A friend of mine recently sent me a photo that he took at an auto dealership. It was a picture of a sign at the dealership asking for customer feedback.
Take a look. It has 4 QR codes so you can choose to leave your feedback at Yelp, Google+, Edmonds or Cars.com.
While I am a big fan of collecting and sharing actionable customer feedback, this is the kind of thing that makes me crazy.
Social media ratings platforms like Yelp and Google+ can be effective in encouraging customers to visit for the first time. In contrast, at becco we created an innovative customer feedback platform to help retailers foster long lasting repeat customers. Lets look at the photo in a bit more detail: 1. Four platform options to provide customer feedback? For a shopper/rater, that’s confusing. Which ratings app should I use? Which one will have the most impact? Too much choice can be a barrier for participation.
2. How are the reviews used by the dealership? The prompt says that reviewing the dealership’s performance is a "crucial step in giving you the best possible service." But do you think that anyone in the dealership sees the reviews or takes any action on them? The surveys do not facilitate individual accountability. By the way, I looked at the number of Yelp reviews from this establishment – they have received an average of 1 review every 2 weeks – far too little data to take action on anyone’s performance .
3. How are the reviews used by consumers?
Yelp and Google+ and Edmonds and Cars.com help shoppers decide whether to visit that service provider - typically for the first time. Maybe that's ok for an auto dealership that you may visit once or twice in a lifetime. But for a restaurant or specialty retailer, social media ratings are not meaningful for repeat visits - once you visit a store, you've had the experience first hand - you're never going to consult Yelp again to view someone else’s opinions of that establishment.
4. Are customers really going to scan those QR codes?
In a typical retail store setting I question whether shoppers will stop to scan a QR code to offer feedback. (I am open to be corrected and would love the opportunity to test that out. Any takers?) However, in an auto showroom, there’s a chance that more people will participate due to the lengthy wait times embedded in the typical car buying customer experience - long waits with nothing else to do.
We all crave feedback Any employee who values his or her job welcomes constructive feedback that can show the way to self-respect, growth, achievements and advancement. In a Zenger/Folkman survey, 72% said they thought their performance would improve if their managers would provide corrective feedback.
At becco, we have found an innovative way to collect the types of customer feedback that can help store associates improve their performance. To chat with Stuart, pick a time for a call here.