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Consumer Duty and its impact on the retail motor sector 

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The Financial Conduct Authority's (FCA) new Consumer Duty regulation aims to create a higher standard of care for consumers. What does this mean to UK motor retailers and repairers?

Most dealerships distribute financial products to enhance vehicle sales. Under the new regulation, dealerships must evidence their Consumer Duty actions to ensure they meet the FCA's higher standards and expectations.

However, with fewer vehicle sales and changes in customer behaviour, Consumer Duty is an opportunity for automotive firms to build loyalty and drive profitability by exceeding regulatory requirements.

Putting the customers' needs first is the cornerstone of the Consumer Duty Principle. Here we look at what it means for those in the retail motor sector, whether online or in the showroom.

What is the FCA's Consumer Duty?

The regulation comprises three key components:

Firstly, an overarching Consumer Duty Principle sets a higher standard of care that the FCA expect companies to adhere to, evidencing their actions to deliver good client outcomes.

Secondly, the FCA has defined three cross-cutting rules that set out the standards of conduct expected across all areas of a firm's retail financial services activities, including:

  1. Act in good faith.
  2. Avoid foreseeable harm.
  3. Enable and support them to pursue their financial objectives.

Third and finally, four outcomes include rules and guidance across critical elements of the firm-customer relationship.

  1. Products and services.
  2. Price and value.
  3. Consumer understanding.
  4. Consumer support.

How will the Consumer Duty impact the retail motor sector?

As a distributor of financial products, such as automotive finance and Guaranteed Asset Protection (GAP) insurance, dealerships must demonstrate how they act to deliver good customer outcomes.

The FCA will expect dealerships to:

  • Have a robust Consumer Duty implementation plan outlining their steps to meet their obligations.
  • Show information they get from manufacturers on financial products they distribute, enabling them to meet their obligations, specifically on products, services, price, and value.
  • Demonstrate implementation and evidence of processes to meet the Duty for all products and services currently offered.

New regulations, production delays, supply chain disruption, market liquidity, fewer car sales and changes in customer behaviour are significant challenges affecting the automotive industry.

The changing landscape of dealerships means that improving retail profitability has never been more challenging. Market uncertainty makes it essential to manage customer expectations.

Consumer Duty is an opportunity for dealerships to build loyalty and drive profitability by exceeding their obligations. But to achieve this, dealerships must deliver a fantastic customer experience (CX).

In what way does the products and service outcome apply?

Automotive dealerships must ensure their vehicles are safe, reliable, and fit for their intended purpose. Here are examples:

Disclosure: Dealerships must disclose information about the vehicles they sell, including any known defects, accidents, or other issues that may affect their safety or performance.

Product liability: Automotive dealerships can be held liable for any injuries or damages resulting from defective vehicles they sell, including defects in their design, manufacture, or assembly.

Advertising: Car dealerships must ensure that their advertising is truthful and not misleading. They cannot make false or exaggerated claims about the safety or performance of their vehicles.

Consumer protection laws: Dealerships are subject to a range of consumer protection laws, including laws that prohibit unfair or deceptive practices, that require specific and conspicuous disclosures, and that provide consumers with certain rights and remedies.

Warranty: Automotive dealerships must honour any promises they offer on the vehicles they sell, ensuring consumers can have any covered repairs or services performed promptly and effectively.

In what way does the price and value outcome apply?

Traditionally, a car dealership will offer automotive finance as part of the vehicle sale. The uptake of vehicle ownership links directly to finance availability.

Figures from the Finance and Leasing Association show that consumer car finance increased by 9% by value and 3% by volume in 2022.

The price and value outcome requires that dealerships provide consumers with fair and transparent pricing and ensure that the product or service's value is commensurate with the price paid. Here are examples:

Pricing transparency: Car dealerships must provide consumers with clear and transparent pricing information, including the base price of the vehicle, any additional fees or charges, and the car's total cost. They must also be upfront about any discounts, promotions, or financing options available to consumers.

Fair pricing: Dealerships must ensure that the prices they charge for their vehicles are fair and reasonable. They cannot exploit consumers by charging inflated prices or engaging in price gouging. Fees charged must align with industry standards and not engage in discriminatory pricing practices.

Value for money: Automotive dealerships must ensure that their vehicles provide consumers with fair value. Vehicles must be reliable, safe, and fit for their intended purpose. Dealers must provide consumers with the features and benefits they expect based on the price paid.

Financing: Car dealerships must ensure that their financing options are fair and transparent and do not charge excessive interest rates or fees. They must provide consumers with clear information about their financing options, including the total cost of financing and the terms and conditions of the loan.

In what way does the consumer outstanding outcome apply?

The consumer understanding outcome requires firms to ensure that consumers understand the products and services they are buying, including the risks and benefits. Here are examples:

Providing clear information: Dealerships must provide consumers with clear and understandable information about the vehicles they are selling, including their features, specifications, and any associated risks. They must provide information about safety ratings, fuel efficiency, emissions, and other vital factors that may affect the value and performance of the vehicle.

Explaining financing options: Car dealerships must provide clear and transparent information about their financing options, including the total cost of financing, the interest rate, and any associated fees. They should also explain any risks or downsides related to financing options, such as balloon payments or variable interest rates.

Helping consumers make informed decisions: Dealerships must help consumers make informed decisions. They must provide guidance and advice about the vehicles based on the consumer's needs, budget, and other relevant factors to achieve this. Dealerships must also include recommendations on specific models or features and information about alternative options, such as leasing or buying used.

Providing ongoing support: Car dealerships must offer ongoing support to consumers after they purchase. Support could include guidance on maintenance and repairs and assistance with any warranty claims or other issues that may arise.

In what way does the consumer support outcome apply?

The consumer support outcome requires firms to provide ongoing support to consumers after purchasing products or services. Here are examples:

Assisting with warranties: Dealerships must provide ongoing support to consumers after purchasing a vehicle, including assistance with any warranty claims or other issues that may arise. They must provide evidence that consumers understand the terms and conditions of their warranty and provide support with any repairs or maintenance covered.

Offering maintenance and repair services: Automotive dealerships must provide maintenance and repair services to consumers through their service departments or partnerships with third-party service providers. They must guide routine maintenance and repairs and offer repairs for more complex issues.

Guidance on financing: Car dealerships must provide ongoing support to consumers who have financed their purchase, including advice on payments, interest rates, and any other aspects of their loan agreement. They must also help with refinancing or renegotiating the loan terms, if necessary.

Offering assistance with trade-ins and upgrades: Car dealerships must support consumers looking to trade in their vehicle or upgrade to a newer model. They must guide the trade-in process and offer competitive pricing for the consumer's vehicle.

How can dealerships achieve a higher standard of care?

