Capturing Real-Time Customer Feedback at Checkout with Georgina Nelson of TruRating | Ask An Expert

Foreign.

Must see technology for this fall is True Rating.

So without further ado, let's welcome True Rating founder and CEO Georgina Nelson onto the webinar.

Welcome Georgina.

Thank you so much for having me.

Brilliant.

So come on, look, tell us, what is the problem, the True Rating source for retailers and why haven't the traditional survey based feedback that I've just been a bit rude about already solved it?

I guess it comes down to core business principles, doesn't it?

I always think that the most important thing for any business is to understand what their customers think.

Once you know what your customers think of you and what they consider a great experience, you know you've got the keys to deliver it and that will mean they'll spend more with you and they'll come back more frequently.

But the reality of the situation is, is retailers hear from less than 1% of their customers and most of that is the really either the really happy and the really loyal who are always going to take their time to feed back to you as a brand, or it's those who are generally pissed off and they're just venting.

And the vast majority, the 99% of your customers, just don't give you the time or have the energy to fill in a long survey, like whether that's a link on the receipt, whether that's an email which is sent to you.

And so yeah, it's an inherent problem I think across retail is really how do they get to better understand what their customers think in that moment so they can deliver it.

So Georgina, I'm curious, like as a former store and district manager at Target, you're kind of speaking, you're speaking my language here because I remember I used to get frustrated when my boss would ask me why my survey results were the way they were.

And then I'd be like, it was three people, you know, like three people out of like the thousands of people that walk through my store that week, like, what are we doing here?

Why are we spending time on this?

So I'm curious, like, I believe there's a there there in what you're saying.

So can you explain to us, like how does it actually work?

How do you get there to the there, so to speak?

So the principle is, is we don't be happy to answer one question and especially if that question is asked of us in the moment.

And so I looked at the in store environment and I looked at all of us paying and I thought we need to ask it then.

And what's more, it's at that point that People know that you're actually a verified customer, and they'll trust that data.

And so what we did was we integrated with the payments companies.

So we now work with 95% of payments companies in North America who can deploy our technology.

And we ask just one question to a customer as they check out, and so they're just waiting to pay, the question comes up.

84% Of customers answered that question.

So you can skip or it can time out.

But the beauty of it is, even though while it may seem deceptively simple, like one question, because of our integrations with that payment, with the payments, we know what that customer spent, we know what's in their basket.

We hash the cards so we can see how often they return, all anonymously.

But it's this huge depth of data, which means that the question which you ask suddenly gets a financial lens.

So the questions rotate or they can be triggered by what's in the basket.

So if you bought a pair of jeans at Target, did you try those jeans on today?

If you bought a vitamin in a new range or a new innovation, which they're pushing, directing that question to that so they can be really targeted whether you're a loyalty member, high spender, but ultimately, that volume, that 84%, means not only are you getting a really representative sample, but you're actually able to see how you're doing at a store level on that particular question hour by hour across the day.

And because of that wealth of transaction data, you're able to see how it impacts on spend and loyalty.

That 84% number, George, fascinates me because I get surveyed fatigue.

I don't feel like I can walk out my house at the moment without somebody asking me for feedback on anything I've done.

I want to get into how the data's flowing, but help us understand how do you make it accessible so that people respond?

And I'm guessing from your question, it's not just the same thing every time.

It's not just a simple satisfaction, yes or no type question that you're asking.

Yeah.

So the questions rotate so you can, you can ask anything.

And as I said, they can be triggered on the basket as well.

But it's only ever one question.

So you'll get a different question to the person, the person behind you.

So, you know, I think it's all about simplicity, and I think it's about being conscious and respectful of people's time.

So, you know, we do have true rating.

Just one question.

And as I said, all of us are happy to ask A question and especially as we know, you know, I want the retailer to know about my experience because, you know, my, my hope is they're going to be using that data to get better.

And, and so, you know, the vast majority of people actually do want a quick and easy and anonymous way to, to feed back to a retailer.

So we, we scratch that itch.

So you've got the data and you've got the data flowing.

What does a retailer then do with that data?

I think there's no point on customer data and insight unless it's actionable.

And to your point, Chris, about what do I do?

These three responses to this survey.

One is someone slipped on some bleach which you cleaned up afterwards.

Another one is someone's family member trying to get them a bonus or whatever.

It's just that lack of trust in the data.

But suddenly when you're hearing from 84% of your customers and you know that you're paying customers, like it's irrefutable and it takes the emotion out of, you know, often what a, a manager is trying to direct their team to or whether that's that head office or district manager, you know, being able to say, look, the evidence is there.

We need to be better at doing xyz.

Ultimately it's very much an operations tool as I said, because of that volume.

You can cut how you're doing at any store and really see the impact it's having on revenue potential.

Our partners will use it to understand what exactly it is about their brand which makes people spend more and return more frequently.

And then they'll measure that and then they'll ensure that they get consistent at the execution of those behaviors or those strategies at the store.

So when we start with a brand and we pinpoint those key things they need to be measuring, mostly there'll be a 50 point execution gap across their store estate in terms of those stores which are great at executing on those things and those stores which are really poor.

And so we'll work with them to close that execution gap.

And so within a few months they'll get to 20% execution gap between their top and lowest performing stores and then they'll see that rise in revenue as a result.

Let's get an example here.

You've given a few, but I want to kind of even go deeper here with you, Georgina.

Like grocery shops right around the corner.

