Your favorite 3 posts of 2009
Back in March, we started this customer experience blog to ask questions and to observe and comment on interesting program strategies and outcomes. We've covered a lot of ground: from restaurants to the auto industry, social media to organizational design. This week, we review three of your favorite posts from 2009.
1. Customer Experience Execs: Are Your Mystery Shops ‘Constructively Negative’?
Innovative managers continue to push traditional mystery shopping programs into new spaces by asking cross-channel/integration questions and aligning mystery shop design with customer satisfaction results. As this strategic direction becomes more mainstream, we wondered how some nagging criticisms of mystery shopping might play out: namely negative response bias. Research published by the Journal of Marketing demonstrates that cognitive loading—filling your brain with specific information—increases positive survey responses and changes perception of experiences. You should expect to see balanced, measured responses when mystery shoppers are properly prepared.
2. Top 3 Customer Experience Measurement Mistakes
Many customer experience programs faced budget cuts in 2009. Moving forward, customer experience programs will be required to show ROI and that means strategic research design. Three common pitfalls: measuring the wrong things, touchpoint exclusion, and questionable data integrity highlight the 'what', 'where', and 'how' of program design and provide a solid foundation from which to build.
3. A Confused Kind of Car Company
One of the top business stories of 2009 was the ongoing, massive changes to the US auto industry. In the fall, Penske Automotive pulled its bid to buy Saturn and GM finally pulled the plug. The end of Saturn reinforced many customer experience lessons but none more significant than the centrality of the product itself. Saturn proved that the experience can make up for just about anything except an inferior product.
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