Customer Insight Winter 2019/20

www.tlfresearch.com | Winter 2019/20

INSIDE: Driver analysis best practice Visual thinking Swearing for robots Driving retail footfall Qualitative research

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Book before the end of February 2020 to take advantage of the early bird discount.

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He’s worked with some of the most successful businesses in the world, helping them to change the way they think about ‘the customer’.

EXCELLENT MIX OF THEORY,

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EDITORIAL

Foresight Welcome to the Winter issue of Customer

thinking, and gives some useful tips for those (like

Insight. As we move into a new decade (no

me) who want to use visualisation but lack any

doubt the New Year already feels like a distant

discernible talent.

memory!), what are the key trends to watch out

It’s not new, but driver analysis is, it’s fair to

for? I’ve learned to be wary of making too many

say, a term used by an awful lot of people who

predictions, but I have a feeling that one of the

don’t really know what it is they’re asking for, and

trends that we’ll start to see over the next few

is often misapplied. On page 6 we introduce what

Stephen Hampshire

years is a sorting of the wheat from the chaff. The

it is, how it works, and talk through the pros and

Editor

2010s was a decade characterised by hype over

cons of several of the statistical techniques that all

delivery, by over-inflated IPOs and implausible

go by the name “driver analysis”.

technology claims.

Is this the decade when the high street starts to

When it comes to technology we may be

turn around? On page 23 Michael Rolph from Yoyo

entering, if not another “AI winter”, then a period

shares some ideas for driving footfall, despite the

of understanding exactly what the limitations of

impact of digital disruption.

machine learning are, and a period of figuring out

In a packed issue we also have articles on

where that will and won’t add value for businesses

how to use qualitative insight to get under the

and their customers. ContactEngine are one of

surface of what customers tell you (page 25), a

the most interesting companies working in the

review of The Customer Catalyst (page 32), TLF

field of applying artificial intelligence as a means

founder Nigel Hill on our enduring gullibility

to improve customer communication. Doing that

(page 34), and Rachel Allen continues her series

well means training robots to deal with language

on what organisations can do to get the most out

as it’s really used…and that includes a nuanced

of working with a research agency—in this issue

understanding of profanity (page 20). We’ve left it

(page 16) she talks through designing the perfect

unexpurgated, so please skip that one if you’re of a

brief.

sensitive disposition.

Enjoy the articles, and please drop us a line

This may be the decade when visual thinking breaks through. Our guest feature (page 11) from

if you’ve got an interesting story to share for a future issue.

Stuart Young explains the importance of visual

ADVERTISING Marketing Manager Richard Crowther

Customer Insight is the magazine for people who want to deliver results to employees, customers and any other stakeholders as part of a coherent strategy to create value for shareholders. We publish serious articles designed to inform, stimulate debate and sometimes to provoke.

DESIGN & PRODUCTION Creative Director Rob Ward

We aim to be thought leaders in the field of managing relationships with all stakeholder groups.

Designers Becka Crozier Jordan Gillespie Rob Egan

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CONTACTS

EDITORIAL Editor Stephen Hampshire

PRINTER AB Print Group Ltd

Customer Insight C/O TLF Research Taylor Hill Mill Huddersfield HD4 6JA

NB: Customer Insight does not accept responsibility for omissions or errors. The points of view expressed in the articles by contributing writers and/or in advertisements included in this magazine do not necessarily represent those of the publisher. Whilst every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained within this magazine, no legal responsibility will be accepted by the publishers for loss arising from use of information published.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or stored in a retrievable system or transmitted in any form

or by any means without prior written consent of the publisher. © CUSTOMER INSIGHT 2020

ISSN 1749-088X

www.tlfresearch.com | Winter 2019/20 Customer Insight 3

C O N T E N T S

06

W I N T E R

Driver Analysis: Are You Answering the Right Question?

To use driver analysis well you need to understand that the pros and cons of different techniques make them good at different things.

2 0 1 9 / 2 0

16

Give Yourself a Fighting Chance Rachel from TLF lays out some tips for writing a great research brie

Visual Thinking Stuart Young on the importance of visual thinking, and how to incorporate it into your day to day life at work.

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IC

ITY

12

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CONTRIBUTORS

FO

R CUSTO MER

CE

N

Nigel Hill

Rachel Allen

Stephen Hampshire

Wine-lover, Munroist and customer satisfaction guru

Customer satisfaction evangelist, author and lover of the outdoors

Conference speaker, book-lover and occasional climber

4 Customer Insight Winter 2019/20 | www.tlfresearch.com

RESEARCH Driver Analysis: Are You Answering the Right Question?

06

20

Training computers to understand the creative ways in which we use language is hard, and bad language is an interesting example.

23

Digital disruption may seem to be decimating the high street, but are there ways for retailers to fight back?

25

How can you use qualitative insight to understand customers, beyond simply quoting what they say?

32

Book Review The Customer Catalyst

34

How Hard Can It Be? Nigel Hill on our gullibility and Black Friday deals

GUEST FEATURE Visual Thinking 12

RESEARCH Give Yourself a Fighting Chance

16

DIGITAL Swearing for Robots 101

20

GUEST FEATURE 5 Ways for High Street Retailers to Drive Footfall

23

RESEARCH Lighting the Way With Qualitative Insight 25

BOOK REVIEW The Customer Catalyst

32

HOW HARD CAN IT BE? Are We as Gullible as Ever?

34

Published by

DESIGNERS

ef.

CONTENTS

Becka Crozier

Jordan Gillespie

Rob Egan

Right brain mastermind, music enthusiast and have I told you I’m vegan?

Creative magus, genuine tyke and 20ft wave rider

Beer drinker, pixel pusher and dour Yorkshireman

www.tlfresearch.com | Winter 2019/20 Customer Insight 5

DRIVER ANALYSIS ARE YOU ANSWERING THE RIGHT QUESTION? “Driver analysis” is

to the very complex, but over time we’ve

But what exactly do we mean by impact?

a term which describes a

settled on a few favourite tools that work

If we break it down to the simplest possible

reliably well.

example, what we’re looking at is the

set of related techniques that

relationship between two variables, which we’ll

can be used to help organisations know which elements of the customer

What is it?

call “X” and “Y”. You can see in figure 1 that we have 8 pairs of scores for X and Y. Is there a

experience have most impact on crucial

link between them? Well they’re not identical,

outcomes such as overall satisfaction,

What exactly is driver analysis? People

recommendation or NPS, and loyalty

talk about it as a singular thing, but the truth

but you can probably see that people have

behaviours such as retention.

is that a whole range of different statistical

tended to give similar scores – either both low,

techniques are commonly used under the

both middling, or both high.

The different techniques available have

It’s a lot easier to see what’s going on if we

different strengths and weaknesses, and

umbrella term “driver analysis”. The idea is

unfortunately customer experience data

to understand how much impact different

plot those pairs of points on a scatter graph,

has some unique properties that make it

aspects of the customer experience have on

with the values of X on the X axis and the

difficult to analyse effectively. That means

some outcome variable. Often that outcome is

values of Y on the Y axis, so that we can see

that many organisations end up using

overall satisfaction or intention to recommend,

how the two variables work together. How

an approach that is not really best suited

but there’s no reason that it couldn’t be any

strong is the link? If we put a line of best fit

to the business question they want to

variable you’re interested in, such as retention

through the dots we can see that there’s a

address.

or share of spend.

strong relationship (the line is nearly at 45

In this article we’ll look at how driver analysis works, and how the different strengths and weaknesses of different approaches mean that choosing the right one depends on being clear on what question you’re asking. We’ll start by explaining what driver analysis is, and what some of the business questions it can help you address are. We’ll also take a quick not-too-technical look at

10 X

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5

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6

9

8

10

9

8 7 6 Y 5

how it works. Finally, we’ll finish with some recommendations as to what a gold standard approach would consist of.

As specialists in customer experience research, we spend a lot of time analysing

r=0.93

Y

4 3 2 1

customer data in order to help our clients

1

understand what the key drivers are.

2

that analysis ranges from the very simple

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4

5

6 X

Depending on the needs of each client Fig.1: Correlation between 2 variables

6 Customer Insight Winter 2019/20 | www.tlfresearch.com

7

8

9

10

RESEARCH

degrees), and the points are clustered close to the line. We can summarise that relationship in a

help you pick apart that mess, so that you can

single number – the correlation coefficient, which is referred to as “r”, and varies from 0 to 1. In

understand the strength of the relationship

this case the correlation, albeit on a very small sample size, is extremely strong at over 0.9.

between your outcome variable and the set of

Correlation underpins all of the more complex techniques we’ll look at, so it’s important to wrap your head round the basics of how this works. A strong relationship doesn’t necessarily mean

predictors.

It will give you a clear sense of which of the

people giving precisely the same score for both variables, it means there is a consistent pattern in

predictors is most important, and the ability

the way people score them…in statistical terms they tend to “covary”, or move together.

to predict what effect changes to any of those

That was a highly simplified example. What does it look like in practice? Something more like

predictors would have on the outcome.

figure 2, with a lot more data, and a lot more noise in the relationship. You can see a few people who have scored 1 for one of the variables and 10 for the other. Overall, though, there is again a tendency for people to score X and Y in a similar way. That tendency gives us a correlation

What questions can driver analysis address?

coefficient of 0.4, a low to moderate correlation in customer research.

Those statistical questions translate to

10 r=0.4 9

important business questions. Unfortunately it’s not always easy for organisations to articulate which questions they are most interested in.

8

There are basically three questions that

7

driver analysis can help you with: • What’s important to customers?

6 Y

• What’s making a difference?

5

• What would happen if we changed the predictor (perhaps by improving satisfaction or

4

reducing hold times)?

Those are all good questions, but

3

unfortunately they are not necessarily best

2

addressed by any one single technique. Let’s have a look at some concrete examples, and

1 1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

X

how they relate to the questions we might be interested in.

Fig.2: A real-world correlation

Importance We can interpret that in three ways: • First, we can say that X has a significant,

Simple correlations like this are extremely useful…but they do have a fatal flaw. What

If you want to know what matters most to

but not strong, impact on Y. Improving X

we’re doing with correlation is looking at the

customers, then the best way is to ask them

should lead to an increase in Y, but there’s a

information in our outcome variable, in this

– stated importance tells you what matters.

good chance another predictor would have a

case overall satisfaction, and the information in

So sometimes the best approach to driver

stronger impact.

our predictor variable, let’s say product quality.

analysis may be not to use driver analysis!

