Dubinsky (43) Pub. Date: NOV. 22, 2007

Transcription

1 US l 1A1 (19) United States (12) Patent Application Publication (10) Pub. No.: US 2007/ A1 Dubinsky (43) Pub. Date: NOV. 22, 2007 (54) (76) (21) (22) (60) METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR RECOVERING A DISSATISFIED CUSTOMER BY A CUSTOMER RECOVERY SURVEY Inventor: George S. Dubinsky, Yardley, PA (Us) Correspondence Address: FINNEGAN, HENDERSON, FARABOW, GAR RETT & DUNNER LLP 901 NEW YORK AVENUE, NW WASHINGTON, DC Appl. No.: 11/638,453 Filed: Dec. 14, 2006 Related US. Application Data Provisional application No. 60/ 800, 847,?led on May 17, Publication Classi?cation (51) Int. Cl. G06Q 10/00 ( ) G06Q 30/00 ( ) (52) US. Cl /1 (57) ABSTRACT Systems and methods consistent With the present invention provide a dealer With an opportunity to recover dissatis?ed customers and improve customer loyalty by identifying and sending recovery surveys to the dissatis?ed customers. A dealer may review an online survey report containing cus tomers initial survey responses and initial scores. The dealer may identify a dissatis?ed customer based on the customers responses to the initial surveys. The dealer may contact the dissatis?ed customer and attempt to resolve any concerns raised by the dissatis?ed customer. The dealer may then request a recovery survey to be sent to the customer. The dealer may review an online report Which contains customers responses to the recovery surveys and a new score representing those recovered customers Owner responds to OLP survey Response is scored and posted to online reports Positive No change to SOLI score Dealer contacts owner and attempts to resolve 104 Interim Score Positive Dealer checks box online to initiate new survey No change to SOLI score Response is scored and posted to online reports Positive Sou + R Final Score

2 Patent Application Publication Nov. 22, 2007 Sheet 1 0f 10 US 2007/ A Owner responds to OLP survey No change to SOLI score Response is scored and posted to online reports Negative Dealer contacts owner and attempts to resolve Positive 104 Interim Score Positive Dealer checks box online to initiate new survey I 108 No change to SOLI score Response is scored and posted to online reports SOLI + R Final Score 11o FIGURE 1

3 Patent Application Publication Nov. 22, 2007 Sheet 2 0f 10 US 2007/ A1 REVIEW OLP REPORT X 200 I SELECT DISSATISFIED CUSTOMER /( I CONTACT DISSATISFIED /( 204 CUSTOMER AND ATTEMPT TO SOLVE ANY DISSATISFACTION I SEND RECOVERY SURVEY TO ; DISSATISFIED CUSTOMER V REVIEW RECOVERY SuRvEY RESPONSE f 208 FIGURE 2

4 Patent Application Publication Nov. 22, 2007 Sheet 3 0f 10 US 2007/ A1 RESPOND TO OLP SURVEY /( 300 l RECEIVE DEALER S CONTACT AND /( DEALER S ATTEMPT TO SOLVE ANY DISSATISFACTION l RESPOND TO RECOVERY SURVEY )/ FIGURE 3

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11 Patent Application Publication Nov. 22, 2007 Sheet 10 0f 10 US 2007/ A1 SUBARU. 0m loyalty program 7) Your OLP Purchase Experience a 50L + Score Your score is This is greater than (he SOLh score achieved in the same Quarter by your Districi and ii is greater than the Region. Your dealership ranks 4 out of the 13 Subaru ijealerships in your Disrricr, or in the top 31% of all Current Quarter Ranking gzglieg? myour Drama. and m the top 38% of all dealers in your Comma w Dism? A or 13 For 02 4 customers were eligible for recovery, Your dealership approved 4 recovery surveys for maiiout, of which 4 were Command in Region 37 ui98 returned a. Current 0" Dealership Results: ' M YOLII' SOL! _ Currant 0h Region Results: _ 2U 40 E0 m m sou Rummy sour" Q1, 2606 r SOL ' Q2, SOL} SOL} E r When adding SOU and Recovery 0:85, the SOL! scale may GIUBI alighlgr 600 to rounding. Your Recovery Responses Eligible Sent oral Returned Rammed Positive For please additionai cunracr information your District on Manager. rho inierprularion o?his rcpon, or rho process for administering or scoring ihe Purchase Errpenonce Survey, v FIGURE 10

