With the Olympics now finished in London (even if only for a brief couple of weeks until the Paralympics get under way) I took time to reflect upon my experience of the games. Even before they had begun I was lucky enough to attend the dress rehearsal of the Opening Ceremony, a couple of days before the main event. Despite some omissions (the lighting of the flame and the Queen’s cameo to name but two), the nearly 50,000 strong audience were entertained with the staggering set pieces and dazzling show that was viewed by so many on Friday 27th July.
The organisers though had a problem; while they obviously felt a full dress rehearsal with a nearly full stadium was necessary, how were they to keep those 50,000 people from sharing their pictures and tales of the event. As you may have already guessed, the solution was wrapped up in the hashtag “savethesurprise”. The message was played across all the screens in the stadium, and when combined with a personal plea from Danny Boyle (the director of the show) to literally save the surprise, the effect was that information on the performance was kept at a premium. The surprise was saved, as people who were there chose not to divulge information or upload their photos from the evening to Facebook or Twitter.
And for me this is exactly the same theory that underpins asking your customers about the experience they had. By asking customers about the service they received or of the quality of the products they purchased, it empowers them, making them feel trusted and their thoughts valued.
As we’ve discussed previously on this blog, this is in large part to cognitive dissonance and the Benjamin Franklin Effect. The American Founding Father who in the act of asking a political enemy for a favour turned that enemy into a loyal friend. In the same way the act of asking customers (not that their your enemy!) for their feedback in turn makes them more loyal, regardless of whether they respond or not. This approach favours the NICE Fizzback approach of surveying every customer, or gathering a census view, as opposed to some more tactical surveying techniques seen in the market today. Voice of the Customer solutions are implemented to understand and learn how to improve the customer experience, but the effect of engaging with every customer shouldn’t be underestimated. As #savethesurprise demonstrated, empowered customers who feel valued can be and are extremely loyal to your brand.
Tom Lynam
For more info on NICE Fizzback please visit www.nice.com/fizzback