• We could use it to make predictions, so if I

You can think of the correlation

know that your score for X is 8, I know that

coefficient as the proportion of that

your score for overall satisfaction is likely to be

information that is shared between variables.

between 6 and 7.

If we repeat the exercise for another

• We could also use this chart to answer “what if?”

find that as well as correlating with overall

X by 1pt, how much would Y go up by?”

satisfaction, there is also a strong correlation between the two predictors, as shown in

Product reliability

figure 3. Which makes sense, doesn’t it?

You’re unlikely to think my products are great quality if they keep breaking down.

That means that some of the overlap with overall satisfaction ends up being double counted. This is a phenomenon known as “multicollinearity”, and it’s the curse of customer research. In practice, every single item on the questionnaire is correlated with every other item.

The real art of driver analysis is to unpick all this overlapping information and give the

Overall satisfaction Fig.3: Correlation as shared information

9.5

Staff understanding your complaint 9.4

predictor, let’s say product reliability, we’ll

questions, specifically “If I increase the score for

Product quality

Being treated fairly

Helpfulness of staff 9.4

Staff listening to your complaint 9.3

Staff keeping you informed 9.2

Ease of registering a complaint 9.2

Time taken to resolve your complaint 9.1

Explanation of steps in the process 9.0

Time taken to respond 8.9

The level of empathy shown by staff 8.6

credit to the correct predictors. So, what is driver analysis? It’s a set of tools designed to

Fig.4: Stated importance

www.tlfresearch.com | Winter 2019/20 Customer Insight 7

RESEARCH

Impact

GIVENS

DRIVERS Being treated fairly

If you want to understand the strength of the links between each variable and overall

Staff understanding Helpfulness

satisfaction, then a simple correlation (like we’ve already looked at) is a good bet. It’s

Staff listening

easy, doesn’t need huge sample sizes, and assumptions about the nature of the data (which becomes more of a concern with some more advanced techniques).

Keeping you informed

Ease of registering

Stated importance

requires you to make very few theoretical

Time to resolve Explanation of steps Time to respond

Being treated fairly 0.8

Staff understanding your complaint 0.7

Helpfulness of staff 0.8

Empathy

Staff listening to your complaint

Impact

0.7

Staff keeping you informed 0.8

Ease of registering a complaint

Fig.6: Importance & Impact combined This combines the predictors together to

competitors. This matrix view helps you to

0.4

Time taken to resolve your complaint 0.8

Explanation of steps in the process 0.8

HIDDEN OPPORTUNITIES

understand how customers see all aspects of

give us an overall measure of impact for all

their experience right now.

predictors on the outcome variable, usually reported as R squared. In this instance the R

Breaking down the drivers

squared is a very respectable 0.85, which can be thought of as meaning we can explain 85%

Time taken to respond

The issue with correlation, as we’ve seen, is

0.7

The level of empathy shown by staff

multicollinearity. There is a danger of double-

of overall satisfaction.

Unfortunately, our problems with

counting some of the impact on overall

multicollinearity are not over. That overall

satisfaction, particularly if the questionnaire

0.85 is useful, but multiple regression does

includes too many questions which are very

not do a good job of understanding the

similar. This often happens, for instance,

contribution of each predictor when they’re

when the questionnaire has a large number of

strongly correlated. As you can see in figure

strong the link between each predictor and

items about staff (friendliness, helpfulness,

7, instead of allocating the overlapping

the outcome is and, if you have a good

professionalism, etc.).

information fairly, it tends to award it all to

0.8 Fig.5: Impact/correlation Correlation puts an upper bound on how

questionnaire, in most cases the conclusions

one or two key drivers, which then seem to

There is a statistical tool which aims

you draw from it will not be radically

to tackle this, and give us a measure of

totally dominate, as “Being treated fairly”

different from more complex techniques.

impact when looking at all the predictor

does here. If the question you want the

variables together. This is known as multiple

answer to is “Which one thing should I invest

regression, and it’s what people usually

in?”, then this is a reasonable answer. But if

mean when they use the phrase “key driver

it’s “How important are all of these?”, then

analysis”.

it’s extremely misleading.

A rounded view Combining importance and impact (which we use as a synonym for correlation) into one

Being treated fairly

chart, as in figure 6, gives a useful picture of both what matters most to customers

Staff understanding your complaint

and what’s making a difference right now.

but low impact. We call those “Givens” or “Hygiene factors”, meaning that as long as there is not much dissatisfaction there is probably little to be gained from investing in further improvement.

Where stated importance tends to be

Staff listening to your complaint

often very dynamic – reacting to changes in your performance and that of your

0.0 -0.1

Staff keeping you informed Ease of registering a complaint

0.1 -0.1

Time taken to resolve your complaint

0.3

Explanation of steps in the process

relatively slow to change, impact coefficients (and other driver analysis techniques) are

0.0

Helpfulness of staff

Dividing the chart into a quadrant can identify areas which are high in importance

0.5

Time taken to respond The level of empathy shown by staff Fig.7: Exaggerated key drivers with regression

8 Customer Insight Winter 2019/20 | www.tlfresearch.com

0.2 0.0 0.1

R2=.85

RESEARCH

Relative importance analysis

a straightforward way. They’re the gold

driven by an innate psychological bias we all

standard for explaining the contribution of

share called the “halo effect”.

predictors, but they can’t make predictions.

Is there a way of getting to a fairer The failings of multiple regression are well

Dealing with multicollinearity

questionnaire correlate with each other, and to group together those that seem

known, and a number of techniques have been developed to address it, collectively known as relative importance analysis.

Figure 8 shows the output of the gold standard technique, known as lmg, Shapley Value Regression, or True Driver Analysis amongst other terms.

very similar. A family of statistical

Let’s go back and start again. We’ve mentioned it a few times, and it’s true that

methods known as “dimension reduction

our big problem is multicollinearity. Is there

techniques”, including factor analysis and

a way to tackle that issue head on?

principal components analysis amongst

The first place to look is not analysis, but your questionnaire. The chances are that it’s too long, and if it looks like you’re

Being treated fairly 0.16

Staff understanding your complaint 0.07

Helpfulness of staff 0.08

Staff listening to your complaint 0.07

Staff keeping you informed 0.10

Ease of registering a complaint 0.02

One approach to this is to study the patterns in the way items on the

breakdown of the contribution? Yes there is.

others, help you to do this in a data-driven way.

In this instance, although everything

measuring the same thing in two, or three,

is correlated with everything else, the

or more different ways, then it suggests that

data suggest that there may be three main

something is fundamentally wrong with your

groupings: “Ease of registering” on its own,

research. A questionnaire that discriminates

and then a bundle of process related items

badly between drivers is one that is painful

and a bundle of staff related items.

for customers, and is difficult for you to

If we combine the information in those

action. It’s a really unhealthy sign. So a

bundles, as in figure 9, we can soak up a lot

questionnaire with a smaller list of more

of the collinearity that we’ve been struggling

distinct items will work much better.

with, and create a more reliable model which

Within reason, though, multicollinearity is an inevitable part of customer research,

Time taken to resolve your complaint

reflects how customers think about their relationship with you.

Ease of registering

0.12

Explanation of steps in the process 0.08

7%

Time taken to respond

(PLS-PM etc.)

0.06

The level of empathy shown by staff 0.08

Time to respond Explanation

Fig.8: Balanced drivers with relative importance analysis

PROCESS

Keeping you informed Time to resolve

39%

Overall satisfaction

As you can see, it gives us a picture of the relative contribution of each predictor which looks far more intuitively sound. Some drivers are more important than others, but the differences are not as extreme as multiple regression suggested.

Relative importance works by parcelling out the overall R squared, so it can also be interpreted in a very straightforward way as the percentage of the outcome variable that

34% Staff listening Staff understanding Helpfulness

STAFF

Empathy R2=80%

Being treated fairly Fig.9: A two-stage driver model

each predictor accounts for, meaning that in this instance “Being treated fairly” accounts Those bundles can then be used in a two-

large sample sizes (of the order of 10-20

to resolve” accounts for 12%, and so on. If we

stage model, combining dimension reduction

cases per variable). If you have the data,

add up all those percentages it totals 85%...

techniques with multiple regression, to give us

though, it’s definitely worth considering.

which is the overall ability of our list of items

the benefits of multiple regression without the

to account for overall satisfaction.

weaknesses. A number of different methods

for 16% of overall satisfaction, “Time taken

This is great, because it means that this

In the real world

exist to construct and test models which

is not only the gold standard in terms of

look like this, of which the gold standard for

methodological rigour, it’s actually very easy

customer experience research is Partial Least

data, things are never quite as clear-cut as

to explain to people as well.

Squares Path Modelling, or PLS-PM.

they seem in the textbooks. There are lots

Inevitably, there’s a catch. What relative

By now you’re probably wondering what

In the real world, dealing with real messy

of potential traps, but I want to discuss

importance techniques do not allow you

the catch is. Apart from the fact that it’s

three specific things which can make driver

to do is answer “what if” questions in

difficult, the main problem is that it requires

analysis difficult in practice.

www.tlfresearch.com | Winter 2019/20 Customer Insight 9

RESEARCH

Missing Data Promoters

76%

First, and perhaps most serious, is missing data. All the people who answer “not applicable” instead of giving you a score, and even the people who have been

Passives

41%

asked one set of questions but not another because of routing on your questionnaire.

Some techniques, such as correlation, are reasonably robust in the face of missing

Detractors

34%

data. Correlation uses pairwise deletion, so it includes all the data it can based on matching pairs of scores.

Fig.10: A non-linear link

All the more complex techniques find it much harder to deal with missing data,

your 95% confidence interval range is from

approach to driver analysis look like?

because they default to something called

0.32 to 0.72. The correlation is statistically

• Start with correlation. It’s simple, it isn’t as

listwise deletion, which means that anyone

significant, in other words we’re sure it

affected by missing data, and it makes fewer

with any missing data is completely

exists, but we’re pretty hazy about exactly

assumptions than more complex techniques. It

excluded from the analysis. That’s a real

how strong it really is.

will give you a good steer on what the drivers

problem, because it means even a scattering

With techniques such as multiple

of missing values can easily leave us with

regression most researchers recommend

hardly any valid cases to analyse.

a sample size of at least 10 valid cases per

are, and frankly is probably the best measure for most organisations most of the time.

