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Importance of Voice of Customer (VOC) for Quick Service Restaurants

Importance of Voice of Customer (VOC) for Quick Service Restaurants

4 reasons why every QSR needs a VOC program

91% of the disgruntled clients that leave your establishment won't return. That's a huge quantity, and your chances of succeeding at the top are really limited. In addition to the already existing branches and franchises, the QSR (quick-service restaurant) industry has seen a rise in drive-through and QSR e-commerce platforms. The number of QSR customers is constantly increasing but does that mean that your QSR is safe from being overpowered? No. In reality, if you don't pay attention to and eventually satisfy your customers' expectations, you are stepping into a landmine due to rising customer expectations and demands. Customer satisfaction drives the QSR market, so if you want to keep up, you need to start paying attention.

This is where the voice of customer research as a part of customer experience comes into the picture. Customer experience is a collection of affective, sensory, cognitive, and behavioural reactions that your customers exhibit during all phases of their journey (the buyer journey) as a result of the experience you provide for them. Utilizing a variety of systems and approaches, every interaction they have with you throughout the transaction is examined in order to process changes in the issue areas. Customer experience management can also find hidden issues and foresee possible issues in your QSR. As a component of customer experience programmes, voice of the customer uses extensive data collection for effective listening that can help you develop and maintain the space in which you operate, upsell products, and ultimately keep your customers coming back to you because they feel valued and heard.

Through the VoC approach or VoC program, you will be able to decode many critical yet undiscovered aspects of your QSR that can help you grow in the quick service restaurant industry. There are 4 primary ways in which you can do so:

  1. Overall satisfaction: This technique takes you to the number that is most used by QSRs and fast food chains or restaurant brands in their feedback surveys. This voice of customer research gives you the percentage of satisfied customers versus dissatisfied customers. Any number above 10% of dissatisfied customers can be a strong warning for you to start shifting up operations.
  2. Net promoter score (NPS): The NPS score of your QSR will tell you how many people are bad-mouthing you for a bad experience they have gone through and how many are enjoying your product/service and most likely to recommend you to family and friends. All of this is measured on a scale of 1-10 with simple questions asked by your QSR brand to its customers in a short and simple feedback survey.
  3. Customer loyalty index: This used to be a rager in the restaurant industry back in the day. The customer loyalty index allowed your fast food brand to track down important questions like the ease of doing business or willingness to buy/use a product again. Although this survey needed every response to be individually evaluated it went on to help a lot of restaurants in the F&B industry to find their place.
  4. Evaluations: Regular evaluations of your fast food chain branches are a must. Since your customers are stepping into your store you ought to give them the best. From being greeted warmly, to clean washrooms and a good atmosphere in the store, they deserve it all. Your standards must be immaculate and you should not give your customers a chance to complain about quality, standard and atmosphere.

Feedback has the power to alter your fast food business. Keep in mind that receiving insufficient input is a serious issue in and of itself. Is your cashier failing to properly set up the client feedback form? The majority of QSRs are solely concerned with the numbers, but the feedback is actually quite crucial, and you must employ the VoC approach to receive that feedback! Here are 4 reasons why your QSR needs a VoC program:

  • Real-time Alerts: These days, voice of the customer platforms can provide you with real-time information and warnings that can assist you in acting quickly. The objective is to have a warning signal and inform you of an issue in a certain branch that you might not have immediate access to at that moment. You will be able to fix the issue, make the customer happy with good service and food, and stop any additional complaints for the day.
  • Predictive Analytics: As previously stated, VoC can assist you in avoiding potential stumbling blocks in your business. Predictive analysis is thus a VoC tool that can provide recommendations for better decision-making. What is it that customers despise the most? Long lines and an understaffed QSR Predictive analytics in the VoC research method in customer experience can assist you in planning a way to schedule staff so that rush hours are not disrupted. This assists your staff in avoiding any irate or nasty clients.
  • Location-Specific Insights: Consider receiving notification of three cases of food poisoning in the same location. You can immediately identify the problem and return to that location to investigate. This is damage control at its finest, which is why you require the VoC program! This tool will also assist you in testing new products on your menu by soliciting honest feedback from people in various locations. You can make a better decision and save money by not doing the same thing in every location.
  • Benchmarking: A benchmarking tool in VoC allows you to compare your QSR figures to those of your competitors. You can look into things like pricing and meal value. The Benchmarking tool in the VoC approach to customer experience is a game changer because it allows you to implement cost-effective changes that keep your customers coming back for more!

Your quick service restaurant chain can do wonders if you listen, interact and engage with your customers. Voice of customer helps you do the same. Customer experience companies and voice of customer companies like SonataGBW help collect, report and analyze data in a meaningful manner so you can benefit from it.

Our CX solutions are focused on transforming the total customer experience through surveys, metrics, analytics and auditing by using the CXM framework to combine physical measurements with digital Platformation™ capabilities. We are committed to finding the right customer experience strategy that can lead to a competitive advantage.

Sonata GBW is a global technology company specializing in customer experience CX measurement, platform-based digital transformation, supporting businesses to become connected, open, intelligent and scalable. Global coverage of more than 105 markets with over 27 years of market leadership through extensive measurement capabilities, powerful and intuitive reporting and analytics platforms give us the leverage to improve customer experience. It has presence across USA, Canada, EMEA and APAC regions. If you would like to know more about how we can assist you, please fill out the business enquiry form below.