How Multi-Location Brands Can Improve Customer Experience

According to recent reports, 43.5% of brands agreed that positive CX is a critical differentiator when it comes to getting an edge on the competition. Creating positive customer experiences seems like a no-brainer, but in reality bridging the CX perception gap between customer service, marketing, and sales teams and potentially 10s or 100s of store locations is challenging. Without a keen understanding of the customer experience at the local level, it’s easy for multi-location brands to make assumptions and develop blind spots about their most important asset – their customers.

Outstanding CX starts with building a strong online presence

Research shows that 97% of people glean information about local companies via the internet before ever walking into a shop. One of the best ways for mulit-location brands to connect with customers is to create local pages that provide consumers with pertinent information about the store closest to them. 76% of shoppers using a local search site will visit a business within just 24 hours of conducting their online search. With local landing pages brands can boost search rankings on voice assists, local maps, and organic searches. Energized and accurate local pages replete with vibrant photos, FAQs, and current promotions bring more customers through the door.

Cultivate brand love and loyalty by engaging in conversation with your customers

Chatmeter conducted a survey this year of nearly 1,400 consumers and found that 94.5% of respondents posted an online review in the past 12 months. Our survey results overwhelmingly indicate that customers see their reviews not just as a moment-in-time reaction to an experience, but as a dialogue – one they expect to be two-way.

The survey found that 89% of respondents rely on online reviews to evaluate a brand. Over 67% see reviews as an essential first step in deciding what and where to buy and look for comments specific to pricing, features, options, and quality.

In short, reviews matter. A lot. Thoughtful responses to customer reviews, good, bad, and neutral, are an opportunity to provide the detail that consumers crave. More than a “thank you for your post,” businesses that respond with key details about their product or service that other reviewers will see – and appreciate, gain the potential to transform a customer to an advocate, a one-time buyer to a life-time consumer

Chatmeter’s survey found that 60% of respondents find detailed and helpful company review responses extremely beneficial. When a consumer sees a company’s response to a negative review they can be more forgiving than we think – 76% of respondents said they would go back and update a negative review if a company responded and made an effort to satisfy their complaint.

Beyond review response – harnessing the power of unstructured data to improve your brand intelligence

Brand intelligence (BI) is the complex fusion of structured and unstructured data about a company’s reputation, customer perceptions, competitive landscape, and industry trends and developments. By collecting and analyzing this data, brands are better positioned to make informed decisions about their CX and discover the most valuable opportunities for growth and increased profit.

According to a Forbes analysis, “73% of companies with above-average customer experience perform better financially than their competitors.” True brand intelligence is all about meeting consumers wherever they choose to interact and engage with your brand in real-time, online and off. Fortunately, machine learning, AI-powered solutions using Natural Language Processing (NLP) make it easy to scrape millions of online reviews and comments and analyze relevant keywords, prevailing topics, and the sentiment expressed. NLP technology solutions offer highly intuitive ways for multi-location brands to:

• Track sentiment trends and identify areas of operational improvement
• Compare how locations are performing across the enterprise
• Monitor customer feedback on new products or initiatives

With robust BI technology, brands gain the ability to listen to the raw, unfiltered truth of their customers’ desires, needs, and expectations. Armed with a new level of customer-enabled insights, your entire organization can drive better business decisions that deliver increased revenue, improved operational efficiency, and a genuine advantage over the competition.