Key indicators of customer service quality in the retail and service industries

For effective management of customer service quality, in addition to the Mystery Shopping method, which allows evaluating services from the point of view of corporate standards, it is equally important to conduct a survey of real customers. This can be done in various ways, for example, using web-based surveys, mail surveys, with the involvement of interviewers interviewing clients in the sales area. Recently, a survey technology has been actively developed, based on the use of special push-button consoles or terminals that are installed directly at the point of purchase or service. The main advantage of this technology is that the client does not have time to forget his feelings, therefore the information about the customer perception of the quality of service turns out to be very accurate. In addition, the client is much easier to motivate to answer one question at the time of purchase than to a series of questions in a day or two, when the joy of buying (or, conversely, resentment) is not so bright. Unless, of course, this is a panel study for which the client receives a reward. Therefore, the representativeness of the sample, and, consequently, the reliability of the results, are significantly higher.

However, the technology of assessing the quality of service using push-button consoles does not boil down only to the installation of buttons “like - dislike” and collection of relevant statistics. First, most customers are not eager to press something. If no special measures are taken to motivate customers, no more than 30% of clients [1] will evaluate the quality of service, and the shift in a number of parameters (gender, education, income, personality traits, etc.) compared to the general population will be very large . Consequently, the statistics obtained will not correspond to real customer satisfaction. Secondly, if the opportunity to separate customer dissatisfaction caused by poor quality of service from discontent caused by factors independent of the staff (something broke, a long queue, etc.) is not provided, the resulting statistics will not be linked to the motivation system. , which significantly narrows the scope of this technology.

Therefore, the technology of assessing the quality of service, in addition to technical means (buttons, software, video surveillance systems, etc.) should include a methodology for their application. This technique is described in [2] . This article discusses the practical application of this methodology, with the main focus on the Key Customer Service Quality Indicators (KPCO), in particular, how to measure these indicators, how to control their reliability and how they can be used.
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Main and additional indicators of customer service quality

The quality of customer service can be divided into three components:

1. The quality of the work of the front line staff: friendliness, professionalism, appearance, manner of communication, etc.
2. The quality of the organization of the office and the quality of business processes:
3. Quality and value of products and services.

Key indicators of service quality:

Indicator	Short description
INC. @ Staff - Customer dissatisfaction index with quality of front line staff	It characterizes the quality of personnel work through the eyes of customers. Used for personnel management by KPI. It is calculated as the share of negative assessments and the share of Molchunov (with a correction factor) when answering the Key Question: “Are you satisfied with the quality of work of the client manager Elena Ivanova ?”
INC. @ Office - Index of customer dissatisfaction with the organization of office work and the quality of business processes	It characterizes the quality of business processes and the attractiveness of the office through the eyes of customers. It is used as one of the KPIs of the internal business processes of the MTP (Balanced Scorecard). It is calculated as the share of negative assessments and the share of Molchunov (with a correction factor) when answering the Key Question: “Did you like the situation and the organization of our office?”
IEL - Index of Emotional Customer Loyalty	Characterizes emotional customer loyalty. Is adapted for the retail and service industries indicator Net Promoter Score . Used as one of the KPI client component of the BSC. It is calculated as the proportion of positive assessments minus the proportion of negative evaluations and Molchunov (with a correction factor) when answering the Key Question: “Would you recommend our company to your friends?”

In assessing the quality of customer service through customer surveys, the representativeness of the sample for which the assessment is made and its length in time are critical. Therefore, in addition to the actual indicators of quality of service, additional (auxiliary) indicators characterizing the representativeness of the sample and the representativeness of the time period are needed.

Additional indicators:

Indicator	Short description
Accurate Conversion	Calculated as the ratio of the number of surveys (front-line staff contacts with customers) to the number of transactions (sales)
Visitor Coverage Ratio	Calculated as the ratio of the number of surveys to the number of visitors.
Force majeure level	Should be analyzed during the Customer Service Quality Audit. If customer service quality is monitored continuously, this indicator is optional. It is calculated as the ratio of the number of force majeure situations to the number of polls.

In most cases, to control the representativeness of the sample, it is sufficient to use either the exact conversion or the coefficient of coverage of visitors. The choice of a specific indicator depends on the business processes of the front office. For example, to monitor the quality of customer service of gas stations, you should use the exact conversion, and to monitor the quality of customer service of a bank, the Coverage Ratio of Visitors. If, during the evaluation period, the level of force majeure exceeds a certain threshold value, then it may not be advisable to assess the quality of customer service. First, it makes sense to eliminate the causes of force majeure situations, and then repeat the Customer Service Quality Audit.

