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Pioneering technology from South Africa tested in the UK retail environment for the first time
9th March 2004
TOTAL has become the first petrol retailer in the UK to trial a brand new technological system developed in South
Africa designed to enable a swift and rapid response to customer feedback.
The use of the Customer Feedback System (CFS) units, which have been placed in twelve TOTAL stores in the home
counties, could be expanded to encompass all of TOTAL's entire network of over 900 service stations following an
initial three-month trial period.
CFS was first established in South Africa in 1999 and in the past five years companies such as Mercedes, BMW and the
major South African banks have employed the system to great affect. To the naked eye a CFS unit appears to be a simple
touch pad that sits at the point of sale, however, underneath the exterior sits CFS propriety software, which is
connected to an internal computer server. Whilst the customer completes their transaction they can answer a series of
questions by punching in their answers, taking a mere thirty seconds - much quicker than a traditional hand written
feedback form. The data is then sent to the CFS hub where it is analysed and reported on a weekly basis to TOTAL who
can then respond to their customers concerns in a timely and efficient manner.
TOTAL UK Marketing Executive Michael Crane, who is heading up the team conducting the trial said: "The feedback system
has so far proved to be a great success. Our customer's feedback is very important to us and CFS is a great tool that
enables us to make our customers experience that little bit better, every time."
Richard Pickering, Operations Director of CFS Europe commented: "CFS is a totally independent way for companies to
collate and process market research data. Our own research has shown that customers are much more likely to respond to
a CFS unit than a traditional paper form because it's quick, simple and easy to use and can be completed as you wait
for the cashier to complete your transaction. The data allows our clients to significantly reduce the time-lag between
receiving market research and acting upon it."
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