As I’ve been working in the field of Customer Relationship Management for several years now and I personally doubt that there is one single approach that captures all aspects of a company’s customer relations strategy. 

However, there are some great thoughts in the article that show a logical correlation between concern resolution and customer loyalty. Moreover I absolutely agree with the authors’ systematic approach: If a problem or task seems too complex or complicated you have to start simplifying it!

By investigating thousands of global customers’ feedback in the automotive industry over several years, Percepta has proven that there is a correlation between the so-called soft-skills, the percentage of solving customer issues and customer loyalty. To put it in a nutshell – the influence on customer loyalty must be analysed from different points of view whilst also considering the differences that are based on the specific industry. According to the industry and the product the ‘loyalty pie’ might also be based on your retailer network (and their service performance) or the usability of your product – which goes beyond the simple product quality requirement.

However, the article showed some really concerning stats around “channel-switching-barriers” for customers and concluded with tactic recommendations for customer service which were really helpful. Percepta has already implemented the most important ones from the article some time ago:

“Don’t just resolve the current issue – head off the next one” [2]

Percepta’s customer service processes consist of a strong follow-up and courtesy call process through the customer journey; in each of the touch points the concern will be resolved.

“Arm reps to address to the emotional side” [3]

Social competence training in attitude, courtesy and knowledge will be trained from induction to the day-to-day working experience. Even the internal evaluation and audits are based on the fulfillment of those values.

“Use feedback from disgruntled or struggling customers to reduce customer effort” [4]

Feedback of struggling customers is analysed and used to forecast future customer issues and interaction throughout the customer-life-cycle. In the meantime, information is shared with all required departments to improve the product or service before it reaches the customer.

Please tell me your point of view – how are you generating true customer loyalty?

[1] cp. Harvard Business Review July – August 2010, Stop trying to delight your Customers, p. 116
[2] cp. Harvard Business Review July – August 2010, Stop trying to delight your Customers, p. 119
[3] cp. Harvard Business Review July – August 2010, Stop trying to delight your Customers, p. 120
[4] cp. Harvard Business Review July – August 2010, Stop trying to delight your Customers, p. 121

By contributing their own important events to the timeline, Lincoln team members experienced a sense of belonging to the Ford-Lincoln community and its history, and left them eager to be part of this exciting opportunity in creating the Lincoln Customer Experience.  

Michelle Gellene and Sonya Showley designed the activity in order to bring the team together with a hand’s on approach to reviewing Ford’s timeline. Sonya provided the idea for using a timeline from her past experiences at other organizations while Michelle was responsible for collecting most of the Ford and Lincoln history for the timeline and facilitating the activity.

“People commit to things they help create.” Sonya stated. “By getting the Lincoln team involved in creating the timeline and adding their personal histories they were able to begin to experience a sense of fitting into the Lincoln community and its history.”

Feedback from the participants was mixed regarding what was most impactful.  The majority of Lincoln team members agreed their ability to personalize the Ford-Lincoln timeline greatly enhanced their experience, while a few others were just blown away by Ford’s historical significance.  The activity promoted group cohesion at an early stage of new hire training and helped set the stage for the rest of the team’s learning experience together.  The activity not only opened the participants’ eyes to Ford’s longstanding and distinguished history; it provided an opportunity for them to draw connections to their lives.

Mary A.  said “I thought it was a great exercise.  It put into perspective the whole history of Ford, and it put our lives in the mix.  I could look at the year I was born and say ‘Hey, look what Ford was doing at that time!’ It’s a cool thing.  I liked it a lot…being able to put our lives and Ford history together.”

Pat H. said “Initially [in class] you’re preoccupied, wondering what the class is going to offer, but the timeline activity was a fun way for everyone to learn a little about each other.”

Brian H. said “I thought it was great to view our own personal timeline, as well as everyone in class, along with Ford’s evolution…it made things a little more real.”

Star M. said “Well, for me, since I enjoy the older vehicles, it was a nice way to tie in my love for the hobby—learning about the classics—into my role as a Lincoln Customer Care Specialist.  It was a nice bridge between those two aspects.  I think for some of the others in my group, it was also really neat for them to learn the history…and it was nice that it was tailored towards Lincoln.  I think people tend to hear a lot about Ford, but we don’t hear a lot about Lincoln history.  I believe a bulk of the history is with Lincoln, so learning about the brand history was great…and then adding our personalization to the timeline…it’s always neat to learn about your team members.  It brings us closer as a team.  Even if we don’t know the people per se, we know where they’re coming from.”

