Direct, continuous customer feedback for every store

– As we are a specialist retailer, the customer interaction is incredibly important to us. We want to help customers create beautiful homes and gardens. It’s not just about having a good range of merchandise in-store, but about ensuring that we engage our customers, guide them, inspire and motivate them throughout the customer journey, says Jørgen Lislerud, Plantasjen COO responsible for 140 stores in Norway, Sweden and Finland.

Using Maze

In spring – the middle of their peak season – Plantasjen started using Maze which provides feedback from customers. Feedback received directly from customers has enabled Plantasjen to map what constitutes a good service experience.

– Continuous feedback from customers is required in order to obtain specific feedback for each store, divided into the different elements of our customer journey. Each store manager and each store employee gets a chance to see how their store is performing, explains Lislerud.

Now Plantasjen have structured their day-to-day training. Feedback is sent directly to the person concerned, to the app on their mobile phone.

– We have been given the opportunity to work continuously to improve each store every day. Our customers tell us what we are good at and what we need to improve, he says.

Lislerud believes less in traditional courses run by external course organisers.

– At Plantasjen we work to streamline the way in which we need to interact with our customers. That is something we can do best internally, at our morning meetings in-store, in our daily follow-ups, at regional meetings and at our annual kick-off, he explains.

Direct, continuous feedback

Jørgen Lislerud believes that continuous feedback is preferable to receiving reports after the event, quarterly or monthly. Reports that are cumulative and are issued too infrequently make information less applicable to those dealing with customers every day.

– High-frequency, completely fresh feedback is better. This means that information is more relevant and easier to apply, he emphasises.

It is about frequent feedback on what really matters so that employees are given the opportunity to adjust and respond. It can then be seen whether measures are effective or whether they need to be adjusted until positive developments result.

The customers who are asked to give feedback are members of Plantasjen’s loyalty programme. Customers are identified when they complete a purchase. The day after their purchase, these customers are sent questions about their shopping experience.

A quarantine period is built in to ensure that customers are not surveyed too often, and Plantasjen achieve over a 30 per cent response rate to Maze surveys.

– It’s extremely positive that a high percentage of customers take time to comment using free text – both praise and issues that Plantasjen needs to work on. This has been of great value to us, and we are grateful to our customers, says Lislerud.

Local and often is best

In a chain as big as Plantasjen, it is not possible to follow up on service encounters in every store without having a system with direct feedback in place.

– We want every employee and store manager to perform their own day-to-day follow-up themselves. With Maze, employees are sent feedback about their own store directly.

Customer feedback is on the agenda at morning meetings in the stores. The feedback received is discussed, and employees agree on what can be improved.

In the months that has passed since the launch, store managers and store employees have found that it is much more useful to receive customer feedback directly than to receive centrally produced reports.

– They find that they are closer to their customers in their store, says Lislerud.

Best practice

Experience is shared between stores.

The solution contains the option of picking up tips from others.

When a store does exceptionally well in one area, this is shared on the solution. For example, stores that have success with certain initiatives can tip off other stores about what they are doing to achieve good results.

Focus areas

– Together we set daily and weekly targets for selected focus areas, continues Jørgen Lislerud.

Based on the data, Plantasjen look at the factors that drive positive customer experiences.

Focus areas are singled out in each store.

– We look at the drivers that play the strongest role positively or negatively. For example, the importance of paying customers attention when they enter the store. The service encounter starts the second the customer steps in through the door. We are continuously learning and confirming the importance of the various elements, he explains.

It is not about punishing those who do not do well or identifying good and bad stores, but about creating an environment in which every store will be able to succeed.

– The aim is to drive continuous improvement in stores. We need to continue to develop Plantasjen and generate enhanced service encounters and make customers return. Store managers and employees therefore have a very positive attitude to the scheme, concludes Jørgen Lislerud.