Gallup's experience working with luxury retailers, hospitality organisations and dealerships across the globe points to the importance of a clear and intuitive business case underpinning the success of any programme of change. Unless store managers believe there is a worthwhile financial return by participating in a programme, enthusiasm and belief are replaced by half-hearted box ticking and even individuals seeking ways to bend and even break the rules to feign compliance.
Creating belief and credibility among the informal opinion leaders at Burberry is just as critical to the programme's success as doing so among the formal decision makers. They must feel that this programme will deliver financial results and a return on the time invested in creating stronger emotional connections with customers.
Initial measures of customer engagement at the store level and coaching and support of sales and customer service staff will provide stories of customer-focused change, reinforcing positive aspects of the programme. As managers become more familiar with the platform and explore specific patterns, the ability to drill down into specific issues and challenges will lead to more appropriate actions and close the loop with more effective feedback. The intuitive nature of the survey reporting site will allow managers to explore customer loyalty over time. They can couple the results with historic data to better understand strengths to further leverage -- or, conversely, weaknesses to address -- to benefit customers.
Insight reports will provide market champions and dealers with a regular flow of simple, actionable insights captured in a way to be simply woven into business as usual. Some of the most effective feedback mechanisms within the luxury world are captured in The New Gold Standard through an almost forensic analysis of the ways of working within the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company.
The pursuit of best-in-class advocacy and loyalty will only be possible if all store managers and their teams are aligned and mobilised in the right direction. Their starting places may be different, as we have seen in many examples in luxury retail and hospitality over the years, but the route to achieve consistency demands that there is clarity around the expectations of dealers regarding sales and service. Improving performance across basics in service can deliver modest improvement in profits, but the real gains materialise when both the basics and the drivers of loyalty are addressed.
The importance of cultivating a single view of loyalty at the store by both sales and customer service, and an understanding of potential levers as well as impediments to first time resolution, can be addressed through empowerment and ownership at a local level. Over time, Gallup would anticipate a clear distinction in loyalty and financial performance between retail outlets where an outstanding customer experience is pursued through an aligned and integrated view that supports customer centricity throughout the entire customer journey.
Top photo © Burberry