How You Listen Matters - InMomentinfo.inmoment.com/rs/463-JAW-587/images/HowYouListenMatters.pdf · you want to say. You don’t monopolize the conversation. You would find out everything
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Missing the MarkNot too long ago, our CEO had a personal
experience that perfectly illustrates the
challenge brands face in balancing the
desire for data with the need to focus
on the customer. He purchased a new
vehicle and a few weeks later, received
a 500-question survey in the mail. (No
exaggeration. It really was 500 questions.)
The survey asked everything from how
many doors the car had to how friendly
the salesperson was. Being in the business
of customer feedback, he felt it was his
professional duty to answer each and
every question.
This survey missed the mark for a variety
of reasons. Five hundred answers is a
lot to ask. Plus, considering the Vehicle
Identification Number (VIN) was printed on
the front of the survey form, the answers
to many of the questions were things the
manufacturer already knew.
Upon completing the survey, he realized
that although he’d responded to
every category and subcategory, the
manufacturer didn’t understand the most
essential “why” behind his purchase—and
really, with most purchases. While we all
justify an investment of this magnitude
with our heads (e.g. plenty of room for
the family, performs well in the weather,
reasonable gas mileage, etc.), most
purchase decisions are made based on
emotion. This interrogation never even got
close to that side of the equation.
To be fair, that may not have been the
brand’s purpose. This approach is fine for
market research conducted in small doses
with willing (usually paid) audiences. But
as a go-to tool to better understand the
essential “whys” behind your customers’
experiences on an ongoing basis, it’s a
terrible tool. While cargo space and a great
sound system might have been factors in
our CEO’s decision, the most important
factor in why he bought the car was
because of the way it makes him feel when
he drives it. In this and many surveys, there
was no room for the customer to share this
essential part of the story.
While this a very personal example, it does
illustrate the larger shift that’s underway.
Customer experience isn’t about setting
up listening posts to hear what you want
to hear; it’s about creating an environment
where your customers can share what’s
most important to them—in the ways and
places they prefer.
To help illustrate the importance of this
concept, let’s take a look at a quick analogy
we all understand: personal relationships.
We’ve all experienced the often-awkward
dance of beginning a new relationship.
At times it’s incredibly easy. You start
talking to someone, and you feel an instant
connection. Other times, maintaining a
conversation is like pulling teeth.
Imagine, however, that you are interested
and want to take the next step. The
cardinal rule for creating a more substantial
relationship is being more interested in
what the other person has to say than what
you want to say. You don’t monopolize
the conversation. You would find out
everything you could about the person
you’re interested in and think of ways to ask
insightful, interesting questions.
Listening Up [lis-uh-n ing uhp] verb phrase Intentional, active, and strategic way to listen with true purpose in mind—not just hearing what a person is saying but understanding the meaning.
A People-Centric Approach: Listening Up
L E S S I N T E R R O G A T I O N , M O R E L I S T E N I N G
Collecting customer feedback in a way that protects the integrity of the
data while honoring the feedback process as a critical part of the brand-
consumer relationship is a fine line to walk. Err too far on the side of data,
and you can alienate the customer. Err too far on the side of the customer,
and you may get data that’s not very helpful. This tension clearly illustrates
the importance of being thoughtful in how, where, and when you listen. It
can make a huge difference in the richness and quality of your data. Better
Building an effective listening program is crucial when attempting to improve the customer experience. However, it is just one part of a much larger undertaking that involves technology, best practices, and organizational change. For more information about what it takes to achieve the full range of benefits from your customer experience initiative, refer to CX: The Art of the Possible.
Understand How the Business Workssee, hear, and feel the experience the way
they do. And while you do that, make sure
you take the following steps:
• Retrace the customer’s steps through
the entire journey, including in-person,
online, on the phone, pre-purchase,
during purchase, and after the fact
• Use the product/service you’re selling
• Take a call in the contact center
• Talk to frontline employees and ask
for their feedback on the customer
experience (this is called Voice of
Employee). What would they change?
What do customers really love? Do they
have a new idea?
• Give feedback yourself
Walk in your customers’ shoes
Congratulations! You now know what
you’re trying to achieve as a brand with
your listening program. You understand
how executives define “success,” how
your business works, the pathways your
customers travel, and how it feels to make
the journey. You’re now ready to begin the
actual design of your listening program.
There’s a lot of talk about shortening
surveys as a way to boost response rates,
but simply abbreviating the number of
questions won’t help you get the most
insightful feedback. The same way you
wouldn’t go into an open conversation
with a long list of rigid questions, you
should also avoid that in your listening
program. True conversations ebb and flow,
The key to a successful program is
to always advocate for the customer.
Challenge the status quo. Don’t accept
that the way things are are the way they
must always be. Question everything. Don’t
just ask, “What is happening?” Identify
those legs of the journey that really have
an impact, imagine what should happen
at those points. Sometimes it’s a matter
of eliminating barriers; other times it’s
achieving over-the-top delight.
This process will help you determine
what about the experience is designed
versus what is improvised. It will help
you determine what is a competitive
differentiator versus what is table stakes.
Setting these baseline factors will give you
a strong foundation upon which you can
build an effective listening program.
Ask the Right Questionsnaturally moving from one topic to the
next. Building in flexibility to your surveys
is vital to hearing what matters most to
customers. The ideal scenario is knowing
your customer and where they are on
their journey, thoughtfully designing both
questions and listening posts, and having
the right technology tools to execute. Even
if you’re missing parts of the ideal equation,
you can make huge strides toward better
listening by simply being more purposeful.
