w w w . q u e s t b a c k . c O M

Instant feedback = immediate advantage

Authors: Claudine Petit (Head of Marketing CEUR, QuestBack)

Radu Immenroth (Group Product Director, QuestBack)

Is your company ready for real-time feedback?

1. Welcome to now:

What do your customers think

about your products and ser-

vices? What do you know about

their opinions and how do you

act on them quickly? New communication

channels have produced a real flood of cus-

tomer data, and considerably reduced the dis-

tance between customers and companies in

terms of speed of reaction and content. Many

customers now use the opportunities the In-

ternet provides to make their voices heard.

And companies have the chance to use this

feedback, often called “real-time feedback” to

improve their customer relationships.

David Edelman from Harvard Business

Manager brings the revolutionary

nature of these new channels into

sharp focus in his analysis, “The new

rules of marketing”.

But how can organizations quickly

evaluate “real-time” feedback from

these multiple touchpoints in a

structured way? For which indus-

tries is real-time feedback most valuable?

And what must companies do to transform

themselves from feedback recipients, to gen-

uine managers of real-time feedback? Pro-

jects that, for example, achieve a significant

improvement in customer loyalty, prove the

financial value of real-time feedback manage-

ment. In one case, that meant an increase in

repeat purchases of 44 % for a brand owner,

and a simultaneous reduction in the number

of customers switching to competitors. One

QuestBack customer can also provide an

impressive illustration of how real-time feed-

back management delivers ROI: The number

of customers generating annual revenue of

more than €6000 rather than €500 increased by

30 %.

This white paper offers companies

the opportunity to systematically

assess their readiness for real-time

feedback in multiple dimensions,

and answers questions such as:

Real-world examples from companies like Hilti,

SWISS, and the user experience consult-

ants USECON, illustrate exactly where the

challenges and opportunities for companies

lie. After all, business success is to a large

extent dependent on successful customer

interactions.

Increase revenues by up to 30 % with real-time feedback

Real-time Feedback Solutions 2

» Even if the fundamentals of the Customer Decision Journey don’t seem that revolutionary, the impact on marketing is profound. (…) Our analysis of dozens of marketing budgets shows that 70-90 % of the money is spent on ads and retail campaigns that relate to the “consider” and “purchase” phases of the sales process. However, influence on the user is significantly stronger in the “rating”, “enjoy, recommend and loyalty” phases.« *1

A. What fundamental requirements must be fulfilled?

B. Which processes must be established? C. What does it mean for personnel and

IT infrastructures? D. What are the methodological requirements

to be aware of?

3Real-time Feedback Solutions

2. What is real-time?

DIFFERENT KINDS OF REAL-TIME?

Depending on company and customer requirements,

real-time feedback varies in terms of capture and

reaction times. It can mean for example, that feedback

is captured at the point of usage or immediately

afterwards, but that the evaluation comes later, if it’s

not related to an urgent request. However, if the feed-

back indicates that a customer request needs to be

resolved immediately, it’s clear that evaluation and

reaction needs to happen more quickly.

Depending on the form, real-time feedback manage-

ment should take in relation to; feedback capture,

evaluation and reaction for a particular company, and

it’s important that businesses align their methods,

processes and technologies accordingly. This is

the only way that the respective requirements can

be mapped. The following checklist provides an

initial opportunity to assess the real-time feedback

management requirements of your business.

CHECKLIST A. GENERAL REQUIREMENTS Who uses real-time feedback?

The fact that a company receives a lot of feedback from

customers does not, on it’s own, automatically mean

there is a need for real-time feedback. The question

is rather, to what extent do feedback channels

have an effect on the success of the company?

For example, feedback clearly has an effect if a

brand wants to differentiate on customer service, or

when customer loyalty and therefore the number of

repeat buyers increases as a result. Here the quantity

of feedback or ‘Big Data’ factor comes into play. If

there are a large number of touchpoints i.e. interac-

tions between companies and customers, then it’s

likely that real-time feedback management will reveal

very valuable information. However, a single piece of

feedback can also have an enormous impact when

in comes to a major customer. In both cases then, a

systematic and personalized approach to customer

care is very valuable.