This activity helped build team brand loyalty between our employees and the client. In turn, employees will feel a connection to the brand and their customers. 

It doesn’t take much to understand that the world has changed significantly over the past 10-20 years.  How did we ever live without the internet and how in the world did we ever get anything done without email?  Today we are all connected at the click of a link, the touch of a screen, or the tweet of a tweet.  It doesn’t matter that we are even “wired in” anymore.  In fact, it is rather “old school” to be communicating with a device that isn’t wireless or 3G or 4G; is there a 5G?  I can’t keep up.  The point is, consumers expect to be supported via live chat and social media nowadays.  It is no longer a nice surprise to a customer when a company provides support via these mediums, it is expected. 

At Percepta, we have supported customers through live chat for over 3 years now.  The way in which you approach chat support can vary and it largely depends on the amount of dedicated resources as well as the type of support you are providing; Technical support v. Sales/Product support. 

Chat Support Options

Understanding your website as well as the goals of your website is critical before deciding whether you want to provide chat support via a static or dynamic button.

Having a static chat button means that the consumer will always see a chat button when they log into your website, as long as it is within hours of operation. 

A dynamic chat button is rule-based or triggered by customer behavior.  In other words, if a customer lands on a page for more than a few minutes, a rule can be set to trigger a chat option to the customer.  Additionally, specific links clicked within a website can trigger an offer of chat support.  

You can also maximize agent bandwidth by having agents handle two or more concurrent chats (customers) at a time.  End of chat surveys provide an opportunity to capture customer feedback and gauge satisfaction.

Percepta has recently begun Remote chat support often known as agent-at-home.   The primary benefits of remote chat support include:

• Reduction of costs generally driven by brick and mortar centers.
• Increased employee satisfaction.
• Retention of top talent.
• Expands employee recruitment base beyond the immediate geographic area which provides a more qualified talent pool.

Social Media

So if live chat support is a 7 on the scary scale, the idea of any type of social media support is usually a full fledged 10.   I am talking about waking up in the middle of the night, heart pounding, drenched in sweat kind of scary.   Once you take the first step however, you will find that the journey is more rewarding and revealing than you could have ever imagined.

Joining the masses in social media requires the establishment of rules of engagement which needs to include a code of conduct.  While there is absolutely a need for protocol and rules, they exist to level set or remind agents of the importance and visibility of each engagement.  Adherence should not be achieved or enforced through canned messages however.  We need to ensure we are part of the conversation and we must truly leave our marketing hats out of the conversation.

Assembling your Social Media team should start with a point of contact or a social media strategist.  This person will direct the team and its engagement by identifying items or conversations that impact brand perception.  It is important the representatives that engage with customers are well-versed or knowledgeable on the subjects they are responding to as well as perceptive and versatile enough to respond to different scenarios and various personalities.

Percepta today supports its client’s customer base  in the following areas:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Numerous forums and message boards

The conclusion is quite simple.  The good old days are gone.  The information days are here.  Supporting or engaging your customers through live chat and social media is no longer an option, it is now an expectation.  With Facebook alone predicted to reach one billion users by 2012 can you afford to be stuck in a 1999 mentality? 

So don’t be afraid.  Come on out.  Honest.  It’s not scary at all!

After calling 3 more times (different days), I finally got them to schedule a service appointment.  Even then, the girl told me that I will be charged $80 if the problem turned out to be a loose cable or something I did to the box.  I’m thinking, after 4 calls all of that would have been covered, and the nerve of her to actually imply that I didn’t have the brains to check the cables.

I have to say, after speaking with 4 different people on 4 separate occasions, in the same call center, I really do not want to give them my business.  Unfortunately, they are the only cable provider in my area.  To change service would mean I’d have to move.  I feel like a hostage, with no ransom request. 

Why is that?  Why should a customer, paying good money, have to feel that way?

I just transferred from one program and I am learning a new program.  One of the things I’ve learned is that within the last year they have enhanced the Soft Skills training that is geared towards teaching agents the importance of building a relationship with the customer by showing empathy and building rapport. 

It covers things such as differentiating sympathy vs. empathy and techniques used to empathize with the customer.  Using proper phrases when communicating with our customers so you don’t sound accusatory or condescending (would have been nice if the cable company’s agents knew some of these), identifying customer’s personal needs as well as their business needs, and how to create brand loyalty.

All of this training is all well and good, but the question is, do the agents actually apply it and does it work.

Well, let me give you an example.

