Getting into the minds of customers is the first part of any sale, but when it comes to generating loyalty and satisfaction it pays to know what your clients are really thinking and saying.
But if you can do that on the spot at the point of sale literally as soon as people are being served, both the customer and the business are onto a winner.
At a time when sentiment is divided over what propels a standout digital customer experience into one that delivers the real world, Boost Juice has carefully blended the physical experience of buying with real-time customer feedback.
To learn more about all the winners and finalists, download our iTnews Benchmark Awards e-magazine here.
Boost Juice's products need little introduction. Its almost impossible to walk pat their stands without being enticed by the aroma of fresh ginger, melon and citrus generating a craving for refreshment that leaves conventional beverages in the pulp bin.
So to tap into customer sentiment, Boost Juice turned its already popular app into a tool for instant customer feedback that was frank and fearless.
It's given the chain, its franchisors and support staff highly granular insights into performance and what customers feel and want.
It's also a long way from the hit and miss practice of using mystery shoppers to check on retailers, a laborious pursuit of putting 270 stores to the test, once a month and then manually reporting on the experience.
Knowing there had to be a better, faster and cheaper way, Boost's in-house dev team looked to what they know was already a winner with customers... its own hit app.
With an already tech-savvy target demographic, the opportunity to harness its digital marketing front end a potent customer service tool was too much to resist, especially when enhanced with feedback that was ported directly into the company’s Zendesk implementation.
There's more than a bit of nuance to the exercise, with conversation and questions guided by sentiment and start ratings. Boost wanted the bitter and the sweet in its feedback, especially feelings customers wouldn't otherwise have an opportunity to share.
The results were as quick as they were compelling. Boost now receives between 2,000 and 3,000 pieces of feedback each day, the bulk of it within minutes of customers visiting the store.
That timeliness is gold when it comes to pinpointing pinch points; just think rostering around peaks and troughs or whats influencing footfall.
The result is that Boost is now getting 50,000 comprehensive and real customer PoV reviews per month as opposed to 270 mysterious assessments.
It’s also helped the brand to refine its offerings both in its products and promotions to deliver services and benefits that are more likely to pique the interest of its customers.
Feedback from franchisees and staff members has so far been positive as a result, who can rapidly see what’s working and what needs improvement thanks to the speed of incoming feedback.
There are also positive downstream effects, with customers leapfrogging from the mobile app to drive traffic to Boost's mobile website.
To learn more about all the winners and finalists, download our iTnews Benchmark Awards e-magazine here.