The FCA will review Consumer Duty plans to understand a dealership's approach to embedding the regulation within the business. Putting the customer at the heart of the business means ensuring every procedure, process, and system keeps the consumer in mind.

Consumer Duty obligations require service providers to consider the customer's needs at every lifecycle. Therefore, customer journey mapping is the ideal way to see the business through its customers' eyes.

At insight6, we have the expertise to provide customer journey mapping, a valuable tool as dealerships begin to evidence their customer experience.

Feedback is essential to achieving a higher standard of care. Real-time, actionable feedback helps to deliver positive customer outcomes and will support evidencing Duty actions.

Often firms buy off-the-shelf systems to carry out their customer feedback. Unfortunately, some car dealerships can damage the customer experience (CX) in pursuit of feedback. An independent third-party assessment is best to achieve an accurate view.

Instant insight is our total feedback solution, enabling you to gather real-time feedback from your customers and team. We can work with you to understand your desired outcome and agree on the objectives. Doing so lets us explain how we plan to measure and report against these goals.

How can car dealerships increase loyalty and drive profitability?

The new regulation is an opportunity to deliver a consistently positive customer experience which will add value to dealerships over the long term. To improve the customer experience (CX), you must put the customer at the heart of the business.

The insight6 guide to Consumer Duty: Putting clients at the heart of business will show you how to build loyalty and drive profitability by exceeding your regulatory requirements with a CX approach.

Positive customer experiences make your customers happy and increase the likelihood of returning, leaving a positive online review, or recommending you to others. Car dealerships need a robust CX strategy.

By partnering with us, we can help you demonstrate and evidence your commitment to experience excellence, precisely how to deliver good customer outcomes and give you compliance confidence.

Our three-step process will help automotive dealerships address the Duty requirements across all four outcomes and give compliance confidence.

At insight6, we have developed some of the most advanced CX programmes. Our bespoke feedback tools, trained researchers and CX solutions have earned us a reputation as the partner of choice for many of the UK's largest automotive dealerships.

As well as working with hundreds of clients UK-wide, we are the only company with a network of CX Directors to support car dealerships locally. Get in touch today to see how we can transform yours.

Like what you've read? Sign up for the insight6 newsletter to keep updated with everything you need to know to improve your customer experience.   

How to evidence consumer duty actions and ensure good consumer outcomes

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The Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) new Consumer Duty regulation is one of the most significant shifts in UK financial services. The intention for companies to put the client's needs first is admirable, but evidencing actions can be a challenge. 

Putting the client at the heart of the business means ensuring every procedure, process, and system keeps the consumer in mind.  

Financial services firms that must be Consumer Duty compliant, but also want to build loyalty and drive profitability, will need a customer experience (CX) solution. Keeping clients is critical in a competitive environment, so a CX strategy is imperative.  

At insight6, our unique and tailored CX solutions and local specialists transform businesses, earning us a reputation as the partner of choice for many financial services firms. Here we share our three-step CX process to the FCA’s Consumer Duty.

What is the new Consumer Duty? 

Consumer Duty is a regulation introduced by the UK financial regulatory body, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).  

There are three parts to Consumer Duty: 

  1. Consumer Duty Principle. A higher consumer protection standard for financial firms. 
  2. Cross-cutting rules. Overarching requirements for setting standards of conduct across all areas of a firm's retail financial services activities. 
  3. The consumer outcomes. A detailed set of requirements applies to four client/customer relationship aspects. 

Putting the client's needs first is the cornerstone of Consumer Duty Principle – it is a good business practice to ensure good consumer outcomes. So, a properly considered and managed customer experience (CX) programme is critical to regulatory success. 

What are the three cross-cutting rules of Consumer Duty? 

 The Duty's three cross-cutting rules set the overarching requirements setting standards of conduct expected across all areas of a firm's retail financial services activities. 

  1. Act in good faith 
  2. Avoid causing foreseeable harm. 
  3. Enable and support customers to pursue their financial objectives.  

What are the four outcomes of Consumer Duty? 

The Four Outcomes cover critical elements of the firm-customer relationship.  

Specifically, the outcomes require firms to ensure that products and services meet client's needs, that pricing is transparent and offers fair value, and that consumers receive communications to understand and get the support they need. 

  1. Products and services outcome. To ensure fit for purpose. 
  2. Price and value outcome. A focus on transparent pricing and fair value. 
  3. Consumer understanding outcome. To enable clients to make informed decisions. 
  4. Consumer support outcome - good quality support and after-sales care. 

Obtaining client feedback is one of the best ways to evidence your actions towards achieving the Four Outcomes. A robust CX strategy will provide you with insights to improve good consumer outcomes, become Consumer Duty compliant and increase your profits. 

Managing feedback is a crucial part of the CX process, so working with the right partner is paramount to evidencing your Consumer Duty actions. At insight6, our unique icx6 philosophy and partnership model is your guarantee of great service.

When does Consumer Duty take effect? 

There are five milestones to prepare for the new milestones to take effect.  

The FCA released the final guidance on its consumer duty at the end of July 2022. By October 2022, firms had to agree on their implementation plans. Now, firms must work towards achieving milestone three - completing reviews to meet the outcome rules. 

Duty rules start for available products and services on 31 July 2023, then a year later (31 July 2024) for closed products and services. 

You can view the detailed Consumer Duty timeline online. 

What does Consumer Duty mean for the industry?  

Consumer Duty aims to ensure financial firms take responsibility for operating in their client's best interests and treating them fairly. Financial services firms must look beyond compliance to strategy, data and technology to achieve this. 

To evidence their intentions and actions, firms must be client-centric, consistently reviewing practices and asking for feedback across multiple client engagement touchpoints.   

Consumer Duty is an opportunity to deliver a consistently positive client experience which will add real value to the business over the long term. Investing in a robust customer experience (CX) strategy and tailored solutions will put clients at the heart of the business to ensure good client outcomes whilst building loyalty and driving profitability. 

How to evidence Consumer Duty actions and ensure good outcomes 

Putting the client at the heart of the business means ensuring every procedure, process, and system keeps the consumer in mind. Repeatedly reviewing your business and asking your clients and staff for feedback is critical to proving your actions and becoming compliant.  

At insight6, we work with hundreds of happy clients to put the customer first by building a robust CX strategy to improve the customer experience, build loyalty and drive profitability.  

Our three-step CX process to the FCA’s Consumer Duty will help financial firms evidence their actions and ensure good client outcomes. 

insight6 three-step CX plan to Consumer Duty compliance: 

  1. Putting the client at the heart of the business - the customer journey 
  2. Embedding a client engagement programme - regular customer feedback  
  3. Creating a client-centric culture - training, mentoring, and coaching 

How to put the client at the heart of the business 

We recommend you map the client journey alongside where the business currently sits within the new Consumer Duty requirements.  

