Feefo feedback - how it works

[cbarling]

In v10, customers will be emailed by Feefo a few days after the order is taken asking for feedback. The exact delay will probably be under the merchant’s control, and will be automated from Actinic.

The feedback will be hosted at the Feefo site but can be accessed from the Actinic store.

Feefo provides true integrity to the service - it is truly independent and any feedback requested by Feefo will always be received and stored. Merchants cannot change feedback. It will only ever be edited according to strict rules, and the fact that it has been edited (by Feefo) will always be stated.

Here are some common questions and their answers:

How does the merchant control their feedback? Feedback can be turned on or off by the merchant. It cannot be edited or deleted by the merchant.

Who owns the feedback? The merchant. However, Feefo have the right to store the feedback for up to two years if the merchant cancels the service. This is so that Feefo can honour their implicit contract with the supplier of feedback - to receive it and store it. After cancellation of the service, Feefo will continue to serve previous feedback for 3 months to the merchant site free of charge.

Is rogue feedback a big problem? To date, Feefo have had to change 0.0006% of feedbacks.

How can merchants respond to feedback? Merchants can select to be emailed no feedback, all feedback, or just negative feedback. There is a link in the feedback which the merchants can click on and post their response to the feedback which will be dispalyed along with it. So typically, if there was a delivery problem, the merchant can post why it happened and what they did about it.

Can feedback be changed? Feedback can only be changed by Feefo and requests for change will go thorugh Actinic. Feedback will be changed that is illegal or defamatory (in a legal sense), where someone is identified by name, where obscenity is used or the feedback states things that are untrue. The smallest possible change will be made and it will be marked as "edited by Feefo". Changes will be made in less than 24 hours, typically 4 hours.

Chris

[Mike Hughes]

OK. I think I like the idea of using Feefo for service reviews and now have some questions on how it works.

From what I understand, Feefo works by the website sending them the customer order details at the same time as the handover to the PSP. Feefo then emails the customer a review request a set number of days after the order.

1. How are order 'exceptions' handled?

For example:

- What happens if the customer ends up making three tries before they get payment accepted? There'll be three order details sent to Feefo but hopefully the customer will only get one email.
- What happens if the payment is declined so there is no completed order?
- What happens if you set the email delay to say 10 days, but due to stock problems, or say the customers cheque hasn't arrived, or it's a custom made item the order is delayed beyond the norm.

2. Is there any way or pre-empting the email? For example I often get emails (and calls) saying thanks for the fast service. Is there any way of sending the review request there and then while the customer is feeling enthusiastic?

I guess what I'd like is the ability to go into the Feefo system and:

a) Trigger a review email request early when I know the goods have been received and the customer is 'hot'.

b) Mark certain orders as 'pending' as there's a delay somewhere. For example the items hasn't been sent as it's out of stock or the customers payment hasn't arrived yet.

c) Mark certain orders as invalid if they're duplicates and/or no payment has been received.

These seem like essential features to me.

Mike

[brucet]

I can't answer all those questions at the moment because we are still getting to grips with the detail of how our interface to Feefo should work. But they are all useful points and we will certainly bear them in mind - thank you

- What happens if the customer ends up making three tries before they get payment accepted? There'll be three order details sent to Feefo but hopefully the customer will only get one email.
- What happens if the payment is declined so there is no completed order?

I don't envisage requesting feedback for uncompleted orders, so I don't think either of those things will be an issue.

[Mike Hughes]

Thanks Bruce.

Could you ask Feefo whether the features I mention are permissable under the Feefo system?

- If feefo don't allow them then the interface probably won't change that.
- If feefo does allow them then it's important the interface supports them.

Mike

[brucet]

Feefo provides one central setting to request feedback x days (recommended default 7 but can be changed) after the order is placed, or x days after it is shipped - you can choose.

A date for feedback to be requested can be specified for individual orders, and this overrides the default setting.

So given the appropriate settings, most of what you ask is possible as a general rule, but not on an order by order basis.

We may use the Feefo settings, but there would be some benefits to reproducing them entirely within Actinic, and not actually sending the request to Feefo until the due date:

1) You would not have to manually cancel feedback requests that had already been scheduled for orders that were later cancelled or changed.
2) You could do everything within Actinic and would not have to keep going into the Feefo control panel (ATM there is no means by which Actinic can change the account settings in Feefo).
3) It removes the complexity of having settings, possibly conflicting, in two different places.
4) It immunises you (and us) against changes to the Feefo interface.

One thing you won't be able to do is exclude individual orders from feedback willy-nilly, eg if you suspect the feedback may be negative; because that would eventually undermine consumer confidence in the impartiality of the system. You can't cheat!

