How to Use Guest Feedback to Drive Business Improvements

To improve ecommerce product performance: don’t ignore customer reviews. Most brands do next-to-nothing with this valuable feedback. Yet, they are a goldmine because: 1. Customer reviews are generally more honest than surveys. 2. Which means the information in these reviews can effectively inform improvements for headlines, testimonials, content, or even sales pitches. At Enavi we utilize this information through our Human-Obsessed approach, based on the following set of questions: Identifying Pain Points 1 - What issues were customers trying to solve with the product? 2 - Is there a common thread that led users to shop for the products? Recognizing Recurring Features: 3 - Which aspects of the product are repeatedly mentioned, positively or negatively? 4 - How does that compare to what we “thought” was important for users? Noticing Benefits: 5 - Are there any benefits in the customer reviews that we didn’t consider previously? Identifying Outcomes: 6 - Which specific outcomes have customers highlighted? Acknowledging Concerns: 7 - Were there any hesitations before the purchase? Use Cases: 8 - What frequent uses or applications of the product are mentioned? 9 - Do the use cases align with what is mentioned in the product description and key messages? 10 - Could these reviews be harnessed for testimonials? By following this 10-step process, we've effectively enhanced product-specific conversion rates and overall performance. Why does it work so well? Because review mining with a Human-Obsessed focus isn’t just about making adjustments. It’s about building better products and growing your business. Where data ends, human insight begins.

Had an insightful conversation over the weekend with a colleague about a common pitfall in CX programs: relying solely on surveys and ignoring other valuable insights. Here are some key takeaways: Ease of Implementation Surveys are easy to deploy and manage, providing quantifiable data that’s simple to analyze. This makes them an attractive option for many organizations, especially those with limited resources. Tradition and Comfort Many companies stick to surveys because it’s what they’ve always done. Changing this entrenched practice can be challenging, especially if the leadership team prefers traditional methods. Resource Constraints Surveys can be cost-effective, making them appealing for smaller organizations that may not have the budget for more sophisticated tools. Organizational Silos Feedback often gets trapped within departmental silos, preventing insights from being shared and acted upon. Lack of Ownership Without clear ownership of the feedback loop, survey results can end up being ignored. It’s crucial to have designated teams responsible for analyzing feedback and driving action. Inadequate Analytics Capabilities Many companies lack the analytical capabilities - people and tech - to turn survey data into meaningful insights. Cultural Resistance Taking action on feedback requires change, which can be met with resistance. Companies need a culture of continuous improvement to effectively address feedback. Short-Term Focus Organizations sometimes prioritize short-term gains over long-term improvements, leading to reluctance in making significant changes based on feedback. Here is where we ended in terms of actions to take: 1. Integrate Multiple Data Sources: Combine survey data with digital analytics, social listening, and customer journey mapping for a comprehensive view of the customer experience. 2. Foster a Customer-Centric Culture: Encourage leadership commitment, employee training, and recognition programs that reward customer-centric behavior. 3. Invest in Analytics: Enhance analytics capabilities to turn data into actionable insights. 4. Close the Feedback Loop: Implement a closed-loop feedback system and communicate changes to customers. 5. Design Thinking and Customer Co-Creation: Use design thinking methodologies to deeply understand customer needs and co-create solutions. 6. Cross-Functional Collaboration: Promote collaboration across departments to discuss feedback and develop action plans. 7. Measure Impact and Iterate: Continuously measure the impact of changes and iterate to improve further. What are you doing to get out of the CX-as-a-survey (CXaaS) trap? #customerexperience #cx #surveys #analytics #designthinking #customercentric

Voice of Customer (VoC) can be a powerful tool 💪 Or... Just a 𝗳𝗮𝗻𝗰𝘆 𝗱𝗮𝘀𝗵𝗯𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱 reporting scores 📊 Here are some tips if you're struggling to implement or sustain your VoC efforts: 𝟭. 𝗗𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗶𝘁 𝗮 "𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺" ❌ "Program" implies it’s 𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝗶𝗹𝗼𝗲𝗱. The term you choose sets the tone for how the initiative is perceived. 𝗕𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝘁 as you would a new product or service 🏷️. Using a term that reflects 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘂𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 helps position your VoC as a valuable CX tool for the entire organization 🌐. 𝟮. 𝗛𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿, 𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻-𝘄𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗴𝗼𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗲𝘁 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 🎯 VoC strategy and goals must include the 𝘄𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗲 𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. People care about what 𝗱𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘀 them. A well-defined strategy outlines specific goals and assigns responsibilities to departments. Aligning goals 𝗮𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿 drives meaningful actions and improvements 📈. 𝟯. 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗩𝗼𝗖 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀—𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮—𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗱𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 🛠️ Make the insights story 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗮𝗻𝘁 so everyone knows what’s in it for them. When insights aren’t shared across teams, it’s hard to drive organization-wide change. Integrating VoC data helps every team understand customer needs and make 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗲𝗱 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 💡. 𝟰. 𝗩𝗼𝗖 𝗶𝘀 𝗡𝗢𝗧 𝗮 𝗖𝗫 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆 🚫 VoC is a tool that 𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲𝘀 the organization to listen and understand feedback. CX focuses on the 𝗲𝗻𝗱-𝘁𝗼-𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 across all touchpoints. Integrating VoC into your CX strategy ensures customer feedback 𝗱𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗹𝘂𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀 experience improvements 🤝. By avoiding the mindset of a temporary "program," setting clear organization-wide goals, and sharing insights across departments, you can 𝗲𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗩𝗼𝗖 𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 to drive real, 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁 📈. So, ask yourself: Is your VoC set up to 𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝘀𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗲𝘀, or is it positioned to 𝗱𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲? 🔍 ⭐ 𝗠𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘁. ⭐ 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗴𝘂𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱. ⭐ 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻 𝗼𝗻 𝗩𝗼𝗖 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁? 💬 𝗪𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝗲𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗩𝗼𝗖. 𝗟𝗲𝘁’𝘀 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝘁! 📞❗

Without a continuous improvement practice, the business has no place for customer experience feedback to land. 🛬 Regular feedback and data on our customer's service experience helps to guide and inform how our business strategy, service strategy, and operations need to improve in order to deliver better value to the customer. But if you don't have the operational mechanisms in place in your organization to intake that customer feedback and put it into practice in a continuous manner, then it's not going to change anything, and XD will continue to be disconnected from the business. You have to design the internal processes for reviewing the feedback, determining validity, priority and potential impact, and then have the process defined to navigate solutioning and decision-making (what should change internally to improve the customer experience?), and measure the impact. Without this operational structure in place, your feedback will hit a dead end. This is why service design, process improvement, and business analytics work hand-in-hand, and it's the cross-disciplinary, integrated methodology that my team employs in our work with clients. ⚡ Business leaders - Don't just collect user data and feedback. Discovery is great. But if you don't have the pathways to do something with it, you are not ready to see ROI on your discovery investment and you have not set up your XD teams for success. ⚡ Designers and design research teams - You have to work with your business partners to ensure that there is a soft landing for the feedback you are gathering. Our scope needs to go beyond the customer experience and stretch into the business to help our organizations change their culture and practices to ensure better integration of XD into the core of the business. We do this by promoting continuous improvement mindset and practice. It's not easy. But it's the path forward, and this is why service design is actually design leadership. #servicedesign #experiencedesign #designresearch #continuousimprovement #processimprovement #design