Sparking A Connection

Transcription

1 InMoment Case Study Marks & Spencer Sparking A Connection MARKS & SPENCER LEVERAGE CUSTOMER STORIES TO DELIVER SUSTAINABLE VALUE IN THE INTERNATIONAL MARKETPLACE Marks & Spencer is an iconic British brand and staple of the High Street: the picture of quality and value for over 130 years. With over 1,400 stores in more than 40 countries and over 10.4 billion in annual revenue the global retailer provides its 32 million customers with nutritious food, fashionable clothing, and innovative home products in-store and online. And Plan A an initiative to source products responsibly, conserve energy, reduce waste, and help local communities drives home the company s commitment to protecting the planet and behaving in a responsible way.

2 Placing Customers at the Heart of the Business When Steve Rowe became M&S s Chief Executive Officer in 2015, his goal was singular: a renewed focus on putting customers at the heart of the business. Yet, understanding customer needs and cultural nuances across multiple nationalities is no simple task. Add to that the challenge of delivering a consistent shopping experience across company-owned locations, massive international franchise partners, and smaller, family-owned locations, and you re looking at an extremely complex operation. John Heatherington, International Operations Manager with a 10+ year tenure at Marks & Spencer, was presented with an exciting opportunity. With his experience and expertise in finance, he was asked to spearhead a robust, global customer experience (CX) programme with tangible financial value. John faced the challenge head on and, before long, he became a self-proclaimed customer service geek. I ve filled in far too many customer service surveys, probably more than I should admit to, he says. I ve commented and complemented where necessary because it s good to see good service being rewarded. He wanted to know what the best brands in the world were doing when it came to improving CX. Internationally, M&S was using a mystery shopper programme one visit per month per store which gave a figure, that s all, according to Heatherington. And while the company was running a Voice of Customer (VoC) programme in the UK where customer service has always been a part of the M&S story it was at the periphery and not at the heart of the international business, according to Heatherington. Further, M&S s VoC vendor could not replicate the platform in multiple languages across all markets, a must have in order to give customers a consistent experience and authentic voice across the globe. Heatherington saw a business-broadening opportunity with the ability for every shopper to be that mystery shopper, to understand what customer service means for M&S on the international stage. WE WANT TO BE THE BEST IN CUSTOMER SERVICE. WE WANT THE WORLD TO KNOW WHAT BRITISH CUSTOMER SERVICE REALLY MEANS. WE WANT TO CONTINUALLY STRIVE TO BE THAT COMPANY THAT OTHERS WANT TO EMULATE. John Heatherington, International Operations Manager, M&S

3 BY THE NUMBERS PARTNER SINCE 2015 LOCATIONS 400 LANGUAGES 20 COUNTRIES 31 AVERAGE INCREASE IN OSAT 23% YOY INCREASE IN CHECKOUT EXPERIENCE 13% YOY INCREASE IN FITTING ROOM EXPERIENCE 7% INCREASE IN SPEND FOR REPEAT CUSTOMERS IN A SINGLE MARKET 83% Launching a Global Listening Programme Implementing a programme of this size is a hugely complex process, according to Heatherington. Not only is there the challenge of translating questions into numerous languages while accounting for proper tone, wording, and connotation, but the additional hurdle of syncing and engaging retail operations, information technology, and marketing departments across the globe. Currently, InMoment helps Marks & Spencer operate a VoC programme in over 400 international stores in 20 languages across 31 countries, including Hong Kong, Greece, Singapore, India, Spain, China, Russia, and Thailand. Since InMoment supports a wide range of languages, in this truly global marketplace, customers may give feedback and have their comments analysed in their preferred language. Across locales, one thing is certain: M&S customers want to be a part of the improvement process. In fact, the company received over 300,000 pieces of customer feedback in the programme s first year alone. However, if a market is struggling to collect enough customer feedback, Heatherington and team leverage best practices to increase engagement. One market saw an astonishing 5200% increase in feedback by making a small process change, ultimately increasing customer buy-in, staff recognition, and opportunities for improvement. The ability to add unique questions and incentives, relevant to each particular market, gives a local ownership to an international process. Marks & Spencer s post-transaction, web-based survey is comprised of both structured and open-ended prompts. For the latter, Active Listening gently encourages customers for more detail in real time, giving M&S richer, more detailed insights. Customer comments are then processed through InMoment s industry-tuned text analytics engine, uncovering trends, differentiators, and opportunities for improvement. Using InMoment s Coach report, key touch points are identified and managers are given store-level, customised action plans and recommendations