• Combine it with stated importance for a full

variable included in the model. That’s not

understanding of how your customers see each

replacing missing values with an average

usually a problem at an overall level, but it

aspect of the experience right now, and you’ll

(which biases any links towards zero), to

can be an issue when you want to break the

have a tool that allows you to monitor the

replacing them with predicted values (which

results down by subgroups such as customer

overestimates our certainty about how strong

type or demographics.

There are ways to deal with this, from

links are). The gold standard is something called multiple imputation, which is not used

makes sense to use dimension reduction

The assumption of linearity

anywhere near as often as it should be.

In practice, the important thing is to

ongoing evolution of customer needs.

• Especially if your questionnaire is long, it techniques to look for patterns and groups.

This can help you to understand how

One final thing to watch out for is that, if

customers think.

examine your missing data so that you can

you think back to the scatter plot we started

make informed decisions about it, and often

out with and the fit line we added, all of the

difference to your outcome variable right

the best solution is to build separate models

techniques we’ve discussed assume that the

now, then relative importance techniques are

for separate groups of customers (such as

relationships we’re looking at are linear, and

the best way to break that down. They’re far

those who have answered the questions about

that may well not be the case.

superior to multiple regression for this, and

online versus those who have answered the ones about phone).

It usually holds relatively well for items on a survey, but if you want to look at the link between survey data and actual

Sample size

• If you want to know what’s making a

you really should make the switch if you need to know what matters.

• If your questionnaire lends itself to breaking

customer behaviour, such as the repurchase

into bundles of related questions, or if you

rates shown in figure 10, then you need

want to investigate more sophisticated causal

to make sure you look out for non-linear

modelling techniques, then partial least

problem, which is that advanced techniques

relationships such as this one. The links

squares path modelling is the best technique

require large sample sizes.

between your behaviour, customer attitudes,

for customer data. Be prepared for a lot of

and then on to customer behaviours are

hard work, and make sure you have good

often non-linear.

sample sizes available, but if you can make it

Missing data compounds a second

Correlation coefficients, and all the measures of impact from more sophisticated techniques, have margins of error, just

If you don’t consider that possibility,

work you’ll be doing some of the most robust analysis it’s possible to do with customer data.

like any other figure you deal with in

there’s a severe danger that you will

survey analysis. These margins of error are

underestimate how strong the links really

often larger than we’d like them to be, so

are. I suspect this is one of the reasons

remember that some of the most interesting

sample sizes are something you should take

that some organisations have a hard time

links you investigate may be non-linear.

seriously.

proving the financial benefit of customer

So what do I mean by a “large” sample?

• Finally, whichever route you go down,

satisfaction.

You shouldn’t even think of looking at a correlation unless you have a minimum of

Best practice

that the confidence interval will be quite

Stephen Hampshire Client Manager

at least 50 cases, and you should be aware So we’ve looked at a whole range of

wide. To give a specific example, with a

techniques with some of their strengths

sample size of 50 and a correlation of 0.55,

and weaknesses. What does a best practice

10 Customer Insight Winter 2019/20 | www.tlfresearch.com

TLF Research stephenhampshire@leadershipfactor.com

W NE

W NE

UNDERSTAND & EXPLORE

PLAN & ACT

HALF DAY BRIEFING

HALF DAY BRIEFING

New for 2020, this half day briefing focuses on using qualitative research tools to understand customers better, so that you can use the “lens of the customer” for future research and to improve the customer experience.

New for 2020, this half day briefing looks at what happens after the survey. Many great pieces of research are wasted because their findings are not acted upon. In this briefing we’ll look at some tried and tested methods to turn insight into action, and combine research with internal workshops to deliver change.

We’d recommend delegates also attend the second in this series; ‘Plan & Act’. These briefings have been designed to complement each other and will give you an overview of an effective customer research approach.

DATES:

We’d recommend delegates also attend the first in this series; ‘Understand & Explore’. These briefings have been designed to complement each other and will give you a complete overview of an effective customer research approach.

DATES:

11th March 2020

London

11th March 2020

09:15-12:30

13:15-16:30

£160 (ex VAT)

£160 (ex VAT)

London

TED DA

UP

CUSTOMER JOURNEY MAPPING

STORYTELLING

FULL DAY BRIEFING

FULL DAY INTERACTIVE WORKSHOP

Customer journey mapping is a crucial meeting ground for customer experience research, service design, management and communications.

Stories are the most effective way to engage, move, and persuade.

Whether it’s a board presentation, internal comms, or customer feedback; building storytelling techniques into reporting and communication is the best way to make insights memorable.

Mapping the customer journey is an essential part of gaining control over the customer experience, and it is also a great way to help staff understand customers and how they may be feeling.

People are natural storytellers, but when it comes to business communication it’s often difficult to see how to apply those talents to the messages we need to convey.

This full day workshop outlines the steps you must follow, and the sources of information and insight you need in place, to effectively map the customer journey.

In this workshop we’ll work through a series of exercises to help you craft your own story (complete with hero, key messages, conflict, and payoff). Along the way we’ll discuss the theories that support effective storytelling, and showcase a range of techniques and examples you can use.

DATES:

DATES:

17th March 2020

London

29th April 2020

09:15-16:30

09:15-16:30

£300 (ex VAT)

£300 (ex VAT)

London

Book online at tlfresearch.com or call 01484 467004

ITY

IC TR

FO

CE R R CUSTO ME

90% of information transmitted to the brain is visual, so isn’t it time you opted for a simpler and quicker way to tell a compelling customer story in a way that will stick? The written word alone can create a level of uncertainty and ambiguity. This is where the power of visualisation can play a fundamental role.

Visual thinking is becoming ever so popular yet there is still so much untapped potential when it comes to talking about customers, communicating about the customer experience, and designing improvements.

In this article I want to make the case to bring a visual angle to your view of the customer, and how you can enhance communication with your colleagues.

12 Customer Insight Winter 2019/20 | www.tlfresearch.com

N

G U E S T F E AT U R E

Why visualisation?

Visual Thinking can play a significant role in accelerating learning, solving problems and generating ideas.

regardless of whether you actually have a house with a chimney or windows. This is because you are conditioned to draw using

As a design graduate, well versed in methods of Design Thinking and Agile ways

a universal language, a language that you

of working, I make use of visualisation

have used since you were a child. This

techniques to support working groups to

universal language enables working groups

cultivate group learning through pictures

to collaborate effectively. You can imagine

whilst encouraging others to take to the flip

how powerful this is when visualising such

chart and draw.

things as a customer journey, moving away from abstractions that can be created with

That’s right — you don’t need to have a design degree to visualise. When we talk

the written word and finding a level of

about visualisation what we are really talking

alignment.

about is visual literacy.

Blending Visual Thinking and Design Thinking

As children we are often introduced to literature in the form of picture books and learn how to associate the pictures with meaning by navigating the pictures on a page way before we learn to read and

It’s no surprise that the best products,

A shared language

services and customer experiences can

write. So when we refer to visual thinking we are describing our ability to interpret,

only be designed around the basic needs, If I asked you to draw a house right now

aspirations, emotions and motivations of

comprehend, and express ideas by using or

the chances are you would draw 2 windows

your end users. Far too often an organisation

creating visuals.

either side of a door and a smoking chimney

focuses on maximising delivery with

www.tlfresearch.com | Winter 2019/20 Customer Insight 13

G U E S T F E AT U R E

technical enhancements that are both feasible

binding what a group is thinking about

their birth at the Walt Disney Studio in the

and viable from a business perspective yet

without influencing what is presented by each

1930s, they still remain an essential tool for

fail to tick the desirability box. In certain

individual.

story sequencing and elaborating ideas before

situations Agile teams might also be guilty of

It will be no surprise for you to hear that

investing in producing physical products and services.

maximising delivery and building the ‘thing

visual thinking techniques can be explored at

right’ yet failing to build the ‘right thing’?

every stage of the Design Thinking Cycle and

The beauty of a storyboard is the way

embedded as a common practice within Agile

a reader will naturally follow the flow of

teams. From the creation of rough low fidelity

information from left to right and top to

sketches and prototypes to test and validate

bottom, narrating a process or journey from

design ideas, to the use of graphic metaphors

beginning to end. You must ask yourself

and templates during team retrospectives.

what are the most salient points you wish to

Whatever the method the key motivations

communicate with an audience, and what the

for visual thinking remain to generate ideas

key milestones are that you need to identify

and solve problems, offering fast effective

along the journey. Having a limited number

feedback and learning.

of frames at your disposal is a helpful control

“You’ve got to start with the customer experience and work backward to technology.”

measure and a powerful way to emphasise vital information.

Storyboarding for communication

“Your story’s moments should be like a dot to dot puzzle. Remove one dot and you change the shape

An increasingly popular Visual thinking

of the story.”

-Steve Jobs

The first stage of Design Thinking focuses on discovering a sense of understanding towards the people that will use your products and services. This discovery phase requires an element of ethnographic research which can take the form of dreary documentation or engaging visuals that paint a clear picture of customer needs.

Fortunately, there is a range of visual thinking tools at your fingertips.

Dave Gray’s Empathy Mapping and

business tool is creative storyboarding,

-Scott McCloud

which can be used to aid team alignment,

Strategizer’s Value Proposition canvas help

gain stakeholder engagement and keep

teams to collectively delve deeper into the

the customer at the heart of product and

behaviours and motivations of end users.

service creation. Most commonly linked

The beauty of templates such as these is that

to comics, storyboards expand on the use

problem or a potential issue with a current

they embrace both divergent and convergent

of visual narration, where pictures trump

process, introduce storyboarding within your

thinking, offering individuals the opportunity

words as a more favoured method for

teams for a clear and captivating way to

to share unique ideas whilst aligning a group

conveying information. Whilst comic art and

present a business need and solve a customer

on a specific theme. Much like a framework

storyboarding have evolved somewhat since

problem.

14 Customer Insight Winter 2019/20 | www.tlfresearch.com

So if you are faced with a user experience

G U E S T F E AT U R E

If you want to get started here are my top 3 tips: • Communication over decoration - it’s not about creating a masterpiece • Simplicity is key - keep things simple, you just need to communicate an idea • Process over art - remember it’s about collaboration and group learning

Storyboarding a Customer Journey You guessed it, what better way to visualise a customer journey than a visual storyboard?

