Originally posted on business.com.
5 great tools that can really help you when you are measuring your brand's satisfaction. How much of a digital footprint do you have?
To create the kind of customer experience that gets talked about, it takes more than just educated guessing.
Great customer service comes from actionable plans derived from data-driven research, tracking, analyzing, and repeating (infinitely).
And then, after learning the ins and outs of your own customer base, begins the descent into the data of your industry competitors.
If it sounds like a daunting process, you’re right. Measuring data takes time to begin and is essentially never ending.Luckily, there are tools and proven practices for best deducing the dos and don'ts of customer guidance in your industry.
Here are the who, what, and where's of measuring your brand’s customer satisfaction.
1. Trust Your People
Knowing when and how to reach out to your customers is the key to strategic and meaningful customer service. Robust emailing platforms such as MailChimp allow for marketers to create customer-specific surveys which reach wide and focused audiences.
By keeping your survey between 2-3 minutes and utilizing the sub-surveys, you can be sure that your questions are relevant to each specific customer so that you can collect the most relevant data.
If you are asking your customers to take a survey, incentivise them with rewards programs and discount codes. This is a great way of reminding them of your brand and potentially driving another sale.
2. Utilize Your Touchpoints
With all of the social media platforms, there is no excuse for not meeting your customers at one of their many touchpoints. Customer’s have the power to help and hurt your business via social media, so it’s important for you to meet them where they live.
Platforms such as Twitter allow for your customers to ask questions, share articles, and directly access any new information or company changes you wish to share. In addressing their queries with haste and care across all channels, your community will feel taken care of at their most used touchpoints. Tools such as Conversocial are great for measuring data, asking for customer service feedback and attacking customer problems or queries as they arise.
📷Source: nanorep
By utilizing tools such as nanorep's customer-centric platform, brands can easily record and organize changes in business so that marketers and data analysts can focus their initiatives on mapping the ‘Voice of the Customer’ in a visual and actionable format.
3. Loyalty Tracking
Loyalty is one of the best metrics for deducing the impact you’ve had on your customers. A satisfied customer will happily use your product and may even be a returning buyer. However, a loyal customer will not only return time and time again, but will share their enthusiasm for your brand with their friends, colleagues, and across their social medias.
Another way of accurately measuring your customer service, and ultimately your growth, is by calculating your Net Promoter Score (NPS). Many online softwares will allow you to plug in your respondents and the type of person in your customer base and the system will generate your NPS score. These tools will answer the question, on a scale of 0-10,"How likely are your past customers to recommend your company?"
📷Source: Net Promoter Score
4. Focus Groups
Focus groups are formed from pre-screened questionnaires created to ensure that the group is comprised of a good variety of people, representative of your target audience. A focus group is a moderated discussion group of 6 to 10 participants. These sessions usually last about an hour and are proctored with the interviewer asking questions and researchers looking on through a one-way mirror.
Focus groups are a brilliant method for gathering customer feedback on your brand's ideas, concepts, and operations. Another huge positive of holding focus group sessions is that they can be replicated around various locations to ensure a range of demographics for a wide variety of buyers.
5. Know Your Competitors
The most accurate metric of your customer satisfaction success can be found by looking at your competitors’ customer service methods. The other brands in your industry should have a huge influence on how you handle customer care.
The best and easiest way to learn about your competitors is through organized and actionable data. This information can be gathered using intuitive tracking tools such as SEMrush that show you the topics that are trending in your industry. In addition to using methods such as SEMrush, sign up for your competitor’s newsletters, read their blog, and spend time on their more niche social media accounts such as Pinterest and Instagram.
📷Source: SEMrush
Final Thoughts
When it comes to providing outstanding customer care, your clientele act as your best resource. When measuring your customer service initiatives, don’t be afraid to ask them how your company benefited and disappointed them. Knowledge is power and when it comes to customer service, no idea rings more true.
Collect all of the data and info you can through methods such as surveys, focus groups and by tracking you and your competitor’s social media channels. Your customers will thank you for your hard work with a long-term loyalty and ongoing referrals.