The effectiveness of front line personnel is very important. However, it is relatively easy to measure personal effectiveness only for active sales employees. This is usually the fulfillment of sales plans, the average size of the check, at least - the conversion. For all other front-line workers (tellers, cashiers, client managers, etc.), customer satisfaction is an indicator of personal effectiveness, which depends, first of all, on the quality of service. Therefore, in order to manage the personal effectiveness of front-line employees who are not engaged in active sales, it is absolutely necessary to control the quality of customer service. In addition to this, it is desirable to control the emotional loyalty of customers (how satisfied they are in general with the goods or services purchased and whether they are ready to recommend the company to their friends) and be able to quickly diagnose the root causes of their dissatisfaction and low loyalty.

Monitoring the quality of service is a difficult task, and only by installing the red and green buttons at the cash desks or client manager workstations and collecting statistics, which button was pressed how many times, this task is not solved.

First, most customers are not eager to press and evaluate something. If you do not take special measures to motivate customers, no more than 30% of customers will evaluate the quality of service, and the general population will be represented in it with strong distortions. So, the statistics obtained in this way will not correspond to the real customer satisfaction.
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Secondly, if the information received from the EFM system (Enterprise Feedback Management, the system of quality of service evaluation) is incomplete or unreliable, its use for personnel motivation will lead to the effect opposite to expectations, namely, to full demotivation of personnel [1 ] . The fact is that not all factors affecting the assessment of the quality of customer service, front-line staff may be affected. The cash register system hung, the air conditioner broke, an unexpected influx of visitors — there could be a lot of factors. Therefore, if the quality of service monitoring system does not allow us to determine in which cases customer dissatisfaction is caused by poor staff performance, and in which factors beyond the control of personnel (something broke, a long queue, etc.), such a system will do more harm than benefits.

EFM systems are good and not very good, but even the most efficient system will not be able to cope with the task of managing quality of service if it is not complemented by an effective methodology. This article arose as an attempt to summarize and systematize the practical experience of our company, as well as the experience of our customers and partners in the field of quality of service management. These are five simple rules that can be called best practices in assessing the quality of service in the retail and services sector. We do not claim truth in the last resort, but nevertheless.

Five rules for monitoring the quality of customer service in retail and services:

1. Motivate customers to evaluate the quality of service;
2. Measure the number of silent people (customers who refuse to evaluate the quality of service);
3. React to customer dissatisfaction in real time;
4. Ask customers understandable questions, ask customers different questions, ask questions not only to customers;
5. Link the quality of service assessment to the staff motivation system, but distribute responsibility fairly.

Consider these rules in more detail.

Rule number 1. Motivate customers to rate service quality.

Figure 1. Source: anketalog.ru

Most customers are not eager to evaluate something. Studies show that no more than 30% of customers click on the buttons of the service quality assessment panels installed at the cash desks and at client manager workstations ( Figure 1 ). It is not much, but even worse, the desire to rate is correlated with a number of factors: customer satisfaction, education, income level, and even the gender of the client. This means that the final picture of customer satisfaction obtained from this sample will be greatly distorted, and therefore cannot be considered reliable.

To avoid all this, you need to either correct the sample (which seems impossible), or to motivate each client to answer the question about the quality of service. This can be done in different ways. The main and most effective - just ask him about it. The client manager, completing (or starting) the service, invites the client to give his assessment. If the client is satisfied, in most cases he will not refuse.

It is important to observe three conditions. First, the front line workers themselves must be motivated to conduct surveys (see Rule No. 5 ). Secondly, the client should know that his refusal to evaluate the quality of service will be regarded as dissatisfaction with the quality of service (see Rule No. 2 ). Thirdly, one of the answers to the question about the quality of service (for example, “How did you like it here?” Or “Rate our work”) should be: “I have difficulty to answer” (see Rule No. 4 ). For details, see the description of the relevant rules. If, when all these conditions are met, the client, nevertheless, refuses to evaluate the quality of service, then this is also an estimate ( Rule No. 2 ).

If there are relatively few customers or the customer service process takes a long time, the approach described above works fine. If the flow of customers is large, and the average service time, on the contrary, is small, then the load on the front line personnel will increase significantly. The problem can be solved if an invitation to evaluate the quality of service will be delivered not by the employee himself, but by a computer, playing an audio or video file: “It is very important for us to know your opinion. Please [what to do]. ” The employee invites the invitation by pressing the Seller’s Button (we will talk about it in Rule No. 2 ), or it can be done automatically, for example, when performing a certain operation by the cash system of the operation. In the second case, the cash system should be integrated with the service quality monitoring system.