In the fields of user experience, service design and design thinking, storyboarding is applied as a way of recognising the needs of an end user. By building a picture of your customers' experiences you can walk through current customer journeys frame by frame, and identify key pain points which can become levers for change leading to desirable products and services. This approach can be explored throughout the fruition of a product lifecycle from gaining customer insight, to testing the experience of a new feature. Inspecting, adapting, pivoting and persevering based on the needs and motivations of your customers.

Useful Tips Hopefully I’ve convinced you of the power of visual thinking to improve your understanding of customers, and communicate persuasively with your colleagues.

Stuart Young Innovation Practice Lead Radtac

Stuart Young describes himself as a Business Visualiser, Agile Enthusiast, Design-Thinker and Empathy driven storyteller. When Stuart is not assisting businesses to simplify complexity through live illustration he is facilitating a suite of Design Thinking and Visual Thinking Skills workshops that catalyse customer centric creativity and innovation.

You can find him on: LinkedIn, Twitter @Stuartliveart, and stuart.young@radtac.com

www.tlfresearch.com | Winter 2019/20 Customer Insight 15

RESEARCH

16 Customer Insight Winter 2019/20 | www.tlfresearch.com

RESEARCH

At TLF, as you might expect, we receive

respond to a brief we are being tested. We

TIP: A research brief does not have to be long and

quite a number of research briefs and tender

are not just being given a chance to tender

it does not have to be detailed. It does not have to

documents. Not every project we conduct

for the work we are also being measured on

contain all the information listed in this article.

is the result of a formal briefing document,

our ‘listening’ skills, for example whether

However, pick out the key information that you

and we don’t always need one. Sometimes a

we are answering the question, adhering to

feel will be important for the agency to respond

couple of calls is all we need to get us on our

the required number of words, or meeting

accurately to your brief. Remember a credible

way to producing a great piece of research

stated budgetary restraints. In some cases,

agency may want to ask questions to fill in any

that gives our clients what they need. That

pitching in with a new idea can be viewed

gaps in their knowledge, so give them contact

said, some organisations employ a more

as an inability to interpret or answer the

details of someone they can talk to to help them

formal procurement process and the brief

questions and be counted as a black mark or

put together their proposal. This may save time

forms part of this.

‘no-no’. This doesn’t work for either side.

in the long run.

The briefs we receive vary considerably

In this article, I am going to take you

1) Background

in quality. We receive some excellent briefs.

through what you need to consider when

It’s fair to say that in most cases no brief

writing your brief. I am not suggesting you

is better than a ‘bad’ brief. But what is the

include everything I’ve listed every time

outcome of a bad brief? At worst, a bad brief

you commission work but hopefully there

understand your organisation, your

can mean you end up with paid-for research

are some useful pointers that will help you

customers and the markets you operate in.

that does not give you what you want or

on your way to getting the research you are

need. It is an expensive wasted opportunity.

looking for.

appropriately and make worthwhile

The structure of your brief

customers and revisit the exercise without irritating them or even breaching a few

may not have thought of.

What sort of information should you include?

Put simply, your brief needs to flow

process because the agency’s response does

logically to help the research agency

not correspond with the exercise you had in

understand your organisation, what you are

mind. This can be waste of valuable time as

looking for and why.

well as being costly.

As an agency we want to deliver first-

suggestions or recommendations that you

Why does the structure matter?

rules and regulations. At best, it may mean that you have to repeat the procurement

An agency that understands you is in a good position to answer your brief

Worse still, it may be a lost opportunity because you can’t simply go back to

This is your chance to help the agency

• What does your organisation do; what products or services do you offer?

• What is your company history? Is it a parent company or part of a group?

The more accurately the agency

• What is your turnover?

understands your needs, the more likely it is

• What is your market share?

class research and meet our clients’

that their proposal will meet those needs and

• What markets or sector do you operate in?

objectives. If help and guidance is required

help you to achieve your research objectives.

• Who are your competitors?

we are happy to provide this, we don’t need asking twice. What can sometimes be a little frustrating for us is when a client

• Who are you customers and where are they?

Broadly speaking, a research brief should

• Why do your customers use you?

• What is your strategy?

follow the structure below:

is very specific about what they want, it is

1. Background

clear to us that their preferred approach will

2. Objectives

not deliver, yet there is no way for us to

3. Previous research

TIP: Don’t worry if you don’t know all this

reference this or suggest alternatives. That’s

4. Approach

information – do your best and consider what is

not to say ‘specific’ isn’t a good thing—it

5. Reporting and deliverables

relevant. There may be information you consider

can be very useful providing it will deliver

6. Timing

to be commercially sensitive and unable to

against the objective, and having a clear

7. Budget and ‘added value’

share. A good agency will work with you by

vision can be useful.

8. Credentials

asking you questions to fill in any background

9. Closing dates and contact details

gaps.

We’re also very conscious that when we

• What are your challenges?

www.tlfresearch.com | Winter 2019/20 Customer Insight 17

RESEARCH

2) Objectives In order to deliver the information you need to answer your questions or address

What sort of information should you include?

Consider what you need or are expecting

• What research has your organisation done?

to see. Analysis and reporting takes time

• When was the research done?

and will account for a large proportion of

• What approach was taken? How was data

the budget, so you don’t want to pay for

your problem, the research needs to have a

collected? Who took part? How was it

information you don’t need at the expense of

defined aim or objective. Without this there

reported?

information that is vital for you.

is a danger that you will gather plenty of information but then discover it doesn’t give

• Was it considerer successful? What did you like about it? Where did it fall short?

you what you need.

Defining the objective will help the agency

• How would you like the results to be

4) Approach

consider what it should do to generate the information you need and, if relevant, to challenge your thinking.

• If you have one, include your stated objective.

• What is the purpose of the research; what is driving your need for the research?

research, collecting data, and reporting the It is useful for the agency to know what approach you have in mind, if anything, and why. This will help them understand your

• What are you going to do with the

be used?

• How do you envisage the findings of the research coming back to you? Charts, tables, slides, written report, online portal, raw data?

• What type of information do you expect to

thinking and assess whether your desired

see? Are there any segments or splits in the

approach is the best one for the job.

reporting that are particularly of interest to you?

• What do you want to find out… and why?

• What do you expect the results to deliver?

reported back to you? What type of analysis or statistical techniques do you expect to

There are numerous ways of conducting findings. All approaches have pros and cons.

What sort of information should you include?

What should you include?

What sort of information should you include?

• If you have an idea of how you would like to

• Describe any information that you definitely need… for example if you need

information you gather? Is it for improving

gather data (i.e. telephone interviews, web

a Net Promoter Score (NPS) for internal

customer satisfaction? If you are tracking

surveys etc.), lay this out in your brief.

reporting, or if results contribute to bonus

results over time, gathering information to

• You may have considered who you want to

payments make this clear.

report to a government body, or getting a

take part (e.g. which customers and why),

• Do you need a formal presentation of the

measure on which to set targets or pay staff

how many responses you would like, and

results by your agency? Who will be the

performance bonuses, make this clear.

any segmentation.

audience? How many presentations will

• Who are you going to share the information with? Your stakeholders? Your customers?

• How are you going to share the information?

• Explain the rationale behind your thinking.

Is it based on budget, previous research, or

be required? Where will the location of the presentations be?

what others do?

• If you know, describe who you want to

TIP: You may have no idea of what you want

take part (and why), what you want to find

to see or how you would like the results to

TIP: If you have a plan or have been given a

out, and how you would like to gather this

be presented back to you. In that case, let

clear objective, make this clear in the brief. If you

information.

the agency do the work and describe, in the proposal, what you will receive back.

are not sure exactly what you are aiming for, don’t worry – you can use the brief to share your

TIP: Having a clear idea of what you want is

‘problem’ with the agency and they will work

not a bad thing. However, invite the agency to

with you to agree objectives together.

make additional suggestions or offer alternative

3) Previous research

approaches as they see fit. There may be some

It helps the agency to know how long

better approaches that you had not considered,

you expect the work to take (they can then

or other alternatives that are worth exploring.

decide if their resources will enable them to meet your requirements). The agency

You may be experienced in the research field or think of yourself as a beginner. Let the agency know if you have done prior research

6) Timing

5) Analysis, reporting, and deliverables

can also assess whether your timescales are realistic based on what you are looking for.

In some cases, an agency may suggest you

(as an individual or as a company) so the proposal is pitched at an appropriate level.

The way in which the research is

reconsider your timescales in the interest

If you want to retain elements of what

presented back to you will make the

of conducting quality research. If they do

you have done before let the agency know,

difference between clearly understanding the

this this is usually because they want to

similarly if what has gone in the past has no

findings at first glance or wading through

do a great job for you and think you would

bearing on how your go forward.

pages of data.

benefit from allowing more time.

18 Customer Insight Winter 2019/20 | www.tlfresearch.com

RESEARCH

What should you include?

TIP: Invite the agency to submit fees for additional

• When do you need the results of the research

work which you may not have asked for but they

back to you? (And if these dates are flexible

feel would be beneficial for your organisation to

or not).

consider.

Give the agency enough time to do your brief

8) Credentials

justice, consider your requirements and how to meet them and then submit a thorough

the results are needed for a board report).

• If you need a detailed schedule of what work the agency will do, and when, to meet your timelines, ask for this.

Knowing when you will receive the proposal(s) will help you plan your time.

• Any timelines or key dates that have to be adhered to within your organisation (e.g. if

9) Closing dates and contact details

You need to have confidence in the agency to deliver on your brief and its promises.

Once the agency is appointed all your

response. You are making an investment and this will ensure you spend your budget wisely.

stakeholders have to believe in the credibility

7) Budget & ‘added value’

of the research and know it has been carried out in accordance not only with best

You may or may not have a budget in mind for the research. If you do, include

practice but also with all statutory rules and regulations.

tailor their approach and response to fit your resources (and avoid wasting both your time and their time with an unsuitable proposal).

The agency will also be able to determine if your budget is appropriate for the required work. In some cases you may need

What could you ask for?

whose attention it should be marked for (i.e.

• Why does the agency think it should be • What is the agency’s standing – how many

• Whether you have a preferred format.

based, how is it structured?

• Next steps – whether you will select a

• Is the agency a company partner of the

• What is the agency’s area of expertise? How does this fit in with your requirements?

