Does Your Contact Center Need a Customer-Focused Makeover?SmartCRM ConferenceJune 16, 2004

Becky Carrollbcarroll@1to1.com

What We’ll Discuss Today

Where does the contact center fit in the customer experience?

Strategies for gathering and using customer insight

How to re-focus customer service on customers

A few closing thoughts

Where Does the Contact Center Fit in the Customer Experience?

Do you have a customer strategy for your contact center?

A. Yes, we do

B. No, but we are working on one

C. What is a customer strategy?

What can you do What can you do nownow

to make your customersto make your customers

more loyal and valuable, more loyal and valuable,

even though your even though your

competitorscompetitors

will do the will do the samesame thing, thing,

the the same same way?way?

The Key Strategic Issue

• Customers remember interaction with agent in 87% of the instances

Customer Satisfaction Benchmarking ResearchSQM Group, 2001

• Majority of contact is initiated by customer

• … 70% of contacts will still take place via the voice channel in five years’ time

Source: The Future of Customer Service, Datamonitor, 2002

Why consider a customer focus for the contact center?

Customer Relationship Strategy

Acquisition13%

Development19%

Retention59%

Unclear9%

Management View of Call Center

Necessary Cost of Doing Business

33%

Opportunity to Manage Customer Value

67%

Strategy and the Contact Center

Opportunity to Manage

Customer Value

Necessary Cost of Doing Business

Management View of Call Center

Customer RelationshipStrategy

Development

Retention

AcquisitionUnclear

Customer Experience Expectations Have ChangedReal-time, intelligent customer interactionSpeed and high quality of serviceSelf-ServiceAccess to company knowledge bases and

the ability to track and check on status Immediate and useful response to

information inquiries24/7 service

Key Drivers of Satisfaction for Customer SupportCustomers do not want to have a support

experience

Customers have a clear sense of what they

want if they must endure a support

experience• Improved telephone response time

• Reduced problem resolution time

• Improved customer care / relationship skills

Source: Gartner Group, Home PC Support: Why Users Do Not See the Value

What Customer Strategy is not…

It’s not just the technology

It’s not just some personalized email

It’s not just a more efficient call center

It’s not just good customer service –

“random acts of CRM”

Customer strategy is not better targeted

harassment!

FACE TO FACE

DIRECT MAIL

Contact centre

eBUSINESS

CHANNEL CHOICES

MA

RK

ETIN

G

CO

NC

ERN

RES

OLU

TIO

N

CR

OSS

SEL

LPR

OB

LEM

SO

LVIN

G

SKILLS

Customer Feedback

FE & Contact Centers

Fulfillment

Order Management

Web Site

Product/ Service Development & Offerings

CUSTOMERS

PROSPECTSBACK OFFICE

FRONT OFFICEVA

LUE

Customer-Centric Integrated Strategy

Random acts of kindness by customer-friendly personnel are not not the same as customer

centricity!

The key: Create a strategy to interact, remember, respond

Great Customer Service Is Not Enough

The CRM Approach for the Contact Center

Get more customers• That look like your most valuable customers

Keep them longer• By providing them with a personalized experience

your competitors cannot duplicate

Grow them into bigger customers• By not only providing a superior experience, but

also anticipating and meeting their needs

Make it as easy as possible for customers to interactwith and buy from you

Make it as easy as possible for customers to interactwith and buy from you

Strategies for Gathering and Using Customer Insight

Identify:Identify: Who are my

customers?

What data is actionable?

What key elements provide the greatest insight about potential customer behavior?

Differentiate:Differentiate: Who is profitable?

Who has highest propensity for growth?

Who is at risk?

What are unique needs groups?

How do we consider modality?

Interact:Interact: What does the

experience look like from the customer’s perspective?

How can aligning resources cut costs?

What sales opportunities are missed?

Customize:Customize: How can we

differentiate our offering?

How can we achieve long-term loyalty?

How do we maximize share of customer?

AnalysisAnalysis ActionAction This is a Simple Process

AnalysisAnalysis ActionActionTechnology Empowers Customer Insight

Identify:Identify: Differentiate:Differentiate: Interact:Interact: Customize:Customize:

Database and analytics WebCall centerSFAChannel

CampaignsShipmentsSales calls

Who is the customer?

