In Outliers, Malcom Gladwell argues that Christopher Langan, “the smartest man in the world,” never earned a college degree because he didn’t have the social skills needed to fully realize his potential. Gladwell writes that Langan has mountains of knowledge but a limited ability to apply it. Too often, customer satisfaction software solutions face a similar dilemma: they generate plenty of customer data but provide no means of actually applying that data to improve company performance. This post will review three ways that PeopleMetrics’ Customer Engagement Management (CEM) dashboard helps our clients efficiently use customer feedback. Our Enterprise Feedback Management solution includes tools to assign responsibility and track progress. Ultimately, all the data in the world isn’t helpful unless your organization is using that data to improve performance, and our solution acts as a customer feedback management guide, helping management and employees effectively apply customer feedback.
1. Management chooses who sees what data and assigns access.
As with all complex organizational systems, an early step in applying customer feedback is granting access and assigning responsibility. Our Customer Engagement Management solution provides an online dashboard from which company leaders can decide which employees see what customer feedback data. There are several benefits of assigning research access levels, one of which is that management can quickly delineate responsibility. For instance, if a customer reports that the women’s dressing room of a certain retail location is dirty and unappealing, the dashboard would send a Recover Alert, indicating an opportunity to retain the customer. The regional retail manager might receive this Recover Alert, and assign improvement of the situation to a certain sales manager on site, let’s say Janet. Janet sees the assignment on her version of the dashboard, and understands that it is her responsibility to clean up the dressing room. This system limits information overload by delivering customer feedback data to the appropriate parties. It also improves efficiency by empowering leaders to assign tasks.
2. Ability to track particular actions taken on each account.
Once the customer feedback has been translated into an assignment for a certain employee, PeopleMetrics' dashboard includes tools for tracking progress. For instance, Janet could make a note in the system showing that she had personally apologized to that customer and altered sales associates’ duties to include an hourly check of the dressing room. While apologizing to the customer, Janet might learn that she had also been improperly charged for a certain purchase. While this vital feedback would likely be lost in other customer feedback systems, PeopleMetrics’ online dashboard includes an area for notes on customers’ additional needs. Janet’s discovery could then be seen by management, who could adjust SKU information on that item to prevent further problems. In this way, our CEM dashboard facilitates and accelerates communication across an organization, so that customer feedback may be efficiently translated into improved performance.
3. Tracking tools to show how many long an Action Alert has been left outstanding.
In addition to assigning responsibility, and communicating progress on customer feedback, PeopleMetrics’ CEM dashboard shows how long an Action Alert has been outstanding or pending. If, after a week, Janet hadn't taken any actions, management would know because the case would still be outstanding. Once a certain issue has been resolved, leaders can indicate that the case has been closed. This feature helps ensures accountability for improving performance according to customer feedback. Otherwise, a certain customer complaint might never be addressed.
Overall, PeopleMetrics’ Customer Engagement Solution provides built-in tools to translate customer feedback into action. Although the example here was for a B2C situation, B2B organizations can certainly benefit from these capabilities as well. By assigning, tracking, and resolving Action Alerts, our system empowers our clients to turn research into progress.
