Speech and Text Analytics Enable the Delivery of Great

Service

April 2016

Sponsored by:

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Table of Contents

Introduction .............................................................................................................. 1

Top 10 Enterprise Servicing Goals for 2016 ............................................................ 1

Using Speech and Text Analytics as Enterprise Tools to Deliver Great Service ...... 2

Final Thoughts ......................................................................................................... 5

About HP Workforce Optimization Software ............................................................ 6 About DMG Consulting LLC ..................................................................................... 6

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Introduction

Customers expect the companies they do business with to deliver a personalized and outstanding service experience in their channel of choice. Companies are listening to their customers by making investments in technology, practices, people and even their culture, to improve the customer journey. Delivering a great customer experience is no longer just the purview of the service organization; it is becoming the responsibility of every employee. This white paper identifies the top enterprise servicing goals for 2016 and looks at how speech and text analytics can be used to help companies achieve these goals.

Top 10 Enterprise Servicing Goals for 2016

The top servicing goal for 2016, cited by 62.1% of respondents, is to deliver an outstanding customer experience. It’s important to note that the percentage of respondents who prioritized this initiative in 2016 increased from 55.3% in 2015. More companies are coming to realize that although productivity matters (because service organizations are people-intensive), businesses need to think about how their actions impact and drive customers’ and prospects’ behaviors. DMG expects to see companies invest in building a customer-centric culture that is dedicated to service excellence. Contact centers (or customer service departments) are the focal point for many aspects of the service experience, but delivering great service is a responsibility that needs to be shared by all individuals throughout organizations. Second on the list of goals for 2016 is improving productivity, as reflected by 58.6% of survey respondents, up from 48.9% in 2015. Reducing the cost of service came in third, 49.8%, as compared to 46.9% in 2015. Some of the best initiatives improve service quality and productivity while reducing costs. Increasing the use of self-service applications came in fourth place, cited by 48.7% of respondents, as compared to 40.8% in 2015. The fifth-ranked initiative for 2016 is reducing customer effort. 43.7% of respondents prioritized this goal, as compared to only 36.3% in 2015. This is a new but essential goal that is a major differentiator. Companies that put customers’ needs ahead of their own are positioning themselves for success in the era of Millennials, a generation that demands a great deal from the companies they do business with. Enhancing reports/analytics came in sixth place, prioritized by 36.4% of respondents. Companies need business intelligence to understand what is happening throughout their companies and how it impacts customers. 34.5% of organizations are making investments to improve customer retention. This goal moves up and down in importance based on the performance of the economy, but is always essential for companies. Technologies like speech and text analytics give companies insights into customer issues and concerns, making it

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possible to identify at-risk customers and take the necessary actions to retain their business. 31.4% of organizations are making investments to enhance customer engagement. This is another goal that recently surfaced as an enterprise priority and is closely tied to customer retention and satisfaction. 30.3% of survey respondents identified the need to improve cross-departmental coordination. Achieving this goal is a necessity for organizations that want to deliver an outstanding customer journey cost effectively. And the tenth rated service priority for 2016 is enhancing staff engagement, as indicated by 28.4% of survey respondents. Committed and engaged employees do what it takes to keep customers happy, which, in turn reduces attrition and increases revenue. See Figure 1. Figure 1: 2016 Top 10 Enterprise Servicing Goals

Source: DMG Consulting LLC, March 2016

Using Speech and Text Analytics as Enterprise Tools to Deliver Great Service

Speech and text analytics are powerful enterprise servicing tools because they provide insights into customers’ needs and wants. These solutions capture customer conversations – by phone (speech analytics) or any form of written communications (text analytics). Once recorded, the interaction is converted to

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metadata and analyzed, and the findings are used to identify customer trends, opportunities and risks. Speech analytics can also be used in real time to alert management of mishandled customer conversations, regulatory issues, agents who are not complying with scripts, and potential fraud. When used properly, speech and text analytics answer the question of why customers are calling and/or talking/writing about your organization. See Figure 2. Figure 2: The Speech Analytics Process

Source: DMG Consulting LLC, March 2016 The challenge for organizations is to use and apply the findings from these applications – what do you do with the trends and insights that are found in customer communications? In today’s world, where so many things happen at the speed of a smartphone, companies need to move very quickly if they want to take advantage of the findings from speech and text analytics. They need a process for sharing opportunities in sales, service, marketing, product development, legal, regulatory, fraud and other areas with the department that is positioned to take the right actions. This is the value proposition and promise of speech/text analytics, but without a formal process and inter-department cooperation, many companies are unable to leverage the insights and optimize the benefits.