This is proven by the experience of SWISS, part of

the Lufthansa Group:

explains Samuel Rodenhausen, Market Research

Manager at SWISS, about the implementation of

their system. Through the rapid availability of survey

answers, SWISS can react to feedback immediately:

if the customer wants to be contacted, it can happen

quickly, impacting positively on customer loyalty.

» By implementing an online questionnaire using the QuestBack System, we can continuously track all our important KPIs – including the particularly significant

Arrival Experience«,

CASE STUDY

4Real-time Feedback Solutions

Early detection or fire fighting – what can real-time feedback achieve?

What can companies do today with the flood of

data coming in? It’s possible to fundamentally

differentiate between two functions of real-time

feedback management – alerts and reporting. The

alert function helps address customer problems or

needs as quickly as possible.

If, after using the online shop, an existing customer

completes a questionnaire about usage problems,

the right system can inform the relevant customer

adviser about it immediately via email. A call the

next day shows the customer that he is being taken

seriously and is valued. If the problem can then be

solved, you have a customer that is happier and

more loyal than before the problem occurred.

Taking a long-term view of customer value,

customer satisfaction and the depth of a customer

relationship become central economic factors

(Diag. 1*2) that can be maintained and enhanced

through feedback management.

According to a Harvard Business Review report,

increased customer loyalty has another effect that

can impact revenues: loyal customers don’t go

through the early stages of the buying decision

every time, but make repeat purchases on the

basis of their existing trust in the company.*3

Identify the trend, react rapidly

Nevertheless, repeat purchases a consistently

excellent buying experience. Used at a management

level, the reporting function can reveal interactions

that may signify wider trends via dashboards (Diag. 2)

Are complaints about delivery times increasing?

Is there a delay in reaction from support at the

moment? Where are there positive customer

experiences that can improve the situation? The

overview a dashboard provides can also trigger

another real-time alert in a second-step, and

activate the appropriate response: Are more

personnel required in support? Should customer

advisors intervene to apologize and compensate

customers for delivery delays? In this way,

real-time feedback management becomes a

management instrument for marketing, sales,

or support as well as every other business area

involved in the customer experience.

DIAG. 1: ACCoRDING To BERND STRAUSS, WoLFGANG SEIDEL, “CoMPLAINT MANAGEMENT – UNHAPPy CUSToMERS AS A

PRoFITABLE TARGET GRoUP”, 4TH EDITIoN, 2007, HANSER PUBLISHERS, PAGE 27

Industry Timeframe Customer value

Loyal café visitor 1 year 1400 €

Typical supermarket customer 10 years 50,000 €

Regular Pizzeria customer Lifetime 8000 €

Loyal credit card customer Lifetime 12000 €

Typical car buyer Lifetime 150,000 €

Loyal luxury car owner Lifetime 320,000 €

How much is a customer worth?

5Real-time Feedback Solutions

Tool or philosophy – What are the prerequisites for successful real-time feedback management?

For real-time feedback management to have an

impact, it must develop into something more valuable

than a “tool”. The prerequisite for this is a clear com-

mitment from management to integrate feedback

into corporate strategy. This means that feedback

in all its dimensions needs to be incorporated: in the

design of business processes, the implementation

of IT infrastructure, as well as in the development of

the organizational structure and personnel planning.

According to a prediction from Gartner, half the

Fortune 1000 companies will have developed a

“Voice of the customer” strategy by 2015, but only

10 % of them will actually have implemented it *4.

That leaves room for organizations to gain competi-

tive advantage.

B. PROCESS REQUIREMENTS

Are your business processes already customer-oriented?

Real-time feedback can’t be implemented “just

like that”. It is rather the logical consequence of

making the entire organization customer focused.

only when all business units focus on ensuring

that a customer has a positive experience at every

touchpoint, can the corresponding automated and

rule-based system processes be aligned to maximize

the impact of the customer-oriented strategy.

Many companies have already taken the first step

in this direction. They are strengthening measures

to make the brand experience tangible for

customers at as many touchpoints as possible,

and fostering the dialog between customers and

the company through digital media such as apps

and onsite touchpads.

