Last night, the NFL opened its 2014 season with a matchup pitting the defending Super Bowl Champion Seattle Seahawks against the Green Bay Packers. Millions of viewers tuned in to get their first taste of football season. While a small contingent of fans probably watched because of an allegiance to either the Seahawks or Packers, many others followed along because they had a different kind of skin in the game—their fantasy football team.
According to the Fantasy Sports Trade Association (yes, it exists), approximately 33 million Americans play fantasy football each year. After every weekend of actual play, throngs of fantasy football enthusiasts examine their standings, mull over individual player’s points and predictions, and decide who they should bench, play or trade. All this analysis and anticipation contributes to the allure of fantasy football. It gives fans the chance to hone their expertise, play Monday morning quarterback with their friends and act with the authority of a general manager in their respective leagues. But this $800 million pastime would not be possible without one thing: analytics (see where I’m going with this?).
Yes, data and analysis drive fantasy football success. And whether you play or not, you can learn some important lessons from it to improve your voice of the customer program.
- Identify your KPI’s– In fantasy football, fans make decisions based on key performance indicators like fantasy points per game, fantasy points against, points per carry and points per pass. Without these, there would be no guidance on who to draft and who to trade. When it comes to collecting customer feedback, you have to identify which metrics are the best indicators of your company’s performance in the eyes of customers and closely monitor them. What gives you the best insight into your customers’ satisfaction levels? Here are a few voice of the customer KPIs you should pay sepecial attention to:
- The Extremes – Your customer satisfaction survey should ask customers to gauge their overall satisfaction on a scale. Pay attention to the percentages of extremely satisfied and extremely dissatisfied customers and dig more deeply into what is making them feel so strongly.
- Net Promoter Score– You can find your net promoter score (NPS) by asking customers how likely they would be to recommend your product or service to a friend. This question is usually done on a 10-point scale. You can calculate it by subtracting the percentage of promoters (9 and 10) from the detractors (0-6). This is a great indicator of customer loyalty.
- Competitor Strength – In fantasy football, you have to select the strongest player relative to their position and the other players. When you’re capturing voice of the customer, you should also find out how you stack up against your competitors. Ask customers if they recognize any other brands in your space, and have them rate the other brands on how likely they would be to use them.
- Purchase Intent– It’s one thing for your customers to be satisfied, but it’s another for them to say they would use your product or service again. Determine what’s driving customers to say they would be likely to make a repeat purchase.
2. Check early, check often – The hallmark of committed fantasy footballers is passion or borderline obsession with monitoring their data. They stay glued to their phones checking scores, reading blogs, analyzing their players KPIs, checking real-time stats and debating trades. When it comes to your customer feedback program, you should monitor your data with equal zeal. Look for trends, try to spot major issues early and identify ways you can move the needle in a positive direction.
3. Act on your data – Whether you’re trying to win games or win customers, collecting data has to be followed up by analyzing it and taking action. Any given customer on any given day (doesn’t have to be a Sunday) can provide you with insights into how you can improve satisfaction levels and increase your company’s bottom line. For more information on customer feedback, download a recent Aberdeen Group report on how to maximize your customer interactions with a voice of the customer program.