We invited leading figures in the market to analyze the current moment, to understand the implications of the new post-COVID-19 consumer profile, and to demonstrate the importance of online brand reputation and customer experience for businesses.
The following people participated in this webinar:
- Monique Campos, Marketing Director of the Madero Group.
- Fernando Brossi, VP of Operations at C&A.
- Eduardo Terra, President of the Brazilian Society of Retail and Consumption and one of the most sought-after professionals when it comes to New Retail in Brazil.
The webinar was led by Santiago Edo, CEO of Reviewr, and Lucas Hansel, founder and CEO of Gorila.
Each expert shared their perspective and experience on the importance of Customer Experience Management and Brand Reputation Management in the current context. They discussed how closely these two areas are interconnected and offered tips for approaching these activities more effectively in your business.
Below are the main points covered during the webinar:
What will change in customer relationships after the pandemic?
According to Eduardo Terra, what New Retail advocates—a complete digitalization of the consumer and retail, which was supposed to happen here in the next 2 to 3 years—will actually happen in 2020.
But he emphasizes that digitization happens beyond the purchasing channel, beyond e-commerce – which is the main focus of companies at the moment.
He emphasizes that digitization must also occur in the relationship with the consumer. And that this digitization of the relationship is already happening—at least on the part of the consumer themselves.
He cites as an example a new behavior of the C class, which is searching for brands on the internet through reviews or through WhatsApp, as these are faster and cheaper ways for the consumer to contact the company.
Lucas Hansel adds that, with digitalization, it is now the consumer who chooses the channel through which they want to be served. This increases the consumer's expectation of receiving a good experience when contacting companies. This, in turn, increases the level of excellence demanded of companies, which ends up being a great challenge for them.
What actions did C&A take during this quarantine period, keeping in mind the experience of customers who were used to going to the store?
For Fernando Brossi, it was about investing in greater integration between online operations and physical stores. It involved thinking about how to utilize the entire product range that C&A offers, and not limiting oneself only to what's in the e-commerce distribution center.
First, for logistical reasons. By using each unit as a CD, they achieve greater speed in delivery. This action came at a good time, because with the growth of e-commerce, carriers were having difficulty meeting the demand.
Another way to get around the situation was to use the drive-thru system, where the customer makes the purchase online and picks it up at the store without having to leave the car.
According to Brossi, one of the factors that C&A customers are valuing most when returning to stores is feeling that employees are safe. Because, in the customers' view, if they perceive this concern from the company—to keep its employees safe—it means that the store will also be a safe environment for them, the customers.
"Companies that want to see their customers return need to start by ensuring the safety of their employees." - Fernando Brossi.
How can you maintain product quality during delivery, and how can you measure it?
"Listening to the customer was essential to ensuring the Madero delivery experience. Monique Campos"
According to Monique, putting together your action plan and defining the necessary adaptations is the beginning, but listening to the client is an essential part of this process, to understand how they are accepting the new experience.
By collecting customer feedback, you can make the necessary adjustments to the experience to deliver a service that is more aligned with their expectations.
Listening to the customer is also how Madero is measuring satisfaction with the delivered experience. This is done through the various channels the brand has with its customers: customer service, social media, and online reviews. Monique also emphasizes the importance of having a proactive, not reactive, customer service department.
According to Lucas Hansel, when you resolve a customer complaint, you have a 70% chance of them doing business with you again.
And that's not all; by resolving this customer's complaint, the LTV (Lifetime Value) increases three times more than those customers whose complaints were not addressed. This demonstrates that proactively addressing customer feedback does indeed yield results for the business. This is one of Gorila's success stories with Peixe Urbano.
"Not keeping up with what customers are saying about our brand on social media and in reviews is worse than not having a customer service department at all." - Eduardo Terra.
According to Terra, the customer has already changed the way they seek contact with brands. They no longer call the number we provide on the website.
Customers are engaging with brands through a variety of channels. Whether it's social media, reviews, or digital channels like WhatsApp. What we, as brands, need to do is adapt to this new journey and connect with them through these new channels.
"Reviews are a new way to understand the customer." - Fernando Brossi
According to Brossi, the customer calls customer service to resolve a problem. In this way, customer service reveals to companies a sample of the main problems they are facing with the experience delivered to their customers.
The great thing about reviews is that you receive feedback on areas that need improvement, as well as praise for what's going well.
However, companies often fail to pay attention and ignore the fact that there are things that are going very well, that have a huge benefit, and that can be maximized.
Reviews have the advantage of showing you what you're doing right and reaffirming your decisions about operations, products, and services.
According to Brossi, we don't know what the customer experience will be like post-COVID-19. But online reviews will help companies adapt more quickly to demand and reality.
And the companies that manage to handle these reviews and react faster will be able to deliver an experience more connected to what customers are looking for.
To what extent can reviews save a brand's reputation?
According to Terra, through the digital journey, companies can manage the customer experience almost in real time – whether with reviews, NPS, or social media. It's almost as if the company has the customer's pulse to respond about the product, service, or experience delivered.
"Reviews are our pulse for measuring the health of our business." - Eduardo Terra
Terra claims that if you don't control the basic indicators, you'll have a heart attack—you'll die. Therefore, online reviews save a brand's reputation by allowing you to monitor it and act in real time, building and implementing solutions.
According to Santiago, a review management strategy isn't just about knowing what people are saying about you. It's also about getting more customers to talk about you.
Santiago states that the customer journey begins at the moment of the search, and having positive reviews at that point is crucial in the customer's purchase decision.
Therefore, a review management strategy also functions as a customer acquisition strategy.
The more positive reviews you have about your company, the more customers you will attract. Because your reviews act as social proof—other customers are recommending you. This builds trust in the brand, which impacts the consumer's purchasing decision.
So, what did you think of the content? Leave us a comment below 🙂