You can map the client journey internally, but using an independent facilitator will ensure an accurate picture of your business through your client's eyes. 

Mapping the client journey will enable you to look at multiple consumer touchpoints. From how your teams handle initial enquiries, respond to clients, provides information requested, or respond to messages right through to effective complaint management and encouraging client referrals - the list of things you can review is endless.   

How to embed a client engagement programme 

To embed an effective client engagement programme, you need data and feedback. 

Ideally, data and feedback based on actual customer experience reviews (also known as mystery shopping) as well as other client feedback 

The FCA will likely want to see client trust, confidence and fair value measured as a bare minimum. Still, Consumer Duty is an opportunity to delve deeper into your client’s experience and achieve better results. 

Consistently asking for, reviewing, and acting on feedback will help evidence your Consumer Duty actions to become compliant. Importantly, embedding a client engagement programme will enable good customer outcomes by helping to improve your overall client experience. 

The Duty emphasises supporting clients to make informed decisions on financial products and services, especially safeguarding vulnerable clients.  

Careful consideration of the client journey and evaluation of every touchpoint with the client will enable a firm to evidence how it regularly tracks any changes to a client's situation and detail fallback plans.  

How to create a client-centric culture 

Creating a client-centric culture is imperative to become Consumer Duty compliant.  

Your employees play a pivotal role in delivering your product or service. Workplace culture is part of everything an organisation says and does, making it difficult to transform even when necessary.  

In the current climate, the working environment is constantly changing and challenging to predict. Plus, the new regulation will likely bring new challenges for your team. It's essential to know the impact it's having on your staff.  

Measuring employee engagement and giving the proper support, training, mentoring, and coaching will be critical to ensure your firm and staff meet Consumer Duty requirements. 

Creating a great working culture within your business ensures that your team can give the best experience for your clients. You need access to fast, actionable feedback from your team that makes them feel highly motivated, engaged and respected.  

Key takeaway on Consumer Duty 

Putting the client's needs first is the cornerstone of Consumer Duty. Financial services firms must evidence their actions and ensure good consumer outcomes to gain regulatory approval. Investing in a robust CX strategy will put clients at the heart of the business, enabling you to improve the customer experience, build loyalty and drive profitability. 

If you need help or advice navigating the new Consumer Duty regulation, get in touch today to find your local customer experience specialist and to arrange a no-obligation chat.  

Like what you’ve read? Sign up to the insight6 newsletter to keep up to date with everything you need to know to improve your customer experience.   

The best ways to make your customer experience shine this holiday season 

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A gloomy economic outlook has left many with a distinct lack of holiday cheer. However, now is the time for businesses to pull on their jolly pants and deliver a more joyful customer experience.  

Squeezed incomes mean shoppers will rein in their spending, and consumers will look for better service deals. Don’t let margins be the Grinch that steals your Christmas.  

The customer experience is fast becoming the main reason people choose to buy from a business. Yet, research shows that 80% of companies say they deliver a ‘superior’ customer service, while only 8% of customers thought the same about those companies. 

We believe the customer experience is everything. How you make people feel will be this season’s smartest strategy to win and keep customers. Christmas isn’t a season, it’s a feeling.  

At insight6, we partner with hundreds of happy clients to improve the customer experience and transform businesses. Here, we share tips to make your customer experience shine this holiday season. 

Six simple ways to sprinkle some customer experience magic

1. Engage and empower your team 

Your employees play a pivotal role in service delivery. Have a clear service plan and communicate it regularly to your team. 

The festive period can be a stressful and busy time. Understand the work pressure that squeezed deadlines, increased footfall and sales can bring on service delivery. Regularly check in on staff wellbeing.

80% of the UK’s workforce work in customer-facing roles. Sadly, research shows that more than half of customer-facing staff have faced abuse from customers since the start of the pandemic. 

Consider what to do when things go wrong. Empower your staff to act and fix problems and handle complaints cheerfully.  

Disengaged staff do not go the extra mile for your customers. Think about the best ways to recognise and reward great service.  

2. Manage customer expectations  

Christmas is a busy time of year for everyone. Encourage frontline staff to be honest to avoid over promising and under delivering.  

Handling new enquiries effectively can make or break a sale. Understanding your customer journey will help you to engage staff, prepare for the unexpected and polish your frontline service. 

Customers may look for alternative ways to get in touch or complain, such as webchats, email and social media during busy periods. Make sure your staff and outsourced service providers are ready.  

Delays can't be helped but you can turn a potentially frustrating experience into a pleasant one. Make hanging on the telephone joyful, switch traditional hold music to upbeat festive favourites.  

After a busy year, everyone looks forward to a break. Be clear about your opening hours, ability to deliver and shipping deadlines. Don’t forget to put your out-of-office on and include a seasonal sentiment. 

 3. Create WOW moments 

WOW moments are memorable experiences that you create for your customers by exceeding their expectations. Delighting your customers will help turn them into loyal fans and keep them coming back. 

First, do what you say you are going to do. If your service delivery falls short, you can still WOW customers when they complain. Empower staff to tackle issues, say sorry and offer suitable compensation. 

Christmas is the season of giving. Offer something your customers didn’t know they needed. Look for ways to WOW with an upsell or make small gestures that show you pay attention.
 

Examples: 

  • Send handwritten Christmas cards. 
  • Carry their shopping bags to the car. 
  • Remember names of spouses and kids. 
  • Donate to a cause close to their heart. 
  • Offer discounts or free delivery. 
  • Send a bottle of their favourite tipple. 

 

4. Draw on past experiences 

An effective way to prepare for the holiday season is to draw on past trends. Review data and customer feedback from past seasons. 

Look at enquiries, sales, returns, complaints, reviews. Spot when you first saw an uplift and when things started to return to normal. Demand data such as this can help you prepare and plan for what might come. 

The more data you have, the better prepared and more strategic you will be. Don’t just consider quantitative data. To improve the customer experience and create WOW moments you need qualitative data. 

Mystery shopping is a wonderful way to see the business through the eyes of the customer. Repeatedly asking for feedback will enable you to understand what you are doing well and show what can be improved. 

Remember, if you’ve invested in data and customer feedback, be sure to use it. Many businesses collect valuable information but many more fail to act on it. 

5. Optimise self-service for higher satisfaction 

Self-service is about enabling customers to answer their own questions whenever possible.  

One of the easiest ways you can do this is through the content on your website. Make sure your content is correct and easily accessible. Spread some holiday cheer by adding festive imagery. 

Create seasonal FAQs which can be added to your homepage to quickly answer specific Christmas related questions. 

Another fantastic way to help with customer self-service is a conversational virtual agent. Live chat and outsourced telephone answering services can support you to meet increased demand. 

