Project Title:

Through the customer’s eyes – the Hayley experience

Client:

Hayley Conference Centres

Business Requirements

• To review and redesign the existing customer satisfaction measurement process
• To research imagery and perceptions of the Hayley brand amongst existing and potential customers within the training and conference centre marketplace
• To undertake a range of mystery shopping research activities on a regular annual basis

Project Outline

• It is vital that a consistent sample size underpins ongoing research so that reliable trends can be measured and used for decision making and business strategy. Hayley commissioned us to research and review their existing customer satisfaction programme to improve response rates. We undertook telephone research amongst customers who had completed the existing questionnaire to discuss their preferences for giving feedback after using the venues, and used this to design questionnaires that would increase response rates.
• As part of a company re-branding and expansion programme, we conducted telephone research and in-depth face-to-face interviews with key existing and potential customers to:
  
  • Identify the most important factors in choosing a venue
  • Measure their perceptions of Hayley vis-à-vis competitors
  • Explore their ideal training venue of the future
• Aiming to be the best in the marketplace in terms of the venue and the levels of customer service provided – and then maintaining that position – requires regular feedback on customer expectations, requirements and experiences. We undertake ongoing mystery shopping research activities including:
  
  • Telephone enquiry research and venue show-round experiences
  • Telephone bookings research – by prospective customers rather than researchers
  • Researching the whole customer experience from initial enquiry through to using the venue – by real customers

Project Outcome

• Research findings are used regularly for the training and development of Hayley people and as input to the company’s growth strategy
• Hayley have recently opened their seventh dedicated training and conference centre in the UK

"Regular customer feedback is invaluable – it helps us see ourselves through the customer’s eyes and understand how we can continue to meet their exacting requirements. Carousel provides us with that independent view, always tailoring their research approach to our particular needs so that the results they present offer practical ideas that we can implement within the business"
Jane Littlewood, Sales & Operations Director, Hayley Conference Centres