12 US 2007/ A1 Nov. 22, 2007 METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR RECOVERING A DISSATISFIED CUSTOMER BY A CUSTOMER RECOVERY SURVEY RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application claims the bene?t of priority of the US. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/800,847, entitled METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR RECOVERING A DIS SATISFIED CUSTOMER BYA CUSTOMER RECOVERY SURVEY,?led May 17, 2006, Which is incorporated herein by reference. BACKGROUND [0002] 1. Relevant Field [0003] This invention relates generally to owner loyalty and customer satisfaction programs and more particularly to recovering dissatis?ed customers using a customer recovery survey. [0004] 2. Background Information [0005] It has become common for many automotive manufacturers and dealers to use surveys to gauge customer satisfaction With their products and experiences. In particu lar, nearly all automobile manufacturers mail out surveys on behalf of their dealers to receive feedback about customer satisfaction. Based on the survey responses received from the customers, the automobile manufacturers can identify problems and also rate the performance of each dealership. A dissatis?ed customer Who provides a negative survey response Will likely not purchase a car from the same dealership in the future, and are therefore lost to the deal ership. In some cases, a dissatis?ed customer may also be lost to the manufacturer. Each negative survey response lowers the rating of the dealership in its performance evalu ation. In this conventional survey system, however, the dealership has no tool for recovering a lost customer or improving its rating. [0006] Systems and methods consistent With embodiments of the present invention address these and other drawbacks of conventional survey system. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0007] A customer recovery survey system consistent With embodiments of the present invention helps dealers to identify dissatis?ed customers Who may be potentially lost to the dealership and/or manufacturer. The customer recov ery survey system provides a dealer With an opportunity to recover dissatis?ed customers and improve customer loy alty. The customer recovery survey system also provides a dealer With an opportunity to improve an initial bad rating by recovering dissatis?ed customers. [0008] In accordance With embodiments of the present invention, methods and systems are disclosed for identifying dissatis?ed customers and recovering dissatis?ed customers using recovery surveys. [0009] Additional objects and advantages of the invention Will be set forth in part in the description Which follows, and in part Will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advan tages of the invention Will be realized and attained by means of the elements and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims. [0010] It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only, and should not be considered restrictive of the scope of the invention, as described and claimed. Further, features and/or variations may be provided in addition to those set forth herein. For example, embodiments of the invention may be directed to various combinations and sub-combinations of the features described in the detailed description. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0011] The accompanying drawings, Which are incorpo rated in and constitute a part of this disclosure, illustrate various embodiments and aspects of the present invention. In the drawings: [0012] FIG. 1 is a How chart of a process for recovering dissatis?ed customers consistent With an embodiment of the present invention. [0013] FIG. 2 is a How chart illustrating an exemplary process for a dealer to recover dissatis?ed customers con sistent With an embodiment of the present invention; [0014] FIG. 3 is a How chart illustrating an exemplary process for a customer to participate in a system for recov ering dissatis?ed customers consistent With an embodiment of the present invention; [0015] FIG. 4 is a sample recovery survey report consis tent With an embodiment of the present invention; [0016] FIGS. 5-8 are sample screen shots depicting online survey reports consistent With an embodiment of the present invention; [0017] FIG. 9 illustrates an exemplary prepaid business reply mail piece containing a sample recovery survey con sistent With an embodiment of the present invention; and [0018] FIG. 10 is a sample individual dealer report con sistent With an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION [0019] The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same ref erence numbers are used in the drawings and the following description to refer to the same or similar parts. While several exemplary embodiments and features of the inven tion are described herein, modi?cations, adaptations and other implementations are possible, Without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. For example, substi tutions, additions or modi?cations may be made to the components illustrated in the drawings, and the exemplary methods described herein may be modi?ed by substituting, reordering, or adding steps to the disclosed methods. Accordingly, the following detailed description does not limit the invention. Instead, the proper scope of the inven tion is de?ned by the appended claims. [0020] FIG. 1 is a How chart of a process for recovering dissatis?ed customers consistent With an embodiment of the present invention. An initial survey may be sent out to a customer Who purchased a vehicle from a dealership or had a recent service visit (step 100). The survey may be sent, for example, by a manufacturer or by the dealer. In certain embodiments, the survey may be sent via mail or may be sent electronically. A response to the initial survey by the customer may be scored to yield an initial survey score, such as the Subaru OWner Loyalty Indicator SOLI score described in FIG. 1. An initial response and the SOLI score may be posted to online internet reports (step 102).