 6. Commit to service excellence 

Engaging your employees is critical to business success. Training and developing your staff on the customer experience process is essential so that they can see things from the customer’s perspective. 

A word of caution, having an ill-thought-out customer experience strategy can be more damaging than not having one at all. Managing and implementing feedback is a crucial part of the process, therefore working with the right customer experience partner is imperative. 

At insight6 we understand that feedback is data, not judgement. We use feedback and the experience of our local customer experience specialists to deliver workshops that inspire and motivate teams. 

Are you ready to transform your business? 

Giving an exceptional customer experience can be challenging during the peak periods like Christmas. 

Unfortunately, customer demands and expectations don’t decrease during this busy time. In fact, they are far more likely to skyrocket! 

With the tips shared in this article, you can take essential steps to make your customer experience shine this holiday season. 

But the customer experience is for life (if done right), not just for Christmas. Repeatedly asking your customers or clients, and staff for feedback is critical to building loyalty and driving profitability. 

And that’s where insight6 comes in. 

Our total feedback tool, instant insight, along with our team of local experts, will transform your customer experience. 

By analysing feedback from your team and customers in real-time, instant insight will provide you with actionable comments. You will also be able to generate positive customer online reviews. 

In addition, instant insight enables you to benchmark your business against others within your sector.  

The more feedback you receive, the more confident you will be in making great decisions for your business. 

So, what are you waiting for? Book your instant insight demo with us today and take the first step to delivering a world-class customer experience.  

How to build loyalty and drive profitability with regular customer reviews (aka mystery shopping)

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Customers or clients are the people who decide whether a business will succeed or not. Meeting these stakeholders’ needs is critical to building loyalty and driving profitability but to achieve this you must investigate the customer experience.  

No matter the sector, keeping clients is crucial to improving the bottom line, especially in such a competitive market. Therefore, delivering a positive customer experience (CX) should be every business’s top priority.  

Positive customer experiences not only make your customers or clients happy but also increase the likelihood they will return, leave a positive online review, or recommend you to others. However, you would be surprised how many firms do not ask for feedback, or worse still, fail to act upon it.  

Businesses looking to grow must focus on understanding the experience they provide through the eyes of their customers or clients. 

 

“Businesses looking to grow must focus on Tweet: “Businesses looking to grow must focus on understanding the experience they provide through the eyes of their customers or clients,” says @GrahamHillCX of #CX Specialists @insight6cx understanding the experience they provide through the eyes of their customers or clients,” says @GrahamHillCX of #CX Specialists @insight6CX 

Historical research shows that 80% of companies say they deliver ‘superior’ customer service. Yet only 8% of customers of those companies thought the same. Moreover, people that have had a bad customer service experience do not complain, they simply walk away. 

The value of existing customers to profits cannot be overestimated. The cost of gaining a new customer is five times the cost of retaining an existing one! ​​Repeat customers deliver more top-line revenue, they cost nothing more to acquire and so a greater proportion of that revenue finds its way to the bottom line. 

Consequently, knowing how your customers or clients feel about your company, the products, or services you provide, as well as the experience they receive is essential if you are looking to build loyalty and drive profitability. 

Customer Experience Reviews (CX Reviews), more commonly known as Mystery Shopping, is one of the best ways to test the service a company provides through the eyes of its customers or clients. 

What are Customer Experience Reviews?

Customer Experience Reviews, aka Mystery Shopping, enables you to collect valuable information about a service delivered. When conducting a review, a mystery shopper or researcher will record their experience while pretending to be a customer or client, during interactions with your staff or online. 

Although Mystery Shopping is often associated with the type of CX research employed by businesses in the retail, leisure, and hospitality sectors, it is a valuable exercise for firms in any industry keen to up their game and profits. 

Poor customer service received at a key touch point of the customer journey can easily throw away sales opportunities. Our market study of how the professional services sector handles new enquiries, revealed many areas where accountancy, financial service, property, and legal firms are losing potential revenue. 

Why undertake Customer Experience Reviews?

Customer Experience Reviews supply an exact view of your business from your customers' or clients’ perspectives because they are carried out by a third party. Getting an independent assessment of the ‘real experience’ is critical to understand what you are getting right and find areas for improvement. 

You can use Customer Experience Reviews to evaluate the quality of your service or robustness of your processes and even obtain a benchmark against your competitors. As a result, you will be better equipped to find opportunities for improvement to increase customer loyalty and drive profitability. 

Engaging your employees is also critical to business success. Happy and engaged staff will always go the extra mile for your customers or clients, thereby delivering superior customer service. The one simple (but essential) thing leaders can do to improve employee engagement is regularly check in on staff wellbeing. 

How to conduct Customer Experience Reviews?

Customer Experience Reviews are a great starting point in your customer experience improvement process. But it can be a complex and emotive process for everyone involved. Having an ill-thought-out customer experience strategy can be more damaging than not doing Customer Experience Reviews at all. 

Managing and implementing feedback is a crucial part of the process, therefore employing the right Customer Experience partner is imperative. The entire process must be carefully considered, ensuring that goals are set from the outset and reviews and feedback are managed by a skilled team. 

At insight6 we understand that feedback is data, not judgement. We design and deliver some of the most advanced feedback programs and are the only CX specialist consultancy in the UK with local experts on the ground. 

 “Feedback is data, not judgement,” says @GrahamHill of #CX STweet: “Feedback is data, not judgement,” says @GrahamHill of #CX Specialists @insight6CX when talking about #CustomerExperience Reviews (aka mystery shopping)pecialists @insight6CX when talking about #CustomerExperience Reviews (aka mystery shopping) 

A one-off Customer Experience Review program supplies a snapshot of your business and the experience you provide at a particular point in time. To embed change in your company, build loyalty and drive profitability you must conduct reviews regularly, consistently asking for feedback and acting upon it. 

How can insight6 help with Customer Experience Reviews?

At insight6, we have transformed hundreds of businesses, helping them to implement a robust customer experience strategy and deliver a superior customer experience. 

With a team of professional researchers trained explicitly for each sector, and our sophisticated feedback system, we conduct complex and detailed enquiries to simulate and evaluate real customer or client experiences. 

Our six-stage model is designed to find issues, challenges, and opportunities, help you to gain buy-in from key decision-makers and your employees, and to develop new strategies, and analyse progress. 

Below is an overview of our six-stage model to build loyalty and drive profitability with regular customer reviews. 

1. Set up for success 

The first step is always to understand your desired outcome and agree on the objectives. Doing so allows us to explain how we plan to measure and report against these goals. Then, we create a communications plan and share it with your management team and staff to get their buy-in, helping them understand the aims behind the customer reviews research and inspire them to take part in the process. It is vital that from the beginning, your employees are onboard to ensure their voices are heard. 