• What resources does the agency possess…

unique to the agency delivering the proposal

staff, systems etc. What does it handle

(e.g. their expertise, support or training

in-house, what does it outsource?

• Who are the employees? How are they

when selecting your agency. It is easy to

trained? Who will be working on your

overlook the value of such benefits.

research?

What should you include?

provider from the proposal or invite a short list to meet with you (if you know the dates

Market Research Society? current clients? What does it do for them?

etc.).You need to be aware of ‘added value’

hard copy or electronically).

employees, what is its turnover, where is it

to arrive at the most satisfactory approach.

you. These benefits may be intangible and

contact email address or postal address).

• How you expect to receive the proposal (i.e. a

appointed?

• Who does the agency work with? Who are its

‘Added value’: there may be benefits that

If the close is at noon or midnight make this clear.

to discuss tweaking the scope or the budget

are not paid for yet represent great value for

• The closing date for submitting the proposal.

• Where the proposal should be sent and

this in your brief (it does not have to be precise). This is so that the agency can

What should you include?

of those meetings, give them).

Whilst not essential, you may also decide to explain briefly: • How you are going to select your provider (any scoring that may be applied).

• Who is going to be involved in the decision process.

• The date you will let the agency know the outcome.

Statutory requirements

• Do you have a budget? What is it? What is it

• How does the agency deal with statutory

based on? Does your budget include VAT?

requirements (such as the GDPR, data

Rachel Allen

protection and information security)?

Client Manager

• How do you envisage paying? What are your payment terms (e.g. 30 days after completion)?

• Would you like the agency’s proposal to show the fees including or excluding VAT?

• What accreditation does the agency have in terms of quality (e.g. ISO9001) and information security (e.g. ISO27001)?

• Ask for details of procedures

• Do you need one total or a breakdown of

(documentation), certificates and

fees? If a breakdown, how do you want it

accreditation as well as insurance

broken down (what are the categories, e.g.

documents (if relevant). You may choose to

field work, reporting).

ask for proof at the appointment stage but

• Do you want expenses included in the fee or listed separately?

Added value: • Ask the agency to specify the added value they can deliver and to explain what they can

TLF Research rachelallen@leadershipfactor.com

ask for confirmation that these documents are available and up to date.

You can find Rachel’s previous articles online at https://www.tlfresearch.com/customer-insight/

Warming Up: Improving response rates and quality of response through effective pre-survey communications.

Customer Survey FAQs: Winning over internal stakeholder who are sceptical about outsourcing your survey to an agency.

offer that no other agency can provide.

www.tlfresearch.com | Winter 2019/20 Customer Insight 19

D I G I TA L

WARNING: PLEASE SKIP THIS ARTICLE IF YOU’RE EASILY OFFENDED BY PROFANITY

SWEARING FOR ROBOTS 101 Dear reader: consider, if you will, the

swearing can confidently be called universal

difference between “this is shit” and “this

– with the caveat that the exact words

is the shit”. What do they mean? Both

and concepts that are considered taboo

contain a Rude Word, yet their intentions

vary hugely. People find different things

are different. One is very negative; the other

offensive, according to various factors

is very positive.

like culture, age, experience, and so on.

Consider also “fuck you” versus “fuck

Interestingly, too, the offensiveness of

words changes through history, as taboo

words become acceptable (consider bloody,

which nowadays is pretty non-scandalous)

and vice versa. I was delighted to learn, for example, that the heron used to be called

the shitecrow, and the dandelion was called the pissabed.1 Sadly, the days when these

were acceptable biological terms are past.

me”. “Fuck you”? Extremely rude! And

very unlikely to be positive. “Fuck me”,

“Whether they are referred

however? Also very rude, arguably, but not

to as swearing, cursing,

negative. Instead, an expression of surprise; an exclamation. “Fuck me, that’s a good customer journey”, might be a customer

cussing, profanity, obscenity,

response in a ContactEngine conversation.

indecency, vulgarity,

(Might be, I said). And it would be a shame

blasphemy, expletives,

if this use of a rude word meant that the

oaths, or epithets; as dirty,

conversation with the customer was called

four-letter, or taboo words;

off for being misunderstood.

We’ve been thinking about swearing

or as bad, coarse, crude,

recently in terms of how we train

foul, salty, earthy, raunchy,

ContactEngine’s Natural Language Understanding (NLU). How should the use This piece was written by Eleanor Southern-Wilkins, Linguistic Specialist, in partnership with Euan Matthews, Director of AI and Innovation at ContactEngine. contactengine.com

of profanities in customer responses be dealt

or off-color language, these expressions raise many

with? But first, as more of a starting point – why do people swear anyway?

puzzles for anyone interested

Taboo Words

in language as a window into human nature.”

Most, or more likely, all languages have taboo words that are not used in

- Steven Pinker2

polite company. As Steven Pinker notes,

1

Pinker, Steven (2007). The Stuff of Thought. Available at: https://www.academia.edu/37332366/Steven_Pinker_The_stuff_of_thought_language

2 3

As above

Vingerhoets, A. J. J. M., Bylsma, L. M., & de Vlam, C. (2013). Swearing: A biopsychosocial perspective. Psihologijske Teme, 22(2), 287-304.

4

Holgate et al. (2012). Why Swear? Analyzing and Inferring the Intentions of Vulgar Expressions. Association for Computational Linguistics, 4404-4414. Available at: https://aclweb.org/anthology/D18-1471

20 Customer Insight Winter 2019/20 | www.tlfresearch.com

D I G I TA L

Why do we swear?

non-rude interactions as rude ones.

Most approaches to profanity-handling by

and sometimes mistakes are made, often to comedic effect. A Dutch colleague pointed

NLP and NLU are fairly blunt-edged. If, for

out that the word kunt is innocently used

words ‘to convey the expression of strong

example, any of these appear in an automated

all the time in Dutch – and oddly, it kept

emotion’. But as discussed above, this strong

conversation, the message is flagged, the

getting flagged when we conducted Dutch

emotion is not always negative, and swearing

conversation is stopped, and a redacted

conversations in our system…

can have a variety of consequences, from

version is passed to a (human) agent to deal

promoting group identity to eliciting humour

with.

In linguistic terms, swearing utilises taboo

or causing emotional pain.3

So, we’ll be back next time with ContactEngine’s AI team to work out how to

This approach is effective but not perfect.

navigate these choppy waters and to find out

For this reason, when it comes to

As discussed, it’s not a one-size-fits-all

what the customer really meant when they

processing and understanding language

in terms of words that should be flagged,

said “fucking yes!”.

automatically, it is not enough simply to have a list of words that are ‘rude’. At last year’s Empirical Methods in Natural Language Processing (EMNLP) conference, which members of ContactEngine attended, there was a talk on swearing and NLP by the University of Texas. In their research, the team analysed over 7,800 tweets containing vulgarities. Accordingly, they categorised six distinct functions of swearing found in written communication – that is, six different reasons these profanities were used.4 The example used in the study is the word ass, which is a productive word, full of potential. They found examples of tweets where this was used to verbally abuse another user (“You are an ass”), to emphasise a feeling (“A good ass day”) and express an emotion (“pain in the ass”). It was also used as an auxiliary (“Really need someone to save my ass”), as a marker of identity (“Now this is a group of ass kickers”) and in a non-vulgar way, given the context (“Kick Ass 2 – what a movie”).

Training robots to handle swearing The problem, then, is that language is context-dependent, infinitely variable and because of this, to some extent, unpredictable. As we’ve seen, the same word may vary in its level of offense, depending on the context. For conversational AI platforms such as ContactEngine, if every piece of language containing a rude word is labelled as negative and offensive, we may miss out on meaningful conversations by treating

www.tlfresearch.com | Winter 2019/20 Customer Insight 21

RESEARCH

TLF GEMS NEWSLETTER MONTHL CX INSIGHTS FROM MONTHLY RESEARCH TLF RESE

Our mon monthly newsletter shares our favourite Custome Customer Experience, Insight, and Service Design h highlights.

Sign up to receive our newsletter at www.tlfresearch.com/customer-insight-subscription

TLF GEMS PODCAST

A MONTHLY PODCAST FROM TLF RESEARCH ON CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE AND INSIGHT

If you’re reading this and you like podcasts, you should definitely check out the TLF Gems podcast. Each episode Stephen and Greg talk about a different topic related to Customer Experience research and insight.

Search “TLF Gems” in iTunes or subscribe directly using the feed http://feeds.feedburner.com/tlfgemspodcast

G U E S T F E AT U R E

regard. The Japanese fashion retailer recently

by Google, 40% of customers are likely to

disruption is reported almost daily, but

launched its first ‘neuroscience’ campaign,

spend more than they had planned if the

perhaps nowhere is its impact felt more

suggesting clothes to the customer on the

experience is highly personalised.

than on the high street. Retailers are under

basis of their mood. By placing wearable

particular threat from the relentless growth

technology on the forehead of the customer,

are having to meet sky-high consumer

of pure ecommerce players, who are able

brainwave readings were recorded in

expectations when it comes to personalised

to offer unparalleled convenience and

response to a customer’s psychological

marketing. Having real-time insights on

competitive costs.

reactions to a series of images and videos.

customer data at the point-of-sale enables

Algorithms then suggested suitable attire

retailers to do just this. But only by investing

consumer confidence do little to relieve the

based on this state of mind. This is certainly

in technology and taking data seriously will

plight of high street brands.

a novel experience that may attract critics,

retailers keep pace with eCommerce vendors.

The widespread impact of digital

Ever-changing business rates and low

Yet there is reason for optimism. Techsavvy high street retailers are beginning

but it’s one which will almost certainly

3) Target customers with app-based experiences

attract crowds too.

to invest carefully in a number of different areas in order to encourage brand loyalty.

1) Offer next-level in-store experiences

We live in an age of algorithms. Retailers

2) Keep pace with consumer demand

By capturing the right customer data, retailers can deliver even more personalised

Hyper-personalisation is increasingly

offers. In turn, these programmes enable

integral to retail strategies. Showing a

customers to receive rewards and enjoy

customer products based on their individual

personalised experiences, as well as provide

switch allegiance from a brand to its

interests and past behaviour dramatically

a holistic view of buying behaviours for

competitor following a poor customer

improves their purchase journey, making

retailers.

experience. The lesson is clear: whether

them more likely to buy, and increases their

a retailer is selling online or on the high

satisfaction with the brand.

Research shows that 89% of consumers

street, they must continually seek to innovate their customer experience.

