Note: stick with me here in the beginning.  I know what you’ll be thinking in a second: quit with the sales pitch.  I only do it to provide a context for my experience from the other day.  I promise.  Well, sort of…

At Questar, we measure the customer experience.  We help our clients deliver a consistent, superior experience for their customers, because consistent, superior experiences breed customer loyalty.  And loyalty equates to sales growth.

It’s what we do.

In our industry, customers are typically invited to provide feedback through transaction-based invitations, meaning that you purchase a good or service and then the invitation is printed on your receipt or emailed to you as a follow up.  When customers participate in the survey they’re asked to rate the recent experience across all critical touch points, such as: greeting at the door, friendliness of cashier, wait time in line, etc.

The two critical bits of information here are: transaction-based and critical touch points.

So…let’s get to my recent experiences.  One is an experience I actually had and one is the experience of a good friend—let’s call him Mike.  Mike recently purchased a Blu-ray player and some necessary components from a large retailer.  And he received a survey invitation on his receipt as part of the transaction.  But after he set up the player, he realized that one of components was the wrong part.  When he went to exchange the component the retailer would only provide him store credit because the box had been opened, even though they didn’t carry the right component.  Even after he got the manager involved.

And the component cost $80!

When I asked Mike if he’d shop again at the retailer, he simply answered: no way in…(insert your own expletive).  Needless to say, he didn’t get a survey invitation as part of his return experience.

Now, contrast that with my recent experience at a national retailer.  I went to return a mechanical stuffed animal that didn’t work properly.  It was raining out—yes, it was raining in Minnesota in January!  On the way into the retailer I fumbled the animal and it fell into a small puddle.  My first thought: I’m stuck now with this $25 defunct mechanical animal.  But guess what?  The retailer took it back.

And they gave me cash.

Would I shop again at the retailer?  My answer: a resounding yes!  But…I still didn’t get a survey invitation as part of my return experience.  I didn’t get to tell them how impressed I was with the service.

Remember those two critical bits of information I mentioned earlier?  As I was thinking about these two experiences, I was reminded that every customer interaction, every customer touch point, matters.  And if, for some reason, you’re only measuring the customer experience through transaction-based invitations you’re missing important pieces to the customer experience puzzle.

The moral of the story as I see it: Mike’s purchase went well.  It was a superior customer experience.  But he isn’t coming back.  So if you’re not measuring every customer touch point, then how can you be certain you’re delivering a consistent, superior experience?  How can you be certain you’re maximizing customer loyalty and, in turn, sales growth?

You can’t.

As you might have noticed—and maybe not—we have our very first poll live on the Questar home page.  We’re interested in what you think.  Click here to tell us if return policies impact your shopping decisions: www.questarweb.com

– Joseph Stanton, VP Business and Product Development