Utility company’s best customer

Step 1: Identify

Problem: At a UK utility, the data systems can’t tell

Identify: Customer Service Considerations• Make sure individuals are recognized at all

contact points

• Link customer interactions over time

• Give the right people access to this info at the right times

• Figure out who “the customer” is when the “customer” is an enterprise

First by value to the enterprise

• Profit from sales of products across all divisions

• Profit from referrals of other customers

• Likelihood of volume growth or increased profits

• Predictors of loyalty or attrition

• Other (e.g., influencers: celebrities, loyalty club

members)

Then by customer needs

Step 2: Differentiate

40,000 customers. What if only 80 matter?

FourthTier

ThirdTier

Grow these customers

MVCs MGCs BZs

Keep these customers

Fire them?

Actual Value

Strategic Value

Servicing Costs

Tiering Customers by Value

Lego: Needs-Based ServicesFor role-players

• Videos and story

books

• Hats, costumes

For constructors

• Extra diagrams

For creators

• Parts that don’t exist

in any “standard” set

Other incentives to register:Download screen savers and

wallpaper

Remember information

Interact with others online

Share with others

Differentiate:Customer Service Considerations

• Understand and prioritize customer expectations• Expectations of customer service • Expectations of each service interaction • Then, measure their satisfaction level - were

expectations met? If not, why not?• Consider different service strategy for

different customer types • Will most valuable customers have premium service?

• Integrate on-line and off-line data• Develop processes for most valuable customers,

reflecting most recent customer service interactions to all customer touchpoints

How does your company select its contact center partners?A. We evaluate all potential partners based

on their customer centricity.

B. We evaluate strategic partners based on their customer centricity.

C. We try to select partners that are customer-centric.

D. We pay little or no attention to whether the partners we select are customer-centric.

• Give customers easy ways to interact• Be sure to capture feedback and share it

Practice “Drip Irrigation” dialogue• Give a little, get a little, give and get

Integrate multiple interaction channels

Use “permission marketing” to strengthen outbound communications• Informational email newsletters…• Web-based counseling, advice, specifications

Step 3: Interact

Golden questions Get the most knowledge with the smallest

demand on a customer• Map customers into needs-based clusters

Example: • Valuable pet food buyers say “yes.”

What is the question?

Understand the Scope of Interaction

Call CentersWarehouse

Direct Mail/Brochures Advertising

Web/ E-business

Wholesaler Sales

Then Utilize Business Rules

RETAIN

GROW

UP or OUT

MVC

MGC

Migrator

Wait Time: No IVRCSR: Best and dedicated team

Wait Time: <10 secsCSR: Best Available, high skill

Wait Time: < 30 secsCSR: Average

Call Time: UnlimitedLoyalty Offer: YesCO-Browse: NetRepEducation: Cross-sellTransfer: Hot but retain ownership

Call Time: not limitedLoyalty Offer: SituationalEducation: Services cross-sellTransfer: Warm

Call Time: < 4 minutesLoyalty Offer: SituationalEducation: New products/ services or self-sufficiency; channel partner or web for info

Group IVR & Routing Contact

BZ Wait Time: < 2-3 minCSR: New Hire, Temp

Call Time: < 3 minutesLoyalty Offer: NoEducation: Self-sufficiency/direct to web for infoOther: Pay for service

Response type: Customer’s desired interaction channelE-mail Response Time: ImmediateResolution Cost: open-ended

Response type: Customer’s desired interaction channelE-mail Response Time: 4 hoursResolution Cost: < $150 with no escalation

Response Type: e-mail or webE-mail Response Time:12hoursResolution Cost: < $30 with no escalation (Behavioral incentives)

Resolution

Response Type: e-mail or webE-mail Response Time: 24 hoursResolution Cost: avoid monetary resolution

Interact:Customer Service ConsiderationsUse customer insight you already have• Any employee that interacts directly or indirectly

with a most-valued customer recognizes and treats the customer accordingly

Pre-fill data where possible• Don’t ask for same information twice

Fully integrate all aspects of the contact center• Consistent treatment and knowledge for phone,

email, chat, web, field service interactions• Customers want to be recognized and remembered

Step 4: Customize• Customization is the behavior change result

of the relationship, locking in the customer’s loyalty

• Questions to ask:• How can we use what we learned in the customer

interaction to change how we treat this customer?• What can we do to our product, service or

communications to better fit this one customer?• Can we save the customer time, effort or money?

• Use mass customization techniques to do this economically, across many different customers

How to Re-Focus Customer Service on Customers

Implementing the makeoverNumber of Customers

Customer Value

Picket Fence

Most Valuable or Most Growable Customers

Traditional processes/agents

Needs-based processes/agents

Can your contact center get a complete picture of a single customer?