13 US 2007/ A1 Nov. 22, 2007 [0021] A dealer may then review an online survey report to identify a dissatis?ed customer, e. g., a survey Within a low SOLI score. The dealer may contact the dissatis?ed cus tomer and attempt to resolve any concerns raised by the dissatis?ed customer (step 104). For example, the dealer may apologize to the customer or may offer to correct an error made by the dealership. If the dealer believes he failed to resolve the dissatis?ed customer s concerns, the dealer may take no further action and no changes Will be made to the SOLI score (step 106). [0022] If the dealer believes he succeeded in resolving the dissatis?ed customer s concerns, the dealer may simply check a box online to send out a recovery survey to the e?fected customer (step 108). Alternatively, the dealer may send the recovery survey himself. [0023] The customer s response to the recovery survey may be scored and posted to online reports (step 110). If the customer s response to the recovery survey is negative, no change Will be made to the SOLI score (step 112). HoWever, if the customer s response to the recovery survey is positive, the SOLI score Will be adjusted to yield an updated survey score, such as the SOLI+ score (step 114). For example, the SOLI+ score may be an average of the SOLI score and a score based on the customer s response to the recovery survey. [0024] FIG. 2 is a How chart illustrating an exemplary process for a dealer to recover dissatis?ed customers con sistent With an embodiment of the present invention. A dealer may review an online survey report, such as the OWner Loyalty Program Report ( OLP Report ), Which contains customers initial survey responses and the SOLI scores (step 200). FIG. 5 is a sample screen shot depicting a selection of dealer reports consistent With an embodiment of the present invention. In this example, the dealer may click on the Purchase or Service Recovery Detail hyperlink in the screen shot of FIG. 5 to view customers initial survey responses, e.g., using an online survey report. FIG. 6 is a sample screen shot depicting such an online survey report consistent With an embodiment of the present invention. [0025] After reviewing the online survey report, the dealer may select a dissatis?ed customer, for example, based on the satisfaction score based on the customer s initial survey response (step 202). In the example of FIG. 6, the dealer may select Sample Customer as a dissatis?ed customer because they provided a satisfaction score of 7 indicating they Were very dissatis?ed With some aspect of their experience With the dealer. [0026] After the dealer has selected a dissatis?ed cus tomer, the dealer may contact the dissatis?ed customer and attempt to solve any dissatisfaction (step 204). The dealer may, for example, listen to the customer s dissatisfaction and try to understand the nature of the dissatisfaction. The dealer may then, for example, attempt to solve any problems or may simply apologize for any problem or inconvenience. [0027] If the dealer believes he succeeded in resolving the customer s dissatisfaction, the dealer may send a recovery survey to the dissatis?ed customer (step 206). In the example of FIG. 6, the dealer may click on the Request Mailing button in the screen to send a recovery survey. FIG. 7 is a sample screen shot depicting an online survey report consistent With an embodiment of the present invention. In this example, after the dealer has clicked on the Request Mailing button in the screen, the system may prompt the dealer to con?rm that a recovery survey should be sent to the customer along With the expected date of mailing. [0028] The dealer may review customers responses to the recovery surveys (step 208). FIG. 8 is a sample screen shot depicting an online survey report showing customers recov ery survey responses. This report may show, for example, the date the customer s recovery survey Was processed and the customer s response(s) to the recovery survey. [0029] FIG. 3 is a How chart illustrating an exemplary process for a customer to participate in a system for recov ering dissatis?ed customers consistent With an embodiment of the present invention. A customer Who purchased a vehicle from a dealership may respond to an initial survey, such as the OLP survey (step 300). If the customer showed dissatisfaction in the response to the OLP survey, the cus tomer may be contacted by the dealer in an attempt to solve any dissatisfaction (step 302). The customer may, for example, explain to the dealer Why he or she Was dissatis?ed and how the dealer can?x the problem. If the customer receives a recovery survey, the customer may respond to the recovery survey (step 304). FIG. 9 is a sample recovery survey in accordance With one embodiment of the present invention. In accordance With this embodiment of the present invention, the recovery survey may include two simple questions. In one embodiment, in order to recover a customer and improve the SOLI score, Question a (Did someone from the dealership contact you after you sent in the survey?) must earn a Yes and Question b (As a result of this follow-up, please indicate how you now feel about this dealership) must receive a Much Better or Better rating. [0030] FIG. 4 is an exemplary recovery survey report in accordance With one embodiment of the present invention. In this example, Dealer I sent 21 OLP surveys to customers. Out of the 21 OLP surveys sent, Dealer 1 received 10 responses from customers. None of the 10 responses Was eligible for a recovery survey because the responses Were all positive. The SOLI Score Was a perfect score of 100. The SOLI+ Score Was also a perfect score of 100, showing no change from the SOLI Score. [0031] Dealer 2 sent 39 OLP surveys to customers. Dealer 2 received 18 responses. Out of the 18 responses, 2 responses Were eligible for a recovery survey because these 2 responses Were negative. Dealer 2 sent 2 recovery surveys to the 2 dissatis?ed customers Who gave negative responses. The percentage of the recovery surveys sent Was 100 because Dealer 2 sent out all of the 2 recovery surveys that Were eligible. Dealer 2 received only one response from the 2 recovery surveys sent. The percentage of recovery survey responses received Was therefore 50 (1 out of 2). Because the response to the recovery survey Was negative, the number of recovered customers Was 0. The SOLI Score Was Because Dealer 2 could not recover the dissatis?ed customer, the SOLI+ Score Was also , showing no change from the SOLI Score. In this example, Dealer 2 Was not penalized for not recovering the dissatis?ed customer because the updated SOLI+ Score Was the same as the original SOLI Score. Dealer 3 sent 14 OLP surveys to customers. Dealer 3 received 59 responses. Out of the 59 responses, 2 responses Were eligible for recovery surveys because these 2 responses Were negative. Dealer 3 sent 2 recovery surveys to the 2 dissatis?ed customers Who gave negative responses. The percentage of the recovery surveys sent Was 100 because Dealer 3 sent out all of the 2 recovery