Monitoring System Architecture

The main components of the service quality monitoring system:

Component	Comment
Three-button Service Quality Assessment Panel	Mandatory Requirements: The ability to easily change the Key Question (“Are you satisfied with the work quality of client manager Elena Ivanova ?”, “Did you like the decor and organization of our office?”, “Would you recommend our company to your friends?”). Variants of the answer to all questions: Yes, No, I find it difficult to answer .
Seller button	Additional button, logically connected with the corresponding keypad, but installed on the seller’s side. Mandatory Requirements: Support two modes. By making a short press, the seller records the start of the survey. By making a long press, the seller reports force majeure circumstances that may affect the quality of customer service.
Video surveillance system	An existing video surveillance system may be used. Mandatory Requirements: Archive support with remote access.
Consolidated database	Data store
Reporting tool	Reports characterize the quality of service using basic and additional indicators of quality of service. Used by HR-director, quality manager, etc.

Key roles:

Role	Functions
Seller	Customer motivation to assess the quality of service. After completing customer service, asks him to evaluate the quality of service. Launching the service quality assessment process. Having completed customer service, makes a short press of the Seller's Button.
Expert	Selectively assesses the accuracy of the polls (the survey corresponds to a short press of the Seller’s Button and the following “window” for the client’s response, see below). Evaluates the accuracy of force majeure circumstances , excludes from the calculation of indicators unreliable surveys and surveys performed during the force majeure circumstances.

Service Quality Measurement Technique

1. The front line worker, completing customer service, asks him to answer the Key Question and at the same time makes a short press of the Seller's Button. The following conditions must be met:
2. OPTIONAL. With a short press of the button, the Seller can automatically play an audio or video file: “It is very important for us to know your opinion. Please [what to do]. ” Playing a file can begin automatically when a front-line worker, working with a cash register system or CRM, performs a specific operation. The cash system or CRM should be integrated with the service quality monitoring system.
3. The client has a certain time (Allowed Window) during which he can answer the Key question by selecting one of the answer options on the button control: Yes, No, I find it difficult to answer .
4. If the front line worker sees that a situation has arisen that may affect customer responses (force majeure), he presses the Seller button and keeps it pressed for at least 3 seconds. A long press of the button of the Seller qualifies as an occurrence of force majeure.
5. The expert periodically checks the accuracy of all clicks made by both clients and front line workers. Verification is performed by comparing information on clicks contained in the consolidated database with video stored in the video archive. If the Expert sees that an event is unreliable, he places 0 in the special field opposite this event. All polls in which the Expert has set 0 are qualified as invalid and are excluded from the calculations.
6. During each time period, all customers are asked one Key Question. Change of Key Questions can be performed randomly or on a regular basis. If the Key Question is accompanied by playing an audio or video file, it may automatically change randomly. If the Key Questions are formulated on the button console (for example, on an acrylic insert), then they are manually changed. For example, in the first decade of a month, customers are asked one Key Question, in the second - another, etc.

Method of calculating the quality of service indicators

Indicator	Key Question	Formula calculation
INC @ Staff	Are you satisfied with the work quality of client manager Elena Ivanova ?	Number of reliable polls / (Number of negative ratings + Correction Factor * Number of Molchuns) Reliable are polls that did not cause doubts in the expert. Negative answers (“No” answers) and Silent silence recorded during the period of validity of the force majeure confirmed by the expert are NOT TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT.
INK @ Office	Do you like the atmosphere and organization of our office?	Number of reliable polls / (Number of negative ratings + Correction Factor * Number of Molchuns) Reliable are polls that did not cause doubts in the expert. Negative answers (“No” answers) and Silence recorded during the period of validity of the force majeure confirmed by the expert are taken into account.
IEL	Would you recommend our company to your friends?	(Number of reliable polls / Number of positive responses) - (Number of reliable polls / (Number of negative answers + Correction Factor * Number of Silent)) Negative answers (“No” answers) and Silence recorded during the period of validity of the force majeure confirmed by the expert are taken into account.

The correction factor characterizes the share of Molchunov who do not take part in the survey for reasons not related to dissatisfaction with the quality of service. To determine the exact value of the correction factor, it is necessary to conduct a marketing research. If the exact value is not critical (for example, when not absolute values, but dynamics are important), use the standard value of 0.8 .