To diversify the process and additionally attract the attention of customers, you can beat the assessment of quality of service, for example, presenting it as a competition for the best employee. The jury - customers voting (or not voting) for the employee serving them. The prize for the best employee can be a valuable gift, a sum of money, a trip to the warm sea, etc. The prize should lie somewhere in a prominent place. It will also help to display the current rating of each employee on the big screen in real time.

Rule number 2. Measure the number of silent people (customers who refuse to evaluate the quality of service)

A client who has used your service, but was not satisfied with the quality of service, will most likely not press any buttons, even if asked for it. As practice shows, dissatisfied people prefer not to press anything, but “vote with their feet”. Therefore, in order to have complete and reliable information about the quality of service, it is necessary to measure not only the number of positive and negative reviews, but also the number of customers who did not want to take part in the survey. Let's call them "silent". Information about the number of silent people is no less important than information about the number of positive and negative reviews, because it is the number of silent people, in most cases, that characterizes the level of customer dissatisfaction.

Counting silent is, above all, a new understanding of the process of assessing the quality of service. The client should not press the button on the button control when it pleases him. Pressing the button must be preceded by an invitation (see Rule No. 1 ), after which the client has a certain time to evaluate the quality of service, for example, 3 minutes. All estimates made after this time are not counted. If a client has voted several times during the allotted time, it is considered, then it is considered that the client chose the option “I find it difficult to answer”. Service quality assessment is tied to the service act itself, and this allows you to determine how many customers abstained from voting. We call this practice the Permitted Window Method .

To calculate the silence of one push-button remote is not enough, you need a special button on the side of the employee - Seller button. The button of the Seller has two applications and two modes of operation. If an employee wants to report any abnormal situation, then he must hold down the Seller button in the pressed state for about 3 seconds. In this case, the button of the Seller performs the function of the Button Force Majeure (about this in Rule No. 4 ). If the employee presses and immediately releases the Seller's Button (does not hold it down), then, in this way, he records the fact and time of the start of the survey. In this case, the Seller Button performs the Polling Button function.



The employee, starting (or ending) customer service, offers him to evaluate the quality of his work and presses the Poll Button (short press of the Seller’s Button). The invitation may be recorded in an audio or video file, in which case it is played when the Poll Button is pressed, see Rule No. 1 (and the employee himself does not need to say anything). The client has a certain time (Allowed Window) during which he can assess the quality of service. If during this time the client does not press any of the buttons designed to assess the quality of service (red, green, gray), then such a client qualifies as silent. By measuring the number of customers who did not press any of the buttons during the time allowed by the window, we determine the number of silent users. If Rule No. 1 is fulfilled in this case, then in fact we determine the number of customers dissatisfied with the quality of service. Therefore, quality managers need to know that the number of dissatisfied customers is the number of customers pressing the red button, plus the number of silence.

Rule number 3. Respond to customer dissatisfaction in real time

If the majority of customers who are dissatisfied with the quality of service do not press the red button, but “vote with their feet,” what does it mean by the client to press the red button? It means DEMONSTRATION of discontent. The client wants to show you: “Although I use your services, but know that I don’t like it here,” or maybe it wants to see the manager and express his displeasure to him.

A client who demonstrates dissatisfaction, you need to try to listen, and most importantly - to show that he heard. A listened and reassured customer will not only maintain a good attitude towards you, but may also turn into a promoter (distributor of good rumor). If, however, to leave a demonstration of discontent without attention, then with a high probability the client will no longer appear and may even become a peddler of bad rumor.

Keeping a count of the number of clients who show discontent, and without even trying to listen to them, is the same as keeping a record of the number of patients and not trying to treat them. Maybe someone does that, but this is bad practice. It is better not to evaluate the quality of service at all.

The demonstration of dissatisfaction by the client should be treated as an incident, which should be diagnosed and, if possible, investigated and closed (appropriate measures taken). The first line in this task should be the administrator (head) of the point of sale. In order for the administrator to be always aware of events, when the customer clicks the red button, he must receive an alert — to a special pager, via e-mail or telephone. The notification is sent directly by the keypad (to a pager) or by the system of monitoring the quality of service (emails and sms).

