Category: Innovation

Reaching a Tipping Point

By Craig Messenger

Every successful company has a tipping point — a situation when a series of incremental changes reaches a level that triggers explosive growth. The key to creating an environment that nurtures these substantial changes — whether in your personal or professional life — is to take a hard assessment of your current position and find ways to leverage it. Obviously, this is much easier said than done. But being willing to take a series of small steps can lead to outsized results.

Zarca Interactive held an important summit last week for this very purpose. While we feel on the brink of a tipping point, the steps we take now will determine whether we actually reach it. Throughout the many sessions, the wide-ranging discussions enabled different departments to understand their common purpose, while also giving everyone insight into each department’s daily processes. We were left with a deeper appreciation for our roles and an understanding that every decision matters.

These sessions proved beneficial, but it was the larger message of the week that resonated more: namely, learning and adapting after making small mistakes is essential. While it’s okay to make new mistakes, as they provide new opportunities for learning, making the same errors repeatedly is unacceptable — it demonstrates stagnation rather than progress.

Though it may seem like I’m preaching, I feel there’s important truth in this message. Recognizing opportunities (which are often disguised as difficulties) for growth, and taking advantage of them, is integral to this company’s culture and the key to being successful with any company.

A Brave New World

I love all types of science fiction. From fantasy sci-fi to hardcore sci-fi, from Dr. Who to Children of Men, the best science fiction tells us something about who we are and where we hope to be. When I first read about prominent futurist Ray Kurzweil, he seemed like a quack straight from a cheesy sci-fi movie. Among other things, Kurzweil has predicted the integration of nanotechnology with humans, leading to our eventual immortality.

This seems crazy until you consider the number of events Kurzweil has correctly predicted, and that Google has hired him as their new Director of Engineering. In this role, he is working on a new search engine that uses artificial intelligence to answer questions before you ask them. According to Google Chairman Eric Schmidt:

“This friend of yours, this cybernetic friend, that knows that you have certain questions about certain health issues or business strategies. And, it can then be canvassing all the new information that comes out in the world every minute and then bring things to your attention without you asking about them.”

Depending on your bent, this is either very exciting or very frightening. But the line “bring things to your attention without you asking . . . ” did make me think of the many ways we already rely on this type of technology.

The Zarca platform has characteristics of a “cybernetic friend” as it is smart and intuitive enough to prevent you from making survey design mistakes, protecting the integrity of your data.

The platform intelligently prevents ballot-box stuffing, uses data validation to prevent GIGO and utilizes true anonymity to encourage participants to provide better feedback.

While not the cybernetic best friend of Kurzweil’s musings, the platform is more like a parent who won’t let you enter text into a numerical allocation box, or stops some troll from skewing your results by taking the survey 50 times.

I’m not sure what the world will look like 20 years from now, but with quantum computers, self-driving cars, virtual reality glasses and survey platforms that “care” about the integrity of your results, we’re headed toward a brave new world indeed.

Does Friday Feel Like Monday?

Everyone has a bad day at the office. Even the co-worker who greeted me daily with a way-too-peppy, “Good morning, Sunshine!” occasionally did so through gritted teeth. Nobody should expect to love their job every minute of every day.

But if you — or your employees — are having more bad days then good, and feeling an overall sense of dissatisfaction and lack of motivation, then action must be taken. According to Aon Hewitt, the global human resource consulting and outsourcing business of Aon Corporation, global employee satisfaction is at its lowest level since 2008. Worldwide, 44% of all employees feel a disconnection between their individual roles and their employers’ organizational goals.

It’s no wonder, then, that a majority of new visitors to the Zarca Interactive website are searching for information about Employee Satisfaction Surveys. Just in the U.S. alone, businesses are losing $370 billion annually to apathetic employees, yet 70% of leaders have no engagement plan or strategy.

If employee satisfaction is a topic of concern at your company, let Zarca Interactive help you get to the root of the problem so you can take appropriate action. We’ll work with you to ask just the right questions, monitor employee responses with real-time reporting, and create and run customized, powerful reports.

Get started by checking out best practices for conducting Employee Engagement Surveys. After all, the only thing worse than an office full of unhappy employees is an executive suite full of oblivious managers.

What is a Strategic Account Manager?

At Zarca Interactive, we take pride in our robust, user-friendly platform. Our clients tell us how easy our system is to navigate and how much they enjoy the ability to create complex reports in very little time.  Features such as real-time feedback, social media integration, point and click multi-level pivot tables, and wizard-driven SPSS import/export are just a handful of complex tools offered by Zarca.

However, much like any software system, the power of Zarca’s features is dependent upon user expertise.

If you need to gain crucial insight from your employees or customers, but don’t know how to go about wording your survey, whom to survey, or even the type of survey to deploy, call our Client Support Team.   If you want to incorporate media into your surveys or collect complex information, but you’re having difficulty applying these features, just call.  If you have collected data successfully, and now you want to create complex reports, share reports selectively with coworkers or post charts on social networks, but are overwhelmed by the options, please call us.