2. Build a recognition plan 

The feedback you receive will highlight how your firm and staff are performing, finding areas of excellence and those where improvements can be made. Many firms find it challenging to communicate this type of feedback internally. Therefore, using an external, no-bias company like insight6 is a wonderful way to manage feedback to keep teams engaged and motivated.  

 3. Prepare for launch 

For staff, a Customer Experience Review or Mystery Shopping exercise may seem overwhelming. Nobody likes thinking they are being checked up on! That is why we always carefully plan for the emotive side of the process to take employees on the journey with us to protect their mental wellbeing and productivity. 

 4. Briefing & reporting 

Each business industry has different demands and challenges. Our researchers aka mystery shoppers are professionally trained, so they have the ability and resources to test even the most complicated scenarios. We work with you to build a bespoke reporting process, ensuring questions are weighted to support specific aims or feed into balance scorecards. 

5. Carry out the reviews  

Depending on your business, your Customer Experience Reviews can be performed online, over the phone, or in person. Once completed, we will provide you with a detailed report on the feedback received. 

 6. Make a plan 

Based on the findings, we will give you our recommendations and help you create a plan to implement any changes needed to improve the customer experience. Working with you we will embed a regular review process, consistently reviewing and reporting on feedback to ensure your business delivers the best possible customer experience. 

Remember, a one-off Customer Experience Review program supplies a snapshot of the experience you provide at a particular point in time. To embed change in your company, build loyalty and drive profitability you must conduct reviews regularly, consistently asking for feedback and acting upon it. 

 At insight6, our unique and tailored solutions allow businesses to transform their customer experience cost-effectively, from end to end, with the dedicated support of a local expert. Get in touch today to find out more or to discover how insight6 can help transform your customer experience.  

 Like what you have read? Sign up to the insight6 newsletter to keep up to date with everything you need to know to improve your customer experience. 

Have you ever thought about being a Mystery Shopper?

We are always on the hunt for researchers aka Mystery Shoppers to add to the insight6 team. If you like the idea of helping businesses improve their customer experience, we would like to hear from you. Apply today to join our Researcher and Mystery Shopper team. 

 

Graham Hill

Find me on LinkedIn 

 

How car dealerships can damage CX in the pursuit of feedback.

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Measuring Customer Feedback 

Many dealerships are aligned with the notion that customer feedback is an essential way of measuring success, but it isn’t always a true reflection of the customer experience (CX).  

Customer feedback can be obtained by telemarketers – usually, an outsourced personal calling on behalf of the dealership, face-to-face surveys, or via online review tools such as instant insight. In each scenario, the customer is asked a series of set questions about a recent experience with the company. 

Generally, dealerships will want to determine what their Net Promotor Score (NPS) is based on rolling customer feedback. This score is then often used to demonstrate how well they are performing to those higher up the chain of command – and is often linked to bonus schemes.   

There is nothing wrong with taking this approach, and it can be a valuable tool to motivate staff and improve CX. However, we are seeing instances where the pursuit of a positive NPS is having a detrimental effect on their customer’s experience – and the business has no idea that it is happening.  

Victoria from Surrey said: 

“Every time I take my car into the local dealership I go through the same feedback process – the service representative informs me that I will receive a feedback call and asks me to rate them a 9 or 10, unless I have been unhappy with the service. 

“The next day when I receive the call, I am again asked to rate the service I have received – scoring the dealership a 9 or 10 if I was happy and only and 8 or below if I was dissatisfied.  

“The way in which these requests and questions are posed to me feels very pushy. I’m never unhappy with the service but I wouldn’t say I am blown away by a distinctly higher level of service than you would expect at any other dealership. However, I feel pushed into giving them a 9 or 10 when I feel they only really deserved a 7 or 8 and always come away irritated and annoyed by the whole process. If I had a choice of dealerships locally, I would certainly switch.”  

This example shows how the customer had a perfectly OK experience in the dealership, but the overall experience ended negatively because of a pushy feedback process that is designed to chase a score and not seek ways to provide an even greater service.  

What’s more worrying is that the dealership is probably unaware of the negative impact their feedback process is having on the overall customer experience, and at some point, their score-chasing strategy may backfire.  

By really understanding your customer's journey and managing their experience, you can achieve a high NPS organically, without the pushy tactics that then leave your customers with a sour taste.  

 

What is NPS? 

NPS is one of the most tried and tested methods of measuring a customer’s experience. Through NPS you can understand the likelihood that a customer will recommend your product and service to someone in their community.  

The question usually states, ‘on a scale of one to ten, how likely are you to recommend the business to a friend?’ 

NPS is calculated by subtracting the percentage of customers who scored a 6 or lower (known as detractors) from the percentage of customers who scored a 9 or 10 (known as promoters).  

So you can see why it is in the dealership's interest to receive as many 9’s and 10’s as possible – 7’s and 8’s don’t influence their score.  

 

Great CX drives a higher NPS 

To be consistently achieving nine and ten’s on NPS trackers, dealerships need to take a step back and look at what small extra details or changes would make their customers think ‘wow’.  

Autotrader’s Car Buyer of the Future Study found that if the buying process was improved, 72% of consumers stated they would visit dealerships more often. 66% said that they would be much more likely to buy from a dealership that offers their preferred experience, and 53% stated they would buy a vehicle more often. 

We work with a number of dealerships and online retailers in a variety of ways to achieve ‘front end’ insight, before working with teams to implement strategic plans which deliver what the customer is asking for and ultimately those essential NPS figures.  

 

How can customer journey mapping improve CX? 

By mapping the customer journey from the very start of the process, a phone enquiry, or web browsing, to the very last point, picking up a new car or serviced vehicle – you get crucial insight and understand how your customer thinks and feels at every step.  

Our process helps you to identify any kinks in the process, potential frustrations, things that really add value, or major pitfalls in service or consistency. Once you have a true understanding of what you are working with, it becomes a much easier process to streamline the process, iron out any issues and look for opportunities to add an even better experience.  

Research by Economist Intelligence Unit revealed that the top five areas consumers identified as leading to a positive experience included: 

  1. 47% – Fast response to inquiries or complaints 
  2. 46% – Simple purchasing process 
  3. 34% – Ability to track orders in real time 
  4. 25% – Clarity and simplicity of product information across channels 
  5. 22% – Ability to interact with the company over multiple channels 

But to really offer the best CX you must go beyond ‘functional’ and look to evoke an emotional connection.  

Dealerships have started to work on this with the addition of new car owner ‘reveals’ and gifts but there are many much simpler and free ways to connect with your customers. Reserving parking spaces with names for when your customer is booked in for a service, or training the reception team to note the reg of vehicles coming in so that they can have names to hand – these small but very personal touches can turn an OK seven or eight into a nine or ten on the NPS scale.  