14 US 2007/ A1 Nov. 22, 2007 surveys that Were eligible. Dealer 3 received 2 responses from the 2 recovery surveys sent. The percentage of recov ery survey responses received Was therefore 100. Because both of the 2 responses to the recovery surveys Were positive, the number of recovered customers Was 2. The SOLI Score Was originally In this example, because Dealer 3 Was able to recover all of the two dissatis?ed customers, the updated SOLI+ Score Was a perfect score of 100. Therefore, Dealer 3 Was able to boost the original SOLI Score to a perfect SOLI+ Score of 100 by recovering all of the dissatis?ed customers. [0032] Dealer 4 sent 91 OLP surveys to customers. Dealer 4 received 42 responses. Out of the 42 responses, 11 responses Were eligible for recovery surveys because these 11 responses Were negative. Dealer 4 sent 7 recovery sur veys. The percentage of the recovery surveys sent Was 63.6 because Dealer 4 sent 7 out of the 11 recovery surveys that Were eligible. Dealer 4 received 3 responses from the 7 recovery surveys sent. The percentage of recovery survey responses received Was Because only 1 response to the recovery survey Was positive, the number of recovered customers Was 1. The SOLI Score Was originally Because Dealer 4 Was able to recover 1 dissatis?ed cus tomer, the updated SOLI+ Score Was increased to 75. In this example, dealer 4 Was able to boost the original SOLI Score even though Dealer 4 could not recover all of his dissatis?ed customers. [0033] A skilled artisan Will appreciate that other calcu lations may be used to determine an updated score, such as a SOLI+ score, based on the numbers of recovery surveys sent, the number of recovery surveys received, the number of positive responses to recovery surveys etc. [0034] FIG. 10 is an exemplary individual dealer report in accordance With one embodiment of the present invention. In this example, the dealer may review his SOLI+ Score rankings in his district and in his region. The dealer in this example ranked 4th out of the 13 Subaru dealerships (top 31%) in his district and ranked 37th out of the 98 Subaru dealerships (top 38%) in his region. Therefore, the dealer is able to review his performance compared to other dealer ships in his district or region. [0035] A customer recovery survey system consistent With the present invention gives the dealership a second chance to recover a dissatis?ed customer and also improve an initial bad survey score. This customer recovery survey system also allows a dealership and/or manufacturer to more accu rately predict customer loyalty by updating the initial survey results. [0036] One skilled in the art Will recognize that many alternative embodiments are possible Within the scope of the present invention. For example, the initial survey and/ or the recovery survey may be sent by a dealer or a manufacturer or may be requested by a customer. What is claimed is: 1. A method for recovering a dissatis?ed customer, com prising: sending an initial survey to a customer; receiving a response to the initial survey from the cus tomer; calculating an initial score based on the response to the initial survey; displaying the initial score and the response to the initial survey; receiving a selection of a dissatis?ed customer based on the displayed response to the initial survey; sending a recovery survey to the selected dissatis?ed customer; receiving a response to the recovery survey from the selected dissatis?ed customer; updating the initial score based on the response to the recovery survey; and displaying an updated score and the response to the recovery survey. 2. The method of claim 1, Wherein the selection of the dissatis?ed customer is based on a satisfaction score in the response to the initial survey. 3. The method of claim 1, Wherein the initial score and the response to the initial survey are displayed online. 