Do you know your touchpoints?

The days when examining the point of sale was

all that was needed to get a picture of interaction

with customers are long gone. Nevertheless, many

companies aren’t aware of all their touchpoints,

from comments on Facebook, to conversations with

sales people, and interactions with middlemen such

as delivery services or sales partners. That’s why,

when starting out with real-time feedback manage-

ment, all touchpoints must first be identified and the

most relevant selected. Relevance is a question of

definition which, in this case, is described by using

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).

A simple example from the cosmetics industry

illustrates the innovation potential that is often left

untapped here. A McKinsey study found that more

than 60 % of face cream users only gather infor-

mation about the product after they have already

bought it – a touchpoint that was completely over-

looked until then*5, but which is obviously of cen-

tral importance to satisfaction during the customer

journey, and therefore provides a good opportunity

to collect real-time feedback.

DIAG 2. ExAMPLE oF TRENDS ACRoSS DIFFERENT ToUCHPoINTS AT A

SUPERMARKET CHAIN IN THE USECoN DASHBoARD.

(Customer Project QuestBack Central Europe)

6Real-time Feedback Solutions

When is interaction and intervention required?

Information is worthless until it results in action.

Effective feedback management must therefore

have a certain level of intelligence in order to

decide when intervention is necessary and when

not. Threshold levels need to be set for the touch-

point KPIs that trigger an action. This also helps

avoid overreaction. Ideally, real-time feedback

works like a personal conversation, in that sub-

sequent questions and reactions should emerge

naturally during the course of the discussion.

These must flow into the relevant processes that,

for example, determine escalation levels when a

customer needs to be contacted, highlight where

existing customer history enhances the current

feedback, or ensure that the relevant employee

actually has access to this information. To en-

sure that happens, the supporting processes and

responsibilities must be clearly defined.

Are the responsibilities defined?

Even with the highest level of automation, there

must be people available that can make decisions

at any point along the real-time feedback loop. It’s

important that there is a a project manager outside

of IT, that is accountable for the issue and ensures

that, for example, feedback content is delivered

to the right place, whether that means marketing,

management or the relevant support person.

What role does privacy play?

A real-time feedback management system

initially asks questions anonymously and must

give the customer a choice over whether people

can be surveyed individually if required. This can

happen via a relevant question during the survey

process that allows the customer to agree to be

approached. It also means however, that from this

moment on an expectation exists. The customer

wants to be taken seriously, and that means he

expects an appropriate and immediate reaction.

The customer will only give up his privacy if he gets

an appropriate service in return.

7Real-time Feedback Solutions

C. IT INFRASTRUCTURE AND SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

Which channels are available?

While touchpoint tracking identifies the relevant

channels, the IT infrastructure must ensure that as

many channels as possible feed into a consistent,

comprehensive view of feedback data. But the flow

of feedback in the other direction is also critical: Can

feedback be collected from everywhere, wherever it

originates? Real-time feedback also has to account

for the fact that respondents are on the move. That’s

why questionnaires must work as well on mobile

devices as they do on desktop computers.

How fast is your customer journey?

The more touchpoints that interaction with your

customers involves, the more relevant incidents

accumulate. The right system must be able to define

the level of detail that measured via feedback

monitoring. For example, QuestBack currently delivers

half-hourly reporting on the relevant KPIs according

to need. But it’s important to differentiate between

the speed of feedback provision and the reaction

to it. Does someone have to be contacted imme-

diately in order to ensure customer satisfaction?

This is known as a “transactional survey”. or is

it sufficient to ask a customer twice a year about

his satisfaction within the context of a regular

“relational survey”.

other time-critical aspects can also play a role

however. It’s especially important

during the test and development

phases of products, to measure

the user experience and make

improvements in order to avoid

costly development mistakes.

This is how USECoN, a user experience

consultancy, with the help of the EFS panel (EFS

= Enterprise Feedback Suite) from QuestBack

developed an efficient survey platform that among

other things, enables a repeat survey among panel

participants. This can be used to survey users at

different times and in different situations, whether

that means the early development phases of a

new product, or across the entire product cycle.