Having received the message, the administrator should try to come into contact with the client, who is showing discontent, and, at a minimum, give him the opportunity to "let off steam", as a maximum - try to eliminate the cause of discontent. With proper organization, each press of the red button should be recorded (for example, in the Service Desk), and the point of sale administrator for each such incident should report (indicating the cause of the incident and actions taken to eliminate it). If there are few red taps, it will not be difficult. (If a lot is already a system problem.) If the root cause of customer dissatisfaction lies outside the administrator's area of ​​responsibility, the relevant information should be reported to the quality manager and above.

Rule number 4. Ask customers clear questions, ask customers different questions, ask questions not only to customers

To get a clear answer, you need to ask a clear question. If the question or answer choices are ambiguous, the value of the answer is small. I will give an example. Most often, wanting to assess the quality of the service, the client is asked directly: “Evaluate the quality of service”. But what does quality of service mean? One interprets this as a proposal to evaluate the work of a particular employee, the other - the office as a whole. If there are still several qualitative assessment options offered, for example, good, satisfactory, bad , then problems arise with the interpretation of the answers. The rating is satisfactory - is the customer satisfied, is the customer dissatisfied, or is the customer at a loss to answer?

Therefore, in order to really know what customers think, ask them questions that do not allow double interpretation, and offer answers that are unambiguously understood. Do not ask customers to give quality assessments: good, bad, etc. Clients are not experts, so they should be asked whether they liked or not, whether they are ready to do something or not. At the same time, it is absolutely necessary that one of the answers be: “I find it difficult to answer.” This significantly increases the reliability of positive and negative evaluations.

Another important recommendation. To obtain objective information about the level of customer satisfaction and their relationship to the company, one should not be limited to any one question. Instead of one vague question, ask a few precise ones. This will allow you to look at customer satisfaction from different angles and, comparing the responses received, localize the subject of discontent.

But to ask each client several questions - it means to kill any desire to answer them. Therefore, each client should be asked only one question, and the overall picture is derived from the fact that different clients are asked different questions. At the moment, this seems to be the best practice. If the question is accompanied by playing an audio or video file, the questions can be automatically selected randomly. If the question is formulated on the button control (for example, on the acrylic insert), then the questions can be changed periodically. For example, in the first decade of a month, customers are asked one question, in the second - another, etc. For more on this, see the Anketer Button .

Several issues that it is advisable to include in the rotation:

1. Please rate my (our) work. In this issue, the emphasis is on assessing the work of a particular employee. The measured indicator is the ratio of the number of red clicks and silencers to the total number of polls. The indicator characterizes the professionalism of workers.
2. How do you like us? In this issue, the emphasis is on assessing the work of the entire office, restaurant, beauty salon, shop, etc. The measured indicator is the same as for the first question: the ratio of the number of red clicks and silence to the total number of polls. The value of the second question - in comparison with the first question. If the first question characterizes the work of a specific employee, the second question is the work of a specific employee, and business processes, and the work of the office as a whole.
   
   Comparing the results of the indicators on the first and second questions, you can find out who is responsible for the negatives from customers - personnel or other factors (business processes, office comfort, etc.). If, when answering the second question, the ratio of the number of red clicks and silence to the number of polls is significantly higher than when answering the first question, then this is a reason to think about the organization of business processes, office comfort and other factors. If about the same, then the bottleneck is the staff, because if the client is not satisfied with the quality of service, he will give a negative assessment both when answering the first question and when answering the second question. If he does not like the situation in the office or the time he spent in the queue, then a negative assessment will be given only to the second question.
3. Would you recommend us to your friends? This is an adaptation for the service sector of the key issue of the Net Promoter Score concept. The main measured indicator in this case is the Emotional Loyalty Index (IEL) , which is calculated as the share of green taps (positive responses) minus the share of red taps and silencers (negative answers and refused to answer). The share of silence is taken with a coefficient of, for example, 0.8. The value of the coefficient depends on the type of business and is determined by conducting a special study. When conducting benchmarking to ensure the comparability of the IEL, subtract 80% of the share of silencers (that is, if the total number of silencers is 30%, then deduct 24%).

Questions How did you like it? and would you recommend us to your friends? You can set not only clients, but in general all visitors, regardless of whether they used your services or not. Indeed, only the one who was served can fully appreciate the quality of the service. But there are always those who have gone away empty-handed. How many of them? Why did they leave without using your services? Maybe you are doing something wrong? This is very important information, and with the help of the Loyalty Button you can at least find out the number of “refusers”. It is better to use for this not desktop consoles, to which a person may not reach, but floor consoles, and install them in a prominent place near the exit. This will allow to collect a certain minimum of statistics about the "refusers".