4. The method of claim 1, Wherein the updated score and the response to the recovery survey are displayed online. 5. The method of claim 1, Wherein updating further comprises: increasing the initial score if the response to the recovery survey is positive. 6. The method of claim 1, Wherein updating further comprises: updating the initial score based on a number of responses to recovery surveys received. 7. The method of claim 1, Wherein displaying the updated score and the response to the recovery survey further com prises: displaying a number of recovered customers. 8. A method for recovering a dissatis?ed customer, com prising: receiving an initial report including a plurality of cus tomer responses to an initial survey; selecting a dissatis?ed customer based on the dissatis?ed customer s response to the initial survey; contacting the selected dissatis?ed customer; sending a request for a recovery survey to be sent to the dissatis?ed customer after the dissatis?ed customer has been contacted; and receiving an updated report including the dissatis?ed customer s response to the recovery survey. 9. The method of claim 8, Wherein selecting the dissat is?ed customer further comprises: selecting the dissatis?ed customer based on a satisfaction score in the dissatis?ed customer s response to the initial survey. 10. The method of claim 8, Wherein the initial report further includes an initial score calculated based on the responses to the initial survey. 11. The method of claim 10, Wherein the updated report further includes an updated score calculated based on the initial score and the dissatis?ed customer s response to the recovery survey. 12. The method of claim 8, Wherein the initial report is an online report. 13. The method of claim 8, Wherein the updated report is an online report. 14. The method of claim 8, Wherein the request for the recovery survey is sent online. 15. A system for recovering a dissatis?ed customer, comprising: an initial survey sending component con?gured to send an initial survey to a customer;

15 US 2007/ A1 Nov. 22, 2007 an initial survey response receiving component con?g ured to receive a response to the initial survey from the customer; an initial score calculating component con?gured to cal culate an initial score based on the response to the initial survey; an initial score displaying component con?gured to dis play the initial score and the response to the initial survey; a selection receiving component con?gured to receive a selection of a dissatis?ed customer based on the dis played response to the initial survey; a recovery survey sending component con?gured to send a recovery survey to the selected dissatis?ed customer; a recovery survey response receiving component con?g ured to receive a response to the recovery survey from the selected dissatis?ed customer; an updated score calculating component con?gured to calculate and update the initial score based on the response to the recovery survey; and an updated score displaying component con?gured to display an updated score and the response to the recovery survey. 16. The system of claim 15, Wherein the selection of the dissatis?ed customer is based on a satisfaction score in the response to the initial survey. 17. The system of claim 15, Wherein the initial score and the response to the initial survey are displayed online. 18. The system of claim 15, Wherein the updated score and the response to the recovery survey are displayed online. 19. The system of claim 15, Wherein the updated score calculating component increases the initial score if the response to the recovery survey is positive. 20. The system of claim 15, Wherein the updated score calculating component updates the initial score based on a number of responses to recovery surveys received.