Imagine you are having a bad day. You entered a store or a place. But upon leaving it, you feel fresh and satisfied. Did you ever wonder what magic happened to you? It’s the magic of great customer experience. Every minor detail inside a store decides how customers are going to feel and think about it.
When you know how your customers feel and think about your brand, you can trigger the required behavior. Guess what this positive behavior does to your brand? It ensures success and long-term growth. The understanding of customer behavior tells you what’s working and what’s not. The tricky part is how to measure this level of happiness and satisfaction. What are the KPIs?
In this article, you will explore how to measure customer happiness in physical environments such as stores.
5 Ways to Measure Real-World Customer Happiness
Did you ever wonder what you would lose if you didn’t track customer happiness and satisfaction? The chance of improvement. In the long run, you will notice your customers spending less time in the store. They will not engage with your products and services and prefer the competitor over you. It’s not because they are offering better products and services, but because they value customer happiness.
Let’s find out the ways that can help you understand customer satisfaction and happiness inside the stores.
Observe Behavioral Patterns
Actions speak louder than words. The customer would rarely say what they feel and think about your brand. But their behavioral patterns would clearly communicate it. What helps you determine these patterns is how they move through the space and how long they linger in certain areas. You should also notice how often they are coming back. Who do you think is a satisfied customer? The one who:
- Explores within the store comfortably
- Engages with the products and services
- Interacts nicely with the staff
While the red flags can be confused glances and quick exits. Even surveys couldn’t help you identify this untold feedback. Want to identify how emotionally attached a customer is to your brand? Notice facial expressions and body language.
Track In-Store Movements
Every step a customer takes inside a store tells you something. These in-store movements are the clear window into how customers experience the space. Where they go first tells you what they are interested in. How long they stay means how much your offerings engage them? If they avoid some areas, that means they are not for them. This is the guide to what attracts customers and what frustrates them.
Now, how do you identify the gaps for improvement? It’s through the areas that are ignored and least visited. You should either improve them or remove them if they are not valuable enough for your brand. This will also help you focus more on what actually attracts your customers. Sometimes, these unnecessary areas divert attention. A customer who was likely to buy something else would leave without a purchase. This is how tracking the movements inside the store helps you identify your weaknesses and strengths. You can use the tools, such as heat maps and smart sensors, that can track foot traffic patterns.
Read Emotional Cues
Numbers and emotional surveys only provide you with abstract data. What helps you in understanding the actual feelings and experiences are the emotional cues. Reading these gestures isn’t difficult. You have to notice the voice and posture when a customer interacts with you. The tone of voice also tells you how comfortable and happy a customer feels being at your place.
- A customer is confused and frustrated if you experience frowns or crossed arms.
- A relaxed posture and warm smile signal happiness and satisfaction.
These are not just expressions. These are silent and strong feedback. These feedbacks tell you which areas are bringing joy and which ones are creating friction. Nothing else connects you with your customers more than the emotional gestures and cues. Conduct your staff’s training to read verbal and non-verbal cues naturally. Service design experts at Engine CX Design can further help you understand these emotional cues. This is how you can make better decisions that drive success.
Gather On-Site Feedback
Feedback is the direct way to know how customers feel about your brand. A chance to capture genuine emotions while your customers are still inside the store. Think of a way except feedback to understand your customers at such a deeper level. Nothing came into your mind, right? A friendly conversation or a comment card captures genuine emotions. A review collected at the spot helps you find out what made your customers smile and what ruined their experience. That’s not all. This kind of feedback also suggests which areas need improvement. This is how you can improve the experience of every individual customer at the next visit.
What do customers think when you gather feedback onsite? They feel heard and cared for.
What’s more important is how effectively you gather this feedback without annoying customers. The process should be friendly and simple. Avoid long forms and offer multiple ways, such as quick QR code surveys and casual chats with staff.
Monitor Repeat Visits
People tend to revisit the places they love. Even if the customer isn’t intended to buy something, if the place makes them feel happy, they will visit it. Sometimes, they visit to see if there is something new. Many of us do this. We leave the store without anything but a warm smile and a satisfied face. If the same customers keep visiting your store regularly, it means they feel connected. What else it tells you is that your brand exceeds their expectations.
Tracking the patterns and frequency of repeat visits tells you which elements of the brand’s offering resonate more with the brand. If you notice a decline in the repeat visit, there is something wrong. It signals unmet needs. An area for improvement. An opportunity to grow. Use the latest tools to monitor the customer visit frequency.
Track Customer Happiness in Real Time
Most of the brands only focus on how many products have been sold. Have you ever wondered how happy your customers are with your brand? Selling more products is good, but having happier customers is great in itself. Identifying customer emotions is an opportunity to improve and grow. You can hire the service design experts for a clearer understanding and improvement plans that add value to your brand.
