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Listening to clients to adjust strategy and prepare for the end of the crisis

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Listening to clients to adjust strategy and prepare for the end of the crisis

In times of uncertainty, companies need to listen to consumers to make decisions and anticipate their exit strategy. According to Gartner Inc., this was one of the top three priorities for service leaders in 2020. Yet, as Forrester reveals, consumers were less and less willing to respond to surveys, especially during the crisis. What was their recommendation? Collect customer experience data wherever you can find it: in the millions of interactions that brands have with their customers every day; an approach that iAdvize implements for the companies it supports. What were the concerns driving online conversations during the crisis? How could those analyses be transformed into actionable insights? Discover our exclusive data and customer case studies.

1. What topics were brought up by consumers when chatting with brands?

The pandemic, the source of worry
The percentage of online conversations mentioning terms related to COVID-19 continues to grow across all sectors, peaking the week of March 16, 2020, when the topic was mentioned in 7.1% of conversations.

The dynamics by industry sector reveal strong contrasts. While coronavirus-related discussions skyrocketed at the start of the pandemic in the transportation, tourism & travel sector (up to 24% of conversations in the week of March 9th), they then dropped as early as the week of March 23rd. Conversely, over the same period, the other sectors saw a gradual increase in discussions on the subject.

Deliveries, rescheduling, delays, cancellations, refunds... buyers looking for reassurance.

How soon can we expect delivery? In case of the cancellation of a trip, is it possible to get a refund or store credit? During times of uncertainty, consumers wonder about deadlines and their rights, to make the right decisions.

The subject of deliveries or cancellation represented 16.2% of the online conversations in the consumer goods sector and 14.8% in the transportation, tourism, and travel sector in the beginning of April 2020. 

In certain sectors, like high-tech or transportation: a quarter of conversations dealt with these topics in the beginning of April.

Out of stock items and exchanges: Brands quickly adapted 

During the coronavirus, did the sports goods sector find themselves a victim of their own success with the population on lockdown? This sector saw that the majority of their conversations were regarding product availability, with a spike of 6.8% the week of March 23rd and continuing at more than 4.5% through the beginning of April 2020. 

2. Case studies: Analyzing online conversations to make the best decisions

We help our clients analyze their online conversations to update their digital strategy. Let us use a few case studies to show you how.

Our client Leroy Merlin, after closing its stores to preserve the health of its employees and the community, saw its volume of solicitations increase sharply and was able to respond very quickly by listening, in particular, to the concerns of its customers. Discover how the brand adapted in the following video:

Case studies: Analyzing online conversations to make the best decisions

One amusement park maintained its customer service via messaging with iAdvize. It studied the platform's conversations to better understand visitors' concerns. The objective was to find out the reasons for solicitations to continue offering a premium experience during the crisis, but also to analyze if the customers are preparing for the eventual reopening. One analysis identified that 25% of the interactions concerned future bookings, and that nearly half of the interactions came from customers connected to their personal space. These observations enabled the brand to refine its conversational strategy to better target, satisfy and retain these future visitors.
A credit organization found that due to the health crisis, consumers were postponing their purchasing plans. Thanks to a detailed analysis of its most recent conversations, this client noticed that 50% of the interactions were about a new credit application and that 30% came from prospects. These insights, key indicators, confirm the relevance of the current conversational strategy in providing the best assistance to visitors during times of crisis.

*Gartner, Service Leaders Top 3 Priorities for 2020
**Forrester, How To (Not) Conduct CX Surveys During The COVID-19 Crisis