It’s widely acknowledged that listening and responding to the Voice of the Customer is important for any organisation, but for the Water Industry it’s vital.
With the governance of the Service Incentive Mechanism (SIM) in full flow, many providers have turned to the likes of quarterly surveys and satisfaction forms to prove they are meeting the expectations of their customers. But are they actually learning anything?
Gartner state that feedback collected at the point of service delivery is 40% more accurate than that collected 24 hours later. So unless these surveys are conducted in real-time after every interaction then these methods risk missing the moments when customers can share really insightful feedback.
To truly listen to the Voice of the Customer, you need to gather their thoughts at the Moment of Truth, when their emotions are at their highest. If you give them the chance to have their say in their own words, in a way that’s convenient for them, they're much more likely to tell you how they really feel. Giving you the opportunity to reduce churn, increase satisfaction and boost staff morale.
A more accurate view gathered at the point of service delivery could lead to the prevention of issues, the chance to turn Ranters into Ravers (not in the 1990's sense of the word), an increase in C-Sat & NPS and incredible response rates (up to 90%).
Drawing out and acting upon insights now becomes the critical part of the engagement process. After all, what’s the point of having a tool designed to improve customer (and employee) engagement to not complete the loop and resolve the queries that are raised as part of the process?
But if you think that real-time Voice of the Customer is ground-breaking you’d be wrong... others in the industry are already listening to their customers, and reaping the benefits.
Affinity Water use Rant & Rave's fast feedback solution to study which issues are really causing customers the most stress. Not only have they seen response rates average 35% but making the right operational changes has led to an incredible 36% drop in complaints.
The Utility Sector is waking up to the advantages of real-time feedback; listening to the Voice of the Customers at the Moment of Truth – can you really afford to rest on your laurels?
Find out how to capture the Voice of your Customers at Moments of Truth in our Infographic:
