A RESEARCH AGENCY DEDICATED TO IMPROVING COMPLAINT HANDLING

PERFORMANCE, DEVELOPING THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE AND ENHANCING

CUSTOMER LOYALTY

“We pick companies because of

their products,

but we often leave them because

of their service failures.”

Source: “The Effortless Experience”, Matthew Dixon et al, 2013

Our Research Goal:

To help clients better understand the complaint experience delivered to their

customers … through feedback elicited directly from

customers!

Incorporates client business objectives, the latest regulatory expectation and

commercial realities …so as to ensure research results are

presented in the correct context!

Our Research Approach:

Include customer journey mapping and storytelling, aiding understanding and

recall … more importantly, to allow our clients to make informed business decisions

and drive positive change!

Our Research Output:

Ask yourself:

Do you know which elements of the complaints experience you currently

deliver have the biggest effect on making your customers more (or less)

loyal?

THE COMPLAINTS EXPERIENCE AND CUSTOMER LOYALTY

Customer perception of the complaint experience influences future intentional behavior and can impact loyalty

Three critical questions to consider:

1. To what extent does your complaints handling performance impact customer loyalty?

2. What are the key actions your Complaints Operations should take to retain (and drive) customer loyalty?

3. Do you understand how improving your complaints handling performance can enhance customer loyalty, while also reducing operational costs?

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Ask yourself: Does your organization fully understand the impact the quality of the complaints experience delivered has on customer loyalty?

UNDERSTANDING COMPLAINTS FROM THE CUSTOMER PERSPECTIVE

We use research to collate feedback from customers who had a recent complaint experience with your organisation

Three core areas covered:

1. Questions about the customer’s experience with the staff they interacted with

2. Questions about the amount of energy or number of actions the customer had to exert during the complaint experience

3. Questions about your organization’s ability to deliver a positive complaint experience to your customers.

Ask yourself: Do you understand what your customers perceive to have really happened when they interacted with your organization? How

well do they think you really did in terms of resolving their complaint?

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Complaint Nature & Channel

Complaint statusEase of raising a

complaint*Staff capabilities

Ease of resolving a complaint*

Time to resolve Complaint outcome

Outcome communication

(incl. Ombudsman rights)

Changes in brand perception

Impact on Customer Loyalty

DemographicsIdentification of

Vulnerable Customers

*Our approach covers the end-to-end customer journey, measuring Effort and establishing Emotions from key interactions. We then plot all these variables via Customer Journey Mapping so as to provide clients with an ‘as is’ picture of typical customer experiences when complaining.

EXAMPLE:QUESTIONNAIRE “FLOW” (I.E. STRUCTURE)

CORE #1: MEASURING STAFF PERFORMANCE

We look to understand how well your staff handled the customer complaint

Some of the key ‘variables’ include:

Ask yourself: As well as measuring staff abilities, do you also measure other ‘variables’ which directly relate to the complaint experience, e.g.

correct identification and recording of the customer complaints?

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Correctly identified the

complaint

Correctly identified action

was required

Had knowledge of how to

resolve

Actively listened to customer

Set customer expectations

Delivered on promises

CORE #2: UNDERSTANDING THE CUSTOMER EFFORT

We look to understand how easy (or difficult) your customers found it to resolve their complaint

Some of the key ‘variables’ include:

Ask yourself: Do you currently measure ‘effort required’ from the customer perspective? Do you know the customer’s emotional state

when first raising their complaint (as well as the emotional impact of their exertions)?

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Ease of raising complaint

% First Contact Resolution

Number of contacts

required (if not FCR)

Number of transfers

Repeating information

Time to resolve

CORE #3: MEASURING EMOTIONAL IMPACT

We establish customer emotions felt as a result of company interactions, establishing Advocacy vs Detractor drivers.

Some of the key emotions captured include:

Advocate Cluster

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Happy

Pleased

Recommend Cluster

Attention Cluster

Detractor Cluster

Trusted

Valued

Interested

Indulged

Frustrated

Dissapointed

HOW WE MEASURE CUSTOMER EFFORT

We use a 7pt scale to measure Customer Effort against a series of Agree vs. Disagree statements

[Company] made it easy for me to resolve my complaint?

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Strongly Disagree

DisagreeSomewhat Disagree

Neither / Nor

Somewhat Agree

AgreeStrongly

Agree

PREVIOUSLY:How much effort did you personally have to exert to

resolve your complaint?