Uniqlo is an industry-leader in this

And it works! Asktraders recently published a list of the UK’s five worst

Research suggests it may also increase

performing high streets, finding that

average order values, too. According to a

Poole, Blackpool, Warrington, Manchester

study conducted by BCG and commissioned

and Swindon are the ‘fastest declining’.

www.tlfresearch.com | Winter 2019/20 Customer Insight 23

G U E S T F E AT U R E

Intrigued, Yoyo decided to run its own

returned, more than double that of a typical

a goal to source half of its cotton from eco-

investigation on how footfall was impacted

high street store. As such, pure ecommerce

friendly suppliers, whilst H&M wants to be

when customers used experience-led loyalty

retailers are increasingly partnering with

100% sustainable by 2030.

apps to shop. Incredibly, we found that these

brick and mortar stores to offer consumers

customers actually increased their average

the convenience of returning unwanted

brands. To appeal to consumers’ sense of

spend per visit by 25% on these very high

items at high street locations. The benefits

loyalty today, they must demonstrate care

streets.

are abundant - more footfall and sales for

for the ethics of their business if they are to

the shop and a better customer experience

succeed tomorrow.

The findings bring into focus the impact of data-led loyalty programmes, which

for the ecommerce partner. Asda is one store

enable brands to deliver hyper-targeted

capitalising on this with its ‘to you’ service,

marketing and communications at every

which enables customers to return items to

single touchpoint - from online browsing to

ASOS, PrettyLittleThing, and others.

in-store check out.

These partnerships not only give brands the opportunity to reach new audiences

4) Partner to grow your market share

through multiple channels, but it also enables brands to plug the gaps in their services. By partnering with tech

Partnerships between retailers and

platforms, market research firms or

ecommerce brands are an increasingly

even social media influencer brands,

popular method of reaching new audiences

retailers can stay relevant to their

and improving the customer experience.

customers, in order to boost long

Whilst online purchases may be on the

term retention.

rise, more than 20% of all purchases are

5) Communicate your ethical credentials Michael Rolph CEO Yoyo

Michael has extensive experience in payments, loyalty and marketing through his time working with retailers from the high street and online. Before founding Yoyo, he held roles at Paypal, Barclaycard and First

Consumers nowadays are increasingly conscious of their environmental and social impact, thanks in part to a number of high profile demonstrations and documentaries. A quarter of Brits now put environmental

Data Corporation. He was also an advisor at

issues in their

Azimo, a mobile and internet money transfer

top three issues

company and non-exec director at The

facing the country,

MoBank Group, which specialises in creating

putting it behind only Brexit and

and operating transactional systems for

health.

mobile commerce, banking and payments.

As such, a number of brands are beginning to declare their individual

https://yoyowallet.com/

commitments to social and environmental responsibility. Mango, for instance, has set

24 Customer Insight Winter 2019/20 | www.tlfresearch.com

Never has this been more important for

RESEARCH

At TLF, we’ve started talking about how organisations should structure a customer experience improvement programme in terms of four stages. The first, and perhaps the least well understood, is what we call “understand & explore”, which is where we use qualitative research to explore and better understand the customer experience.

It’s the first stage because it's the first thing you ought to turn to, but it's something which organisations are often guilty of scrimping on or skipping altogether. Why? Because they don't understand the value of it. Qualitative research can seem expensive to people who don't understand it, especially if they evaluate it in terms of cost per response.

That’s simply not the right way to think about it. To be frank, much qualitative research does end up being bad value because organisations don't understand how to use it effectively. You need to think, not in terms of cost per response, but in terms of new insights uncovered.

www.tlfresearch.com | Winter 2019/20 Customer Insight 25

RESEARCH

Not just soundbites

It's not designed to give you the data to make sound decisions with. What it does give

David Ogilvy, who was nothing if not

you is a window into customers' minds. It

quotable, said of research: "We all have a

won't give you answers, but it will make sure

tendency to use research as a drunkard uses a

you ask the right questions. And when it's

lamppost - for support, not for illumination."

time to improve, it will give you the depth of

And this is exactly what most qualitative research looks like. Companies gather a

understanding to design experiences around customer needs.

group of customers, set them talking, and collect up a handful of pithy verbatims from

The “lens of the customer”

the most articulate to illustrate a slide or two of a presentation. Having spent a lot

Researchers are not normal. You and your

of money organising a focus group, that

colleagues are not normal. And the problem

certainly does look like an expensive way of

is that the ways in which we're different from

securing a couple of soundbites. But good

normal make it impossible for us to look at

qualitative research is much more than that,

the customer experience the way customers

as I hope to show you.

do. We've all forgotten what life was like before we were intimately familiar with our

Why you need qualitative research So if qualitative work should be more than

"We all have a tendency to use research as a drunkard uses a lamppost - for support, not for illumination."

- David Ogilvy

Their experiences with us are embedded

internal departments, processes, and jargon.

in the context of those lives, and we can't

Think about how much you've learned since

hope to design them effectively unless we

you joined your organisation, then triple that

understand that.

and you've got some idea of how little the

We've got to shift our perspective to match

just decorative quotes, what is it for? Surely

average customer knows (or cares) about how

that of customers, and then find a way to take

I'm not suggesting that you should make big

you do your business.

that understanding back into the business with

business decisions on the feelings of a few

On the other hand, we tend to

people? No, I'm not. That's not what it’s for either.

forget that customers have lives outside of their role as customers.

us. That shift of perspective, for me, is what qualitative insight is all about. Without it, all your research will show telltale signs of asking the wrong questions about the wrong things.

Defining qualitative If you look for definitions of qualitative research, you'll usually find people talking about small samples, open questions, and being face to face. Like many definitions based on description, these are both true and wildly misleading.

The point is not how big your sample is, but what you're trying to do with it (which is to find as many opinions as possible, not represent what's typical in the population).

The focus on questions is a trap, as we'll see later, that leads us down the path to expensive soundbites. Listening and, especially, interpreting are much more important than the questions you ask. It usually is face to face, but the point is to talk to customers in the way that will be most comfortable for them - if that's an online community, then go for it. Finally, the main defining feature is that qualitative research is opening, not closing, it's about broadening our knowledge, not making a decision.

26 Customer Insight Winter 2019/20 | www.tlfresearch.com

RESEARCH

What you need to know versus what customers can tell you

research is used to find positive soundbites to rubber-stamp a decision that has already

One of the things which makes research tricky is the gap between what you want to know,

been made. Then, when the product launch

and what customers are able to tell you. There's a spectrum - some things they're really

is a flop, the failure is pinned on the

good at, and some things they're almost comically bad at.

research.

The problem goes back to our spectrum - you want to know what solution will work for customers, and how they will behave in the future, but customers can't reliably tell

Attitudes & Feelings

Current/Past Behaviour

When it comes to their attitudes,

Solutions

Future Behaviour

Predicting behaviour

to try to understand what they're thinking.

They're ok when it comes to their

The ladder I can imagine some of you thinking "this

thoughts, and feelings, customers are pretty good. Asking them is the best (and only) tool

you that.

is all very well, but I thought you were One of my favourite examples from

supposed to be explaining why qualitative

the behavioural economics literature is of

research is important, not telling us why it's

the organisation which got customers to

crap". I'm getting to it, I promise.

behaviour, as long as it’s fresh in their

evaluate a product prototype in a focus

minds, particularly if you take the time

group, asking them "would you pay £50 for

gap between what you want to know and

to get them to relive the experience. In

this". They all said they would. At the end of

what customers are capable of telling you,

customer journey mapping, for example, it's

the group customers were given the choice

has a solution, and that's what elevates true

often effective to anchor their memory with

of a crisp £50 note or one of the prototypes.

qualitative insight above simply piling up

some relatively concrete questions up front

Which do you think they chose?

soundbites. I like to think of it as a ladder.

(Did you order through the website? Which

Correct—they all took the money. So

products did you buy? etc.) and then prompt

which better reflects their future behaviour?

"And what happened next?" again and again

This is a good example of a general

as they describe the journey.

principle: if you want to predict behaviour,

What we'd love them to be able to do,

Words

find a way to run an experiment; if you want

but they're totally incapable of, barring the

to know about feelings then questions are

odd miracle, is providing you with solutions.

your best bet.

This is the source of the old cliché that focus

The problem we've just outlined, that

Qualitative research (particularly focus

groups can't innovate. Of course they can't.

groups) sometimes has a bad reputation

If you expect 8 random customers to do a

because it’s so often used in exactly this

better job in an hour than your R&D team,

way. As Wendy Gordon observes in her

then you need a new R&D team! Customers

excellent book Mindframes, too often

Meaning

Emotions

won't give you solutions, but they can help you find them...but we'll come back to that later.

Customers are worst of all at predicting their own future behaviour. This manifests in two important ways. There's the "New Year's resolution effect", where we all genuinely believe that we'll be going to the gym more and eating fewer doughnuts over the next few months, but looking back we find that our fitness diaries are a bit sparser than we'd hoped. Customers answer questions with the future behaviour they'd like to show, not what's actually going to happen. Secondly. customers don't want to hurt your feelings. If you ask them whether they'd buy something, they'll probably say yes.

“…too much of qualitative research acts as ‘soundbites to support management decisions’.”

- Wendy Gordon, Mindframes

Needs

The ladder starts with customers' words, but it doesn't end there. It's about listening effectively, and using a combination of probing and interpretation to understand what those words reveal about what customers mean, how they feel, and therefore what their needs are. It's about building an empathy with customers that allows us to draw accurate inferences about, or in other

www.tlfresearch.com | Winter 2019/20 Customer Insight 27

RESEARCH

words make good guesses about, what motivates and drives them.

An example might help to make this a bit more concrete. Customers are talking

Attitudes & Feelings

Current/Past Behaviour

Solutions

Future Behaviour

about something taking too long. It might be their delivery, or waiting time, or how long it takes you to get back to them about their complaint. A naive view of insight says that customers would be happier if we do whatever it is we're doing quicker...which is not all that insightful, is it?

