With Suggestar you can go beyond basic survey reports, because Suggestar feedback programs produce a fantastic data with which to conduct applied research. Applied research is about solving practical problems. Using Suggestar data, the aim is dig deeper into customer satisfaction. When you first look at the data it may seem overwhelming, but the Suggestar report filters help you ‘slice and dice’ that data into to detailed, usable information. We will use the Ratings Report to explore how you can discover more about how your business is performing.
The Ratings Report helps you identify your overall Suggestar Rating. You can filter it by individual regions, districts and locations. You can use it to answer specific questions, about initiatives you have undertaken. Are you getting better ratings after conducting some employee training? Has the launch of a new menu been successful? Or more general questions about how a region or district is performing.
Example 1
You undertake some employee training at Location 1 on April 2nd.
Question: Did the training improve customer satisfaction?
- Select a date range prior to the training (a month before would be a good range)
- Use the Location Filter to select Location 1
- View the average score, and the overall Suggestar rating.
Repeat the same technique for the post training results, by changing the date range (to a month after). You now have your basic data. Next compare the results. Have the results gone up or down? Explore the individual responses for the same period. Use it to identify what has gone well and what has not.
This analysis will give you a good insight into whether the training has improved the customer experience. If the training has improved customer satisfaction levels, then it may be something you want to roll out across the whole business. If it has not improved ratings, you may want to re-design the training.
Example 2
You hire a new district manager
Question: Has customer satisfaction improved since the new district manager was hired?
To answer this question you use the same basic technique as above, but instead of filtering on location, you would filter by district.
You can now compare the ratings before and after the manager was hired. Has it improved customer satisfaction? If you want to dig deeper, you can select individual locations in the district. Has customer satisfaction improved in all locations, or just in certain locations? Often, when a new manager is hired the transition can cause issues. This type of query will help identify how different locations are adapting, and assist the manager in working with them. The great thing is you can use it in employee reviews, to give the evidence to the manager about their overall performance.
Example 3
It is important to understand how customer satisfaction is impacting on profitability. To undertake this type of research you will need additional information from outside Suggestar – namely your financial data.
Question: Is there a link between customer satisfaction at a location and profitability?
This question may seem obvious – of course there is a link between customer satisfaction and profitability. However, a location may receive low ratings and remain profitable. Why? It may be the only restaurant, store or hotel in a town. It could be that it has a loyal but ageing set of customers - many companies have gone out of business by not ‘keeping up with the times’. Equally, a location may have low profitability and high customer satisfaction. The aim of this type of analysis is to identify potential issues, where profitability is not in-line with customer satisfaction, so you can take action.
Again, you would need to select an appropriate data range – in this case it would be driven by the financial data you have. Data for 6 months or the financial year would be most appropriate. After setting up the date range, you need to filter by location. As this is a more general question, you will select each location in turn, and view the individual ratings.
Now compare the Suggestar Rating to the financial figures. For any locations that have high profitability and low customer satisfaction (in the amber or red ranges), or the reverse, you have a potential, hidden problem that needs further investigation.
You can of course use the same query to identify locations with high customer satisfaction and high profitability, and conversely, low customer satisfaction and low profitability.
Giving you a competitive edge
Most businesses only look at the high level, standard reports generated by surveys; they do not dig deeper, unless there is a known issue. These reports only answer the question – “Is our business doing well?”
Summary information is useful in understanding the customer’s experience, but using Suggestar enables you to conduct more in-depth research via our simple to use filters. Working in this way enables you to go beyond the basic analysis undertaken by other companies. You not only learn more about customer satisfaction, but also discover more about performance and the impact of initiatives. These additional customer insights will help make your business more agile, innovative and profitable, while increasing customer satisfaction and loyalty.
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