“We’re seeing that customers who receive a gift with Huggg have a CSat 10% higher than our overall CSat scores.” Hamish Wood, Head of Customer Experience at GoCardless.
We talked to Hamish, Head of Customer Experience at GoCardless - a B2B Fintech on a mission to take the pain out of getting paid - about how they use gifting to provide unforgettable interactions with customers.
Hey Hamish 👋 - let’s start by talking about the problems you faced before finding Huggg.
We wanted to go beyond online interactions and connect with our customers on a more human level. We thought gifting could be a good way to promote brand loyalty and customer advocacy but kept running into logistical issues at every turn. Expensing gifts purchased ad hoc turned out to be a nightmare, it was difficult to gift in the moment, and asking recipient preferences and details was awkward and time-consuming, not to mention a GDPR risk.
What solutions have you found with Huggg?
Huggg’s simple to use platform, unique selection of quality gifts and slick redemption experience has enabled us to transform the way we interact with customers at GoCardless. There were some real logistical challenges with gifting that Huggg helped us to overcome that we couldn’t find with other providers, the main ones being:
- We can now gift in the moment from inside our Zendesk ticketing system using unique Huggg links (more on this later!)
- We don’t need to ask the customer’s address, preference or dietary requirements - they input those details themselves
- We’re able to send tangible gifts our customers can actually enjoy - way more impactful than discounts or vouchers
“Huggg has enabled GoCardless to create seamless, ad hoc surprise and delight moments, build relationships and find a more human connection with our customers.” Hamish Wood, Head of Customer Experience at GoCardless.
What sort of customer interactions are made better with gifts?
Our people are free to use Huggg however they see fit and have felt really empowered as a result. All we ask is that they never use it to compensate or apologise and share their Huggg stories to our designated #surpriseanddelight Slack channel. This helps us to see how gifting can be most impactful in our interactions with customers and informs our long term CS strategy.
What has the response been like from customers?
It’s been fantastic. We’re seeing that customers who receive a gift with Huggg have a CSat 10% higher than our overall CSat scores, which is excellent.
And teams?
Our teams are enjoying being able to connect with customers beyond just words on a screen and gifting is now very much a part of our long term customer experience strategy. It’s amazing when customers share photos of themselves on social media enjoying their treats - teams can see the real impact they’ve made on someone’s experience.
Where do you usually share gifts with customers?
Customer calls and emails come through our ticketing system, Zendesk, and with Huggg, we can share gifts directly from there. When inside a Zendesk ticket, the team are able to pull up a macro that automatically pre-populates with a unique Huggg link containing a gift and a predetermined chunk of text they can customise with a message to the customer. This enables us to gift in the moment, which is way more impactful than following up a few days later!
Which gifts do you usually choose to send?
The Barefoot brownies are always really popular as you can have those delivered anywhere and Caffè Nero coffees are collectable nationwide, but the gifts with choice options added at the end of last year were a really exciting development. Although it’s great to select a specific gift yourself, it’s also great having the flexibility to let the recipient choose something they’ll love instead.
What about gift cards?
Although gift vouchers have a valuable place, I prefer not to use them as they have an obvious financial value attached which I believe defeats the purpose of a gift.
Lastly, if you could change one thing about Huggg what would it be?
I’d love to be able to gift our customers overseas, so seeing global supply added to the platform would be great for us.
Watch this space, Hamish… 🌎✈️
Send a choice of gifts
Send a specific gift
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