[george]

One thing you won't be able to do is exclude individual orders from feedback willy-nilly, eg if you suspect the feedback may be negative; because that would eventually undermine consumer confidence in the impartiality of the system. You can't cheat!


Fair point.... but we have some people who order stuff more than once a week at times... they certainly wouldnt want more than four extra emails from us per month... and what about people who `opt out` of any extra communications... I mean, its the law innit?

[Darren B]

i think i have read oudles of stuff and have decided to sit on the fence for the next 12 months. some good points have been raised and am sure more will be when its released however i still think this system is better suited to company / service review

Thanks for the information bruce

[Mike Hughes]

Hi Bruce,

Using the shipping date + x days sounds like a good idea. especialy if there's the option to manually override x. That way x could be set to 'now' for customers who you know are ready and 'some later date' for orders that might take some time to arrive (shipped via slow boat to china for example).

Using 'shipped' to trigger the review request does avoid problems with multiple order attempts, delayed payments, no payments.

One thing we need to watch out for is partial shipments / backorders. Is it right to ask the customer for comments when they haven't got all their order yet or should the review request be held back until the final shipment and the order is completed? I don't think the customer can properly review the service until the order has been completed, but then I am biased on this.

George does raise a valid point about emails. We probably all say that we don't share email addresses, etc with external companies (although we all do with PSPs and they also send emails to the customer). I assume we'll just need to update our Ts &Cs for this.

I assume Feefo's terms are explicit that they don't contact customers other then for the request reviews.

Mike

PS. In order to avoid cheating you'll have to find some way of 'locking' the customers email address. I assume this will be sent to feefo at order time for safekeeping. Otherwise it could just be changed for orders you felt weren't going well.

[Ed - Feefo]

Fair point.... but we have some people who order stuff more than once a week at times... they certainly wouldnt want more than four extra emails from us per month... and what about people who `opt out` of any extra communications... I mean, its the law innit?
Hi There... I am venturing into the unknown. Sorry not to have been able to post my own reply yesterday. There is a parameter you can set when joining Feefo that means you can create a minimum interval between a customer receiving emails (for exactly the reason you say). However, some customers have complained to us that they have been asked for feedback for one order but not another: It's a definite case of it being hard to please all the people all the time!
Ed

[Ed - Feefo]

Hi There... I am venturing into the unknown. Sorry not to have been able to post my own reply yesterday. There is a parameter you can set when joining Feefo that means you can create a minimum interval between a customer receiving emails (for exactly the reason you say). However, some customers have complained to us that they have been asked for feedback for one order but not another: It's a definite case of it being hard to please all the people all the time!
Ed
PS There is an opt out option on all Feefo emails. Very few seem to opt out.

[george]

Irrespective of what any modified Terms & Conditions (on an Actinic site) will say a customer may not wish any emails from a company apart from the obvious order confirmation, payment confirmation and possibly the order shipped email.

Its this other email, the feefifofum one, that you (apparently) cannot avoid sending, for someone that has already opted out from emails from thegoatshop.com, that someone has already said `no more emails please` that suggests theres a wee blind eye being turned somewhere.

Am I wrong? What did I miss? Is the earth really flat? So many questions.

[Jan]

You made me laugh again George .. Mrs George has been feeding you too many ... what were they .. skirtles or something.

You will send one and at that point the customer will be able to opt out of feefo emails forever (from all stores Ed Feefo or the one that sent them the email). I see what you are saying though, can we be struck down for sending that first little email after they haven't ticked the send me all the spam you can box

[cbarling]

It's a good point to raise, but I would be very surprised if it's going to be an issue in practise.

That's because Feefo already have a well established customer base, and as far as I'm aware this hasn't been a problem. No doubt Ed will correct me if that isn't true.

I also think that the law doesn't preclude this communication, even if a customer has opted out. The request for feedback is directly tied to the transaction, and contact in relation to the transaction is allowed. Opt outs relate to marketing. Otherwise if a third party carrier emailed me to tell me about a failed delivery, they might be in breech too

Chris

[leehack]

The request for feedback is directly tied to the transaction
This is the key point IMO, it's not cold contact.

[Mike Hughes]

Hi Ed,

Welcome to the forum.

Much of what you're explaining makes a lot of sense and is good to hear. Is there such a thing as a 'Feefo user guide' that explains all the features in details and the options that exist for each?

I did look on the website but could find very little other than a general overview of the feedback process.

Mike

[george]

Maybe its just me but I believe that there HAS to be a way to stop certain customers getting the automated email.

I'd never heard of Feefo before and I dont think anyone on here had previously either.