A. Yes, including other transactions, interactions, and preferences

B. Yes, but only with respect to sales revenues

C. No, we can only see what happens in the contact center

D. No, but we are working on it

E. Is this really possible?

©2000 All Rights Protected and Reserved.

Interaction channel integration: Taking the customer’s

perspectiveUse a “touchmap” to gain a high-level view of the many ways a customer interacts with, or touches, the company

Because you must see your enterprise’s systems and actions entirely from your

customer’s point of view

Creating the Ultimate Customer Experience Requires…

Information about your customers• “One View of the Customer”

Knowledge about what makes one customer different from another• What the customer is worth• What the customer wants

The ability to talk, directly and continuously, with your most valuable customers

The ability to turn that dialogue into action, faster and more cost-effectively, than the competition

Metrics: “They do what they get paid to do”

Without organizational alignment, key ROI

factors will be “polluted”

The Call Center Story “I love 1to1 — I think it’s the direction we should be

headed in. However, please don’t make the screen

flash when an MVC calls in. I don’t want my CSRs to

think they should talk longer with these folks.

Besides, my performance is partially measured by

Average Talk Time.” Call Center Manager

Operational Metrics

CRM Initiatives

Results!

Business Metrics

(How well are we doing this?) (What are the results?)

Promoting CRM InitiativesCollecting Customer Data

Interacting with CustomersApplying Customer Data

Share of Wallet ROI from CRM InvestmentQuality/Quantity of LeadsCampaign Effectiveness

Employing the Right Metrics

Measuring Interaction in Contact CentersMeasuring the efficiency of contact

centers:

• Hold times and call abandonment rates

Measuring their effectiveness:

• Ratio of complaints handled on first call

• Percentage of inquiries generating leads

• Share-of-customer data gathered

Ultimately, Adoption Requires a Culture Change

“Treat the customer the way

you would want to be

treated if you were the

customer.”

B/Gen. Robert McDermott

USAA’s Golden Rule of Customer Service

Case Study: Company Z Company Z has call centers for both inbound

and outbound communications

They segmented customers into six categories according to lifestyle attributes• The customer’s pre-assigned segment appears when

the call center rep enters the phone number into the database

• Segment information designed to give the reps a hint about the customer’s possible lifestyle

Only four of the six customer segments, considered “high opportunity” customers, get “CRM” treatment

Customer Treatment Strategies

CSRs could assign any of five “Strategies” to

each “high opportunity” customer after a call

• Strategy should indicate the primary need that this

customer is fulfilling through the product

By considering the Strategy, the CSR can

emphasize product and service benefits most

relevant to customer’s lifestyle

• Different products and benefits for different

customers, based on the designated treatment

strategy

Program Execution

Separate database to show segment of each “high

opportunity” customer and to capture the following:

• Strategy assigned by the CSR

• “Clues” about customer lifestyle

Clues is a free-form field reps use to record more

detailed customer information

• “has a PC”

• “vacation home in Maine, June - August”

• “kids in background”

Program Execution (cont.)

Once saved, a permanent Clues history

helps reps build rapport with customers,

to:

• Avoid asking same questions over again

• Hone in on individually relevant product benefits,

especially as the company introduces new

products and services

Some Reasons CSRs Gave for Resisting Segmentation is “unfair”

Two of six segments not even included for CRM treatment

Customer groupings not very accurate Research organization claimed 80% accuracy, but

real-world experience indicated much less than that

CRM database is empty CSRs must enter Clues before database is useful, so

no immediate benefit to using the tool Therefore, reps don’t enter Clues nor do they even

open the database to see if any other rep has entered Clues…

…because they are accustomed to seeing an empty screenEveryone in the call center is measured on sales, so no one

supports the program wholeheartedly

Lessons Learned Obtain high-level, informed support

Start small

Would have been better for Company Z to have

started with just one or two smaller call centers first

Find and persuade the opinion leaders first

Be honest and upfront

Communicate the down side of CRM, too, and deal

with it

Has your company formally linked CSR rewards with customer-centric behavior?

A. We make customer-centric behavior a significant part of performance appraisal criteria.

B. We make customer-centric behavior a part of performance appraisal criteria.

C. We use ad hoc methods to reward customer-centric behavior.

D. We make no link between employees’ rewards and their treatment of customers.

A Few Closing Thoughts

Self-Service: Things to Think About

Make support easy to follow• “Three screens and out”

• Look for dead-ends

Simplicity is paramount• How will they find what they need most easily?