Every one of our clients is assigned a Strategic Account Manager (SAM).  This person gets to know you and your survey goals, becoming an invaluable member of your team.  SAM team members work with clients in various industries including retail, finance, healthcare and higher education.  Our SAMs provide guidance and expertise for everything from proper question types to assessing strategic survey deployments.

No matter what kind of assistance you need, we are here to support you in all aspects of your survey project.

How Effective is Your Social Media Strategy?

According to several new studies, companies are not communicating effectively with their customers through Twitter or Facebook.  Jan Rezab with Econsultancy Digital Marketers United writes  about a study that clearly shows,  on average, businesses respond just 5% of the time when customers pose questions on popular social media sites.

Maintaining active communication not only strengthens the relationship between consumer and retailer, it also improves brand equity in the public eye.  Nothing sends a stronger message to the consumer than a company willing to stand behind their product and provide an open channel of communication and feedback.  There’s a common misconception that all a company needs to be social in the digital age is a Facebook page and a Twitter account.   Not so, say many researchers.  The truth is that  companies have to go beyond that first step and begin responding to those who show interest in their brand.

Nowadays, companies spend a lot of money attracting and luring new customers.   Interestingly, consumers have actually become companies’ biggest brand ambassadors.  I remember a time when identifying with a top retailer was considered selling out.  This paradigm shift has put companies in a position that most do not seem to be managing well.

As business owners, some of the most valuable  information we can glean from social media is consumer perception of our brand, products or services.  The advent of technology has given us a platform to not only gauge feedback, but to have a direct line of communication with our end users.  The moment our constituents  feel wronged, technology  allows us to  instantly and immediately reach out.

Maritz Research surveyed an online panel of just under 1,300 U.S. consumers who use their Twitter accounts to communicate about products, services and companies.   Nearly half of the respondents expected the companies to read their tweets, but only one-third received   a company response to a tweeted complaint.  Of the remaining two-thirds who did not receive feedback, an overwhelming 86% would have “liked or loved” to get some type of company response.

The message is clear and well-received by forward-thinking  organizations such as Dell.  The result is a stronger allegiance to brands, increased sales and the best kind of marketing a company can buy — an army of brand ambassadors.

How May I (Not) Help You?

A few Fridays ago, a friend and I made plans to meet at a local restaurant for a few games of pool after work. I knew this place sometimes closed the pool table rooms for private events, so I called ahead to make sure the tables would be available that night.

Me:  “Hi. I just want to make sure there’s no private event tonight and the pool tables will be open.”

Employee:  “They’re open now.”

(It’s 12:30 on a Friday afternoon.)

Me :  “Hmm. Well, I’m at work now.  I’m calling to see if they’ll be available tonight.”

Employee:   “I don’t know.”

Me:  “Could you maybe [hate to inconvenience her] . . .   find out?”

Everyone has a frustrating customer service story where you’re left wondering if the company is purposely trying to drive away business. Conversely, customer service that goes beyond expectations can turn around a bad experience.

For example, my teenage son loves going to a certain restaurant even though the kitchen almost always messes up our order, and we have to wait a really long time to get our food. But, without fail, the manager comes to our table, apologizes profusely and gives us a free appetizer or dessert. The last time we ate there, the kitchen once again had to remake my order. But, this time, the manager insisted on comping not just that one dish, but our entire bill. This restaurant obviously has a systemic problem in its kitchen, but their outstanding customer service is what stays foremost in my mind.

As part of Zarca’s marketing team, I often speak to clients about their experiences using our online survey software. Yes, they love our advanced features and flexible pricing and real-time reporting. But what I hear over and over is how impressed our clients are with our customer service.

Whether they are signing a contract with our sales team, training on the platform with our account managers or troubleshooting with our technical support staff, here’s what our clients are saying:

“Extremely helpful.”

“Beyond professional.”

“Always quick to respond.”

We could have the most innovative, cutting-edge online survey platform in the world (and — admittedly biased — I believe we do), but apathetic, discourteous customer service could instantly trump all the hard work of our design team.

So remember to put as much energy into the client-facing side of your business as you put into your product or service. One positive or negative experience may be all it takes to win or lose a valuable customer.

Customer Satisfaction vs. Customer Loyalty

By successfully leveraging social media, today’s businesses are able to communicate directly with their customers on a much larger scale than ever before.

Social media like Facebook, Twitter and blogs keep businesses in constant contact with their customers. The only downside to most social media sites is a lack of dialogue. So the question becomes, “What do my customers think of my business?”

For more than a decade, customer satisfaction indicators have been a great way for any sized business to understand how their customers are feeling.

But are satisfied customers enough?

Surveys on satisfaction may yield results that show a high percentage of “Completely Satisfied” customers. However, a survey of the same group can often show an alarming percentage of customers who would be willing to purchase the same service from a different provider.

In “The Customer Satisfaction Survey Snag,” Bloomberg Businessweek’s Kevin Poyne says that a new scale is needed to measure customer loyalty. In Poyne’s scale, satisfaction becomes the midpoint. Satisfied customers may have no complaints, but will they remain loyal to your business?