 

Test your customer experience with CX Reviews 

CX reviews – also known as mystery shops – are another way of testing your customer journey in real time and analysing how your business, and team perform against your ‘ideal’ on a given day. Many dealerships use mystery shops as a vehicle to test their FCA compliance, however our team of over 1,000 highly trained researchers can delve into many different scenarios which can provide detailed feedback for every point of your customer journey.  

 

Training & development for your team is key to great CX 

Following our in-depth CX review process and customer journey mapping, its crucial to not let plans go to waste. It’s the team on the frontline that must deliver the experience you have designed and tested, day-in, day-out. You must make sure that you take your team on the journey with you and that they are bought into the customer experience strategy. We can help train staff so that certain elements come more easily to them through the use of role play and workshops, but what is also really helpful is to get feedback from your staff in the same way you request it from your customers.  

A team that has free flowing communication and an outlet to feedback is a more engaged team which in turn leads to better CX. 

 

To find out more about how we work with dealerships or the wider auto-motive industry, please get in touch with your local CX Director. All of our CX Directors are based locally, out in the field, so that they can be on the ground to best benefit the clients in their area – find your local contact here.  

6 things every Law firm can implement to improve their CX and increase their bottom line…

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Customer experience (CX) is the new business battleground for the Legal sector, yet our recent research study, The Professional Services Customer Journey Report, showed that many legal firms are failing to get the basics consistently right – and this could be affecting their bottom line. 

In fact, out of all the professions analysed, the legal sector was found to be performing worst when comparing NPS (Net Promotor Score), with a sobering -54, a sharp decline from its score of -15 in 2019. 

By surveying over 250 professional services firms in the UK, our research analysed the full customer journey when making a new enquiry. The findings, although harrowing, now provide a benchmark for improving CX and offer an immediate checklist for every Law firm.

  1. Offer a human touch. Make sure that all employees offer their names to callers when they answer the phone. It sounds so basic, but our research revealed that 22% of reception staff did not answer initial calls with their name, and when put through to a law expert, an astonishing 60% of these people did not offer their name. 
  2. Regularly test your messaging services to ensure they are working correctly. Technology is great, until it fails! Our research found that 43% of messages left (including personal voicemails) did not get a response. 
  3. Develop your team’s emotional intelligence. When clients or potential clients are facing stressful situations, it is critical to establish a positive connection with understanding and compassion for their situation. 
  4. Check website contact forms and web-chat services work correctly and that they are treated in the same way as phone or email enquiries. Implementing new technology is a great way to improve CX – but only if it is done with care and consideration. Our research found that over a third of web enquiries were left completely unanswered. 
  5. Follow up! We were astounded to find that only 8% of companies bothered to follow up a potential new client lead, and where more information had been requested, 38% of the time it never arrived. 
  6. Make it personal! People want a personal service more than ever, but our researchers found that only 53% of email exchanges were personalised and more worryingly, 57% were poorly written with grammatical errors. 

Research by the London School of Economics shows that for every 7% increase in a brand’s NPS, their revenue will grow by 1% as a direct result – that’s a whole lot of untapped revenue to gain from some basic day-to-day improvements. 

“It is clear that legal firms, along with the whole professional services industry, have a huge opportunity to improve CX, deliver a superior experience to both new and existing clients, and reap significant business benefits in doing so,”says Jonathan Winchester, insight6 CEO.

Behind poor CX you can find underlying problems in a firm’s culture

Overall, insight6 researchers were underwhelmed by how the firms handled their enquiries. Just 23% felt the team member attempted to add value or go further to help them, and only 43% said that they would recommend the business to others. 

What we do know to be true, is that underlying problems within a firm’s culture can often be found behind poor CX. Issues such as short-term targets, disengaged teams or siloed working - effective CX is often about empowering staff and providing them with the skills, tools, and authority they need.  

One organisation that absolutely have got it right and understand the benefits of delivering great customer experience is LawNet. In next month’s blog you can read more about how LawNet has partnered with insight6 to help its members put CX at the heart of their businesses. 

2022: The Year of Customer Experience (CX)

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As we start the year with a cautious, but more positive outlook on the pandemic than in January 2021, businesses can start to contemplate a world beyond mass restrictions, lockdowns, and purely virtual interactions. But what will this look like? Will we slot back into pre-pandemic ways? Or has the landscape changed forever? 

One thing for certain is that customer expectations have changed. The trend for a more personalised and meaningful experience started pre-pandemic, but what Covid has done is supercharge the acceleration across mass industries. People will increasingly be inclined to seek out brands that make them feel special or provide added emotional connections.  

In a similar vein, businesses can no longer hide poor service behind Covid. Consumers have seen many businesses adapt and flourish through Covid driven alterations - proving it not only possible to deliver the same standard, but in many circumstances, improved services during Covid times.  

Employee experience will also be more influential than ever this year. It’s likely going to be tough with higher levels of staff absence due to isolation periods and your team could feel overwhelmed. As their experience directly translates to your customer experience, treating your team well is vital, including asking regularly how they are doing and then acting on the feedback. 

By putting CX at the top of your Boardroom agenda, you can give your business the best chance of succeeding, and growing, in what we hope will be the year of post-pandemic.  

22 things to consider in 2022… 

1. Numerous studies globally and our own research confirms that those with above average customer experiences outperform others financially.

2. It is time to stop using Covid as an excuse for poor service. It is time to review your customer journey through the customers eyes and deliver a service that represents your business in a way you can be proud of.

3. Understand your customers 'WHY’, this will help drive greater loyalty, lower churn rates and increase revenues, because you’ve provided your customers with what they want, when they need it, and how they expect it.

4. If you don't measure it, you can't improve it.

5. Gathering immediate feedback enables you to be quicker to adjust to your customers’ needs and wants – making informed choices rather than guessing will increase retention.

6. If you don't take care of your customers, someone else will.

7. The deepest principle of human nature is the craving to feel appreciated. Never underestimate how important it is to communicate positively and regularly to your team members and your customers and show your appreciation.

8. Gaining employee feedback is crucial to making sure that your most important customer is listened to, as they are every business’ most valuable asset for creating and delivering the best CX.

9. How your team treat your customers, reflects how you treat your team.

10. It isn't what you say, or often what you do; it is how you make someone feel that they will never forget.

11. How do you keep doing the things that customers love if you don't know what those things are, and how do you fix the things that don't work if you don't know they’re not working? Measuring CX helps shine a light on these blind-spots.

12. All marketplaces are crowded and very few businesses sell anything that is truly unique. Do you know why your customers choose you? Do you know why some of your competitors customers chose them over you? Benchmarking your CX against your competition will answer these questions for you and provide valuable insights into how you can grow your business.

