Technology’s Affect on:
Delivering Great Customer Experiences via Agents & The Bo?om-‐Line
PWC Management Consultant
Top Forrester Customer Service, Social Media, CRM
Analyst
Chief Strategist for Social Media & Digital Communications
PR & Marketing Agency
Dr. Natalie’s Background
Analyst Rankings:
Instructor at Center for Entertainment, Media and Sports Summer Institutes at UCLA Anderson
The Agenda
•
The Study
•
The Results
The Research Study
THE RESULTS: What We Found…
•
Agent Technology…
•
Can increase operaEonal costs
•
Has a direct affect on customer churn & sales
•
The eight reasons why these condiEons exist
•
Steps to take to ensure the technology is
supporEng your agent’s ability to deliver their
best customer experience
What’s New?
Most Contact Centers…
•
SEll seen as a cost center
•
But for this hour, consider that a
contact center is revenue center…
•
Even if it doesn’t answer one direct
sales call…
•
Consider that perhaps Service Drives
à
Sales, PR, MarkeEng, Engineering,
Manufacturing, Supply Chain…
The Contact Centers is the
Most Customer-‐facing Department
•
It always has been…
•
And even before social media it had a direct
influence on future and present sales
•
But with social media, the contact center
ma9ers more now than ever…
•
And it’s easier to prove…
The Contact
Center is
Like a
Canary in
Coal Mine
• What’s working
• What’s not working
• What would be be9er if…
Can be seen by evaluating
customer conversations…
Most everything the business needs to know…
But it’s been difficult to “get”
But Social Media has
Changed the Game
In the
Contact Center’s Favor…
The difference?
We call it the
Go Back In Time…
People Were PredicTng This…
There would be…
A place in 3me
Where the…
• Customer‘s voice
• Employee’s voice
Would start to mean something…
And there would be an enabling technology
That is web 2.0 social media…
We are here now…
MANY SCHOLARS
HAD ADVOCATED TO
LISTEN
TO
CUSTOMERS
,
EMPLOYEES
…
GO BACK FURTHER…
MANY SCHOLARS
HAD ADVOCATED TO
LISTEN
TO
CUSTOMERS
,
EMPLOYEES
…
GO BACK FURTHER…
Integrating That Feedback Back Into Products & Services…
Means you’d have better products, services, a better company,
Today Customer’s Post Comments online…
•
On review sites like – Yelp, Amazon…
•
On Facebook
•
On Twi9er
•
In Forums & CommuniEes…
Just because a company is not listening online,
doesn’t mean that customer’s are not posEng…
What should you do about that?
Come to my session tomorrow:
MulE-‐Channel Customer Service at 11:45 AM 7 Steps to IntegraEng TradiEonal with Social…
Most everything the business needs to know…
• What’s working
• What’s not working
• What would be be9er if…
Can be seen in social networks…
Word-‐of-‐mouth in social media tends to be very direct & authenEc
Witness Factor™
Describes the idea that
with social media
customer feedback
is now public
And like cave paintings,
it’s permanent—
for millions of
1-9-90
•
1% complain
•
9% respond to complainer
•
90% read but don’t post
Most of your customers
are in the 90%
Social Customer Service:
Not only good at
providing
mission critical
information
to the company…
But its public nature is
helping executives
understand why the
Contact Center
is so important
Remember the book:
Who Moved My Cheese?
•
Social Media is not going away
•
It’s not about:
•
If the cheese is going to move
•
Or where it’s moving
•
It’s what are you doing about it…
•
Do you want to learn about it now?
But Social Media has
Changed the Game
In the
Contact Center’s Favor…
The difference?
We call it the
Go Back In Time…
People Were PredicTng This…
There would be…
A place in 3me
Where the…
• Customer‘s voice
• Employee’s voice
Would start to mean something…
And there would be an enabling technology
That is web 2.0 social media…
We are here now…
MANY SCHOLARS
HAD ADVOCATED TO
LISTEN
TO
CUSTOMERS
,
EMPLOYEES
…
GO BACK FURTHER…
MANY SCHOLARS
HAD ADVOCATED TO
LISTEN
TO
CUSTOMERS
,
EMPLOYEES
…
GO BACK FURTHER…
Integrating That Feedback Back Into Products & Services…
Means you’d have better products, services, a better company,
Today Customer’s Post Comments online…
•
On review sites like – Yelp, Amazon…
•
On Facebook
•
On Twi9er
•
In Forums & CommuniEes…
Just because a company is not listening online,
doesn’t mean that customer’s are not posEng…
What should you do about that?
Come to my session tomorrow:
MulE-‐Channel Customer Service at 11:45 AM 7 Steps to IntegraEng TradiEonal with Social…
Most everything the business needs to know…
• What’s working
• What’s not working
• What would be be9er if…
Can be seen in social networks…
Word-‐of-‐mouth in social media tends to be very direct & authenEc
Witness Factor™
Describes the idea that
with social media
customer feedback
is now public
And like cave paintings,
it’s permanent—
for millions of
1-9-90
•
1% complain
•
9% respond to complainer
•
90% read but don’t post
Most of your customers
are in the 90%
Social Customer Service:
Not only good at
providing
mission critical
information
to the company…
But its public nature is
helping executives
understand why the
Contact Center
is so important
Remember the book:
Who Moved My Cheese?
