{"id":18608,"date":"2021-04-08T07:37:00","date_gmt":"2021-04-08T07:37:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inmoment.com\/?p=18608"},"modified":"2021-04-28T13:48:44","modified_gmt":"2021-04-28T13:48:44","slug":"what-is-operational-transparency-how-can-it-lead-to-experience-improvement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inmoment.com\/blog\/what-is-operational-transparency-how-can-it-lead-to-experience-improvement\/","title":{"rendered":"You Said, We Did: What Is Operational Transparency & How Can It Lead to Experience Improvement?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On this blog<\/a>, we\u2019ve spent a lot of time talking about the importance of taking action on customer feedback to inspire tangible Experience Improvement (XI). For most programs, this \u201caction\u201d means closing the loop with individual customers while also working to identify and solve systemic problems to improve the overall customer experience. But after closing the inner and outer loop, there are those brands that take even further action<\/a> with operational transparency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This additional step communicates to customers the actions a brand has taken to directly improve the customer experience. And for taking this extra step, brands are rewarded with further customer engagement and loyalty. In our article today, I\u2019ll discuss how your brand can take this final step and reap the benefits. Let\u2019s dive in!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Is Operational Transparency?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOperational transparency\u201d is a behavioral science concept that refers to a company that purposefully exposes its processes to customers to help them understand the work being done on their behalf.  Think watching employees at Subway build your sandwich, or make your coffee at Starbucks. Another example is seeing a progress bar during a software update that lets you know you\u2019re on item 5 out of 20 updates, just so you know how long it will be before you can work again.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Research<\/a> has shown that customers value this glimpse into a company\u2019s process and that being transparent builds engagement, trust, and loyalty. Why? Customers appreciate the work companies do for them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How Operational Transparency  Improves Your Customer Experience<\/strong>  <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Operational transparency can be a two-part process embedded into your customer feedback efforts. First, you can combine your transparency efforts with your immediate \u201cthank you for participating\u201d message after a survey. This can look like providing a short overview of how you as an organization plan to look at the feedback and take action. This message can be sent to both participants and non-participants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So what does this do for you? It lets you be completely transparent about the process and show how feedback will shape the organization. It\u2019s not necessary to identify the exact actions the organization is going to take based on the feedback. Instead, you could mention previous actions you\u2019ve taken as evidence that you aren\u2019t just making empty promises<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Secondly, it is important to communicate the actions you\u2019ve taken after the fact to bring feedback full circle. This communication can piggyback on existing marketing communications, be included in feedback invitations, or be a standalone communication. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The key is to be short and focused on a few specific actions, sharing both the feedback driving it as well as the actual improvement (and maybe even how it\u2019s been received). The idea here is to say to your customer, \u201cyou said, we did!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How Does This Work in Practice?  <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We have many clients<\/a> who successfully communicated their Experience Improvement actions to their customers. Here are just a few of those examples: <\/p>\n\n\n\n