Application of indicators

INC @ Staff

INC. @ Staff can be used as the main front-line KPI workers who are not engaged in active sales. It is important that INC. @ Staff can be linked to the system of staff motivation without the risk of demotivating employees. This is due to the following reasons:

• The value of the indicator is calculated by a highly representative sample (all or almost all of the clients are involved), which ensures a high representativeness of the INC @ Staff;
• All answers can be qualified by an independent expert, which allows to ensure high accuracy of the INC. @ Staff;
• When calculating the indicator, customer dissatisfaction caused by reasons independent of the personnel is not taken into account, which ensures high accuracy of the INC. @ Personnel.

INK @ Office

This indicator has at least two applications. The first application is one of the KPI internal business processes of the front office. The second application is the diagnosis of the "bottleneck" of service quality. In the second case, the values ​​of the indicator INK @ Office should be compared with the values ​​of the indicator INC. @ Staff. When everything is good, the values ​​of both indicators are better than the reference values ​​(average for this type of business) and the value of INK @ Office is higher than the value of INC. @ Office [2] . If the values ​​of these indicators are worse than the reference values ​​and at the same time are close, then the “bottleneck” of the quality of service is most likely staff. If, on the other hand, the values ​​of the INK @ Office indicator are significantly higher than the values ​​of the INC. @ Personnel, then the bottleneck in the quality of service is most likely the poor organization of the office (internal business processes).

Emotional Loyalty Index (IEL)

Like INC @ Office, the Emotional Loyalty Index (IEL) has several uses:

1. IEL - one of the KPI client component of the BSC, which characterizes customer satisfaction;
2. IEL is a mandatory element of all the management systems for the main loyalty drivers shown in the figure above. Without having information about the attitude of customers to the company, it is impossible to effectively manage the factors determining this attitude (loyalty drivers) [3] .

Accurate Conversion, Visitor Coverage Ratio

Monitoring service quality is not an end in itself, but a tool to increase sales. Therefore, the criterion of a good quality of service, besides the values ​​of INK @ Personnel, INK @ Office, IEL, is the growth in the number of sales, characterized, in particular, by the value of the Exact Conversion indicator [4] . This indicator has two applications:

1. Control of the representativeness of the sample when measuring the main indicators of quality of service (INC @ Staff, INC @ Office, IEL);
2. One of the KPI staff of the front line, engaged in direct sales, characterizing the performance of workers [4] .

Another indicator mentioned is Visitor Coverage Ratio. Like Precise Conversion, Visitor Coverage has two applications:

1. Control of the representativeness of the sample when measuring the main indicators of quality of service (INC @ Staff, INC @ Office, IEL);
2. One of the KPI staff of the front line, engaged in direct sales, characterizing the activity of workers [4] .

Integrated customer service quality management

Measuring Key Indicators of Service Quality is a necessary part of integrated customer service quality management.

Comprehensive service quality management is monitoring service quality, diagnosing causes of customer dissatisfaction, and corrective actions to eliminate the root causes of customer dissatisfaction (see figure).

The first stage is monitoring the quality of service . At this stage, customer discontent is detected and its primary localization is determined. It may be:

1. staff dissatisfaction;
2. dissatisfaction with the quality of the office and the quality of business processes;
3. dissatisfaction with the quality of products and their value.

To determine which of the three groups of reasons the dissatisfaction expressed by the clients belongs to, use the system for assessing the quality of service The Loyalty Button and the technology described above. Key Indicators of Quality of Service (KPKO), which are used for this purpose - INC. @ Personnel, INC. @ Office, IEL (see above).

The second stage is the identification of the root causes of discontent . It is known, after calculations using KPCO, that discontent is due to one of three groups of reasons. Now you need to find out what specifically does not suit the work of the staff, or what exactly is wrong with the quality and cost of products.

1. If the problem is related to the work of the personnel, the Mystery Shopping method is used;
2. If the problem is related to the office and business processes or the quality and cost of products, online surveys are used .

As respondents of online surveys, use customers who are dissatisfied with the quality of service. For this, the Loyalty Button must be integrated with the CRM system or loyalty program questionnaires (in retail).

The third stage is the correction or elimination of the causes of discontent . After the causes of discontent are identified, they must be eliminated. Methods and methods of elimination depend on the nature of the problem. This could be staff training, changing the product line, reengineering business processes, etc.

After determining the causes of customer dissatisfaction, corrective actions are taken. Their goal is to eliminate the root causes of discontent. The correctness of the diagnosis and the effectiveness of corrective actions is checked at the stage of monitoring the quality of service. Thus, the control loop closes. For details on the method, see [2] .

Links

1. Quality of Service Monitoring with Loyalty Button
2. Monitoring the quality of service. Best practics
3. Emotional loyalty in the retail and service industries. Monitoring, diagnostics, management
4. Retail KPI management. Conversion