Case Studies

Case Study 1: Customer Satisfaction Tracking Survey

Background

A major company in the hospitality industry was seeking a research partner to engage in a measurement effort to evaluate customer perceptions of their visits to their nationwide locations.

The assignment for this customer satisfaction tracking study was to implement a comprehensive ongoing tracking mechanism using a mail-based approach. The project had to be statistically meaningful, timely, and actionable. Measurement is performed continuously, with regular updates, tables, and quarterly reports.

Business Plan

Over time, the company’s customer base was being eroded due to increased competition and the need to re-vamp onsite amenities and offerings based on market demands. The organization was losing traction within the marketplace and wanted to strengthen its position as the market leader.

Solutions

The Company enlisted the services of Precision Research to engage in an ongoing customer measurement effort. The purpose of this measurement is to monitor customer perceptions of their experiences and address each of the individual areas that related to the customers’ visits.

The areas that were measured include their exposure to staff, the level of customer service, the appearance and cleanliness of the location, amenities, problem identification, problem resolution, customer loyalty and other ancillary issues.

Each visitor to a location was asked to complete either a hard copy or an online questionnaire to provide feedback on their experiences for their most recent visit. The results are tabulated and analyzed at a global, regional and individual franchise level.

Precision Research processes upwards of 250,000 questionnaires for the organization annually, providing key insights into the customer experience and highlighting areas of improvement, decline and implications.

Results

The organization immediately put in place an ongoing feedback mechanism throughout all levels of the company communicating not only the overall results, but the regional and franchise level reporting as well.

Currently, the organization continues to monitor all customer visits and engages in ongoing review of the key metrics to ensure that there can be prompt response to any issues that may arise based on this analytical review process.

The project is currently in its 7th year and has resulted in significantly higher levels of site performance, customer retention, and new visitors.

Case Study 2: Name Change and Brand Perceptions Research

Background

A healthcare organization was seeking to evaluate the perceptions of residents within the specific geographic footprint of one of their hospital locations regarding potential new naming options for the hospital.

Business Problem

The primary issue was that the organization needed to quantify and evaluate all of the naming options prior to any name changes associated with the specific hospital.

Solutions

Precision Research was engaged to design and implement a residential telephone survey within the primary service area of the hospital in order to gather information on residents’ current attitudes and opinions of the hospital, but also to evaluate what names residents preferred among several under investigation, as well as any associations they have with the particular naming options.

Results

The results of the research enabled the organization to pinpoint which name would have the most positive impact, the most positive associations, yet not have a detrimental impact on the hospital’s current constituency.

Case Study 3: Competitive Mystery Shopping

Background

The company, a regional retailer of customized and high-end meats, had been losing ground to larger retail locations that promoted their products via mass marketing and volume sales. The company needed to find a research partner to help them gather the information, and ultimately quantify some of the claims they wanted to include in their subsequent marketing efforts.

Business Problem

Some of the larger competitors were offering products that were either being advertised in a manner that may have been misleading to consumers who may or may not understand what some of the implications of "enhance" meats, or that they were indeed purchasing products that had additives and fillers. Additionally, the company was seeking to evaluate whether these large volume competitors offered customization of the meat products being offered.

Solutions

The company approached Precision Research to design and implement both an outbound telephone effort aimed at gathering information from representatives in the meat department at the competitive locations, as well as onsite “shopping” by Precision Research representatives to gain further insight into offerings at competitive locations.

Precision Research completed an exhaustive calling effort on all competitive locations, and onsite "shopping" visits to a representative sampling of locations.

Results

The research confirmed that indeed, the company's competitors were not providing similar product offerings, and only offered meats with fillers and additives, and did not provide customization of their products. This result enabled the organization to confidently state in their marketing communications that their product offerings provide consumer benefits that are not available at competitive locations, offering consumers a clear delineation between the two retailers and the products they offer.