4 to improve in these areas. At the Executive level, custom reporting provides advanced visualisation and analytics capabilities, allowing ad-hoc queries and the creation of custom dashboards that handle large data sets spanning multiple sources. the customer journey that needed special attention: fitting rooms and checkout experience. By running text analytics on unstructured, human feedback, InMoment pinpointed the specific reasons for customer dissatisfaction in these areas. The company mandate is that all customer rescue opportunities are completed by a Store or Regional Manager within 48 hours, and InMoment s real-time alerting of unsatisfactory customer experiences allows for this expedited resolution. In addition, Heatherington takes it upon himself to often read hundreds of customer responses, follow up with managers, and ensure the feedback loop is successfully closed with all customers. For a personalised twist, M&S locations with in-store coffee shops have been known to invite customers in for a complimentary beverage to resolve issues face-to-face. Creating A Roadmap for Consistency From the guest s lasting impression with the brand, including Net Promoter Score, to experience factors that relate to each specific shopping experience such as friendliness of colleagues and cleanliness of the store environment M&S is constantly monitoring their progress. Looking at customer feedback trends daily, weekly, and quarterly, Heatherington and his team focused in on two touch points along M&S s Learning & Development team used customer feedback to craft a revamped service standards toolkit which reflects how customer service looks from the customer viewpoint. The toolkit not only covers broad topics such as staffing models, efficiency, and customer interactions, but also specific improvement opportunities trending in customer feedback. It was about understanding the basics and applying sensible solutions, concludes Heatherington. For example, customers wanted more fashion advice in the fitting rooms, so the company created design guides on how to recommend outfits to customers. They even hung outfit suggestions in the fitting room area and, in general, improved the environment with more modern decor. In one market, M&S ed customers who had submitted negative feedback, and invited them back to the store for an improved fitting room experience. Regarding checkout, the team used customer feedback to identify 16 individual elements of the payment experience and tips for saving just four or five seconds on each one totaling a significant time savings for customers. Now, service is more consistent and staff are more relaxed, says Heatherington.

5 Putting CX Front and Center According to Heatherington, We want to be the best in customer service. We want the world to know what British customer service really means. We want to continually strive to be that company that others want to emulate. Across 11 key international markets, M&S averaged a 23 percent increase in OSAT since the programme s launch, highlighted by an 88 percent increase in India, 40 percent in Singapore, 28 percent in Vietnam, 23 percent in Hong Kong, and 18 percent in Turkey. Further, when customers are more satisfied, their relationship with the brand becomes exponentially more valuable. In one key market, M&S achieved a 27 percent increase in OSAT, and knows that repeat customers spend 83 percent more when they return, leading to 284,000 in new revenue annually. Marks & Spencer is pleased with the quick improvements they ve seen, and are rolling out more elements of the programme as customer experience has gone from low key to front and center. Additionally, according to Heatherington, they ve found that sometimes service isn t a thing...it s simply a connection. [It s] the people we employ to protect the brand, project the brand, but also to trust it, understand it, believe it, and breathe it every single day when they come to work. SOMETIMES SERVICE ISN T A THING...IT S SIMPLY A CONNECTION. [IT S] THE PEOPLE WE EMPLOY TO PROTECT THE BRAND, PROJECT THE BRAND, BUT ALSO TO TRUST IT, UNDERSTAND IT, BELIEVE IT, AND BREATHE IT EVERY SINGLE DAY WHEN THEY COME TO WORK. John Heatherington, International Operations Manager, M&S The company has recently explored the customer cross journey (e.g., And with updated policies and new training standards in place, M&S saw a marked shift in customer perceptions, moving the needle seven percent on fitting room experience and 13 percent on checkout. While they re focused heavily on customer stories, M&S also monitors Overall Satisfaction (OSAT) as a quantifiable measure of improvement in customer experience. if they browsed the company s website before visiting a store) and is running a pilot e-commerce survey in one market. According to Rowe, Our customers are now at the heart of everything we do. That means that every decision starts with them. Our actions are driven by listening to what customers tell us, not by what we think is right for them. Looking at who our customers are and how they shop with M&S is crucial to our future. There remain great opportunities for growth.