For its part, QuestBack customer SWISS is

using its newly deployed feedback system to allow

customers to provide feedback on every element

of the service they receive. This enables teething

problems to be localized immediately when new

products are introduced. Time-related consid-

erations are therefore always oriented towards a

system’s real-world use cases.

Which visualizations are required?

It makes sense that a relevant visualization of

target KPIs and drill down dimensions is defined for

management reports. That’s how dashboards

earn their name and simplify the navigation of a

company’s KPI landscape. (See DIAG. 3)

DIAG: 3, ExAMPLE oF A QUESTBACK DASHBoARD

FoR AN NPS EVALUATIoN

CASE STUDY

8Real-time Feedback Solutions

Is integration into existing systems like SAP possible?

The full potential of real-time feedback can only

be realized in combination with other systems.

(DIAG.4.). The combination of customer feedback

and operational data enables prioritization: Where

is there a danger that a major customer will switch?

Was a regular or very good customer affected by

a system crash? Who is least affected by delivery

bottlenecks?

DIAG. 4: QUESTBACK WoRKFLoW FoR IMPLEMENTATIoN oF REAL-TIME FEEDBACK MANAGEMENT

Customer Contacts Touchpoints Customer Workflow Questback Workflow

Checks

Participiant Import

Questback Exchange Server

Automatic Invitation

Dashbord ReportingEngagement / Action

Case Data Segmentation

Customer CRM

Data Export

SurveyE-Mail Alerts

9Real-time Feedback Solutions

DIAG.5 SAMPLE CUSToMER joURNEy FRoM SWISS AIRLINES

Is the deployed system intelligent enough?

There are numerous systems available to evaluate

data. The main differences lie in their scalability

and controllability. The system you select needs a

memory and appropriate rules for exceptions,

priorities and escalation levels. The longer the

company journey, the more significant these

properties are. (DIAG. 5).

10Real-time Feedback Solutions

DIAG 6: EVERy ToUCHPoINT HAS A DIFFERENT EFFECT oN THE

CUSToMER ExPERIENCE.

D. METHODOLOGY REQUIREMENTS

Which is the right survey concept?

During the planning of a real-time feedback

management system, it’s especially important that

all parameters are aligned with one another. The

KPIs identified through touchpoint tracking must

be fed into a survey concept that is actually used.

otherwise the result is false results and ineffective

interaction and control maneuvers.

Which are the relevant KPIs?

Within the context of so-called touchpoint tracking,

the requirements for an effective real-time feed-

back management system need to be established.

Touchpoint tracking takes place along the entire

customer journey, in other words the path that a

customer takes with a company, including the first

contact via an Internet ad, through to visiting the

website and the purchase of a product, all the way

up to a call to a support hotline, and participation

in an annual customer survey via a smartphone.

The combination of all touchpoints is the basis

of the customer experience. Through analysis of

the interaction at each touchpoint, it’s possible to

define what influence each has on the customer

experience or, even better, on revenue. QuestBack

can currently measure and evaluate around

50 touchpoints. A study from McKinsey revealed

that a differentiated experience at touchpoints

is especially important. It showed that to a large

extent, the influence of different touchpoints is

dependent on whether a customer is still in the

consideration phase, or already in an evaluation or

buying decision phase. In the consideration phase,

he is mainly influenced by consumer-led marketing

such as test reviews or recommendations, and

rarely by interaction with sales people. *5

How do you get reliable results?

When it comes to alerts, it’s about asking the

right questions and helping customers at the right

moment (see survey concept). For reporting, tried

and trusted market research criteria are more impor-

tant. For segmentation and validation in particular,

the results must be selective and reliable. That’s

because the conclusions and resulting decisions

made on information extracted from the dashboard

can have a direct effect on revenue. Reliability is

therefore critical at this level of evaluation.

Mailing

Hotline

Cam-paign

Android appBrand

iPad app

PoS

Event

Twitter

You- tube

Face-book

Web-site

iPhone app

11Real-time Feedback Solutions

3. Customer case study HILTI – the exception is the rule

The following project analysis demonstrates

an example from HILTI, that demonstrates

what the actual implementation of a

real-time feedback management system

looks like, what the requirements were, and how the

three dimensions of process, IT and methodology

each played a role in the success of the project.