Getting a payment confirmation email from Paypal or RBS Worldpay in my opinion is VERY different from getting one from a company that you dont know called Feefo (the name tells you NOTHING about the company at all, unlike say WhichMagazine.com). It does suggest that you've passed on the customers info without their permission.

I do my utmost best to keep the customers we have, why should I risk losing any because they believe we've spammed 'em?

Just my initial thoughts thats all.

[leehack]

I hear your point George and it's a good one to raise, i just think it's probably a little too far to stretch to this. A typical example happened just yesterday to me, i was emailed (by the courier tracking system) in the morning to say my parcel was on its way and also on the evening to say it had been delivered. I had never heard of them before, but once I read the company name (whom i'd bought off) in the email, i was assured what it was to do with. That could not have happened in your scenario, which would have meant a worse and less personal service to me.

There will be the occasional dislike I agree, but i think on the whole this will be outweighed by the positives.

[pinbrook]

TBH i'm not sure i want to be emailed after purchasing to write a review. I agree with George i wouldn't be happy to get an email from anyone other than the shop i bought from. There needs to be a unsubscribe on the email so you can opt out of any future correspondance.

I wouldn't object to something being added to my order confirmation emails asking me to write a review but i think i'd be narked to receive something a few weeks later.

which one of the big boys does this? Big A don't ;) but then again i dont think they restrict reviews to purchasers.

[acompton]

Big A don't ;) but then again i dont think they restrict reviews to purchasers.
Just for info: Big A have two systems:
1. a review system for products which anyone can add to
2. a feedback system for sellers - buyers are randomly sent emails inviting feedback. Sellers can also send an invitation feedback (via Big A).

[cbarling]

There needs to be a unsubscribe on the email so you can opt out of any future correspondance

There is.

Chris

[pinbrook]

Just for info: Big A have two systems:
1. a review system for products which anyone can add to
2. a feedback system for sellers - buyers are randomly sent emails inviting feedback. Sellers can also send an invitation feedback (via Big A).

Ahhh interesting... Thanks Alan

[Mike Hughes]

Maybe its just me but I believe that there HAS to be a way to stop certain customers getting the automated email.

It shouldn't be difficult to do.

Acinic could quite easily add a tick box (or modify an existing one) in the checkout process to say:

"We use an independent service reviewer, Feefo, to track our customer service performance. Please tick here if you'd be willing to participate and share your experience with others."

If they don't tick the box, they won't get sent the email.

This ought to be very easy to integrate into the new checkout as an optional item. Then it's there for those that want to use it.

Mike

PS. On a plus side, this could be a good idea to let customers know to expect the email and warm people to it arriving. If typically 80% don't bother to follow up with a review it may partly be because the aren't expecting the email so decide to bin it straight away.

[george]

I had a green moment a few weeks ago when I thought I'd look into `not` sending customers a paper invoice, instead attaching a pdf invoice with the order shipped email. The result? Order shipped emails going into the spam folder because they have an attachment. Email really has eaten itself.

Its a pity a linky to an online feedback form could not be added to the order shipped email but then they'd have it in their inbox before the order actually arrives so that'd kinda defeat the purpose. But it'd cut down on the extra email from feefifofum.

Just brainstorming again.

[brucet]

we have some people who order stuff more than once a week at times

Feefo allows you to set a minimum interval between requests, within which no new feedback requests will be sent.

[brucet]

One thing we need to watch out for is partial shipments / backorders

Because of the way Actinic works, backorders are treated as a separate order, and they will receive a separate feedback request after the appropriate interval.

There are advantages and disadvantages either way, but that's how it will work with Actinic. There's probably no way technically to offer the choice on a site by site basis.

[Mike Hughes]

Bruce, I can see that once actinic splits an order into a shipped order and a backorder that they're now two separate orders. I'm not sure I can see a reason why actinic can't recreate the order data for sending to Feefo once the customers order is completed.

Also, how the review system treats the orders is surely up to actinic. As I see it the available options could be:

1. Send a review request out for each shipment, based on when each one ships.

- The easiest option to implement. It does mean the first review is based on partial service information. The customer also gets multiple email review requests.

2. Send a review request out for each shipment, based on when the final one ships.

- The customer only completes the reviews when they have full information about the order. Will still get multiple email review requests.

3. Send a review request for the first one only.

- The customer only gets one email request but doesn't get a chance to comment on the delayed portion of it. Not such a great idea.

4. Send a review request for the last one only.

- The customer only gets one email request but doesn't get a chance to comment on the original portion of it. Again not a good idea.