I recently listened to a call by one of our agents, Jackie.  The customer called in because they were highly unsatisfied with the overall quality of the vehicle and their experience at the dealership.  Jackie successfully empathized, built a strong rapport with the customer, and acknowledged the customer’s business and personal needs.  Because of this she was able to convince the customer to go back to the same dealership to have the vehicle diagnosed.

Later that week I was made aware that this customer called our center back to advise that he traded the vehicle in for a brand new one, and was even looking at another vehicle for his wife.

Based on that call and personal experience, I strongly believe that by providing the right training and coaching, good, no, great customer service equals loyal customers.

Great customer service may be hard to find, but I am happy to say that, at Percepta, we are working together to change that and provide world class service for our customers.

My personal online accounts have been flooded with comments from friends, colleagues and business contacts about the recent ‘disaster’ caused by system failure from BlackBerry owner Research in Motion (RIM).

So what got people so upset?

Well, firstly it was the problem itself. People today just expect that, as most of our lives are run by or with technology, it should always work – 100%, every minute of every day. That just doesn’t happen.

But overwhelmingly, the comments I read are about the complete lack of information from BlackBerry, with one or two messages posted each day on Twitter advising that something is wrong (well that’s a no-brainer to every single user). What makes this even worse is that news channels report the PR releases that all will be fixed soon and the days tick on where some customers just don’t see a fix in sight.

From such a tech-savvy business, I think we could be right in saying we expected them to handle the failure, and importantly the expectation, much better.

Why have so many channels of communication and not use them? The nature of Twitter, for example, is right now! Not 12 hours ago, but the last few minutes.

So, what could we learn from this?

Firstly, be multichannel. If you are going to open channels of communication with your customers, use them and allow them to be used.

Secondly, engage. The disaster might not be just so bad if only someone had kept things updated. From the messages I have read, slowly but surely over the past 24 hours, people started to come online. Well that’s a good message, so let your customers know that is happening and reassure.

Thirdly, act. Fix the problem (obviously). But now it’s known that millions of customers aren’t happy, prepare for the fall out. Have a plan to respond to those complaints & requests for compensation. Get your staff up to date on your simple ‘policy’ to help them respond quickly.

Maybe, a good response from the company and a good fall-out plan might just save the day.

For the moment, I’m sticking with my Apple though – with my fingers crossed.

Alan

We are looking for an experienced and dynamic individual to support our Marketing Team as Marketing Assistant.

What You’ll Do

You will be responsible for supporting the region’s business development & marketing strategy by providing day to day support and administration as well as arranging the production of materials and marketing copy.  Your duties will include the following (this list is not exhaustive):

• Produce marketing materials (brochures, leaflets, presentations) for use in marketing and sales activity and coordinate distribution of such materials (with creative from others).
• Produce quarterly client e-newsletters, and manage eCampaigns in line with the annual plan.
• Maintain accounts and subscription to online services, measuring return on our investment.
• Develop and implement techniques that drive traffic to Percepta sources and encourage prospects to make contact with Percepta, always ensuring that all online and offline presence reflect consistent Percepta messages.
• Become the business lead for the Percepta CRM application, ensure appropriate use and providing the necessary training for users
• Design and produce (with Technology) the necessary regular and ad-hoc reports that allow the Management Team to assess the sales pipeline, understand resources and identify further opportunities to grow.
• Create and manage (following necessary approvals) successful working relationships with all external marketing suppliers, ensuring all suppliers have a clear understanding of the Percepta brand and represent the Company appropriately through their activity.
• Support the Executive Assistant in proof reading tender and bid documents, organizing the printing, approval and submission of new business bids where appropriate, and developing and maintaining accurate standard records for bid submission.
• Manage the Regional Corporate Office switchboard and the enquiries email box.

What you’ll need

• 5 GCSE’s or equivalent, or a Certificate in Marketing from college or university
• Experience of marketing in a B2B or outsourcing environment (digital/online would be advantageous).
• Excellent business writing skills, along with the ability to produce creative marketing and brand materials, for both internal and external audiences.
• Ability to understand data and to create and present reports to various audiences.
• Excellent time management skills
• Excellent communication skills
• An understanding of B2B social media, along with SEO, PPC and eCampaign design are desirable.

If this sounds like the job for you, head on over to our careers website and fill in the application form  by 4.00pm on Wednesday, 12^th October 2011.

Are you happy with that? Did we help you? How nice was Jenny?

On the face of it, these questions will help you identify a level of customer satisfaction on a particularly narrow element on the service you have delivered.

But is it really enough, other than being able to praise Jenny (which is very important, of course)?

