Eek, Thats Not How You Measure CX in Your Stores! Tried This?

When measuring customer experience, most retail stores make one of these mistakes:

1. They don’t bother AT ALL (and then, when their performance goes down, they hide behind excuses like “Well, EVERYONE is struggling on the high street” ??)
2. They use the WRONG method, which is less useful than holding up a ruler to measure the patience I have left for those excuses

Instead, to get reliable feedback from as many customers as possible, you need to ask them in the RIGHT way and at the PERFECT time.

So, put a safety helmet on: we’re about to DESTROY the most popular methods to measure CX (my prediction? You’re using at least one of them ?? Uuuuuuuuh!).

Then, I’ll show you the best way to get genuine feedback from 80% of your customers—without holding them in your store against their will until they give it to you.

Ineffective and counterintuitive ways to measure CX in retail

?? Mystery shopping?

I could write an entire newsletter on why I LOATHE this strategy (oh, wait: I did!).?

• “Mystery” shoppers are easier to spot than a Harry Potter fan inside King's Cross station
• They’re NOT your actual target customers (you wouldn't get feedback on a vegan meat replacement from someone following a strict paleo diet, would you?)
• They can be unreliable and biased (ooooohhhhhhhh, don’t believe me? Wait for the example at the end of this issue ????)

“Mmmh, ok. Then I’ll get feedback from a group of customers.”

? Panelling?

First of all, these groups can also be biased, and their opinions may not represent most of your audience.?

But aaaaaaaaaaanyway: panels are more useful to uncover their behaviours, preferences, and purchasing habits. NOT to measure your day-to-day in-store experience! ????

“Gotcha. Then I should contact my customers, right?”

? Voice of the customer?

This tends to involve social media polls, chatbots, text messages, and surveys sent via email to calculate your Net Promoter Score. The main problems?

• It’s hard to get people to respond (?EFFORT?). Sure, you could offer an incentive to motivate them, but then your data will be even LESS reliable?
• I can baaaaaarely remember what I had for dinner yesterday, and you expect someone to recall their in-store experience with you out of the blue?!

“I’m with you, Kayleigh. I’ll give them ways to share their feedback when they’re still in my store!”

? QR codes at hotspots?

As well as requiring effort from your customers, they’re more distracting than a Deadpool cutout.?

If someone has graced your store with their presence instead of looking for those products online, EVERYTHING and EVERYONE should work towards facilitating that sale… NOT wasting this customer’s precious dwell time with a QR code! ??

“Oof! In that case, I’ll tell my team members to ask each customer at the till.”

? Asking for feedback at the till?

Sure, that customer’s in-store experience is still fresh in their mind (yay)... but you’re about to ruin it (whaaat).?

The moment when a customer taps their card can be just as game-changing as the flick of a magic wand. Your staff’s focus should be on REINFORCING that purchase, making the customer feel fab about their choice (which reduces your chances of returns and leaves them feeling all happy and energised) ??

But insteeeeeead, you’re asking for their money AND to waste their limited time and energy on a survey that will be emailed to them or to fill in some feedback on the spot, head down in their phone while you wrap their purchase?!?

That’d be like removing the supporting Jenga block of your CX tower! You’ll ruin aaaall your progress with one move (EVEN worse if your team members sound all apologetic and say “We HAVE to ask this to all customers” ??).

So, what’s the point of slapping your stores’ NPSs into your brand presentations if: 1. They’re flawed 2. Only a small percentage of customers left feedback?!

“Well, Kayleigh, what am I supposed to do then? Read their minds?!”

The BEST way to get reliable feedback and measure your CX

Picture this:

? A customer walks into your store (I promise, it’s not the start of a joke)

? Your staff are providing the best experience, making them think “I’m sooooo glad I popped into this branch instead of going online” ??

? When they move to the till area, your staff member focuses on getting the customer excited about their purchase

? When they’re about to pay, the payment device presents them with ONE targeted question (that you select before it goes live), and the customer only needs to press ONE number to respond

BOOM!

Asking a strategic question at check-out time is the simplest, quickest, and most effective way of capturing relevant feedback from 80% of your customers—without disrupting your service and their experience.

I recommend TruRating to my clients seeking a better solution, because you don’t need new software, and it’s intuitive for both staff and customers. In fact, I’ve become a proud affiliate. This newsletter is not a paid advertisement - I'm simply sharing a fantastic tool to help your teams and customers. They even won an award recently for the industries best kept secret - well, now you're in the know! So, you’re welcome to message me to find out how it can work in your stores!

So, no more unreliable and counterproductive methods (I’m looking at you, mystery shoppers). Start measuring your CX successfully so that you know exactly what to double down on and what to improve ??

Fancy elevating your customer experience with my help? Book a workshop or talk!

????#BafflingBloopers: my latest facepalm moment in retail

I once worked for a brand that hired mystery shoppers for ALL their branches (quite an investment, as you can imagine).

After the first rounds, I realised a certain store was always scoring +96%... despite having the WORST operations, conversions, and team turnover.

So, I visited it when the supervisor was in charge because she was a textbook case of “skilled manager stuck under poor leadership but doing her best for the team” (I know there are so many of you: I see you).

Well, she admitted that everyone knew who the mystery shopper was and… “He actually fancies the store manager!”

Whaaaaaaaaaaat ??

Imagine paying for THAT kind of CX data!

Speak soon

Kayleigh

Founder of The International Retail Academy?

PS. The Retail Comedy Club is the newsletter for retail leaders and managers craving to feel heard and brave enough to feel seen. All while having a good chuckle—not that fake customer service laugh

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We offer motivational speaking, customer experience & sales workshops, and leadership development. Get in touch to discuss the right next step for your stores or to hire Kayleigh as a speaker