13. Before pouring more water into your bucket, it makes sense to fix any holes at the bottom! What causes your customers to leave you and try your competitors? How many new customers does your business have to get to replace the ones you've lost? Having a great customer retention strategy supports your bottom line and delivers the maximum amount of return on any marketing strategy, adding genuine customer growth and not just customer replacement.

14. Delivering an amazing CX, in 3 words: Product, Process & People. Focus energy, investment & time on each, and you will be a leading player in your sector.

15. Every customer interaction with your business is crucial. When answering a call, replying to an email, or speaking to a customer face to face. If you want to deliver fantastic CX, it's vital the team believe in the business, the leaders, value each other and the customers they deal with each day.

16. It's the simplest of things, like using your manners and having a smile on your face, that make the biggest difference.

17. Does your out of office message represent you well? Always check your spelling, the dates you are away and ensure it has the right tone - as importantly, check it is turned on and off at the right time as that first impression counts!

18. A great customer experience is when it is easy, personalised, memorable and they never have to ask you for anything.

19. Don't invest in a great external marketing campaign that will bring more customers to you, until you have invested in a joined-up customer experience strategy that enables your team to meet and exceed your customers’ expectations.

20. Put simply: Your customers may not remember what you said or indeed what you did, but they will remember how you made them feel.

21. You cannot not communicate! Whether you are in regular contact with your customers or rarely interact with them, a message is being sent, loud and clear! Take time to review your communications.

22. Ask for feedback.*77% of customers favour businesses that request feedback (*Microsoft Global State of Customer Service 2015) 

Connect with Michelle on LinkedIn

Customers Value Great CX More Than Discounts

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Sale signs on a black background

Be Brave: Boycott Black Friday

The traditional ‘Boxing Day’ sales that once dominated the high street have well and truly been outshone by Black Friday in recent years, but has it now had its day?

The key difference that sets Black Friday apart from other discounting windows is that it seems to have breached the confines of retail, and brought everything from the service industry to hospitality along for the ride – a phenomenon that could do more damage than good for these businesses.

Sure, everyone enjoys getting a good deal on a purchase, but not at the expense of customer experience (CX). 52% of 1,000 people surveyed recently said they would happily pay more for better service – in fact, one in four customers said they would pay 10% more across all industries if they knew they would receive excellent service. 

Discounting makes sense when there is a genuine reason – end of line, or out of season stock, last minute holidays that need to be sold etc. But blanket discounting, especially on services or experiences, in a short window, could lead to a CX disaster and reputational damage for your business. 

So here are my 6 reasons to boycott Black Friday and instead focus on great CX:

  1. Sales psychology – ‘buy this amazing product at a discounted price for today only’. Customers are becoming wary of businesses that discount in this way. Research by Which? showed an astonishing 99.5% of products to be the same price or cheaper than Black Friday at other points in the year. If customers no longer trust what a company is telling them, it’s a sure-fire way to lose their loyalty.

  2. Timing – Customers value doing things on their terms more than ever. In the 24/7 world that we now live in, funneling customers into making purchases at times dictated by businesses is not providing good CX. A competitor offering excellent year-round CX may have secured all your potential sales before Black Friday even arrives.

  3. Disruption and delays – an influx of business is what all business owners dream of, but if you’re not prepared for it, it can be a poisoned chalice. Slow websites, longer dispatch or delivery times, a less personalised service and poor execution can all result in bad experience.

  4. Stressed staff – employees across retail and other industries describe the Black Friday period as ‘hell’, with reports of abuse by shoppers and ‘vile’ working conditions. It goes without saying that the experience of your staff should be as important as that of your customers as stressed staff can’t deliver great CX.

  5. De-valuing the brand – consumers assume that even at discounted prices, the business is still making a profit, therefore believing your regular price is stretching the true value and may not purchase at full price in the future.

  6. Reputational damage – it only takes one small thing to go wrong during a busy period (point 3) - when your staff aren’t able to perform at their best (point 4), or your customers are not enjoying a good experience (points 1 & 2) - to cause a huge reputational impact and lose a customer forever. When, if the same issue happened during a ‘normal business’ day, the handling and outcome would likely be very different. 

So, my parting words of wisdom; think before you discount. Will your customers actually value it? Can you maintain great CX? Will it detract from your brand? And finally, is it worth it? 

In my experience, the best way to improve your bottom line consistently is to carefully map your customer journey and deliver the best CX day in, day out.

Jonathan Winchester is a customer experience entrepreneur, speaker and business leader. He is the Founder and Chief Executive of insight6. For more information on how to improve your customer experience, visit www.insight6.com. Request to connect with Jonathan on LinkedIn.

Why Customer Experience Is Everything: Your Ultimate Guide to CX

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Customer experience (CX) is the new battleground for business. The value of service and the importance of making a human connection with customers has rarely been starker.  

If you want to survive and thrive in a competitive market, then focusing on your CX is essential. But, to do that, you need to understand exactly what CX is.  

We believe CX is everything. So, we have put together your ultimate guide to CX to give you the information and tools you need to delight customers and boost profits.  

What is customer experience? 

Customer experience can be defined as the impression and overall experience a customer goes through when presented and experiencing your service. Essentially, CX is a customer’s perception of your organisation based on their exposure to it. 

We can all think of positive and negative experiences we have had as customers. Good or bad, these interactions shape our opinions of brands, products, and services we interact with.  

Delivering a positive customer experience will make your customer(s) happy but also increases the likelihood they will return, remain loyal or recommend you to others. Crucially for businesses, this positively impacts the bottom-line. 

Customer experience versus customer service 

Customer experience and customer service are not the same thing, although they are inextricably linked. 

Customer experience encapsulates the customer’s entire buying journey, which includes customer service. CX is not a ‘one-time’ interaction, it covers all the touchpoints through a customer’s journey not just at the point of sale. 

Customer service is a branch of the overall customer experience. Simply, put customer service can be defined as the assistance and advice provided by the representative of the company to the consumer. 

Why does customer experience matter? 

Winning over customers is about more than clinching a one-off sale. It is about winning their loyalty and their trust for a lifetime.  

Providing a great CX is key to making your business different and gaining an edge over the competition.

The client journey is the path to sales, which is why CX is essential. 

 How can customer experience create a differentiation for a brand? 

CX is fast becoming the main reason a potential customer chooses your business, yet our research shows 80% of companies say they deliver ‘superior’ customer service while only 8% of customers thought the same about those companies – how would your customers rate your brand? 

A positive CX is critical to the three brand success factors: 

  • Brand trust - confidently knowing what you can expect. 
  • Brand value – the brand’s value exceeds the cost. 
  • Brand loyalty - strongly associating the brand as part of your identity.  