HILTI AG provides leading technology products,

systems and services to the construction industry.

Because two-thirds of its 22,000 strong workforce

are in sales and technology roles and have direct

contact with customers, there are around 200,000

touchpoints per day. Customer satisfaction is

therefore extremely important for HILTI.

Prerequisites

• Customer focus: As a premium provider, customer

service and feedback is particularly important.

As a result, Hilti has been measuring customer

satisfaction since 1994, making the company a

pioneer within the construction industry.

explains Steffen Müller, Head of Corporate Market

research at HILTI AG.

• Goal setting and touchpoint inventory: In

addition to regular telephone surveys on satisfaction

and loyalty, Hilti wanted to collect feedback

directly after each of the 200,000 daily contacts

with the company, such as a meeting with an

account manager, a sales conversation in a Hilti

center, an online order, a complaint to the hotline,

or the repair of a drill by an engineer. To measure

customer satisfaction at the “moment of truth”,

i.e. directly after an individual transaction, Hilti

decided in 2010 to extend the telephone survey

with an online survey.

200,000 daily touchpoints – customer satisfaction has the highest priority at HILTI

» The data on overall customer satisfaction and loyalty are a benchmark of success for us. They also influence the compensation of many employees, right up to management

level,«

12Real-time Feedback Solutions

DIAG. 8: ExAMPLE oF A REAL-TIME FEEDBACK QUESTIoNNAIRE

The technical implementation

• Technical solution: The online questionnaire

based on the enterprise feedback suite (EFS)

from QuestBack is connected through a direct

interface to Hilti’s SAP system. This makes the

buying history of each customer available for

analysis. The software is web-based, and can be

used within any standard browser. Completion

of the questionnaire is easy from a wide range of

digital devices.

The methodology

• Survey triggers and process: Hilti uses the

online questionnaire in 15 market organizations

with more than 80 % share of sales. Each customer

who has had some contact with an account

manager, a Hilti Center, an online order, the

hotline or a repair service is invited to partici-

pate via email. The online survey takes just two

minutes to complete, and is focused on the

current customer situation (DIAG.8). This ensures

valid data about a real customer case is produced.

DIAG. 7: RTF WoRKFLoW PRoCESS AT HILTI

CONTINUE

How satisfied are you with the recent visit from your Account Manager Please give a rating using a scale from 1 to 10 where 1 means »very dissatisfied« and 10 means »very satisfied«

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Don‘t know

10 - Very satisfied

1 - Very dissatisfied

Overall

Use of your time

Understands what you need

Open item

Quality of advice givenFLE

xIB

ILIT

Y F

OR

LO

CA

L Q

UE

ST

ION

S

13Real-time Feedback Solutions

Resulting processes

• Alerts and reporting: If a customer complains

in the online survey, the relevant team contacts

him within two working days to solve the problem.

says Steffen Müller. Through the evaluation of the

online survey, Hilti can strengthen relationships

between the customer and the company. The

evolution of customer satisfaction is illustrated

by weekly cockpit charts for every interaction

point.

• Overall benefit of the system: The values

for overall customer satisfaction and loyalty

have increased significantly since the introduc-

tion of real-time feedback in comparison with

the company’s closest competitors. In addi-

tion, a great deal of insight about process im-

provements has been generated, and Hilti has

received feedback from more than 18,000

customers, representing a significantly better

response rate of up to 20 %.

DIAG. 9: REAL-TIME FEEDBACK INFLUENCES THE FUNDAMENTAL STRUCTURE AND QUALITy CoNTRoL oF THE oRGANIzATIoN.

