The HR team at the company is working with CEM consultancy Empathica and it is hoped the programme will enable the restaurant chain to gain feedback from hundreds of customers each month across its restaurants in the UK, US and Middle East.
Hilary Culkin, HR director at Ping Pong, said: "Last year, we held focus groups about our business, our service and quality. The feedback revealed that our overall service was good, but inconsistent. We wanted to address this and selected Empathica due to the company's expertise in providing CEM programmes in the hospitality sector. This is allowing us to get a true picture of our customers' expectations."
Ping Pong is also using the programme to incentivise its staff to provide excellent service.
Culkin added: "We've introduced a customer 'Wow' incentive programme for our staff. A customer Wow is an initiative whereby customers who complete our surveys can recognise individual members of staff that went above and beyond their expectations to enhance their experience. It is not only hugely motivating for the team in itself, but also the restaurant. The which gets the most customer Wows relative to the number of responses in a week will get £100 incentive towards its own staff party.
"The area managers are using the insights from Empathica to help build a true picture of the service we're providing. In addition, we're looking at using the information provided to aid the marketing department in how it develops its customer campaigns."
As part of the programme with Empathica, Ping Pong has solicited feedback from its customers, then prompted them to share their great experiences in social media, using Empathica's GoRecommend application, which enables customers to recommend the restaurant chain to their friends via Facebook, Twitter and email.
