I recently read a customer experience blog from Ian Golding on how the customer journey can be damaged by the way in which feedback is requested, which got me thinking about an experience I recently had.
I was Christmas shopping in the Bull Ring last week and my brother was after a new pair of trainers. We had visited a few shops and not seen the right style he was after.
So we went into the third or fourth shoe shop and after a quick wander through the various choices, my brother found a pair which met his taste. We turned round and asked one of the shop assistants if she could check for the size he wanted.
Instead of wandering off to the store room for 5 mins and waiting to see if she returned with the right size, I was pleasantly surprised when she was able to use an in-store stock system checker to see if the size was held. When she confirmed she had them we were invited to sit down while she disappeared to get them.
She returned a couple of minutes later with the pair for my brother to try. Whilst trying them on she happily chatted to us on how our day was going and where else we were visiting that day.
After a few moments my brother was happy with his choice and agreed to buy them. Cash or card the assistant asked, card I said. And again, to my surprise, she returned within a few seconds holding a card terminal to make my payment whilst we were still sitting in the seats. I added my email address to receive an e-receipt, noting she didn’t ask me to read it out loud in a busy store and allowed me to type it in myself.
Finally, as we were leaving, she stated the email receipt would be with me shortly and if I wanted to, there would be an option to leave customer feedback about my visit.
Brilliant, I thought, we had received an excellent, friendly service.
I got home that afternoon and once connected to my wifi, an email popped up on my phone with my e-receipt attached.
Scrolling down to the feedback option, I clicked on it to leave my feedback. It opened up a cool looking web form which was great, apart from... it asked for mandatory information including my name and email address, which they already had… how disconnected!?
They had done so well up to this point but it felt so impersonal asking for this type of information, as they already had it to send me the e-receipt! I wonder if they even do anything with the feedback…!
Will it stop me buying from them again? No, the in-store service is excellent. However, it has left a disappointed feeling in the journey I went on with them as it had been so good up to that point. Maybe a victim of their own success as my expectations were set so high based on the in-store service.
Customer engagement isn’t just about the in-store service, it’s about the whole customer journey. Your Customer experience doesn’t stop when your customers leave the store, in such a connected world, every touchpoint is as important as the last.
