7 Steps to better customer experience measurement programs
Like it or not, your customers are talking about your business. It’s how they share their customer experience. Do you like what they’re saying?
Do you even know what they’re saying?
A positive customer experience provides the best insight as to what you’re doing right in your business, and where you can improve. A well-crafted customer experience measurement program can go a long way in helping you discover how to view your business from the eyes of your customer.
Set goals to measure the subsequent success of the program.
It’s easy to think you need a customer experience measurement program simply because other businesses have one. But it’s important to understand why it’s important to your business. You need to establish what you hope to get out of your program, as well as create a plan on what to do with the information you collect.
Determine which experiences you want to learn about.
Customers may experience your company in a variety of ways, from in-store to your e-commerce site to social media or email campaigns. Each of these points of contact provides unique experiences within themselves, such as website speed or customer support. Decide which specific experiences matter most to your core business.
Define what you want to know about each experience.
Establish specific metrics that represent each type of experience you are measuring. A good place to start is your stockpile of social media or Google reviews to see what negative comments customers have made to see if others experience the same issues.
You can also include other specific insights that can potentially improve your customer experience. Refer back to your initial goals to ensure this information is worth pursuing.
Decide how to collect data regarding these experiences.
The digital age has given way to a multitude of easy-to-use data collection tools. From surveys to text messages to emails to website pop-ups, it’s no longer just a matter of how to collect data, but where to attempt collection.
For example, you could add a survey immediately after checkout or email the survey two days after they receive the purchase. If you aren’t sure which would work best, you could try A/B testing different methods to see which ones get the best response.
However you choose to collect data, apply these three points to maximize completion rate:
- Streamline the collection process as much as possible
- Capitalize on recent experiences while details are still fresh in their minds
- Automate the collection, analyzing, and compiling process as much as possible
Create standards for each type of data collected.
If you are using a rating scale for parts of your experience measurement, you need to determine what indicates an acceptable score. A 7 out of 10 might be on par for one metric but not another.
Act appropriately and timely on the data collected.
Once you start collecting data, how long should you wait until you take action on it? The answer may vary in each situation, but waiting too long to act on suggestions could be too little too late.
It might not make sense to act on some things immediately, but minor errors like typos or a broken link could (and should) be addressed immediately.
Include a customer follow up.
Customers want to know you’re listening to them, especially if they take the time to tell you their thoughts. Let them know specifically how their feedback has initiated improvements in your company.
Wrap Up
There’s a lot you can learn from your customer’s experience, but only if you have a program in place to capture their feedback and understand how to use it to strengthen your brand.
With the right tools and goals in place, you can begin to leverage powerful customer feedback to place yourself inside their experience.