Needs/ Motivations/ Context

How does the ladder help? The first thing we need to realise is that what customers

down to a deeper level of meaning, needs,

researcher's job is not to make friends.

really mean when they say it took too long is

and motivations. And when we understand

We need to keep an objective distance,

that it felt too long. "Perception is reality",

those, we gain insights that allow us to

whilst building rapport, so that we don't

as listeners to our Podcast will be sick of

anticipate customer behaviour and design

inadvertently lead respondents.

hearing me say. The time it actually took is

solutions that will work more effectively

part of that, but it's only part of it, and often

for them. So the ladder helps us solve that

that their job is to dig deeper, to climb

it turns out that the quality of the wait is

dilemma—it gets us from what customers

down the ladder with customers, their first

more important than the quantity.

can tell you to what you need to know in

thought is often to do it by asking explicit

order to improve. So how do we do it?

questions. Questions like "did you find it

So what else might influence the quality

hard to find the right person to contact?"

of the wait? If we listen harder we might find out that what customers are talking

Better questions

Qualitative research is always a balance between objectivity and subjectivity, but

about is how anxious they felt while they waited (Is it going to get here on time? Will

Even worse, when researchers realise

Let's have a look at how the ladder works

questions like this invalidate the apparent

it be right when it arrives?), or how bored

in a bit more detail. It starts with asking

insights they turn up. Your questions must

they were. As soon as you identify emotions

better questions. Questions that will push

remain neutral...but that doesn't mean

like that in a customer experience you know

us further down the ladder, rather than back

that your mind has to remain a blank slate.

you've hit potential gold. Now it's time to

up it. But before we get to the questions

The process of qualitative enquiry is one of

add a layer of interpretation to what you've

themselves, let's reflect on what it is we're

following hunches and developing theories,

learned, understanding that those negative

asking customers to do. Do we want them to

without letting those leak through to

emotions reveal deep emotional needs that

talk about their general feelings (e.g. tell

respondents.

customers have to feel in control of their

us about your visits to the gym) or on

lives, and to be entertained.

the detail of a particular experience

What's exciting about that is that it turns

(e.g. tell us about your last visit

a common customer complaint (it took too

to the gym). Both can be

long) with a mundane and difficult solution

valid, but for customer

(do it quicker), into a deep insight about

experience work the

customer needs and motivations which

latter is usually much

opens up potential for designing better

more insightful,

experiences. If we can make customers feel

because it anchors

in control of the experience, maybe it won't

the discussion in a

matter if they're waiting for a while. If we

specific remembered

can keep them entertained in the queue (like

experience.

Disney), maybe they won't notice how long it is.

Before customers let you take them down the ladder,

What you can find out

they need to feel comfortable and

If we turn back to the spectrum of what

relaxed, and that

qualitative work can do, we can see that

means you need to

customers find it easy to talk about their

build a rapport with

attitudes. By using the ladder we can climb

them. But a qualitative

28 Customer Insight Winter 2019/20 | www.tlfresearch.com

RESEARCH

I see the focus on questioning, as I'll explain in more detail later, as a bit of a trap.

Just as important are what we call "probes",

is how we start to take those crucial steps

How do we work our way down the ladder from words to meaning?

down the ladder.

We should not discount what people say,

Wendy Gordon outlines 6 ways, which

which are mostly designed to keep customers

the surface content, but we should never

she calls "Mindframes" in her excellent

talking about the things we're interested in.

be satisfied to let it rest at that, because

book of the same name.

Often it's a case of the simpler, the better,

that's rarely where the insight sits. We need

and keeping silent can be the best probe of

to think about who's talking, and in what

all. To point in the right direction, we show

capacity. What identity have they adopted?

customers that we're interested in their take

This, by the way, can be useful to tie in with

on their experience, and what it meant to

the design tool known as user stories—"As a

them. We want context, and we want their

BLANK, I want to do X in order to achieve Y."

The Unconcious

We also need to think about what's

interpretation of it.

conveyed by how they say it (their tone, how passionate they are, any emotional signifiers

“Listening to the world is not an automatic facility but a skill that needs to be trained.”

- Les Back, The Art of Listening

that come through in body language, and so

Making sense of difference

on).

And examine why they're saying what they're saying. Is it a totally straightforward attempt to explain how they feel, or are they trying, for instance, to show off to the other people in the group? If so, what does that reveal about what motivates them? Understanding that the customer

Liking

is distorting reality in order to achieve something doesn't necessarily derail your research; it might be the crucial insight that emerges from it.

We want to understand as much as

Better ears

possible about the context of where and when in which our product or service sits for

Frankly, though, the focus that many

customers (researchers sometimes talk about

textbooks have on the questions we ask is,

"thick description", which I think is a really

in my view, totally misplaced. Listening is

good phrase for this).

much more important. As the sociologist Les

Why we behave like we do

And we're always trying to get down the

Back reminds us, listening is a skill, and it's

ladder to the deeper lever of meaning, needs,

one that the modern world is not necessarily

and motivations.

very good at teaching us. Listening well

Not what they say As should be obvious by now, qualitative

How

research isn't really about what customers

(tone)

Why (intent)

Language beneath the surface

Where & When

say. It's about using what they say to

(context)

about what matters to them.

What

understand something more fundamental When we talk about qualitative research,

(content)

when we report it, and when we think about

Context

it, we tend to focus on the questions we

Deeper Who (identify)

(meaning)

ask and the responses we write down. We concentrate on the words. I think that can be a massive trap. We can enhance research by including observation, photography, video… but ultimately a lot of the raw material we're dealing with does come down to words.

www.tlfresearch.com | Winter 2019/20 Customer Insight 29

RESEARCH

Which is best value?

As Gordon says, “Each frame allows me to explore and understand a different representation of reality.”

Thinking in this way allows a researcher to understand the world by looking at it from slightly different directions. They're like 6 pairs of glasses tinted in different colours, each of which allows us to interpret what someone says in a new light. Trying and combining different mindframes is often where the most important insights come

$56 for online subscription

$56 for online subscription

$125 for online + print

$125 for online + print $125 for print subscription

from.

Inside-out

Here's a classic example from behavioural

Deep understanding of customers

economics. Magazine subscribers were offered the choice between paying $56

You can use it to explore areas you know

for an online subscription and $125 for a

nothing about, or to climb down the ladder

combined print and online one. Most chose

to understand the psychological motivations

the cheaper option. Then the magazine

and emotional needs which drive the ways in

trialled a different ad, with a third choice of

which customers react to the products and

the print subscription on its own at $125.

experiences you create.

Now most customers went for the combined subscription because it looks like the best

Better surveys

value. That's the kind of insight that can

Outside-in

only come from psychology and experiment.

But what if we wanted to understand what

That results in better quantitative surveys, which means that even if you

the colour red means to customers? There

prefer the apparent robustness of numbers

toolkit of interpretation as consisting of

are some insights that we can draw from

and percentages, you still need qualitative

fundamentally two approaches, which you

the inside-out perspective, about the visual

research to help you design effective surveys.

can call "inside-out" and "outside-in".

prominence of red, how it grabs attention and

Quant without qual often ends up giving you

Inside-out approaches come from the

seems to be closer to us than other colours.

an exact answer to the wrong question.

perspective of psychology, and include

But potentially just as important are the

things like behavioural economics and nudge

cultural associations and meanings that are

theory. They help us to understand what

baked into it. It's linked to ideas of danger,

drives customer decision making, and how

health...and what does red mean to someone

to design experiences which will work for

Chinese? Or someone from Manchester? No

fuel to feed a design thinking approach to

the way human brains are programmed.

amount of cognitive science will help us

designing great experiences for the customer,

Outside-in approaches are more informed by

understand that. Tools like semiotics are

starting from that deep understanding of

anthropology, and interpret what customers

much better placed to help us interpret these

their emotional needs so that you can design

say and their drivers in cultural terms. Both

kinds of cultural codes in a useful way.

experiences which deliver for customers in

More generally, we can think of our

are equally important, although they tend to teach you different things.

Design thinking Qualitative insight also provides the

ways that they are incapable of articulating

Summary Why do you need qualitative research?

themselves.

Why do you need qualitative insight?

Because if you do it well, it's not just a

Because it's your only chance to understand

Stephen Hampshire

bunch of soundbites to support a decision

how anyone except you sees the world,

Client Manager

you've already made, it's a tool that

to understand customers and explore the

TLF Research

enables you to surface deep insights about

world from their perspective, and to discover

customers. That gives you three vital

opportunities to address their emotional needs.

things…

That seems like pretty good value to me.

stephenhampshire@leadershipfactor.com

30 Customer Insight Winter 2019/20 | www.tlfresearch.com

Consumer Insight Consumer The data for the Clicks and Mortar & NPSInsight articles came from TLF’s panel.

The data for offers the Clicks andeasy Mortar NPS articles TLF’s panel.

The TLF Panel you an way&to access the came viewsfrom and opinions of UK consumers. It’s a flexible research solution with a range of uses, including: The TLF Panel offers you an easy way to access the views and opinions of UK consumers.

It’s a flexible researchbehaviour, solution with a rangeand of uses, Insight into consumer attitudes usageincluding: Facts and figures for compelling content and PR stories Insight into consumer behaviour, attitudes and usage Brand awareness and competitor surveys Facts and figures for compelling content and PR stories Testing advertising and product concepts Brand awareness and competitor surveys Recruitment for focus groups and interviews Testing advertising and product concepts Recruitment for focus groups and interviews

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Fast turnaround 2,000 responses Fast turnaround within 48hrs 2,000 responses within 48hrs

Range of question types Range open of Including question types comment and media Including open comment and media

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BOOK REVIEW

THE CUSTOMER CATALYST

BY CHRIS ADLARD AND DANIEL BAUSOR We’re always on the lookout for new books

hearts. 27 pages is nowhere near enough to

Those are all vital if you want to build

relevant to our focus on customer experience

cover such an important subject in detail, but

a customer-led culture. The authors also

and insight, particularly ones that are based

the authors highlight some important issues,

suggest, slightly more controversially, that

on a strategy of long-term profitability

such as:

all organisations need a C-level person with

derived from focusing on the customer.

• The need for continuous feedback

responsibility for the customer, often a CCO.

