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Connecting with a new generation of consumers

Client: Better Business Bureau Industry: Services Get in touch

Sanger & Eby redesigned a key consumer tool that is now helping BBB connect with new generations of consumers and driving more businesses to seek accreditation.

Challenge

Better Business Bureau’s (BBB) Business Reviews is one of the organization’s primary contacts with consumers and researchers, and a critical method of demonstrating BBB’s value proposition to both business and consumer audiences. They also create an incentive for non-accredited businesses to apply for accreditation, generating revenue and providing support for achievement of BBB’s goals, including increasing marketplace trust between businesses and consumers.

The emergence of competing review services such as Angie’s List and Porch, as well as social sites such as Yelp! had eroded BBB’s mindshare. BBB needed to reclaim that mindshare and connect with a new generation of consumers.

Rather than a “catch-up” move that would achieve market parity, BBB wanted to recreate the Business Reviews as a quantum leap forward – redefining the experience between consumers and businesses online while preserving BBB’s unique service aspect. To achieve its objectives, BBB National Council turned to Sanger & Eby.

Services:

Competitive analysis SWOT analysis Stakeholder interviews User experience planning User interface design User testing

Sanger & Eby redesigned a key consumer tool that is now helping BBB connect with new generations of consumers and driving more businesses to seek accreditation.

Services:

Competitive analysis SWOT analysis Stakeholder interviews User experience planning User interface design User testing

Challenge

Better Business Bureau’s (BBB) Business Reviews is one of the organization’s primary contacts with consumers and researchers, and a critical method of demonstrating BBB’s value proposition to both business and consumer audiences. They also create an incentive for non-accredited businesses to apply for accreditation, generating revenue and providing support for achievement of BBB’s goals, including increasing marketplace trust between businesses and consumers.

The emergence of competing review services such as Angie’s List and Porch, as well as social sites such as Yelp! had eroded BBB’s mindshare. BBB needed to reclaim that mindshare and connect with a new generation of consumers.

Rather than a “catch-up” move that would achieve market parity, BBB wanted to recreate the Business Reviews as a quantum leap forward – redefining the experience between consumers and businesses online while preserving BBB’s unique service aspect. To achieve its objectives, BBB National Council turned to Sanger & Eby.

Mobile and laptop views of the improved business reviews

Strategy

After developing an in-depth understanding of strengths, challenges, and opportunities, we conducted a comprehensive competitive analysis to provide an overall marketplace perspective as well as understand market “whitespace” – where the greatest opportunities existed for BBB Business Reviews.

We conducted online bulletin boards with consumers, having them explore specific business reviews across services, identifying likes, dislikes, and frustrations; we also studied how they prioritized information. Stakeholder interviews with businesses of all sizes across the U.S. and Canada provided insights into the value of becoming an accredited business, the positives and negatives of various review sites and their perceived business impact, and objections and perceived barriers.

Based on our key learnings and insights from the research, we developed a strategic approach that brought BBB goals and objectives together with the needs of identified target audiences (business and consumer). Wireframes illustrated page organization, priority of communication, user experience and user flows, and page interactions. To ensure an excellent, intuitive user experience, we conducted extensive usability testing and refined the wireframes based on our findings.

The user-tested wireframes provided the foundation for an innovative design that fulfilled BBB’s objectives yet still fit seamlessly into the structure of BBB websites, with a flexible framework that supports a variety of features and functions offered by some BBBs, including live chat, video, and image slideshows.

Results

The new Business Reviews met with widespread approval from consumers, businesses, and BBBs across North America. Now implemented, the clean, streamlined, and content-rich Business Reviews clearly explain complex rankings in an easy-to-understand way, and are getting great feedback from consumers and businesses throughout BBB’s network.

 

Do you need help establishing a competitive edge? We can help you get there with a reimagined digital presence. Let’s talk!