It's next week.

In fact, if I'm, if I'm in the grocery industry and I'm thinking about deploying true rating, is there like one example of a question that I could use and then take the data from to get better in my grocery operations.

One that you've seen people deploy successfully.

As much as you can share.

Yeah.

What springs to mind, we're working with a tier one grocer who I'm sure exceptionally common to all grocers, have their core KPIs, which they're measuring and targeting their team with.

When they first started working with us, they didn't have anything around the freshness of their fruit and vegetables.

And that when a customer comes in, that's the first thing they see.

After implementing true rating, we saw these dips in product score, which were happening across the course of the day in a certain select group of stores.

We showed that to the grocer and they said, those are the stores which have won our.

Our bonus on wastage.

And so they were the ones which had the lowest wastage store course.

Great.

And so we're like, let's ask a question.

Question.

Let's test that theory and ask a question on the freshness of the fruit and veg.

And what do you know, those stores were losing money hand over fist because people were spending far less with them because when they walked in, they saw the moldy strawberries, the.

Yeah.

The wilted lettuce and.

And spent $7 less.

And so they quickly pulled back that wastage KPI and focused on freshness of fruit and veg and again saw their financials rise and as did their customer sentiment score.

But you know, for different, as I said, for different grocers, it's gonna, you know, it's gonna be often a focus on different aspects of that in store experience, like cleanliness, his key.

But it's also rolling out different, different produce and labels.

We, with one grocer, which we work with in Canada, they, they invested a huge amount in only providing free reign and not free range.

Yes, they're all happy and running everywhere.

Bananas, I mean, organic, organic bananas.

And you know, actually did.

Did customers really care?

Were they.

Yeah.

Did.

Did they notice it?

Did they value it?

And so being able to test out those sort of innovative product strategies as well is super helpful.

You know, it just allows you to, to fail fast in, in terms of quickly, you know, changing consumer appetite.

Georgina, one more question too, before we let you go.

Like, what.

What is the communication structure between your.

Your side and the retailer here too?

Like, is.

It's.

It sounds like it's got tight to understand.

Like, I mean, I imagine if you're using this to the best of the abilities that you're coordinating it with your strategic initiatives or what you think should be your strategic initiatives around where service can particularly help.

So how do you create the communication dialogue between both sides here in this equation?

I love that.

Yeah, we, we start off our relationship having a customer success plan so really understanding what exactly success looks like for that retailer.

So it might be to increase average transaction spend, it might be to get X amount more visit over the course of the next year for example.

And so we'll come with our expertise.

You know, We've heard from 1.3 billion customers now and we know what generally drives spend and loyalty within a sector.

But then the retailer will also come like this is our strategy, this is how many store refreshes, store openings we're doing, etc.

And so we'll develop that question strategy, that data strategy together and then we're there as much as they need us.

So on a minimum we do monthly meetings and executive business reviews.

But they also have access to all of their insights and all their data.

We've got an AI analyst bot so they can really ask anything which their heart desires across all of their real time data.

Georgine, let's get us wrapped.

You're at Grocery Shop later this month.

Next week's Tuesday, the show opens.

What are you guys going to be doing there and how can people find you?

You?

I'm gonna be hitting the Mandalay beach actually I, I probably will be.

I'm, I'm getting an RV and going out into the depths of the Las Vegas desert for the weekend before.

So I'll be definitely by the pool for some of it.

But yeah, I'll be there for the full three days and yeah, just soaking it all up.

We'll have our tap to rate solution there.

So that's our NFC stickers where for non purchasers they can just literally tap their phone and provide any feedback and obviously for Grocery Shop being able to provide any feedback to the incredible grocery shop team on aspects of the event and yeah, willing and open to any coffees or catch ups with any retailers out there.

So can't wait.

Wow.

So you can both have a go at the technology and give feedback to the grocery shop team at the same time and catch up for a coffee which is compelling.

How's the best way for them to get in touch with you?

George, just hit me up and hit me up on LinkedIn and yeah, we'd love to have a conversation.

Amazing.

We will see you next week.

Thank you.

Thank you.

So Chris, that was a Topic a question that I'd advocated for.

It was a company that I've known well, what did you make of it?

What was your take from that conversation with Georgina?

Yeah, no, I love that you brought them to the table, Ben, because they've been on my radar screen for a while.

I think I met Georgina like two or three years ago.

I've always been interested in what they do because that example that I brought up is real.

Like, I used to get asked why.

Why my survey scores were the way they were.

And it.

I want to beat my head against the wall because I'd be like, look, there's these three people answering this.

Why are you holding me accountable to this and what am I supposed to do about it?

Like, you don't give me any tools to do anything about it with anything to do with it either.

So, like, it's very frustrating.

And so the things that I love about what she said is like, you get a lot of answers to whatever the one question is that's most important to you and you can be sure that you're tying that in strategically to your operation.

So that's.

I think it was great, Ben.

I really like that.

It was a great pick.

Oh, great.

And look, there is absolutely a time and a place for the more traditional research methodologies.

Now if you want to dig into what people are really thinking, thinking what their emotions are behind something, there's a place for that as well.

And that's where the long form market research take place.

But if you want to be able to get it in the moment, in the transaction environment, link to sales.

And something George has spoken to me about before is that you can work with CPGs as well.

She can ask questions specifically about your product if it's appeared in a basket.

I think that's super valuable.

Yeah, the tied to the POS thing was really cool.