Find out what’s on their minds before it’s too late

 

Comments about your products and your company now spread at the speed of light. You need an early warning system so that you can act quickly, says Martina Tomaschowski

 

IN THE past, things were much simpler.  Customers bought what was available in the shop.  If they were dissatisfied, they would tell the shop owner and their neighbours. The press would report on international politics and sports, but not about defective products and services. However, those days are long gone.

Nowadays, an increasing number of customers exchange opinions across the globe on a large variety of internet platforms. For example, if they plan on purchasing a new product, or if they are not satisfied with the product they have purchased, they obtain advice and exchange experiences. This paradigm shift holds risks for companies: negative word of mouth on the internet can grow into a full-fledged brand problem in no time at all.

 

Negative word of mouth can be turned into positive word of mouth by prompt action…cost reductions are possible in customer service and customer retention

 

Not only do the negative comments spread at the speed of light, often the traditional print media and TV stations also become involved in these discussions, since they also increasingly receive their information from the internet. A customer who is upset with a company can thus express his dissatisfaction within minutes to a large audience. He doesn’t even have to be sitting in front of his PC, he can just as easily Twitter with his mobile phone.

On the other hand, this development also holds unprecedented opportunities for companies. First of all, the questions, problems, and suggested solutions circulating in portals, forums, and blogs can supplement the corporate customer service database with helpful input. Secondly, companies can outrun their competitors by quickly identifying customer issues as they arise and by replying with speed and efficiency. Additionally, they can also obtain a lot of information about current trends and their position within the market from these same channels.

Ideally, a company becomes involved as soon as a problem arises, and proactively suggests solutions.

This way, the described “avalanche” may not even occur. In fact, negative word of mouth can be turned into positive word of mouth by prompt action.

The information gathered enables companies to develop more demand-oriented products and thereby increase both customer satisfaction and sales revenue. Significant cost reductions are possible in customer service and customer retention.

So much for the theory.  But what enables a company to have an ear for the customer? The answer is “voice of the customer” (VOC) software. Modern VOC systems automatically extract useful information from unstructured data, e.g., forums, blogs, call centre records, e-mails, or surveys. Large companies, such as Whirlpool, Charles Schwab Corporation, and JetBlue Airways Corporation are already using these tools in order to find the priceless information contained in unstructured customer feedback regarding customer satisfaction, current sentiments, and loyalty, as well as potential product issues.

These applications are even capable of identifying those customers who require special company action. An additional response management application enables companies to not only understand customer communication better, but to also control it more efficiently and respond to it in a more sustainable way.  Companies can efficiently process large quantities of incoming messages. A huge amount of unstructured requests can be classified and distributed automatically and subsequently made available for efficient processing.

Any type of information can be organised, documented, captured, controlled and archived this way. This automatic analysis of all customer communication makes it possible to have an early warning system for products, guarantees, and services, which enables companies to make timely, fact-based, and business-relevant decisions.

Briefly stated, a modern voice of the customer system helps companies know what is on the minds of their customers at all times and what is rubbing them up the wrong way. Thus, the company can respond quickly and effectively to the underlying issue.

 

PROFILE       

 

Martina Tomaschowski has been in senior roles in the software industry for 12 years and has wide experience in knowledge management, multi-channel response management and social media analysis for call centres.  She is vice president marketing with Attensity Europe, which provides business applications which analyse, interpret and automatically processes the increasing amount of unstructured data with the help of patented semantic information technologies.

martina.tomaschowski@attensity.com