Using Customer Feedback From Automated Surveys to Improve Customer Retention & Value Perception

The Challenge:
Improving value perception and keeping 'price' from being the customer's primary purchase motivator.

The Client:
Pest Control Business with nine offices across the Southwestern United States.

Situation:
Our client wanted to improve customer retention and better understand the customer's experience when their technicians visited a customer's home. They were concerned that they only heard from really upset customers, and that most of the feedback they received was filtered through the technicians themselves. They also wanted to improve the customer's value perception of their pest control service, and differentiate themselves from their competition. They wanted to de-emphasize price as a factor in the customer's choice process.

Action:
Mindshare's automated survey technology was installed to allow our client to get immediate daily results from their customers. The invoices and orders for each day's service are preprinted and divided among the technicians. An offer to call a toll-free number or visit a website (and receive an incentive) is preprinted at the bottom of the invoice. The customer calls the number, answers a few questions via the telephone keypad, and receives a redemption code good for their next service.

Results:
In the client's own words, "We've received an overwhelming response from customers willing to give us both positive and negative feedback. My favorite aspect to the system is that I can listen to messages directly from customers." Contrary to pre-conceived notions, the client discovered, among other things, that there is an obvious correlation between time spent at the customer's home and intrinsic value to the customer. Their pest control customers, in effect, did not want the technicians to show up, do their work, and quickly leave -- they wanted them to stay and spend more personal time with them. "With this daily customer feedback, we are now able to perform services that are earning praise from our customers."

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About Mindshare Technologies
Mindshare helps companies improve operational excellence, foster consumer satisfaction, build customer loyalty, and support employee retention.  Our industry experts guide clients in building comprehensive Enterprise Feedback Management (EFM) solutions.  Mindshare's proprietary survey technology captures the voice of the customer in real-time and immediately transforms it into actionable intelligence through powerful and incisive reporting. As a hosted system, Mindshare is affordable and flexible, providing automated surveys and reports tailored to each client’s specific needs.  The reports are web-accessible 24/7 or by scheduled email delivery.  Mindshare serves more than 25 different industries including travel, hospitality, restaurant, financial, salon, automotive, and retail. Clients range from small regional chains to large multinational corporations. For information, visit www.mshare.net or contact us:

CONTACTS:

Richard Hanks John Sperry

(801) 743-7580 (801) 743-7567