•
Social Media is not going away
•
It’s not about:
•
If the cheese is going to move
•
Or where it’s moving
•
It’s what are you doing about it…
•
Do you want to learn about it now?
Our Study Looked At…
Agent ProducTvity & Costs:• A Siloed Channel Approach Agent Desktop
• Not IntegraEng All Channels
• Inaccurate Knowledge Management Databases
Customer LifeTme Value & Revenue:
• Reducing Customer Churn Rates & Increasing Sales
– Immediate Responses to NegaEve Word-‐of-‐Mouth
– ProacEve Social Customer Engagement & PosiEve Word-‐of-‐ Mouth
Agent AVtudes:
• Drive A9riEon
3 Case Studies
•
Case Study 1:
– $60M private, online community & subscripEon-‐based
services company providing sales & support
•
Case Study 2:
– $700M publically-‐traded, consumer electronics company,
providing sales & tech support
•
Case Study 3:
– $31B publically-‐traded telecommunicaEons company,
Case Study #1: Company Background
• 60 contact center agents
• QuesEons:
– Technical “how to” & Billing & product info
• Agent’s measured on
– ReducEon of churn / subscripEon saves
– Quality of interacEon
• Contact Center Management System
• Provided by outsourced vendor – Highly customized
– Lack of desktop integraEon:
• Chat
Case Study #2: Company Background
•
75 agents
•
QuesEons:
– Technical “how to” on 2500 SKUs – B2B and B2C
•
Agent’s measured on
– Quality of interacEon
– Technical proficiency
•
Contact Center Management System
• SaaS implemented 1 year ago, with some customizaEons
– Lack of desktop integraEon:
• Chat
Case Study #3: Company Background
• 1005 agents in this center; 17,000 Agents total
• 49% Agent A9riEon
• QuesEons:
– Technical “how to,” product informaEon
– Social Media posts (done by hand)
• Agent’s measured on:
– ReducEon of subscriber churn or subscripEon saves – Quality of contact
• CRM system
– 10 year old system, highly customized
– Lack of desktop integraEon:
• Chat
Case Study #3: Company Background
• 1005 agents in this center; 17,000 Agents total
• 49% Agent A9riEon
• QuesEons:
– Technical “how to,” product informaEon
– Social Media posts (done by hand)
• Agent’s measured on:
– ReducEon of subscriber churn or subscripEon saves – Quality of contact
• CRM system
– 10 year old system, highly customized
– Lack of desktop integraEon:
• Chat
We Did Time-‐MoEon Studies to Look at:
Agent ProducTvity & Costs:
– A Siloed Channel Approach Agent Desktop
– Not IntegraEng All Channels
The Time MoEon Analysis of…
•
Agents using current agent desktop
•
ProducEvity loss:
Benefits Of Improving
Agent’s Technology
•
Reduced agent frustraTon
•
Increased agent producTvity
•
Increased FCR (First Contact ResoluTon)
•
Increased posiTve word-‐of-‐mouth
•
Increased CLTV (Customer LifeTme Value)
Loss in ProducEvity due to…
• Too many screens open at once; Eme toggling
between screens • System very slow
• Having to cut and paste informaEon from one
system to another
• Knowledge bases had poor search; difficult to find
correct answers
– Long handle Emes
– Oqen not able to resolve the issue the first Eme
• Didn’t have chat or co-‐browse or it integrated to the
Loss in ProducEvity due to…
• Tweets, Facebook posts not integrated to the agent
desktop-‐ doing it by hand
– Go out to company’s Twi9er handle
– Look for comments
– Cut and paste the comment from Twi9er back into the contact center management system
– Try to idenEfy if the comment was made by a customer
– Direct Message the customer
– SomeEmes can’t match social media idenEty to customer record
– Search for answer in the knowledge base -‐ can’t find the answer….
The
Cost
of Lost ProducEvity / Year
ProducTvity Metric
Case Study
#1 Case Study #2 Case Study #3
Phone
-‐$236,040
-‐$542,072
-‐$4,440,800
eMail / chat Social Media FCR Agent A9riEonOur Study Looked At…
Customer LifeTme Value & Revenue:– Reducing Customer Churn Rates & Increasing Sales
• Immediate Responses to NegaEve Word-‐of-‐Mouth
NegaEve Word-‐of-‐Mouth Leads to
Customer Churn-‐ especially online…
“When customers
see other customer’s negaEve posts,
they believe other customers
more than the company’s
AdverEsing and MarkeEng.”
Metric Case Study #1 Case Study #2 Case Study #3
Reducing Customer
Churn / NegaEve WOM $245,592 $960,000 $640,000
“Nega&ve WOM can reduce a company’s market share by 20%.”