Be careful not to abuse the trust your customers have extended to you via their personal information. On one hand, it is wise to use the data to to ask more insightful questions. On the other hand, customers can feel like you know them a little too well. Be judicious when using data to formulate where and what you ask.
Ensure that the value exchange is fair. Ensure that your customers believe that they are receiving more than they are giving up in sharing with you. Ask tough questions of yourself and your peers, putting yourselves in your customers’ place. Use common sense and err on the side of caution.
Once you know the topics you need to address, the next step is designing a
process that carefully guides the customer through a brief, friendly feedback
experience based on their individual interaction.
1. Order: Following a structured order ensures you get the most critical
information while leaving secondary, less important data as an option.
introductionoverall
experience
Survey code or detailsDate time stamp
Core Section
Opt-In Section
Overall satisfactionLikely to recommend
GoRecommendTM Customer WOWCustomer Rescue
Sweepstakes informationO�er redemption code
New productBrand attributesDemographics
Active ListeningTM
OpenTellTM
Examples:team • product • atmosphere
socialadvocacy
recognition & rescue
customercomment
key drivers
surveycompletion
point
customeropt-in
questions
surveyconclusion
2. Components: A good feedback experience generally consists of two
sections: a core and an opt-in. The core section is where you place questions
that apply to the most critical customer experience elements—the ones
tied to business drivers that need to be measured consistently across the
organization. The opt-in section is designed to be complementary to the
core. Here you would explore feedback that is supportive to your CX goals
and/or that will be analyzed in aggregate, thereby requiring a less frequent
or smaller sample. A modular design prioritizes your content and gives some
control to the respondent, which increases engagement.
Using branching logic is a good way to acquire insight on a number of questions
without overburdening any single customer. Branching logic serves up questions
based on the answer to the previous question. A good example of this is in the
grocery environment mentioned above. Branching logic can be deployed to
trigger off a particular rating. This can be done with both structured data (scores
and ratings) and unstructured data (open-ended comments). For example, if a
customer rated their experience a 1 out of 10, the next question might be: “We’re
sorry your experience did not live up to your expectations. Would you like a
manager to contact you to help resolve your concern?”
A completely different use case might be inside an open-ended comment
box with unstructured data. Let’s say a customer mentions your new product,
ChocoMagic Cereal, favorably. Your marketing department has recently
invested a lot of resources into launching the new cereal, and they want to
know how customers are hearing about it.
Branching logic combined with text analytics can associate the name of the
cereal mentioned with positive sentiment, and trigger a follow-up question
asking where the customer heard about it (e.g. TV, online, radio, grocery
store ads, etc). Your R&D team is also involved and wants to know about
the taste, so a question can be triggered to delve into that area as well. This
methodology allows you to dig into any topic and is based on how customers
are responding, keeping the experience relevant and focused. The other
added benefit to this approach is that you can track each particular branch
individually as well as explore other potential areas of change. This creates a
living survey that changes with time as customer experiences shift.
3. Content: The content of a survey is based on answer scale type (e.g., NPS or
five-point agreement scale), scale direction, specific wording, and phrasing.
Take the time to define the question set that is proven to be predictive of
the outcomes you want. You need to know what those are so that you can
defend the integrity of your survey as a strategic business tool.
Asking the right questions is the first
step. Asking the right way comes next.
Traditional surveys, like the one from the
car dealership, were long and laborious.
Customers today want customized
interactions, not long, templated
interrogations. Keep in mind that feedback
is another experience along the customer
journey. If you were to ask your customers
to give you feedback on the feedback
experience, what would they say? As with
all journeys with your brand, this process
can—and should—enrich, not detract from
the overall relationship between you and
your customers.
Starting in 2014, InMoment began
conducting an annual study on CX
Trends for the coming year. We ask both
customers and the brands that serve
them what’s most important when it
comes to customer experience. Customers
consistently rank “shorter surveys” and “less
asking, more listening” as priorities when
asked to share their experience.
Shorter surveys can help with response
rates. However, simply abbreviating the
number of questions isn’t the answer.
One approach is logically categorizing
your questions into smaller groups and
providing boundaries for the number of
questions you ask. Business guidelines such
as never having a survey with more than
five questions are a good rules. You can
still get insights on 100 questions if you
feel they are important. You may be able to
accomplish this same feat using only
20 five-question surveys instead,
minimizing the negative impact on
the customer experience.
Ask the Right WayIn addition to the length of the survey, be
aware of how many times you ask each
customer for their feedback. Even when
questions are personalized and short, too
many can still lead to frustration. Survey
fatigue comes in many different forms. You
are not the only brand looking to gather
their feedback. The ideal rate is up for
debate, but at the very least, measure your
response rates, keep an eye on waning
participation, and ensure your systems
can execute your desired volume. A good
rule of thumb is to send as few surveys as
possible to achieve statistical significance.
Back to the CX Trends study, not only
do customers want fewer questions,
they’ve asked brands to ask less and listen
more. Quantitative data derived from
structured survey questions are critical in
benchmarking, tracking key drivers, and
ensuring departments are executing on
Key Performance Indicators. Structured
questions will always have a place in
customer feedback.
Special Care: The golden rule of feedback is don’t make a bad experience worse. Often when customers indicate they’ve had a poor experience, automatic triggers fire off a barrage of additional questions all in the name of getting to the bottom of the problem. When a customer has a bad experience, brands need to take special care to create an empathetic environment where customers feel heard and taken care of.