Straight from the Source
Sweden’s Parken Zoo gets customer feedback in a creative and direct way
by Jakob Wahl
The difficulties in obtaining qualified feedback from guests or clients are probably well-known all around the attractions industry. Questionnaires in hotels are easily left behind untouched, cold-call surveys don’t always find willing participants, and park visitors can easily rush through requests for feedback on their way home. So how can attractions better gauge the experience they’re providing guests and involve them in future planning?
Parken Zoo, a combined zoo/amusement park in Eskilstuna, Sweden, found an answer to this problem. When Idea Plant, a local network of small service companies, approached the park with its innovative idea of involving the customers in the development of new services, the park took the opportunity, even without knowing exactly what results to expect. The approach was very open and the results were unpredictable.
The Big Idea
Idea Plant teamed with two other groups: MTC, a nonprofit market research organization based in Sweden’s capital, Stockholm, and Professor Per Kristensson from the Centre for Service Research at Karlstad University in Karlstad, Sweden. In his research, Kristensson found incorporating the guest into the service development process could increase the success rate of those new services. His approach was to change the role from passive—where the customer merely answers questions—to an active role for cocreating value. “Parken Zoo wants to be an arena for research, for example, about the animals, etc.,” says CEO Mats Ericson. “But in the things like service and client experience we have to be sharp, as well. And this is one way to sharpen up within this field.”
The park used this idea to formulate a project—one that would provide direct feedback from customers in real time and would also capture what is difficult to express in a traditional survey: thoughts and feelings.
Starting Point
The first step—to find the needed customers—was not too difficult. Guests of the park’s campsite were offered a chance to be a part of this customer service experiment. Those who volunteered were equipped with video cameras, pens, paper, and detailed instructions. The idea sounds simple: What do customers say, think, experience, and feel during their visit? They were to focus on emotions, problems, and events of interest, then make recommendations for services that could improve the total customer experience. Subsequent to the visit, participants were interviewed about their experiences to get a better understanding of what they reported.
The Findings
 Camilla Delac, the park’s marketing director, Carina Sjöden, who works for Kristensson at the local university Eskilstuna, and Eugenie Pettersson from Idea Plant managed the project from start to finish. They collected the customers’ notes and pictures and grouped them into categories: environment, animals, facilities, food, etc., and analyzed the common opinions.
Park operators were surprised by the results. “It was very exciting to try a new way to find out what our guests think about our zoo,” says Delac. “From the beginning I didn’t think we would get much different results than our regular visitor survey we do every year.”
But they did.
Through the guests’ comments and suggestions, the project team identified the following four specific areas that needed work:
- Wayfinding. Visitors want to be led through the park. This was unexpected to management, who thought guests wanted to discover the attractions by themselves. But the results showed they don’t want to miss anything. Said one customer: “We want to know, ‘Go here, this is exciting!’ Not just an ordinary map to follow.”
- Souvenirs. Visitors want to bring home a memento, a tangible token with memories of their experiences.
- Time with family. Children and parents often have different interests during the visit, but they still want to experience the activities together. “We want to make the day at the park a terrific experience for us together as a family,” one participant said.
- Education. Visitors want to learn something from their time at Parken Zoo. “We want our children to find the animals as interesting and fun as the play areas,” was one response.
New Services
The project management team, with the help of the Idea Plant staff, forged ahead with ideas for new services that would address the customers’ needs. First, the park addressed the immediate request of more information and signage throughout the park. Suggested paths through the park were added to the map and the brochure, so guests could be sure not to miss anything.
Park staff then created an activity called ZOOA with the help of a third-party marketing company, Lena & Lena. ZOOA is the verb for something you do in a zoo: “You are not just looking around in the zoo; you also have a mission,” says Lena Granberg of Lena & Lena. This education program, built around the animal exhibits, incorporates activity books that include facts about each animal station, quizzes about what guests have learned, and ways for them to customize their booklets with photos or drawings.
The interactive learning can be shared with family members, and it provides an educational component the visitor feedback mentioned. It was a big hit with guests. “We got very good results in the visitor survey,” says Delac. “Our guests said they had a very good time with the whole family—and that is very important for us.” And with the ZOOA book, a valuable souvenir was created that satisfies at the same time the request for more educational aspects.
Overall the park was pleased with the process and results. “Nearly all of them cooperated gladly and were both willing and enthusiastic over their participation,” says Sjöden. “They were not quite aware of their value as a contributing innovator, but we got a lot of suggestions and altogether the material was very rewarding to work with.”
Contact IAAPA Europe Program Manager Jakob Wahl at jwahl@IAAPA.org.
|
