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Challenge

Large volumes of customer feedback data make it difficult to analyze efficiently

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When Melina Colling stepped into her role as a CX Manager at Outletcity, the company was already thriving with millions of customers, but customer research was not yet a top priority.

Determined to change this, Melina embarked on a mission to develop a robust voice of the customer program aimed at boosting customer loyalty and advocacy.

“When I came on board, I assessed the company's needs and found there is a huge potential in understanding and improving our customer experience. Our primary goal was to improve NPS and enhance the customer experience in Metzingen and our online shop, driving higher revenue,” says Colling.  

“In time, we expanded our ad hoc research to address specific business questions while also focusing on broader aspects of the customer journey. We began by setting up surveys and gathering a lot of open-ended feedback, which we initially managed using Excel spreadsheets,” she adds.

What started as a customer research project quickly turned into an overwhelming amount of data, paralyzing the team's ability to make decisions.

“We quickly realized we were spending too much time on manual analysis and often had to start all over again whenever new topics emerged. Analyzing customer feedback would often take up almost my entire workday. I spent 10-20 hours a week reviewing comments,  pulling only a random sample of customer data. This also introduced a lot of bias and inconsistencies.”

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Solution

Saving time on manual data analysis with AI-powered feedback analytics

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Realizing that analyzing feedback quickly was essential, Melina started to search for a feedback analytics platform. She needed a tool that could analyze customer feedback at scale, help them identify pain points, and improve their voice of the customer metrics.

They ultimately chose Chattermill for its flexibility, range of integrations, and user-friendly interface that enabled every user to be involved in analyzing feedback. 

“We chose Chattermill for its flexibility. Unlike other platforms, Chattermill allows us to analyze NPS surveys alongside other feedback types and incorporate additional attributes, providing a more comprehensive analysis. Because of this, we're getting actionable insights that lead to better decision-making and meaningful improvements,” says Colling.

“We wanted a solution that integrates multiple data sources, such as Google reviews and customer support data, into one unified platform. By choosing Chattermill, we could avoid juggling separate tools and ensure we have a comprehensive view of customer feedback in a single place.”

“In addition, we really liked Chattermill's user interface; it's intuitive and easy to use. Chattermill is simple enough to set up dashboards with just a few clicks, without needing complex programming or extensive setup. Plus, it integrates seamlessly with Slack, which makes it easy to share feedback with every team,” Colling adds.

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Unifying customer feedback sources

With Chattermill in place, the team seamlessly integrated customer feedback from five different sources, allowing them to analyze over 100,000 customer comments annually.

“We integrated various data sources into Chattermill, including NPS survey data, customer care enquiries, Google reviews, and feedback from our website,” Melina explains. “From pre-purchase comments on our online store to open text from post-checkout surveys, all the data is fed into Chattermill. This enables us to monitor feedback across different stages - delivery, returns, and payment processes - based on the source and touchpoint,” says Melina.

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Understanding what drives negative and positive sentiment

With five integrations in place, the team could effectively identify the drivers of negative customer sentiment with comprehensive data.

“Chattermill highlights any potential issues such as website bugs, missing products, issues with returns, or unavailable sizes. This way relevant teams can prioritize what needs to be fixed to optimize our customer experience, and ultimately, improve our NPS or help us reduce customer contacts,” Melina explains.

In addition to uncovering existing issues, Melina and her team started using Chattermill to discover new opportunities, particularly for enhancing loyalty and retention.

“We pay close attention to feedback from our most exclusive customer base, who are highly engaged and have higher expectations. Even if an issue affects only a small segment of our customer base, it becomes a priority for us. We do everything to meet the expectations of these valuable high-spending customers.” 

“This approach helps us tackle pain points and requests that may not be widespread but are significant to our most dedicated customers. By focusing on their feedback, we ensure their needs are met and improve their overall experience with us.”

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Driving customer-centric culture

Once Melina found actionable insights from thousands of customer interactions, she focused on ensuring the entire team had the relevant information needed for decision-making. Today, 42 team members, including members of the Product Management, Customer Support, Marketing, and Leadership teams, have access to Chattermill. 

“We created dashboards for various functions, including our online store and flagship outlet stores, tailored for different departments,” says Colling.

“Every Monday, Chattermill triggers an automated report with a summary from last week, highlighting key trends. This report is regularly shared with our senior management for transparency. It helps us ensure everyone stays on top of customer feedback and aligns their goals with customer needs. If there is a debate on whether a particular issue needs addressing, customer feedback helps clarify whether it is a genuine concern or just an internal perception.”

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Results

Boosted NPS by 13%, saved 10-20 hours a week on manual analysis

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Addressing the negative drivers of CX

With the power to monitor customer experience at every touchpoint, Melina’s team began to uncover critical issues impacting their voice of the customer metrics.

“One key discovery through Chattermill was that our customers experienced confusion during the checkout process, particularly regarding payment” Melina recounts.

"Customers were being redirected to PayPal for payment but when returning to our site had to confirm the transaction, which led to complaints. This problem surfaced in our customer support data and other feedback sources. It became clear that while the process technically worked, it was yet too complicated. Recognizing this, we set out to simplify the user journey to make it easier for customers to complete their orders,” she adds.

“After implementing the changes, we saw a significant decrease in customer contacts related to the checkout experience, moreover the sentiment on Payment process related to PayPal improved by 40%” she notes.

After improving the checkout experience, the team turned their attention to further optimizing the post-purchase journey. “We took a close look at the refund and payment process, which was causing some confusion,” Melina explains. “Chattermill revealed that despite our existing email communication, customers were still unsure if their returns had been received and refunds processed. We realized we needed to revise our transactional emails to clearly explain the post-return process.”

The team also refined email subject lines and added payment receipt confirmation. Following these adjustments, customer contacts related to returns and payments dropped significantly. 

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Doubling down on new opportunities

With critical customer concerns addressed, the team shifted focus to exploring opportunities to enhance loyalty and retention, specifically for their most dedicated customers.

"To improve their experience, we began by analyzing feedback from our gold members. Chattermill revealed that their primary frustration was with delivery costs. Given their higher average basket value compared to other customers, they were unhappy about still having to pay for shipping," says Colling. 

"In response, we introduced a new benefit: free delivery for gold members. Now, gold members can enjoy free shipping on up to 25 orders. This change significantly reduced negative comments about delivery costs. 

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Improving the voice of the customer metrics

Chattermill has had a transformative impact on Outletcity’s voice of the customer program.

“Chattermill has transformed how we handle feedback by automating customer feedback analysis, saving us significant time. Interactive reports and dashboards help us identify key issues and customer needs and allow us to see if our actions are making a positive impact. The platform also enables us to address problems efficiently and prioritize our efforts effectively, driving meaningful improvements and ensuring we're on the right track.”

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Looking back on their journey with Chattermill, Melina notes:

“After four years of using Chattermill, we've seen significant improvements in our voice of the customer metrics. Our NPS has consistently increased each year. We’re now confident in our strong and loyal customer base, and we consistently use Chattermill to enhance that experience."

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Discover how Chattermill can help you improve your voice of the customer metrics – book a demo today.

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