What a difference a job makes!

Prior to arriving at iPerceptions, the world of web analytics only took on one meaning to me: behavioral data generated through click stream solutions. In my previous work, this was all I was ever exposed to and as a result, never knew that there were other ways in which to evaluate and make changes to the website I was working with. Sometimes you don’t know what you’re missing out on until you’re directly exposed to a better alternative (did the majority of people really think of how good having a refrigerator would be during ice box days?).

Now that I’m privy to knowing that there is indeed a proven way to get into the hearts and minds of web visitors through customer satisfaction and experience metrics, one nagging question continues to plague me: how could I never have actively sought out a means to compliment the existing “who” “when”, and “where” data that I was analyzing with the all-important “why” component? Now that I work with attitudinal data I suddenly realize how inadequate certain analytic information is without seeing the full picture.

Another point that frequently comes to mind is whether I may have ever made decisions based on entirely incorrect customer assumptions. Given that I don’t have psychic powers - or trustworthy tarot cards - to depend on, how could I have possibly known what people who I’d never met or spoken to were thinking when on my website? Also, if I was deaf to the voice of the customer, is it possible that my recommendations for change actually ended up having an adverse impact on overall satisfaction? Without having the ability to truly listen to customers, I guess I’ll never know.

Now that I’m working in an environment which acknowledges all aspects of the web visit and reports research on a holistic level, I’ve come to the same realization as hundreds of websites who have used our solution have: no one should resort to understanding their consumer through presumptions, conjecture, or as a very last resort, gut instinct (which doesn’t always work – just ask my bookie). From the iPerceptions clients I’ve spoken to, having access to customer’s verbatim feedback is like giving a gold digger a bulldozer instead of a shovel – you know he’s going to get what he’s after. I may not have had a bulldozer before, but it’s great to know it exists now.