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DMG Consulting research finds that the quantifiable contributions of speech analytics grow as the findings from these solutions are used by more departments within a company. See Figure 3. Figure 3: The Contributions of Speech/Text Analytics

Source: DMG Consulting LLC, March 2016

When speech/text analytics solutions are overseen by an enterprise-wide team that is empowered to take the necessary actions throughout an organization, the benefits are significant for the company, its customers and employees. Speech/text analytics are powerful tools that can contribute to achieving all of the top ten enterprise servicing goals. These analytics solutions should play a major role in improving the customer experience by identifying any impediments, which allows organizations to fix them. When service improves and is performed right the first time, the first-contact resolution rate increases and there are fewer complaints, which decreases the cost of service and improves productivity. Speech/text analytics capture complaints and concerns about companies’ voice and Web self-service, giving companies the targeted information they need to enhance the options and workflows. All of these improvements reduce customer effort, making it easier for them to do business with your company and reducing operating costs. Here are a few best practices that will drive the success of your speech/text analytics solution:

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1. Identify a senior executive as the champion for the enterprise-wide speech/text analytics initiative.

2. Set up an enterprise-wide team to select and manage the speech/text analytics solutions; include representatives from many departments.

3. Document the team’s charter, responsiblities and goals, and get buy-in from all internal departments. If possible, make achievement of the goals part of every manager’s annual performance objectives.

4. Create and generate reports that quantify issues and their impact on the organization. Use these reports to identify issues and to measure how changes have improved or fixed the issues.

5. Select the right people for the analytics team – they must be senior, influential, respected, good analysts and “politicians.”

6. Train 3 – 4 people within the team to use the speech/text analytics applications.

7. Empower the analytics team to require department managers to respond to them within an established service level.

8. Set up a formal meeting schedule that is weekly or bi-weekly; this should be an “all hands on deck” meeting, as a primary objective is to break down barriers between operating departments that make it difficult for customers to conduct their business.

9. Recognize and reward team members and departments for responding to the findings and making changes that have a measurable impact.

10. Communicate and share success. Following all of these practices will allow you to use speech/text analytics as an enteprise change agent. Use the ones that are a good fit for your organization, even if you cannot apply all of them.

Final Thoughts

In today’s highly competitive global economy, customers believe they deserve great service at every step of their journey. And when they don’t receive it, which happens way too often, they are quick to share their dissatisfaction via social media. It’s time for enterprises to stop talking about delivering an outstanding customer experience, and make the investments that will put them on track for success. Speech and text analytics are highly effective at identifying enterprise-wide opportunities, whether for service improvements or new sales and revenue opportunities. Companies that employ these solutions as enterprise change agents will have a strategic advantage in building customer and employee satisfaction and engagement while reducing costs.

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About HP Workforce Optimization Software

With our 32-year history of innovation and 24 contact center technology patents, HP Workforce

Optimization Software provides enterprise contact center customers around the world with call

recording, integrated workforce optimization and advanced analytics backed by HP's superior

customer service. Our Workforce Optimization solution, HP Qfiniti, is a modular suite that

includes tools designed to optimize workforce management, quality monitoring, liability recording,

coaching and eLearning, performance management, and surveying. HP Explore is our speech

and Voice of Customer analytics product that enables the enterprise to discover customer

behavior insights in multi-channel, multi-language contact center environments. Learn more at

hpqfiniti.com.

About DMG Consulting LLC

DMG Consulting LLC is a leading independent research, advisory and consulting firm specializing

in contact centers, back-office and real-time analytics. DMG provides insight and strategic

guidance and tactical advice to end users, vendors and the financial community. Each year, DMG

devotes more than 10,000 hours to producing primary research on IT sectors, including workforce

optimization (quality management/liability recording), speech analytics, workforce management,

performance management, desktop analytics, surveying/voice of the customer, text analytics,

cloud-based contact center infrastructure, dialing, interactive voice response systems and

proactive customer care. Our actionable solutions are proven to deliver a lasting competitive

advantage, and often pay for themselves in as little as three months. Learn more at

www.dmgconsult.com.

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