Improving your customer experience is the surest way to retain loyalty, reduce cost and increase profits.  

How does customer experience drive business growth? 

The cost of gaining a new customer is five times the cost of retaining an existing one and the value of existing customers to profits cannot be overestimated. 

The holy grail is to create an experience that makes your customers want to return. 

Not only do repeat customers deliver more top-line revenue, they cost nothing to acquire so a greater proportion of that revenue finds its way to the bottom-line. Typically, a 5% improvement in customer retention typically leads to a 25% increase in profits. 

Here are five benefits of improving CX: 

  • Drive revenue and customer lifetime value 
  • Increase brand value 
  • Boost customer loyalty and advocacy 
  • Keep close to customers and changing behaviours 
  • Reduce costs and invest in the right things 

How can customer experience be improved? 

The first step to improving CX is to know where you are starting from otherwise you are never going to know if you have made progress or not. 

At insight6, we provide six services to encapsulate the best possible CX: 

  1. Customer experience reviews
  2. Training and development
  3. Customer journey mapping
  4. Online feedback
  5. Focus and listening groups
  6. Mentoring and coaching 

The core focus of all leaders is to protect your business by strengthening the relationship with your customers and looking after your accounts. 

Read our six CX tips that we know will protect your business. 

How do you measure or track customer experience? 

The success of your business is reflected in the satisfaction of your customers. 

One headline metric for CX measurement is the Net Promoter Score (NPS). This well-established and widely used system is a customer loyalty measurement taken by asking customers how likely they are to recommend your business to others. 

The problem with NPS can be about timing - questions like these are not always applicable to the customer at the point in their journey that they receive them. 

You cannot manage what you cannot measure. Here are some other metrics you can use to measure customer experience: 

  • Average resolution time 
  • Customer churn 
  • Exceptional moments 
  • Customer effort score (CES) 

Some firms are tempted to believe they assess and improve their CX all by themselves, but an accurate view can only be achieved by third party independent assessment. 

Insight6 provides a six-stage model that brings a focus on your firm’s CX strategy, identifying issues, challenges, and opportunities, working with your firm to develop new strategies and, of course, analysing progress, this all leads to a better CX. 

What is a customer journey map? 

Your customer’s journey, from the starting point when they make the decision to reach out to your business right up to the resolution of the matter, is trackable. 

Through ‘journey mapping’ you can create a visual representation of your average customer’s interaction with your business, and pinpoint the various trials, delights, and frustrations they face. 

A good customer journey map is a true reflection of the customer, not a painting of the ideal one.  

Who owns the customer experience? 

The CX is not “owned” by one person or a single department, it should be an organisation-wide effort. 

Behind poor CX there can lie underlying problems in a firm’s culture, such as short-term targets, or staff who are incentivised to make quick sales without regard for long-term sustainability of the business. This may create a vicious circle because the customer journey can have an impact on employees’ job satisfaction. 

CX is not the responsibility of a few, it needs to be embedded throughout your organisation.  

How do employees impact the customer experience? 

Your employees play a pivotal role in delivering your product or service. Disengaged staff do not go the extra mile for your customers. 

Creating a great working culture within your business ensures your team can provide the best experience for your customers and clients. The one simple (but essential) thing leaders can do to improve employee engagement is regularly check in on staff wellbeing. 

A total feedback solution like instant insight can analyse the feedback from your team and customers. A good leader is prepared to ask questions they may not like the answers to.  

Our dedicated team of CX Directors have a wealth of business experience, as well as an understanding of CX which is second to none. Partnering with us will ensure that your CX strategy will align with your vision for the business. Get in touch today with any enquiries or to discover how insight6 can help transform your CX. 

Joe Betts is a customer experience partner at insight6, supporting the brand’s local Customer Experience Directors to enable them to deliver more profit to business owners through better customer experiences. Connect on LinkedIn or follow @insight6 on Twitter. 

A good leader is prepared to ask questions they may not like the answers to

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To truly improve employee engagement and wellbeing, every leader must do three basic things: ask, accept, action. 

Ask 

You'd be amazed at the number of leaders I have worked with over the years who come to me with an employee engagement problem, only to find they haven't asked their staff how they are feeling or if there is anything that they need to improve their ability to do their job. 

More worryingly, some come to me to solve a problem, utterly oblivious that they have an employee engagement issue fuelling that very problem. It's not that they don't care, quite the opposite, but it demonstrates a disconnect between management and employees.

The one simple (but essential) thing leaders can do to improve employee engagement is regularly check in on staff wellbeing. Allowing employees to have their voice heard in a regular, official capacity can instantly enhance engagement; there are, of course, caveats!  

Keep wellbeing surveys quick, simple, and convenient – pick a day and time you know employees are more likely to fill it in. Importantly, employees must feel 'safe' to respond openly and honestly to avoid false and potentially misleading results. 

Accept 

Wellbeing in the workplace is a serious matter, and staff need to know that your business and its management genuinely care; this is not a tick-box exercise but something you should embed. Implement a regular feedback solution that analyses responses from your team and provides you with actionable comments to help transform your business.

Understandably, you might be nervous about responses. However, without unequivocally honest insight, you can't acknowledge, accept, or crucially take action to rectify or improve potential issues. Rebuffing or counterarguing responses sends a message that you are not listening, and a 'what's the point' attitude will develop.

Set a monthly employee engagement KPI to track over time to quickly spot and react to trends – not only by the positive or negative scores but also by the response rate. If only a tiny percentage of people even answer the questions, it indicates a disengaged team. 

Action 

You must act on feedback! 

I am not saying give employees everything they request or suggest you make massive business changes to make a few people happier but prove you have listened, probe further and ask 'why'. 

Mapping out the employee response journey is critical. If a response is positive, the action can be an automated yet personal email thanking them for participating. If a negative response is received, there should be an appropriate action plan that follows.  

Depending on the level of question and how potentially harmful the response is, this could be a red flag to a line manager to check in with this person or to follow up and dig deeper into any issues raised. Never follow up in an accusatory way; the aim here is to understand and work out a way to improve. Many negative scores have 'quick win' solutions, such as frustrations with technology or access to information. However, it can be trickier to identify the root cause of a personal grievance or behaviour issue.

My parting words of wisdom? Always follow up.  

Did offering the chance to be heard make a positive change? Have the plans put in place resolved problems? You won't always solve every niggle or concern. Still, by asking questions, actively listening, accepting feedback, and acting accordingly, you will find that employee engagement increases, and wellbeing scores improve.

Jonathan Winchester is a customer experience entrepreneur, speaker and business leader. He is the Founder and Chief Executive of insight6. For more information on how to improve your customer experience, visit www.insight6.com. Request to connect with Jonathan on LinkedIn.