1 2 3 4 5

Very Low Effort

Low EffortNeither /

NorHigh Effort

Very High Effort

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EXAMPLE CUSTOMER EFFORT QUESTIONS

We use a wide range of Agree vs. Disagree statements to help build a clearer picture of Customer Effort

To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements:

1. [Company] made it easy for me to raise my complaint

2. It was easy to reach the right member of staff who could handle my complaint

3. The member of staff seemed to be very knowledgeable in complaint handling

4. [Company] made it easy for me to resolve my complaint

5. It took less time than I expected to resolve my complaint

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LEVERAGING CUSTOMER EFFORT FEEDBACK

WHERE CUSTOMERS DISAGREE WITH STATEMENTS, WE CAN CAPTURE, CODE & ANALYSE VERBATIM

▪ Follow-up ‘negative’ scores with request for ‘solution’ suggestions, e.g.

▪ We then code the verbatim and start to analyse so as to identify common themes

▪ Understanding themes (i.e. suggested pain relief) can help identify opportunities for improvement and guide where customer effort might be reduced

What could [Company] do to make resolving complaints easier for its customers?

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We use Customer Journey Mapping to visualise the customer complaint

experience, allow you to understand where opportunities to improve exist, and how current interactions impact customers emotions and intentional

behaviour

MAPPING THE COMPLAINT JOURNEY

WE PLOT CUSTOMER EFFORT ALONGSIDE EMOTIONAL IMPACT OF INTERACTIONS / TOUCHPOINTS

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Ask yourself:

Do you understand the relationship between Customer Effort and Customer

Loyalty (and the commercial implications for your business)?

EFFORT RESOLVING INFLUENCES LOYALTY

In recent research conducted for an insurance provider, we found that customer effort had a significant impact on the customer’s future intentional behavior …

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AllComplainants

32%Easy

48%

43%

38%Neither / Nor

9%

4%

29%Difficult

2%

3%

LIKELIHOOD TO REMAIN

LIKELIHOOD TO RECOMMEND

EASY OR DIFFICULT TO

RESOLVE

Base: 495 insurance complainants, October – November 2016

INTENDED LOYALTY INFLUENCES YOUR BOTTOM LINE

For the purposes of illustrating how Customer Effort’s translates to ‘revenue at risk’, we have used our client’s insurance ‘book’ and average insurance premium per annum

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*Assumes 75,000 reportable complaints represents 1/5th of total unhappy customers – as 4/5ths don’t complain ** Source: Association of British Insurers

Easy to Resolve

Neither / NorDifficult to

Resolve

*Total Population of Unhappy Customers (n) 375,000

Easy / Difficult to Resolve Complaints (%) 32% 38% 29%

Calculated Population by Ease / Difficulty to Resolve (n)

120,000(375k x 32%)

142,500(375k x 38%)

108,750(375k x 29%)

Likelihood to Switch (%) 24% 68% 85%

Calculated Population Likely to Switch (n) 28,800 96,900 92,438

**Average Motor Insurance Premium per Annum (£)

£788

Revenue at Risk from Customer Defection –per Annum (£)

£22,694,400 £76,357,200 £72,841,144

Ask yourself:

Does your existing customer research include Customer Effort?

Does it also measure the Emotions felt by your customers?

Does it visualise both Effort and Emotion on Customer Journey Maps so you

understand where opportunities for improvement exist?

RESEARCH METHODOLOGIES

Our clients have different complaints objectives, so we deploy bespoke research approaches to meet those needs

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Face-to-Face Telephone Online Mobile Postal

QUALITATIVE

QUANTITATIVE

OUTPUTS:(Include but not limited to)

CUSTOMERJOURNEY MAPS

INFOGRAPHICS

VIDEOANIMATIONSTORYTELLING

KEY DRIVERANALYSIS

WE HOPE YOU FIND THIS ADDITIONAL INFORMATION HELPFUL TO UNDERSTAND WHERE REDUCTIONS IN

CUSTOMER EFFORT CAN LEAD TO IMPROVED COMPLAINT HANDLING PERFORMANCE AND ENHANCE CUSTOMER

LOYALTY AND RETENTION EFFORTS.

SHOULD YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR WISH TO DISCUSS, PLEASE DO NOT HESITATE TO CONTACT THE RESEARCH LOCKER.

WE LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING FROM YOU

SCOTT DAVIDSONHEAD OF RESEARCH

SCOTT@THERESEARCHLOCKER.CO.UK

07718 646 463