KEEPING 30 MILLION CUSTOMERS happy is a tall order. But Borders Group Inc. has taken on that challenge — with information to back it up.
Borders has been conducting surveys in more than 460 U.S. book and music superstores over the past two years hoping to improve customer satisfaction.
“In the past, the best way we had to measure customer service was through our Mystery Shoppers program,” said Charlie Moore, Borders' director of sales, service and support. “But that method proved ineffective at capturing actionable data.”
Using an automated voice-response phone system, Borders began collecting customer feedback from 45,000 customer surveys sent quarterly. Invitations to participate in the 22-question poll, along with a toll-free number, are printed on random store receipts.
“We ask specifically about overall satisfaction with the shopping experience,” said Moore. “There are questions about store loyalty and about staff interaction and customer shopping habits.”
Participants who complete the five-minute survey are prompted to redeem their receipt for a 15% discount on their next purchase. Of those who do redeem the coupon, about 60% spend more than the average customer's total ticket.
Moore receives weekly and quarterly reporting on what he terms “the value of customer engagement” at the store level. From it he's learned that when staff offer assistance to a customer, that person is 20% more satisfied than someone who doesn't receive assistance.
Data can be provided either nationwide or by region, district and individual stores.
“Each part of the report drills down one step further to give us a [precise] ability to focus on improving overall customer satisfaction,” Moore said.
Borders has used survey results to determine physical changes in the stores. For example, it has removed product displays by checkout counters, thus allowing customers to see the available staffed registers. This improved checkout times.
“We knew checkout speed was important, but didn't fully understand its true significance to customers until we started hearing directly from them about it,” Moore said.
