The broken coupon Code
Nothing is more frustrating in the shopping experience than a broken process. The journey is dynamic – with online options, delivery options, and the good old-fashioned brick and mortar stores. With so much automation in the process, it seems like it should always go smoothly. However, that can be a terrible assumption. A recent purchase journey had me pause because I needed to confirm the shipping address.
It was many hours later when I finally returned to the task and I was surprised to see an email that was inviting me to come back and finish my purchase and take 5% off my purchase if I finished the purchase today.
A great deal from my perspective, because I was going to make the purchase anyway. I returned to the checkout and added the coupon code. “Error: this item does not qualify for a discount”. Ok, that was actually just an extra item anyhow, removed it and tried again. “Error: this item does not qualify for a discount”.
Price isn’t everything
I’m not one to bargain shop. In general, my approach tends to be that I research what I really want from the product. That could be something as sophisticated as having all the technical features and options important to me (like our QuestionPro customer experience management software), or the simple things like size or fabric type. This was true in this case, it was something specific I was ordering for my daughter who is away at college. However, it was the broken promise that was disappointing. Had I never received the offer, it would have been an experience without complaints. Instead, the experience was lessened. Not something that will cause me to defect, but if I was met with that in every transaction, it would eventually turn me from a promoter to a passive to a detractor. How many transactions? I don’t know that, but for every customer it will be different.
It is why we should ask
One thing to consider is that this brand will never know how I felt about that. There will be statistics about a recovery email, which they will probably see as a positive part of the experience. All the statistics will show a successful transaction such as inbound marketing traffic, outbound marketing response, and a purchase. What they will miss is an understanding of the customer sentiment during that transaction, I didn’t have the opportunity to provide feedback. It probably would not be a ticket in a closed-loop customer feedback system or stand out in the results on the CX manager dashboard.
It would have made me feel as if I had been heard and at least someone would have a chance to discover a potential root cause issue. While it seems unnecessary to field surveys with every interaction for every customer, there should be an option to have that communication. It is one of the reasons we built QuestionPro NPS+, an easy way for customers to quickly give feedback and still identify a key issue with one click. It is short on survey questions, but long on analytics providing root cause and churn risk.
Avoid those broken promises
As we built out our NPS+ solution, QuestionPro was keenly aware of Passives becoming at risk of churn. Understanding the Root Cause is key to making improvements. Differences in attribute rankings are not lost when looking across many respondents. Beyond inference from open-end comments, the customer identifies their key concern. Actions can be taken directly on feedback, even with passives. Finally, it will also inform strategic approaches to fixing systemic concerns using Out Loop correction.
QuestionPro offers some of the most advanced customer experience tools available. Gain valuable insights into your customers’ thoughts and feelings using QuestionPro CX software today.