» Most customers are impressed with a call within 2 days of taking part in the online survey«,

14Real-time Feedback Solutions

4. Conclusion and Outlook

Real-time feedback management requires

a sophisticated and highly integrated

technical solution. However, the technical

concept and implementation are just two

of the building blocks for the entire concept. only

when all the requirements in terms of processes,

infrastructure, data and methodologies are fulfilled, is

it time to consider the technical integration. The effort

of fulfilling these requirements will be rewarded with

a measureable return on investment. Implementing

a real-time feedback management system lays the

foundations for a rapid, technology-driven enhance-

ment of the business, and the opportunities to use

feedback management as a strategic tool will only

grow in the future. It can be safely assumed that

within the next few years, new channels and new

global touchpoints will evolve that also need to be

integrated into the feedback system from a technical

and process perspective. The feedback loop is

becoming increasingly closed, as every touchpoint

can be covered within a survey, improvements are

made following every survey, interactions following

those improvements can themselves be evaluated,

and so on. This opens the way to the evolution of a

feedback economy that treats customer orientation

as the foundation of the business model. Studies show

that most companies have recognized the need for

action in this area. In a survey from DMA and neolane,

77% of the companies asked named personalization

in real-time, i.e. the individual and feedback-related

alignment of offers and content, as the most important

challenge facing their organizations. *6. The exciting

question is, to what extent these companies will ad-

dress this challenge, and develop and implement an

appropriate feedback strategy.

15Real-time Feedback Solutions

5. Real-time feedback management

A company’s willingness to drive a

measureable dialog with customers

along the entire length of the customer

journey usually indicates that the

organization has already taken the first step

along this path by orienting the entire structure

of the company towards customers.

In order for real-time feedback to have maximum

impact, the company must identify and analyze

the relevant touchpoints, and the challenges and

opportunities in interactions with customers. This

analysis can be used as the starting point for the col-

lection and evaluation of customer feedback, and

defining appropriate reactions to it. These preliminary

tasks determine how a company must organize

its processes, methodologies and IT landscape.

Particularly important here, is whether a customer

uses customer feedback to identify trends, or as

the basis for long-term management decisions.

All implementation scenarios have one thing in

common: To collect, analyze and react to customer

feedback as quickly as possible. Initial experiences

with real-time feedback show that fast reactions can

significantly affect customer loyalty, which in turn

has a direct impact on revenues. With its 200,000

touchpoints, Hilti has impressively demonstrated how

a flood of data can be transformed into increased

customer satisfaction and more repeat purchases.

This required a comprehensive integration with

existing IT systems like SAP, through which feedback

data is further enhanced and systematically utilized.

Because of the wide-ranging impact of real-time

feedback, its implementation is a key management

task and requires appropriate personnel and organi-

zational structures. As soon as these structures are

in place, future channels can be easily integrated into

the IT and process landscape and monetized.

The essentials at a glance

*1 SoURCE: “CoMMUNICATIoN. THE NEW RULES oF MARKETING“, DAVID C. EDELMANN, HARVARD BUSNIESS MANAGER, 2. AUGUST 2011

*2 SoURCE: BERND STAUSS, WoLFGANG SEIDEL, „CoMPLAINT MANAGEMENT UNHAPPy CUSToMERS AS PRoFITABLE TARGET GRoUP- “ , 4. EDITIoN

2007, HANSER PUBLISHERS, S. 27

*3 SoURCE: “BRANDING IN THE DIGITAL AGE” FRoM DAVID C. EDELMANN, QUoTED FRoM THE HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW

*4 SoURCE: “RESEARCH RoUNDUP FoR VoICE oF THE CUSToMER”, jIM DAVIES, GARTNER RESEARCH, 4. FEBRUARy 2013

*5 SoURCE: “THE CoNSUMER DECISIoN joURNEy”, MCKINSEy QUARTERLy 2009 NR. 3

*6 SoURCE: “REAL-TIME MARKETING INSIGHTS STUDy“, NEoLANE AND DMA, jULy 2013

www.questback.com

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CoMPAny PRofIlE

questback is a glObal leader in enterprise feedback ManageMent, Market research sOlutiOns, sOcial crM, custOMer experience ManageMent, and hr ManageMent.

the cOMpany‘s sOftware sOlutiOns enable OrganizatiOns tO gain actiOnable insights and build strOnger relatiOnships with custOMers and eMplOyees. fOunded in 2000, questback is head-quartered in OslO, nOrway and privately held with 17 Offices wOrldwide. MOre than 4,000 glObal custOMers rely On questback – including vOlvO, ernst & yOung, cOca-cOla and general Mills.