Customer Satisfaction

We take customer satisfaction seriously and after our measure what you manage & manage what you measure blog we thought we had better practice what we preach. So as it’s the end of another busy year we decided to ask our partner clients just how well we’ve done. We used survey monkey and an accredited set of questions to make our customer satisfaction survey official. The survey was sent to every client we have worked with to date and we received a credible 60% response rate (well it was Christmas after all).

The results blew us away, so we’ll summarise below:-

Overall, how satisfied or dissatisfied are you with our company?

Satisfied = 100%

Which of the following words would you use to describe our products?

Reliable = 83.33%

High quality = 91.67%

Useful = 25.00%

Unique = 8.33%

Good value for money = 75.00%

How well do our products meet your needs?

Extremely well = 75.00%

Very well = 25.00%

How would you rate the quality of our products?

Very high quality = 66.67%

High quality = 33.33%

How would you rate the value for money of our products?

Excellent = 58.33%

Above average = 33.33%

Average = 8.33%

How responsive have we been to your questions or concerns about our products?

Extremely responsive = 50.00%

Very responsive = 41.67%

Not applicable = 8.33%

How long have you been a customer of our company?

This is my first purchase = 16.67%

Less than six months = 16.67%

Six months to a year = 8.33%

1 - 2 years = 41.67%

3 or more years = 16.67%

How likely are you to purchase any of our products again?

Extremely likely = 58.33%

Very likely = 41.67%

How likely is it that you would recommend this company to a friend or colleague?

Promoters = 100%

We take this data very seriously and will be using it to improve in identified areas, the 40% of clients who did not respond is our first priority, what are their feelings? Were they just too busy to respond? In truth, we’ve already started this process, demonstrating we do practice what we preach.

To us the fact that 100% of our clients are satisfied and would recommend us to others makes the job worthwhile and encouragement that we are delivering what we promise “For great value & good honest values, we’re Spot On”. Customer satisfaction for 2015 was good, 2016 will be better!

Manage what you measure & measure what you manage

In this world of KPI and endless spreadsheets it’s sometimes difficult to produce meaningful data, or in reality act upon the data you are producing.

There is no point in producing beautiful spreadsheets if you don’t understand the data, or simply ignore the information being recorded.

Likewise the reverse is also true, there is no point being busy in business if you cannot quantify the results you are achieving, objectively not subjectively.

You have to be careful not to micro manage and measure everything, a top line overview could be far more beneficial than drilling down to the very last point. Balance time to record and manage, verse effort and cost.

Make sure you always ask the most important question:-

‘How will we know we have achieved the desired result?’

Agree a measurement so you know if / when the goal is reached. Once you hit a predefined level you have achieved the goal and have success, this should be based around ROI Return On Investment).

All this sounds simple and forgive me if I’m teaching granny to suck eggs but I have worked with a blue chip retailer who did not have the facility to record DM (Direct Mail) voucher codes and therefore could not measure success or failure.

I also worked with a different blue chip retailer who only noticed, when they had a postal strike, how effective his DM was at driving traffic to the web. The DM was not delivered and the web figures did not have the usual spike. This shows online was recording data and not managing it, while offline was not measuring success.

To recap

Measure what you need (not what you don’t)
Use the data to manage the business
Record what you are managing and use the data
Make sure management and measurement has a benefit and ROI
Make the data available throughout the business, it may be more powerful than you think

Charity Work

Should we undertake ‘Charity Work’?

They say to ‘walk a mile in my shoes’ gives insight into a person or companies life, so after we drove 2,600 miles with our client we believe we qualify to know much more about them and their operation.

The concept of the Motoscape Rally is to buy a car for £333 or less, turn it into a wacky, eye-catching masterpiece and drive it through some of the greatest roads in Europe. Alternatively use a classic car that’s 20 years or older. It's not just a driving holiday though, it's a great chance to meet lots of new people, raise some money for charity or just have the experience of a lifetime!

Spot On helped Motoscape with design and supply of collateral such as banners, garments and stickers, so when we were asked to join the team for the trip we jumped at the opportunity, even though it was a charity gig, with no payment.

In reflection this company is no different from any other SME, they have the same issues with internal and external communication, supply chain, customer support, banding etc. that we all do, in fact it was really informative to witness them in action, as the whole thing happens so fast, you get to see a complete production cycle in no time at all.

Comms

The internal and external communication need to be produced so that everyone knows what to do, where to be and at what time. These are created ahead of the event and circulated day by day on a need to know basis, to avoid information overload. As with all communication it needs to be clear, on brand and easy to navigate. We have recommended slight amendments and considerations (summary overview and indexed colour for better navigation) but on the whole these were fantastic documents.

Supply Chain

A logistical nightmare trying to get circa 200 people and 70+ vehicles around 12 countries in 7 days with routes, hotels, restaurants and taxis to organise. Most of this is undertaken ahead of the event but as with all business things do change and some adjustments are needed on the ground as the event unfolds. Good communication as above is the key to success and the old adage “Fail to prepare, prepare to fail” is very relevant. We have recommended improvement for ‘Brand’ messaging to support the supplier’s i.e. POP templates for posters where hotel navigation and offers can be added. Offers are a key driver as hotels supplement the reduction in room rate with bar and restaurant offers to increase footfall and revenue. So making the ‘Motoscape’ competitor aware of these offers is paramount.

Branding

The ‘Banger Rally’ is a rapidly growing market so branding is very important, you obviously want people to know which rally the customer has been on. Branding of everything is so important. Every interaction with client, social media etc. needs to be branded, Motoscape have done this perfectly, in the usual way with stickers on the cars and pop up banners with the logo on etc. but they have also introduced a very clever mechanism, a soft toy ‘Monty’ the mini. By getting the competitors to take pictures including ‘Monty’, the Motoscape brand is reinforced continually. Customer interaction was far better than envisaged, next year ‘Monty’ is to be replaced with ‘Minty’ his sister.

Conclusion

Charity work should not be something to be afraid of, it should be embraced, as we had a fantastic week with some outstanding individuals, raising thousands for charities. We have assisted with branding and collateral and the most important outcome is “We know and understand our client’s needs and their clients’ needs”. Now that’s got to be worth putting some time into.

Thanks to Motoscape and all the competitors

http://www.motoscape-rally.co.uk/