How a national retailer increases customer satisfaction by 112%

Engagement campaign driving customer satisfaction

A national retailer with stores spanning the West Coast of the United States, and known for innovation in food and retail practices, turned its innovation focus to its workforce. Seeking to impact customer satisfaction by leveraging the connection between employee engagement and customer loyalty, the company began aligning retail employees to company goals and strategy. Utilising the Achievers Employee Experience Platform™ provided the organisation the ability to drive business success through recognising employee contributions, aligning them to business objectives and corporate values and engaging them, every day.

Executive summary

With over 225 retail locations, connecting with the customer is a business imperative to maintain competitiveness and drive success. With a history of innovation in food and retail practices, improving customer satisfaction in an innovative way was the next step. The company sought to leverage the connection between employee engagement and customer satisfaction and loyalty by aligning employees to company goals.

The Employee Success program helped create a remarkable 112% increase in customer satisfaction chain-wide during the first six quarters of the program. To further focus the initiative the company embarked on a controlled study within two operating centers to pinpoint the impact of the Employee Success program. This Mystery Shopper Campaign yielded a 2% increase in customer satisfaction in a controlled 1 quarter Reward & Recognition campaign, driven on the Achievers platform.

Today’s workforce is fundamentally changing. In order for companies to adapt, an agile approach to engagement is imperative. Business has become acutely competitive with increasing skills shortages. This business context, coupled with the influx of millennials into the workforce, means engaging employees requires ongoing recognition of their contributions and value. Recognition in the moment – by colleagues, leaders, and even customers – is paramount.

Engaged, aligned and recognised employees provide businesses with a unique competitive advantage. performing workforce is essential for growth, with employee engagement a key driver of performance.

Analyzing the impact on customer satisfaction

The Employee Experience Platform rolled out and within the first six months, the retailer experienced a 112% increase in customer satisfaction scores across its stores. The Achievers program launch drove the first store reaching the 90% Customer approval goal. A remarkable 70% of the stores achieved a 90% customer satisfaction rating – up from just 33% of stores at the early stages of the program.

To gain insight into the impact of the program, the company’s HR team initiated a controlled study in two store districts, to examine the link between the program and customer satisfaction results.

Spanning two quarters, the retailer increased their program budget allocation for both managers and team members. Regular Mystery Shopping surveys were conducted within the designated stores as well as at retail locations outside the experimental districts. The study yielded five full months of monitored store activity.

The Achievers ROI Analytics Services team analyzed thousands of employee interactions within the Achievers platform and compared the information with store performance data, customer satisfaction
scores and employee performance metrics.

The following factors were evaluated:

• Engagement correlation: Established the relative impact of engagement factors on employee behavior
• Recognition and rewards: Assessed the relative impact of recognition and rewards on engagement
• Cost and recognition distribution trends: Analyzed the cost and activity patterns associated with the study and program overall
• Customer satisfaction trends: Analyzed the customer satisfaction rates for stores participating in the study and control locations
• Customer satisfaction analysis: Comparison of customer satisfaction for stores before and after the launch of the program
• Sales: Establish correlation of engagement with sales results

The following factors were evaluated:

• Overall increase in customer satisfaction since launching the platform: 112% increase within six quarters
• Increase in customer satisfaction during the study: 2% CSAT increase in participating stores
• Recognition and rewards contribution to engagement: 7%

Direct correlation has been established between highly engaged store teams and departments, and their sales results.

Conclusion

Engaged, aligned and recognised employees provide businesses with a unique competitive advantage. Employees who are recognised for their contributions, aligned to business objectives and corporate values, and engaged every day, deliver an exceptional customer experience.

Within a retail environment where employees are directly connecting with customers, the impact of an employee success program is clear: by engaging employees via multiple connection points, the Achievers platform seamlessly aligns culture and business strategy, enabling the organisation to realise an increase in customer satisfaction and drive improved business results.