Northumberland and Bay Ferries is the main service that connects Nova Scotia to Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, and Maine. With close to 600,000 customers annually between three separate routes, it’s imperative that they found a reliable way to collect feedback from their passengers to improve the ferry experience.

 

As a result, Northumberland and Bay Ferries Limited (NFL) implemented BamText Feedback in 2015. And according to Jessica Gillis, NFL’s Marketing and Customer Experience Manager, the amount of quality feedback reflects the volume of passengers.

 

“Since implementing BamText in 2015, our company has received a significant amount of feedback.” Said Gillis. “In the beginning, we were nervous that the feedback would be mainly negative, however to our surprise it’s been much the opposite.”

 

“The volume of feedback has certainly been manageable for our staff – it mirrors the seasonality of our businesses with more feedback coming in during our peak travel season.”

 

BamText Feedback numbers can be marketed to customers in a variety of ways. For Gillis, combining traditional methods with new, innovative methods has been the key to success.

 

“We solicit feedback through print posters and digital signage on the ferries and in our ferry terminals as well as at the bottom of our ferry tickets.” Said Gillis. “In soliciting valuable feedback through BamText, we’ve asked our customers to “let us know how we did today”. This shows customers that we want to know what they have to say and our customers feel comfortable telling us the truth.”

 

One of the security features of BamText Feedback is the anonymity of the service, protecting the customer’s personal information. Gillis found that this also helped with receiving quality feedback.

 

“Because we solicit feedback, customers who may normally not have taken the time to complain, or would simply never return, have a chance to tell us how we can improve in order to keep their business.”

 

The biggest feature that BamText Feedback provides businesses is the ability to interact directly with the customer providing feedback in real-time. It’s allowed Northumberland and Bay Ferries to enhance their overall customer service experience.

 

“BamText has allowed our companies to respond to complaints in real-time, often being able to intercept a situation and remedy it with the customer in front of us.” Said Gillis. “In some cases, we interact through BamText with a customer to obtain basic information about the complaint/situation and then ask for contact information so we can follow up, if needed. Customers are often very surprised when their complaint/issue gets resolved right away.”

 

Gillis found that the feedback could range from the cleanliness of the facilities, to friendly comments on the staff, to everything in between!

 

“BamText has allowed us to share positive feedback with our staff which has led to enhanced morale. Customers have brought items to our attention that we may otherwise have never realized were affecting them, allowing us to make simple improvements to enhance their experience onboard.”

 

BamText Feedback has immensely helped improve the quality of service that Northumberland and Bay Ferries provides to their passengers on all three of their lines. For those looking to take the plunge, Gillis had this to say:

 

“Don’t be afraid to ask for feedback – good or bad! It will help improve your customer service and ultimately drive repeat business and a loyal customer base.”