Implicit measurement is the counterpart to explicit measurement. And we all know explicit measurement: research in which customers are presented with a list of aspects or statements and asked to evaluate them.
With implicit measurement, you do none of that. Instead, you aim to uncover what customers think, feel, or value without explicitly presenting these aspects. But how does it work?
The key difference between implicit and explicit measurement lies in that familiar list of aspects or statements.
Who created those aspects? How were they phrased, and on what basis?
In most cases, the list is logically constructed by an organization or a market research agency hired by the organization. It is often based on a customer journey or the organization’s KPIs and expressed in organizational language.
Unfortunately, customers do not think in organizational language, aspects, or KPIs. Many may never even have heard of a customer journey. The organizational world, its way of thinking, and its language are entirely different from the world of the customer.
If you want to genuinely understand your customers or put them at the center, some knowledge of behavioral psychology is highly recommended. Customers are not rational. They do not make calculated economic trade-offs, weighing every product feature or service aspect.
In fact, in most cases, customers consider very different factors. They seek convenience, recognition, or fulfillment of needs.
Equally important is the fact that people don’t think in numbers. A quick exercise: think back to your best vacation. Take a moment… What comes to mind? Probably not a number.
Yet many surveys are built around endless numeric questions. The question is whether these numbers truly reflect what is happening in the customer’s mind. It can create a false sense of precision: an average of many scores may appear accurate, but it’s the average of the wrong type of answers to the wrong questions.
We are all driven by emotions formed through subconscious processes: memories, motivations, beliefs, or perceptions. None of which can be captured by a single number.
If you want to be a genuinely customer-centric organization, measure implicitly. Invite customers to share their experiences in their own words: the memories that remain and the emotions they carry.
How do you translate all that open text into actionable insights and priorities for your organization? At Forum, we apply text analytics and emotion classification to capture both the topic the customer is discussing and the emotion underlying it.
The combination of these two delivers everything you need: clear priorities and the depth required to act, entirely in the customer’s language.
Finally: What do customers prefer? An endless survey of statements and aspect questions? Or a short survey where they can describe their experience in their own words? Exactly.
Remember: a survey is also a touchpoint. Make it as short and enjoyable as possible.
Market research doesn’t get more customer-centric than this.