Rule number 5. Link the assessment of service quality with the staff motivation system, but distribute responsibility fairly

For front-line workers who are not engaged in active sales, evaluating their work with customers may be the main indicator of personal effectiveness. I think it’s unnecessary to talk about the importance of this task. It is advisable to link at least two indicators with the personnel motivation system:

1. Customer Grievance Index (INC). If the Emotional Loyalty Index (IEL) mentioned above is the main indicator of a client's positive, the Client Grievance Index (INC) is an indicator of the client’s negative regarding the subject being evaluated. The INC is calculated as the sum of the share of red clicks and the share of silent people in the total number of surveys in which clients are asked a question: “Please rate my (our) work” (or a question similar in meaning). The share of the silent type, as for IEL, is taken with a coefficient. The standard coefficient value is 0.8. The INC characterizes the quality of the work of the front line personnel, therefore, by linking it with the staff motivation system, you will motivate the staff to work better. Red pressing and refusals are excluded from the calculation, which are the result of force majeure circumstances confirmed by the expert (more details below).
2. Personnel Activity Indicator. The Personnel Activity Indicator characterizes the activity of personnel in conducting surveys, and is calculated as the ratio of the number of surveys to the number of visitors. The number of polls - the number of clicks of the Poll Button (see Rule No. 2 ). The number of visitors is measured by the visitors counter. By linking this indicator with the staff motivation system, you motivate staff not to underestimate the number of surveys, i.e. number of service quality ratings (see Rule # 1 ). If the number of polls is measured automatically (for example, when integrating the monitoring system with the cash system), this indicator is not used.

A service quality assessment system linked to a staff motivation system is an effective Motivator. However, if special measures are not taken to protect personnel from liability in cases where customer dissatisfaction is caused by reasons beyond the personnel (force majeure circumstances), such a system may become a Demotivator [1] . To avoid this, it is necessary to introduce protective measures that can be divided into three groups:

1. Minimize the possibility of false clicks evaluation buttons. The most effective solution, in our opinion, is the Permitted Window Method . The allowed window is the time interval during which the customer can evaluate the quality of service. If the assessment is done outside this window, it is not taken into account. For details, see Rule # 2 .
2. The ability to assess the reliability of button presses performed by an independent expert. For this purpose, the Expert Monitoring technology is used, which allows an independent expert to evaluate and qualify all events and press the buttons for validity based on the video and information on the time of pressing each button stored in the database.
3. Equitable distribution of responsibility. It provides an opportunity for staff to quickly report events (force majeure) that may affect the quality of service, but which are outside of its area of ​​responsibility. To do this, use the button Force Majeure, i.e. when a force majeure situation occurs, the employee presses and holds down the Seller button for about 3 seconds. By doing this, the employee removes the responsibility for the possible subsequent dissatisfaction of customers. The reliability of information about force majeure circumstances and the duration of its validity are established using the technology of Expert Monitoring .

Instead of conclusion

Support for the above 5 rules allows you to:

1. Receive FULL and RELIABLE information on customer satisfaction with service quality. This is ensured by the simultaneous implementation of the Rules: №1, №2, №5 . Complete and reliable customer satisfaction information can be used:
   
   • To create on its basis an effective MOTIVATION SYSTEM for front line personnel;
   • As an indicator of the effectiveness of business processes at the point of sale.
   
   
2. To show customers the value of their opinions for the company and, thus, strengthen the image of the CUSTOMER-ORIENTED company. This is ensured by the simultaneous implementation of the Rules: №1, №3 . Customer focus is an important competitive advantage.
3. Receive OBJECTIVE information about the emotional loyalty of customers and at the same time study their tastes and preferences. This is ensured by the simultaneous implementation of the Rules: №1, №4 . Objective information about emotional customer loyalty is absolutely essential for effective QUALITY and SALES management.

An example of a quality of service monitoring system that supports the above methodology is an economical solution. Loyalty Button Light . If you need not only a monitoring system, but also a MANAGEMENT system for emotional customer loyalty, then a comprehensive solution is better for this — the Enterprise Loyalty Button . The whole theory is described in [2] .

Links

1. “Evaluate the quality of service”: Motivator, Management Tool or Demotivator?
2. Emotional loyalty in the retail and service industries. Monitoring, diagnostics, management