• The flaws of NPS if it is implemented to tick a

They stress that this is in addition to making

That strategic focus has been frustratingly rare since the glory days of The Service-Profit Chain and Good to Great etc. Many books

box or “chase the score” • The need to link VoC data with other data

creating specialist customer-centric roles won’t achieve change in itself.

about the customer are useful, but take a very tactical view of measuring and improving

the entire organisation customer-focused—

We would like to see a greater emphasis

Experience

the customer experience, push a magic bullet

on research and insight as a tool that enables

solution (the one thing you need to do in order

you to understand customers, rather than

to succeed), or turn out to be playing semantic

simply gathering feedback. Whether it’s

“Companies should never let their own internal

games to dress old ideas up in new clothing.

analysing data in the correct way, or using

ideas, especially around so-called technological

qualitative insight effectively, good research

innovation, divert them from fully understanding

more—a proper strategic view of how to run

requires a layer of thought and interpretation

what is happening with their customers.”

a business with a customer-centric mindset.

to enable organisations to improve. Gathering

Does it deliver? Well, you’ll have to wait until

the data is not enough.

The Customer Catalyst promises something

the end for our verdict.

The authors examine how to build a

If the customer experience is your brand now, as Shep Hyken suggests, then it

Culture

business by starting from the Customer

follows that you need to be investing in the experiences you create. Some highlights:

Experience and working back from there,

“A customer mission statement that is authentic

• Human first, technology second

focusing each chapter on one of the 10 key

and translated into meaningful actions for

• You can’t be perfect, so prioritise the crucial

elements of what they call a “C-change

employees is one of the most effective rallying

growth engine”.

calls for any organisation.”

moments • The crucial role of customer journey mapping to capture customer & employee views

Voice

There’s no question that getting the culture right is vital to making a business

In terms of practical advice, this is

“…VoC is an essential part of driving

customer centric in its bones. Adlard and

probably the best chapter in the book with

transformation in the Customer Economy. It

Bausor highlight:

some really tangible ideas on how and where

becomes potent when combined with intelligence

• The need for cross-functional teams

to use journey mapping, in particular, to drive

from other sources such as employees and

• Aligning KPIs to customer health

improvements in the customer experience.

operational data.”

• The importance of symbolic actions

We particularly agree with the power of

• Trusting employees to make good decisions

service blueprints to reveal opportunities for

• The role of the CEO as a communicator, for

improvement, and the need to get customer

The first element is a Voice of the Customer programme (customer research,

example “…strong social media profiles with

and employee input before using journey

in other words)—a subject very dear to our

relevant, customer-led views…”

mapping workshops.

32 Customer Insight Winter 2019/20 | www.tlfresearch.com

BOOK REVIEW

Technology

Customer Health is another “new

Advocacy

technique” which is really just a new term “…companies should map out their CX and

for an old idea—it becomes a lot easier to

“Customer advocates are known and trusted and

customer journeys before choosing which

manage the customer experience if you can

help drive a higher quality and value of leads,

technology and platforms to keep, remove and

get realtime data from across the business

as well as higher conversion rates, in shorter

add.”

which will help you to manage it. This is not

timeframes.”

an alternative to survey data, but an essential Technology forms a big (and increasing)

complement to it.

The principal of customer advocacy is

part of the customer experience for most

• Choosing the right measures is crucial

simple—if your customers are happy, let them

organisations, but it’s safe to say that

• Action is more important than metrics

do the selling for you. Every organisation

it’s not always a positive. The authors,

• You need to combine VoC with Customer

wants advocates, but what can you do to

quite rightly, focus on the importance

systematically encourage it? The book suggests:

Health

of integration, and of starting with the customer need rather than the technology

• Don’t look simply at referrals or references,

Engagement

you want to build storytelling around “mutual

solution: • Integration is more important than new features or functions • “Data is the new oil”

business currency” “Customer Engagement is about creating connections, via multiple channels, between the

valuable) Engaging with your customers is essential, both to strengthen your

Digital

strategy • Make sure your advocates feel valued (not just

customer and an organisation.”

• CRM should be about giving a 360o view of the customer, not a sales pipeline

• Profile your advocates, and match them to your

Our verdict

relationship and to make sure that you understand their needs. This is especially

Does The Customer Catalyst deliver on

“…real-time personalisation is becoming the

true in B2B relationships, where finding

its promise? We found it a little heavy on

norm in digital interactions.”

ways to add value to the relationship can

buzzwords, but once you dig beyond these

make all the difference to long-term loyalty

there is much of value. We certainly agree that

and value. The book points out:

many businesses are too focused on internal

• Engagement is about adding value to build

metrics and behaviours, not enough on the

Disruption is coming to many sectors, and much of it consists of new entrants meeting customer needs with new digital offerings.

Often the digital experience is the product.

The keys to the digital experience: • Being simple and frictionless • Digital makes it easier to gather behavioural

outside-in view, and to focus on shifting

trust • Segmentation links to your strategy of who • You need to see Account Based Marketing as part of a wider strategy of engagement

Co-creation

case studies and lessons from practitioners working in companies such as Microsoft,

data) “…organisations that maintain continuous

Success

Each of the ten elements highlighted includes important ideas, and many of these are brought to life with interesting

data • Realtime personalisation (powered by AI and

businesses into a customer-led strategy is absolutely right.

to engage

Signifiy, and Starling bank.

contact with their customers, face-to-face and online, gain a firm grasp of unsatisfied

“Customer Success has much in common with

needs which is at the very

other customer-centric philosophies such as

heart of marketing in the

Customer Experience, Customer Advocacy and

Customer Economy.”

Customer Engagement.”

Bound up with the Customer Success is a relatively new term,

idea of engagement

at least outside of SaaS where it started (see

is the possibility of

CI Summer 19). Whether it’s really all that

co-creating innovation

new a concept is something to debate, but

and experience with

we agree that it brings a useful focus on:

customers. Effective

• Driving business outcomes for the customer

co-creation requires:

• The post-sales customer experience

• A strategic commitment,

• Proactive over reactive service

not just piecemeal

• External measures rather than internal

project-by-project

measures

approach • A clear vision

Health

• Openness with

“Customer Health measurements are objective

• Constant dialogue

information and data-driven…”

with customers

www.tlfresearch.com | Winter 2019/20 Customer Insight 33

HOW HARD CAN IT BE?

TV advertising he doesn’t understand, and I’m with Brian on that one!

Nigel Hill

But are we really any

Chairman

more sophisticated than

TLF Research

when we rushed out to buy the latest cure-all in the 1890s or Oxo cubes in the 1960s? According to

and wealthier. In fact, they’re now starting to

Which? magazine’s latest

out-earn their parents. Millennials now have

research into so-called Black Friday deals, definitely not.

Which? says that in 2018 95% of the Black Friday deals were bogus.

The media love to make us laugh by showing us ads from bygone times that

an average household income of £40,000, slightly above the £36,000 for Baby Boomer households.

Driven by the growing functionality

The websites concerned, including Amazon,

of smartphones, they spend 60 per cent

John Lewis and Currys PC World promoted

of their shopping time online. They want

offers at higher prices than they sold the

information to be quickly and easily

products in the weeks before or after Black

available — research shows that a one-

supposedly demonstrate how our simplistic

Friday. Examples given by Which? were that

second delay in mobile load times can

ancestors would believe anything the nasty

“at John Lewis, a De’Longhi coffee machine

impact conversion rates by up to 20 per

manipulative advertisers told them. Amazing

was offered at £399 on Black Friday, but

cent. So is it possible that they’re a bit

panaceas in Victorian times that would

it was then discounted to £368 on at least

more sophisticated than us crusty old baby

cure anything from a head cold to arthritis.

35 occasions in the following six months.

boomers like to think? Cash rich but time

Smiling housewives with perfect families

Meanwhile, Amazon put its Echo (2nd Gen)

poor they know that not everything on Black

on early TV ads like the Oxo series starring

on offer as 39% cheaper on Black Friday,

Friday is the best bargain ever but it’s a

'Katie' and 'Philip'. Everything revolved

when it had been cheaper on at least 13

quick, easy and relatively low cost way of

around dinner as Katie informed Philip that

occasions before that date”.

getting the Christmas shopping done and

“Oxo has nine good ingredients and 'gives

Although the Which? findings were widely

dusted rather than battling round the high

a meal man appeal'.” Also we were told by

reported during the week leading up to

street and still not getting everything they

Bernard Miles that Mackeson 'looks good,

Black Friday it didn’t seem to put us off.

wanted. And if Edgar doesn’t transparently

tastes good and, by golly, it does you good'.

Barclaycard, which was monitoring real-

promote John Lewis or some of their prices

time transaction data for Black Friday, and

are not their best bargains, who cares? If

for Gibbs SR toothpaste (“tingling fresh”),

processes almost £1 in every £3 spent in the

their website doesn’t load on your phone

marketing has come a long way. Marketers

UK, reported seeing a 12.5 per cent increase

in less than a second you won’t be buying

understand that we are now so clever that we

in the volume of transactions. Retailers also

anything from them anyway.

will assimilate the selling message even when

had a strong preceding week according to

the creatives do their utmost to hide any

Barclaycard’s transaction data, with many

hints of the product their ad is supposedly

beginning Black Friday sales early.

Since the first UK television ad in 1955

tempting us to buy. Possibly epitomised by

Last year, the British Retail Consortium

the John Lewis Christmas ads such as the

reported that retailers had their worst

boy and the penguin or the bear and the hare

Christmas in a decade and the Office

which made no mention that they might be

for National Statistics attributed this

promoting a department store let alone John

drop in sales to Black Friday. This is

Lewis! They seem to have gone one step

supported by research from McKinsey

further this year, accused of traumatising

which shows that just 19 per cent of UK

children with their £7 million excitable Edgar

consumers participated in Black Friday

the dragon ad, though they will no doubt

in 2015 — but by 2017, this had soared to

argue that the social media uptake makes it

54 per cent.

all worthwhile.

Brian Palmer, creator of that revolutionary SR ad in 1955 says there’s now a lot of

So why is this happening? The answer is clearly that millennials, Britain’s first digitally native generation, are getting older

34 Customer Insight Winter 2019/20 | www.tlfresearch.com

Customer Insight Magazine is created and published in house by TLF Research.

The magazine is our way of sharing features and latest thinking on creating an outstanding customer experience. We hope you enjoy reading the magazine as much as we enjoy creating it.

If you’ve got an interesting customer experience story to tell and would like to feature in the magazine, we’d love to hear from you. Please contact our editor Stephen Hampshire for more information.

Email Stephen at stephenhampshire@leadershipfactor.com or give him a call on 01484 467014

ABOUT TLF RESEARCH We are a full service customer research agency. Specialists in customer insight, we help our clients understand and improve their customer experience.

Get in touch to find out more about what we do.

Visit us online at tlfresearch.com or call 01484 517575

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