Customer Satisfaction

This article, written by Neil Mason, was originally published on Clickz.com on 29/01/10 and is republished here with permission.

 Whilst on the topic of the last 10 years in web analytics (www.clickz.com/3636166) one of the major positive shifts in the past few years has been the emergence of the “Voice of the Customer” market. For far too long organisations tended to be too “site centric” in their approach optimising online performance believing that the solution lay in just knowing “what happened” and “when it happened” as opposed to “who did it” and “why they did it” – or more often than not “why they didn’t do it”. Read more…

It’s Sunday morning, and at 7.18am I am fast asleep. My alarm is set for 9am, but I don’t get to wait for the alarm to go off because I’m rudely awoken by a text message. It must be important, I think, for who would text so early on a Sunday? The answer is…my mobile phone provider. For some reason they seem to think it’s perfectly reasonable to send a text message at 7.18am on a Sunday, and the message is ‘no reply’ so I can’t even complain to them about it. Read more…

Recently there’s been a lot of talk of customer satisfaction and retention, a feeling that some businesses may not care if you use them more than once or not, but all the marketing material that comes through my door says otherwise.

For example, my former optician has written to me three times this year offering various discounts practically begging I return to them. Now the time has come that I need these services again so it made sense to return to them; it turns out it’s not that simple. Read more…

To 3D Secure or not to, that is often the question.  We did some work for one of our clients and 3D Secure was part of the study. In summary:. Read more…

Jacob Nielsen has certainly created a ‘buzz’ recently in the online world of blogs and forums. The subject – password masking should be stopped.

He outlined his case in the article ‘Stop password masking’ (June 2009) in his recent bi-weekly column (Alertbox). Password masking is typically used for login screens and login dialog boxes. This is where the password is hidden using an asterisk symbol to mask or echo the characters being entered. Read more…

This article, written by Neil Mason, was originally published on Clickz.com and is republished here with permission.
In my last column I discussed the need for organisations to develop a more customer centric approach to the development of their online channel and outlined a simple framework to help organizations improve the quality of the customer experience. Underpinning this framework is the need for a range of quantitative and qualitative measurement and analytical techniques as customer insight is a key component of delivering improved customer experiences. This time I’ll be taking a brief look at some of the tools in the customer experience toolkit. Read more…

While conducting some recent work for the travel industry, we met customers who believed they were consistently misunderstood, and who felt they had never been able to find the experience they sought. These customers did not see themselves, or define themselves, in the way they were seen or defined by the industry. Agents attempting to sell typical holidays based on age, sex or occupation, for example, were often missing the mark wildly.

A survey of 530 respondents, with an even breakdown between men and women, all of which had travelled at least once in the last year, found that half had in the past chosen not to go on holiday to avoid what they feared would be the typical ‘singles’ holiday.

Foviance’s research demonstrates how a focus on travel industry can help to create markets, drive sales and increase customer satisfaction, as 68% of respondents said they would travel on their own if they could find the right holiday.

Foviance survey identifies gap in travel industry. Market research reveals how businesses are missing out on sales by using outdated means to understand customers.

London, UK, 24 November 2008 – Foviance, the expert in digital customer experience, has found that singles aged between 31-45 years old cannot find a holiday which suits their needs. Foviance’s research demonstrates how a focus on customer experience can help to create markets, drive sales and increase customer satisfaction, as 68% of respondents said they would travel on their own if they could find the right holiday.

A survey of 530 respondents, with an even breakdown between men and women, all of which had travelled at least once in the last year, found that half had in the past chosen not to go on holiday to avoid what they feared would be the typical ‘singles’ holiday.

The full research report entitled “Making the intangible tangible” found the travel sector is missing out on a massive opportunity by not understanding the needs of a large potential market. While most travel companies know the basics about customers such as their age, sex and where they live, they fail to understand who these people really are and what they want out of a holiday.

The main reason behind this age group choosing not to travel (as a single person) was that they had no one to go away with (31%). 10% of people also admitted to being embarrassed that they were single. This embarrassment was not only felt during the booking phase but also while on holiday. Location, meeting like-minded people of a similar age group and being away from younger singles’ parties were all cited as priorities. They felt what was on offer from the travel industry does not suit their needs.

Creating a positive customer experience depends on providing a holistic experience which supports every step of the customer interaction. While companies are finding it difficult to design consistent customer experiences that differentiate them as an organisation, by understanding customers and creating products that meet their expectations, there is also a significant opportunity to become a trusted advisor and ultimately maximise the relationship in monetary terms.

Currently, friends are seen as the most trusted source of information on singles holidays (25%), with websites coming a close second (21%). The least trusted source of information came from direct marketing (21%), blogs (18%), TV (13%), lifestyle magazines (11%) and travel press (11%).

Marty Carroll, Consultancy Director, Foviance said: “Organisations’ lack of understanding means that most focus on selling products and services rather than concentrating on delivering customer experiences. The end result is a fragmented product or service experience, delivered to a target audience which has been defined by a marketing tool developed for a market environment that no longer exists. Once organisations start focusing on who their customers really are what they love and hate and what they are missing out on, real customer experiences can be created. Companies that do not evolve and deliver exceptional customer experiences risk losing sales and market share to those that do.”

Download the full research report

Press coverage

Precision Marketing From brochure to browser
By David Reed, December 11, 2008

TravelWeekly Agents sign up for single travel site Someone2travelwith.com
By Chloe Berman, December 03, 2008

eTravelBlackboard Gen-X wants grown-up singles holidays
By Travel Blackboard, November 28, 2008

HotelMarketing.com Survey: Singles can’t find the right holiday
By Hotel Marketing, November 26, 2008

asap.co.ukNews Solo travellers say their needs are not being met
By Andrew Bones, November 26, 2008

Skyscanner.net Half of single travellers wouldn’t want to book flights abroad
By Skyscanner Ltd, November 26, 2008

Travolution.co.uk Foviance survey identifies gap in travel industry market
By Foviance Press Release, November 25, 2008

GoLearnToTravelBlog Time for new singles holiday ideas
By Vanessa, November 25, 2008

C&M.co.uk Industry ‘failing singles’
By C & M Recruitment, November 25, 2008

ulookubook.com Travel industry doesn’t cater to middle-aged singles
By Travel Industy News, November 25, 2008

WorldNewsNetwork links through to full story from Travel Daily News
TravelDailyNews Foviance survey identifies gap in travel industry market
By Travel Daily News International, November 25, 2008

NetImperative.com Travel industry missing trick with 30-something singles
By Net Imperative, November 25, 2008

For further press information please contact:
Melanie Hesketh / Becky Cheers
Prompt Communications for Foviance
+44 208 996 1638 / +44 208 996 1636
foviance@prompt-communications.com