The Customer sentiment card sits at the top of the context panel, on the right of every conversation. It answers a question you would otherwise have to guess at: is this person having a good time with us, or a bad one?
Where to find it
Open any thread. The right-hand column holds three cards, and this is the first of them, above What's going on? and the Feed.
The ? beside the card title explains it in a sentence, if you need reminding while you are in there.
Reading the row
The card shows the readings side by side, oldest on the left and the current one on the right. Each is labelled with how long ago it was, such as 2w, 2w, 2w, Now. The current one is outlined so it stands out.
A customer who has written to you once shows a single reading, labelled Now. The row fills up as you deal with them again.
Read the shape, not only the last one. Three patterns are worth recognising.
- Steady and positive.
- A good relationship. You can be brief and practical.
- Sliding downwards.
- Each conversation has gone worse than the last. This one matters more than it looks, whatever it is about.
- Recovered.
- It dipped and came back. Somebody did good work, so it is worth reading what they did before you reply.
Faces or weather
The same readings can be shown two ways. It is a matter of which you find easier to read at a glance.
- Faces
- A smiling, flat or frowning face, labelled Positive, Neutral or Negative.
- Weather
- A cloud with the same expression, labelled Clear, Cloudy or Rainy.
They carry identical information. Clear matches Positive, Cloudy matches Neutral, and Rainy matches Negative.
How to switch views
- 1Open any thread and find the Customer sentiment card at the top of the right-hand column.
- 2Click the small heart icon to the left of the card's title.
- 3The readings switch between faces and weather.
- 4Click it again to switch back. Your choice sticks.
What to do with a negative reading
A negative reading is information, not an instruction. Three things usually help.
- Read the What's going on? summary before you reply, so you are not asking them to repeat themselves.
- Answer the actual question first, and apologise second. Customers who are already frustrated want the problem solved, not acknowledged.
- Consider raising the priority. An unhappy customer waiting is a worse outcome than a happy one waiting.