– McKinsey
•
Respond to negaEve comments and
•
Turn them around
•
Reduce negaEve word-‐of-‐mouth
•
And reduce customer churn
By Taking A ProacTve AcTon In Social Media
Increased Incremental Revenue / Year
Metric Case Study #1 Case Study #2 Case Study #3
Increasing CLTV/
ProacEve/ PosiEve WOM $544,000 $719,000 $3,180,000
“A high-‐impact recommenda&on—
from a trusted friend conveying a relevant message,
—is up to 50X more likely to trigger a purchase
than a low-‐impact recommenda&on.”
Word-‐of-‐mouth is the primary factor
behind 20 to 50% of all purchasing decisions.”
Why Word of Mouth Ma9ers
“
Sales
directly aJributable to the
proac&ve and posi&ve word-‐of-‐mouth
for the iPhone
outstripped those aJributable
to Apple’s
paid marke&ng-‐-‐
6-‐fold.”
-‐-‐ McKinsey
Technology’s Affect On
the Bo9om-‐line
Metric Case Study #1 Case Study #2 Case Study #3
Part 1: Agent ProducEvity
$236,040 $542,072 $4,440,800 Part 2: Customer Churn/
Customer LifeEme Value $789,592 $1,679,000 $3,820,000 The change in net profit
Technology’s Affect On
the Bo9om-‐line
TOTAL $1,025,632 $2,232,592 $9,240,800
Metric Case Study #1 Case Study #2 Case Study #3
Part 1: Agent ProducEvity
$236,040 $542,072 $4,440,800 Part 2: Customer Churn/
Customer LifeEme Value $789,592 $1,679,000 $3,820,000 The change in net profit
Our Study Looked At…
Agent AVtudes:
• Drive A9riEon
What Agent’s Told Us…The Results
“Having many screens open,
remembering different login passwords and toggling back
and forth becomes tedious, &resome and nega&vely affects
our aPtude & our work”
What Agent’s Told Us…The Results
“Less of us would leave if the technology we use everyday
was easier to use; our job would be less repe&&ve and
less stressful”
“We know that we can not only convert
poten&al customers into customers
but how we interact with customers drive sales
But the company has to understand this and give
us the right tools”
“I’m a customer.
I know that when I see nega&ve posts, it discourages me from
buying stuff
Our company has to start paying aJen&on to social
media…”
WHY IS CHANGE DIFFICULT?
1. OrganizaTonal PoliTcs
• Lack of cross-‐funcEonal collaboraEon
• MarkeEng or PR department owns the Facebook
WHY IS CHANGE DIFFICULT?
1. OrganizaTonal PoliTcs
• Lack of cross-‐funcEonal collaboraEon
• MarkeEng or PR department owns the Facebook page and/or all social channels
2. Ability to Adopt to Change
WHY IS CHANGE DIFFICULT?
1. OrganizaTonal PoliTcs
• Lack of cross-‐funcEonal collaboraEon
• MarkeEng or PR department owns the Facebook page and/or all
social channels
2. Ability to Adopt to Change
• Changing current methods of operaEng are daunEng
3. Training
• Making changes to how agents & outsourced providers
conduct tasks is Eme consuming
• Siloed systems increase training costs
WHY IS CHANGE DIFFICULT?
OrganizaTonal PoliTcs
• Lack of cross-‐funcEonal collaboraEon
• MarkeEng or PR department owns the Facebook page and/or all social
channels
Ability to Adopt to Change
• Changing current methods of operaEng can be daunEng
Training
• Making changes to how agents & outsourced providers conduct tasks is
Eme consuming
• Siloed systems increase training costs
4. Outsourcing Vendor Alignment
• Reliance on an outsourced provider’s platorm for soqware & hardware
5. Legacy Systems
• Large rip and replace/integraEon decisions can take
Eme to approve within IT and the company
WHY IS CHANGE DIFFICULT?
5. Legacy Systems
• Large rip and replace/integraEon decisions can take Eme to
approve within IT and the company
6. Too Many Choices
• ProliferaEon of soqware choices w/varying features,
funcEons and maturity
WHY IS CHANGE DIFFICULT?
5. Legacy Systems
• Large rip and replace/integraEon decisions can take Eme to
approve within IT and the company
6. Too Many Choices
• ProliferaEon of soqware choices w/varying features, funcEons
and maturity
7. Recent Soiware Investments
• Are not state-‐of-‐the-‐art, may be already outdated or not
easily extensible
WHY IS CHANGE DIFFICULT?
5. Legacy Systems
• Large rip and replace/integraEon decisions can take Eme to approve within IT
and the company
6. Too Many Choices
• ProliferaEon of soqware choices w/varying features, funcEons and maturity
7. Recent Soqware Investments
• Are not state-‐of-‐the-‐art, may be already outdated or not easily extensible
8. Need the Business Case
• OperaEonal costs and topline revenue impact of
making changes has not been quanEfied in terms of benefits and ROI to the company
PracTcal Steps To Take
• Review the case studies in depth
• Get execuEve buy-‐in to benchmark your organizaEon
• Get outside help to benchmark your content – and bolster
credibility
• Review the analysis
• Create the business case for change to people, process
and technology
• Present it to execuEves and get approval
• Create a short-‐ and long-‐term plan
• Get to it before your compeEtors beat you to it!
