4 WAYS TO MONITOR THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE AMID COVID-19

As new cases of COVID-19 continue to emerge daily, most organizations are shifting to remote working, leading to major communication gaps between individuals, teams – and most importantly – customers.

A growing number of organizations are temporarily shuttering locations in light of COVID-19. While many businesses are adapting their services to cope, (for example Restaurants delivering food and focusing on curb-side pick-ups) business owners and employees must communicate with customers effectively during the outbreak to improve their chances of recovering from this crisis.

RESPONDING TO A GLOBAL PANDEMIC

While the first priority is health and safety, CX leaders must give consideration to how this growing pandemic affects the customer ‘s perception of the brand and how to deliver exceptional service in these unprecedented times.

Amidst the chaos and uncertainty, there are strategic ways to eliminate the feeling of helplessness when it comes to monitoring and communicating with remote employees and customers… Customer Experience Research solutions are a great way to make sure the added support you’re providing is being executed correctly and delivered seamlessly to your customers. Here’s how:

1. CUSTOMER SURVEYS

Want to find out how your customers are rating your new adapted services? Ask them! Surveying remains one of the top methods of data collection, even in a global pandemic. With BARE International, Customer Surveys can be executed via:

• Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) Surveys:  These quick and easy surveys are cost-effective and user-friendly. Surveys can be conducted via mobile or computer, with QR codes or kiosk links.
• Digital Crowdsourcing Live Insights: The customer community is invited to perform “tasks”: gathering data that is important to your brand. Customers are offered a reward to complete these “tasks,” giving them incentives to complete more “tasks” to get more information you need.
• Employee Engagement Surveys: Put your employees at the heart of their training with mobile learning on demand. Reduce the time needed away from their roles with short, engaging training to suit them from home.

2. ONLINE REPUTATION MANAGEMENT

Attitudes and perceptions will change very rapidly while navigating the impact of COVID-19, so it will be essential to establish real-time monitoring and reporting of your online reputation. The recommending service allows for quick and easy responses to customers’ social posts such as reviews from a variety of websites:

• Tracking reviews: Monitor insights from review websites like Yelp and Google. Real reviews are tracked and can be selected to view, respond to, or share.
• Review responses: Responses to both positive and negative reviews are crafted and suggested to strengthen customer relationships and resolve issues for unhappy customers.
• Sharing reviews and content: Share reviews, fan photos, and social posts to Google and Facebook based on recommendations that are given.
• Customizable recommendations: Recommendations can be approved, personally edited, or ignored. While approved and edited recommendations are instantly posted, ignored posts will be deleted.

3. WEBSITE INQUIRY & ANALYSIS

In difficult times, it’s more important than ever to maintain or boost the customer experience. When your customers can’t interact with you in-person, their go-to source is your website support. This is why it’s critical to ensure your online services are improving the customer journey, not hindering it.

Certified mystery customers can evaluate your business practices virtually. Have our evaluators give you information on every aspect of the customer interaction with your business and, if you wish, perform a detailed analysis between your business’ performance and that of your competition:

• Navigation: Find out if your web site is effective and easily navigable.
• Technical Operations: Discover if all links are working and all forms are valid.
• Online Ordering Proficiency: Make certain the ordering process is easily understandable.
• Employee-Customer Relations: Ensure that inquiries are followed up on according to your standards and expectations with a courteous response within a prompt time frame.

4. MYSTERY PHONE CALLS

Rather than deteriorate in front of your customers, show how you’re there for them through thick and thin. That includes 24/7 phone support.

To carefully monitor phone support offered by your organization, the evaluator will record their experience at various touchpoints throughout the discussion and report their experience using our state-of-the art technology. Sample scenarios for call include: Reservation Request, Location Inquiry, Product Inquiry, Complaint Resolution, and Route Recommendation.

• Timeliness: Measure attentiveness details such as: number of rings, hold time, overall turnaround time.
• Behavioral Aspects: Evaluate employee friendliness, enthusiasm, cordiality, professionalism & communication skills.
• Technical Aspect: Evaluate employee offering knowledge, brand awareness, pricing knowledge, probing & relevance of the information provided, and/or system performance.
• Speech Compliance: Evaluate compliance to standard verbiage, tone & manner, choice of words, etc.

FINAL THOUGHTS

There’s uncertainty as to when the COVID-19 virus pandemic will subside — and if it will come back again next year. Under normal conditions, CX leaders need to fight to secure and keep resources, but in the coming months, their ability to use customer insight to inform urgent decisions and support shifts in priorities will be more important than maintaining a steady course.

Through the above research solutions, business leaders are in a better position than others to understand how customer needs and expectations are swiftly changing. For further assistance in supporting you and your customers during COVID-19, contact the customer experience research experts at BARE International here today.

This post is also available in: Spanish