Guide the support experience• This is a critical part of the overall customer experience

Make any downloads clean, clear, and simple• Put them back where they can interact with you, where you

want them to be!

Web Support Best Practice

Web Support Best Practice

Intelligent troubleshooting tool makes it easy to diagnose the problem

Key Questions to Ask for Self-Service

What is the goal?

• Migrate all customers to self-help?

• If so, are all customers able to be migrated?

What is the support experience you want

customers to have?

• Will it vary by customer value?

• Will it differ by touch point (phone, email, web)?

• Where do customers get lost or stuck in self-help

today?

Key Questions to Ask for Self-Service

How will customers be directed to self-help?

• Education is a core component of a successful

strategy

How will you measure the success of self-

help?

• If they are also needing to call, we have lost some

savings

• How many queries are resolved using self-help

today?

Case Study: Hewlett Packard

A Customer-Focused Makeover in a Consumer Contact Center

The Challenge • Customer satisfaction ratings

trending downward

• Consumers frustrated with technical support they were getting

• Too long to resolve problems

• Email help not effective

• Lost in self-service

How to transform from tech support to

excellent customer service?

Strategy: Look at Customer Experience• What were customers expecting?

• What were they getting from competitors (both direct and indirect)?

• What were they getting from HP? Look across touchpoints…• Email support was inconsistent

• hone support took too long – plus, it cost money (toll call)

• Repair options were inconvenient

• How to balance consumer expectations against reality?

Improve Using the Customer Perspective!

• Four key strategic areas to improve:• Problem prevention

• Response times

• Problem resolution

• Customer care

• Improved processes to address customer needs at key touchpoints

• Built a support customer experience based on what customers needed and wanted

Customer Experience Planning

“We are trying to highlight how we can optimize the customer experience and how our infrastructure, decisions and investment priorities need to support that. Ultimately, if our changes aren't visible to the customer, they don't count.”

Gail Waller, HP Consumer Support

Customer Roadmap

• HP executed 13 customer initiatives under the four key strategic areas

They included the following:• Redesign call resolution process

• Add toll-free number for tech support

• Revamp CSR training to include “soft skill” coaching

• Replace IVR with speech recognition system

Mantra: Do it the way a customer would want it, rather than from an IT or product

perspective

The Whole ExperienceRecognizing some touchpoints were external to

HP, the company also engaged their retail channel partners

• Some retailers offer “in-shop” repair service

• HP increased the number of parts available to retail repair shops

• Improved product repair turn-around time

• Consumers now have options• I can ship my PC back to HP for repair

• I can take it to a local retailer – and get it fixed today

Don’t Forget the Metrics• Previously, metrics focused on contact

center efficiency

• New metrics were put into place, focused on contact center effectiveness• Measured agent’s ability to resolve from start to

finish

• First time resolution

• Number of repeat calls

• Customer-focused metrics were added to SLAs with contact center partners

New Customer Focus, New Actions - New Results• Improved customer satisfaction by 13

points in first 6 months

• Speech recognition savings

• Saved customers 10,000 hours/month

• Saved HP $250K

• Greatly improved first-time resolution rates

• Dramatically lowered number of repeat calls

• Toll-free number alone gave 2-3 point lift in customer satisfaction

What does a “customer-focused makeover” really mean?

Does it mean “Customers are really important . . . pay attention to them”?

No, it means understand which customers are creating value for the firm, and which are destroying value• For the creators

Craft the experience you want them to have Maintain relationships in tip-top shape Invest to grow their productivity Look for similar acquisitions

• For the destroyers Search for ways to make them productive If no path to productivity, divest

Field Reps

VendorsWeb Sites

Account Managers

Customer Liaisons

Public Affairs

Contact Center

Organization-wide view of the customer

Contact Center Rep

Have a Strategy for the Future Customer Experience, Then Implement

CustomerValue

NeedsProfile

Name: Rebecca CarrollMem. #: 1234567Address: 123 Main St.

Anytown, USAZip: 79072Phone: 123-123-4567E-mail: bcarroll@1to1.com

ProductMix

Registered User

Last Customer

Contact:• State Office

Main Interest:• Social Security

Status• Retired

Volunteer Pilot Group

Click for complete

Interaction History

Department Specific data

What can you do tomorrow?1. Work on your database!

2. Think about what you want to know about your customers and how you plan to use that information.

3. Ask one question at each interaction 4. Figure out who you really want to do

business with.

5. Develop a strategy for your “BZs.”

Ask your best customers what you can do differently,

or better, for them (THEN DO IT!)