5. Actinic re-creates the original order data and asks for review when the customer order has been completed.

- They only get one email request. They have full information at the time of the review. They get to review the complete order, not just bits.

Even writing this down it's pretty clear to me that the last option has to be the preferred one. What are the disavantages to doing it this way? If the customer is unhappy and wants to leave a bad review at this point they're going to do it whether you're asking them to review the whole order or just the backordered bit. To be honest, I suspect they're less likely to leave a bad review if they're taking into account the whole order rather than just the delayed bit. And isn't that what the point should be? That they review their experience for the whole order.

Mike

[brucet]

I think you've identified the challenge, really. There are several possible options, everyone will have a preference, and we can't offer them all because it would be far too complicated, from both a programming and usability pov...

Option 1 is in fact a bit complicated. Eg, what would actually happen once an order line was shipped? If the review request is sent immediately, it may slow down the order processing, because the software will be repeatedly making FTP connections to Feefo in the background. It would also mean potentially a lot of warnings if your internet connection is having a flaky day. OTOH if it's queued, what will trigger sending the requests? And what should happen if you ship one item in the morning, you get a delivery in the afternoon and ship another item from the same order on the same day?

The advantages of sending on a order by order basis, and treating back orders as separate, are:

1) It minimises the number of separate emails sent to the customer while ensuring no product-specific feedback is missed

2) Prompt feedback can still be obtained for the first shipment if there is a long delay before the back order is fulfilled.

3) It is the simplest to develop because it works with the way Actinic's order processing is configured. Consequently, the finished product should have fewer bugs in it. (I would like to promise it will be completely bug-free, which is always our aim, but not quite realistic!)

[Mike Hughes]

Option 1 is in fact a bit complicated. Eg, what would actually happen once an order line was shipped? If the review request is sent immediately, it may slow down the order processing, because the software will be repeatedly making FTP connections to Feefo in the background. It would also mean potentially a lot of warnings if your internet connection is having a flaky day. OTOH if it's queued, what will trigger sending the requests? And what should happen if you ship one item in the morning, you get a delivery in the afternoon and ship another item from the same order on the same day?

Sorry Bruce, you've lost me here.

With Option 1 when I said 'shipped' I mean the process of sending out / shipping / despatching a 'partial shipment'.

I didn't an email should be sent on marking each line item as 'shipped' (which I don't view as an actual shipment).

I do find some of the terminlogy confusing, so forgive me if I wasn't clear.

Mike

[cbarling]

Just as an update, Feefo will be implementing a 5 star rating system for product reviews in the next few days.

Chris

[Mike Hughes]

Does this imply that there'll be a seperate product review system or is it just the current service system moving to 5 rating levels?

Mike

[cbarling]

It's the current system moved to a 5 star rating.

What I din't understand previously is that there is already an option to solicit for product feedback at a later time, set by the mercahnt e.g. 8 weeks after the product was shipped, product feedback solicited.

Obviously there are arguments in both directions in only allowing product feedback from actual customers.

Chris

[guccij]

This is all of a sudden a much more attractive proposition that it was when it was first outlined to us back in October. As always, though, I shall wait for others to be the guinea pigs before dipping my toe into that particular puddle of hot water, or mixing my metaphors ...

[Jan]

I'm one of the guinea pigs (or starter mole as I like to think of it) and my test site is looking pretty good, quite a seamless integration for feefo and an upgrade to V10 pretty much perfect out of the box.

[Sean Williams]

This has piqued my interest again as well.
Does the '5-star' rating mean they have changed to the ubiquitous Stars, or do they still use that odd green circle thingy?

[cbarling]

You can optionally use a standard 5 star rating on product feedback.

Chris

[mje]

I am tempted by V10 - I like the marketing features and was very curious with "Feefo"

Tonight I looked at their site and their "customers" - I looked at the feed back sites have had --- in the main 90% + positive, but most seem to be in the orders "1000 + per month" category.

There will of course always be customers that moan,look for issues, indeed I myself am one of them,maybe, a little poor feedback is a good thing?

What on earth "Feefo" means is a mystery and IMO a very poor choice of branding, it relates nothing attractive to anyone....If I got an email with the word "fee" in it, alarm bells would ring.

V10 boot up screen has an uncanny resemblance in design to the Feefo home page, :rolleyes:

Actinic pricing looks very competitive, compared to Feefo direct if I have understood it correctly.

"We use an independent service reviewer, Feefo, to track our customer service performance. Please tick here if you'd be willing to participate and share your experience with others."

^^^^this^^^^ = "a choice"

[brucet]

AIUI 'Feefo' is short for 'Feedback forum'. Not that obvious, I agree. It's a good system, though.