Monday, March 19, 2018
Food service - 4 best practices to harness the voice of the customer
80% of consumers say they use the Internet for information before buying a product or service. 85% say that negative reviews are a deterrent*. These figures suggest that the restaurant industry is paying close attention to the voice of the customer. Especially given the power of TripAdvisor, La Fourchette, Yelp, Google and other social networks.
Today, more than ever in the foodservice sector, differentiation isn't based on price but on service, and the customer experience is decisive. To find out what satisfies and irritates customers, there's nothing like asking and listening to them. Here are the 4 best practices to adopt from our white paper: "How to use the voice of the customer to deliver an exceptional restaurant experience?"
Gathering feedback
- Combine data collection via social networks (TripAdvisor, La Fourchette, Google, etc.) and satisfaction surveys. Customer feedback is not necessarily the same depending on the method of collection.
- Manage data (indicators, verbatims, online reviews) on the same platform, for a single view of the voice of the customer.
- Find the ideal way to collect data (receipts, e-mail, SMS, tablet, QR code). Every retailer needs to test and discover what's best for its customers. This has to be done in the context of consumption, but also within the allocated budget.
- Motivate customers to express themselves by finding simple, playful ways of doing so.
Managing data
- Measure satisfaction by item (cleanliness, value for money, welcome and service, products, etc.) to get a detailed view of satisfaction criteria and irritants.
- Use NPS to compare different brands and countries.
- Don't neglect verbatims, which provide real information and give more concrete insight into areas of dissatisfaction in particular.
- Share data at all levels of the company (and its suppliers) to make the voice of the customer a management and continuous improvement tool...
Managing dissatisfaction as well as satisfaction
- Thank satisfied customers for making the effort to respond, without having any grievances to express. This will encourage them to respond again in the future.
- Recontact dissatisfied customers to find out more and address the causes.
- Invite all staff (head office, restaurant manager, site teams) to call back customers to get them as involved as possible.
- Record the minutes of telephone exchanges on the feedback platform, to preserve customer feedback elements.
Transforming the company through the voice of the customer
- Involve the entire company in the customer experience, as this is a major strategic focus.
- Encourage teams to take the initiative, in particular by trying to take corrective action in response to an identified irritant.
- Provide customer feedback to head office, in order to improve processes, products and services.
- Compare satisfaction before and after to measure the impact of corrective actions taken.
*IFOP / Reputation VIP survey (2015)
Find out what the experts have to say, read our customer testimonials, and read about some of our international solutions in our white paper, which can be downloaded here.