A higher rating would be, “Better than I could expect from another provider.” This rating begins to imply loyalty.

Of course, it should be noted, that studies have also shown that in tough economic times (i.e., now) customers are likely to reduce their own “total satisfaction” in favor of “purely the lowest price.”

According to Poyne, the ultimate test of loyalty — the willingness to tell friends — should be the top rating: “This was so great I will mention it in conversation later today.”

Companies that are able to create and maintain satisfied and loyal customers stand a much better chance of survival. Those who strive for satisfaction alone may be fighting a losing battle.

Survey as Dialogue

Taking a survey often feels like taking a test.  They both follow the same format — a long list of questions requiring you to select the “right” or “best” answer from among several options.  In this way, the survey and the test both reveal what the participant knows; however, they do little to expand the relationship.  I think surveys need be more interesting and stimulating so the participant feels comfortable answering honestly and providing candid feedback.

Surveys need to be a part of the dialogue between the group doing the survey (e.g., corporate leadership) and the community being surveyed (e.g., employees and customers).

What is a dialogue? Simply put, it is a two-way exchange of ideas.  Unfortunately, traditional surveys are more of a one-way street, with information flowing directly from those who are surveyed to those who are surveying.   To truly make surveys feel like they are part of a dialogue,  essential information — background, issues and concerns about the topics — must be covered, plus surveyors must always ask for input.  Such a two-way exchange engages the participant, thereby removing the survey-as-a-test scenario.

Consider a company that is updating employee policies.  A common exercise is to survey employees concerning their views about policy changes.  A typical question might include:

  • Do you support the proposed policy concerning employee vacations?

To make the survey a dialogue, however, it should include information in the form of questions that provide the background and rational for the policy change.  For the current example, respondents might be informed through these types of survey questions:

  • Did you know that last year we lost X% of our clients due to slow responses at certain times during the year?
  • Did you know that during critical periods around the holidays the company was severely understaffed, which slowed our response times?
  • Did you know that the proposed policy would increase opportunities for staff vacations at other times during the year?

Using this method, information flows from the company leaders to the employees through question content. Employees are giving feedback about the current conditions, as well as voicing their opinions about the new policy.  It is also essential that at least one open (written) response question is included, so that employees have the opportunity to express their views independently of the rest of the survey content.  This will further increase the value of the survey and help build crucial relationships with employees and customers.

Show Them You’re Listening

On any given day, I have more survey requests in my inbox than I know what to do with.  As a consumer, if I can offer my opinion to a company that I do business with, I will.  I look at it as a way to improve my future experiences, plus it sends me a clear message — help us help you.

Businesses are interacting with consumers like never before. Software and technology have evolved to the point where businesses can reach out to their consumers in an instant and direct way. Social networking, Twitter, email and text messaging all give your business the unprecedented access of having your finger on the pulse of a target audience.

Unfortunately, as a consumer, I rarely hear about the findings or conclusions from the many surveys I complete.  How do I know if the valuable feedback I’m providing is read by anyone or even taken seriously?  If I knew that my feedback would lead to a better customer experience, I would be much more motivated to participate in these surveys.

Well, smart companies are beginning to address these concerns.  Survey software has advanced so much that we can easily highlight intricate trends and details.  No longer do you have to be an Excel or SPSS savant to create a quality report.  The hours spent on Excel, or your enterprise system, are not necessary anymore; that onerous work is obsolete, expensive and resource-heavy.  Companies can now easily manage their image, message and brand through direct customer feedback.

Survey software has made it possible for companies to demonstrate an appreciation for their most precious asset of all — their consumers.  Do you consider your company a good listener?  Tell me how you express an appreciation for customers.

What Survey Responses Have in common with Party Attendance

At Zarca Interactive, we talk a lot about driving up survey response rates. Sometimes it reminds me of my Sweet Sixteen party (I know, you’re thinking how’s that possible, read on, please). Surveys and parties are quite similar. You have to plan both carefully and every detail counts: the type of party (survey types), the guest list and invites (who to invite, how to invite), the decor and ambiance (look & feel), the activities (questions), and the thank yous (thank yous).

Despite how popular you are (or think you are), everyone does not want to go to your party. Sure, there are always the guests who show up just for the sake of partying. But for most people, they need to have a reason.The same can be said for your survey. Whether you are a Fortune 500 or a small non-profit, your survey response rates are not what they should be. To avoid feeling like that girl with only five people at her Sweet Sixteen, you have to analyze and plan for your invitees.

First, you need to minimize the cost for invitees. Make your surveys easy to find, easy to answer, and easy to finish. No matter how great your survey is (or you think it is), if it’s too far away, too boring, and too long, most people won’t bother.

Even more important, you need to give them a reason to show up. Are you giving away incentives? Using their feedback to make a great new product or improve a service? Tell them from the get-go. If you make the survey experience more about them, they will be more motivated to participate.

Remember, parties (and surveys) are never fun when they are all about the host!

How are you getting invitees to show up to your survey?