1. New VOC & text analysis projects

Let me help you get your new projects off to a great start.

I'll assist with defining your requirements, scoping out specifications and helping to select vendors from an impartial perspective.

Payback models will provide financial justification for your project.

I understand the critical role of feedback and insight throughout your customer journey. I will provide guidance on writing RFPs, and can also assist with tenders, including running proof-of-concept studies during this early phase.

2. Optimising feedback channels

Ensuring feedback is optimised for quality, volume and useful open-text comments.

Maximising feedback from existing touchpoints and channels, or setting up new channels to deliver valuable customer (and employee) feedback.

Reviewing the style, content and format of existing surveys to minimise customer friction and to maximise response rates and quality of data.

Managing the structured data that exists alongside the feedback comments will help to make subsequent analysis and reporting more valuable for your organisation. Depending on how the structured data is incorporated at the start will have a huge impact on the effectiveness of reporting and dashboards.

3. Improving text analysis accuracy

Delivering accurate, useful and actionable text analysis results.

The primary purpose of text analytics is to make informed business decisions by extracting topics and sentiment from open-text customer feedback.

Acceptable levels of accuracy are imperative, as well as suitable levels of detail - or granularity - in the topics. Overly simplistic topics are not helpful – but too granular and they can be equally unworkable.

Often, the topics will include emotions which can be useful in understanding customer perceptions. But be cautious - most customers are not especially well versed in how to express their emotions, and often, these much-vaunted ‘emotion topics’ may not be all they are cracked up to be.

Text analysis is never 100% accurate across the board. Machines can’t do this, and humans can’t either. What is needed is sufficient levels of accuracy to give users of the insight confidence that the analysis is worth acting on.

Accuracy needs looking at from two angles:-

1. How effectively is every topic identified in all the raw text?

2. For all the comments assigned to each topic, what proportion of those are correct?

I help clients with accuracy monitoring plans, as well as assisting with the continuous fine tuning of the text analysis engine – whichever platform is deployed.

For start-up programmes, most vendors should provide an industry-standard topic template – I will help you to review and refine those in conjunction with your stakeholders to deliver the best and most practical solution from the start.

Live programmes need monitoring and updating on a rolling basis for new issues that arise in the text, as well as for continuous accuracy checks and updates. Where this is not a fully managed service provided by the technology vendor, I can assist with hands-on updating, or assisting your internal resources to focus where there is greatest need and payback.

4. Impact Analysis

Working out which topics have greatest impact on customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Understanding which topics have the greatest influence on customer satisfaction and loyalty is not simply a case of seeing which are the most frequent topics!

Small-scale issues often have a disproportionate effect on customer outcomes. Isolating these topics from the full list helps you to focus on what makes the most difference – what will drive your Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) in the right direction.

Statistical modelling identifies these critical topics – both positive and negative – so that the organisation can take the necessary actions to reduce the negatives and amplify the positives.

5. Delivering insight and taking action

Turning insight into action to improve customer experience and business performance.

Analysis of the open-text comments is only half the job of text analytics.

Effective communication of the resulting insight is vital, delivering it to the right people in the organisation to drive relevant actions.

5.1 Reporting & Interactive Dashboards

• From one-page executive summaries to deep dives into specific areas of the business, I can help you to use the insight to provide recommendations and action plans.

• Not everyone is naturally drawn to using interactive dashboards – presenting simple ‘ready to digest’ reports targeted at their particular points of interest and responsibility is often the most productive way to get the insight across for many users.

• Some users will want the flexibility and power of interactive dashboards, or alternatively want to feed the text analysis results into corporate reporting and business intelligence (BI) tools.

• I can help you navigate through these reporting and dashboard options to deliver fast, effective results to the people who need to use it.

5.2 Automated Alerts

• Acknowledging customers’ efforts in providing feedback is a significant part of generating positive feelings and to increase the likelihood that they will respond to feedback requests in future. Text analytics enables this activity on a mass scale.

• Automated alerts are often the most powerful actions that can be taken with text analysis insight, based on the specific issues raised by customers. Often referred to as ‘red flags’ these negative issues can be damaging to reputation and customer loyalty if not addressed quickly.

• ‘Green flags’ – positive feedback from customers - can also be extremely useful actions to “thank the nice people”, reinforcing their emotional loyalty to the brand and building loyalty – as well as informing the staff members responsible for delivering these high quality interactions with customers.

6. Client Operations to Utilise the Insight

Planning how your organisation can best use this innovative and powerful insight to maximise collaboration and success.

Over-and-above automated alerts to address issues in near real time, there are many areas where text analysis can drive significant improvements across departments and business functions, including:-

• Customer Service

• Products – design and quality

• Policies

• Communications

• Marketing

• Staff

• Financial aspects (including wastage)

This widespread usage of text analytics insight to improve Customer Experience requires effective communication of the results, and collaborative teams to take actions that will improve every area of the business.

7. Hands-on resource for your text analysis programme

Additional resource when you need it – and not when you don’t!

In addition to the advice and direction across all stages of your text analytics lifecycle, I can also provide hands-on resource to help you to deliver for any part of the live programme.

I will help to transfer skills to your staff during any temporary resource provision, helping you to be self sufficient as quickly as possible.

8. Return on Investment (RoI) models

Making sure the text analytics pays back the investment in time and costs

No organisation will fund an insight programme if it doesn’t look like it can feasibly deliver a positive return-on-investment.

I can help you build those financial models to gain support and justification for the programme. This also helps to focus on priorities for the business, rather than doing “what can be done”.

9. New Consultancy Project Audits

Creating a baseline for new consultancy projects

A structured 10-point audit will be the starting point for most consultancy engagements. This explores your planned or existing text analytics activities within the customer experience universe, providing a clear baseline for future improvements.

Using a detailed ‘playbook’ of how text analysis can be deployed, the audit provides a quick kick start for initial plans and actions to deliver value.