 

A customer experience software solution like Mentor offers the opportunity to interact with your customers one-on-one through direct communication. Follow up with a customer issue through a phone call, text message, or email – and be able to solve their issues before they even leave your storefront. After all, studies show that 86% of buyers will pay more for better customer experience. That’s extra revenue your business could be bringing in by investing in the people who buy from you.

Mentor allows you to tailor your customer surveys so you can get a full picture of the situations your customers are going through. Users can not only fill out sliding scale surveys, but also upload photos and videos regarding their issue alongside an open text form for in-depth descriptions. The key to a great customer experience solution is being able to solve problems quickly and easily with the added benefit of having context regarding the issues your customers are having. Mentor gives your customers a voice and your CX team a way to listen – and solve problems on the fly. 

If you’re looking for a way to supercharge your customer experience capabilities and go beyond the typical customer survey, reach out to us today and see how Mentor can transform your business.