I joined a Webinar a few days ago, posted as understanding customer satisfaction. I was hoping to hear about innovative ways to measure customer opinion, how multiple ways of gathering Voice of Customer information can be effective and to maybe learn about some great tips or ineffective practices already tried by others. Instead, the speakers talked about IVR surveys and shared their research results:

• that just answering the call quickly isn’t enough
• that most contact centres don’t meet their 80/20 call service levels and the ratio should be adjusted
• that giving contact centre advisors access to wider information about the customer helps improve the level of service

Fair enough. I don’t think many would argue with that. And maybe some didn’t know it. But is this innovation in the service world?

For me, customer satisfaction is about much more than happiness with a transaction. True, an indicator of ‘how well did we do today’ can be helpful, but is it really useful? Did your interaction (or transaction, depending on the setup of your service operation) really have an impact?

In the current climate, it might now be time for service operations, call or contact centres to reduce the amount of time they look inward at their KPIs & SLAs and start to find ways of demonstrating their value to the wider business. And the best way to do this could start with a look at the wider customer experience (CE). Now, this is a term we hear more and more every day, but I realise when talking to people that it has a variety of meanings in practice. CE, for me, is about a holistic view. It’s about identifying customer touch points with the brand, product and company, and tying key pieces of information together to form a story on true customer opinion and feeling – Voice of Customer, along with customer action.

I was curious to read customer service mystery shopping results in a well-known monthly mag on contact centres. They have slipped in the phrase ‘customer experience’ to replace what used to be ‘service’. But the measures of ‘how pleasant was he’ and ‘asking questions’ remains the same. Maybe CEM is destined for the same generic bin as CRM a while back.

Some points to think about:

• Make call centre SLAs your foundation and a task for a specialist or leaders to manage the balance, not the focus of your Advisors. And if you use AHT/ATT as a core performance measure, you are potentially stifling good customer conversation and future sales.
• Think about measuring the impact of your service, and not the just service alone – Have you recovered a defecting customer? Have you secured customer loyalty? Have you increased potential future sales value?
• Recognise the drivers of customer contact in a true form, and share your findings across the business on a regular basis. If you gather hard evidence that lack of information or advice in your literature or on the web is a cause for contact, for example, let the relevant people know!
• Think about training your team, then engaging your team, on Lifetime Customer Value. What drives a great customer experience and what role does everyone play? Do you know the potential future customer value that your operation could drive?
• Consider whether a peer-led operating structure might work for you. Rather than leaders pushing for stats, change your approach to one where each Advisor, Supervisor, TL, Manager demonstrates their contribution to peers. Maybe not so much competition as contribution.
• Stick at it….moving to a serious customer focused operation from stats focused operation takes time. Have the courage of your conviction, keep your team engaged and it will happen if you want it to.

Saving on costs, making money and keeping customers happy are key themes. This can be achieved by doing things better, not just quicker. 

As always, would be great to hear your views.

A quick search on Twitter for a product or a service will display some incredible insight into what your consumers are thinking…so why are some people still choosing to ignore this? It’s both free AND real-time. You can know within minutes of a television commercial if it’s loved/loathed, you can check on the day of a launch of a new product whether it’s gone down well, or let you know if there are any safety issues.

So why aren’t we all out there? I want to know your opinions on this…what are your biggest challenges to getting the go-ahead on Social Media presence? Is it an age thing? Fear? Lack of knowledge? Let me know in the comments…

My question above recently sparked a debate on a number of LinkedIn Group Discussions. What quickly became very clear is that one size does not fit all! And the solution is dependent on many factors, not least upon whether your board is prepared to invest (or are interested) in providing a call experience that promotes customer satisfaction, repurchase and advocacy.

Here are some of the areas you may want to consider to get it right. I’m not going to take all the credit for these as

it’s a mixture of my experience and comments from the discussions:

• Where possible, allow agents to take ownership of the caller’s request and the outcome. Call handlers should be part of the solution finding process, rather than simply the speakers of words. This will also promote a culture focused on delivering outcomes that are satisfactory for the customer, rather than obsessing about the content of calls.

• Review your agent training and coaching – are you giving your people the right skills and knowledge to create positive outcomes for YOUR customers, or are you simply repeating an exercise that worked for a different organisation?

• Throw your rigid call scripts away! Instead, create an easily accessible knowledge base that caters for a wide range of customers needs. Allow your agents to contribute to its development by giving them the freedom to share information and change it in line with customer expectations. Of course, you need to ensure that commercial policies and processes are adhered to, but by allowing real conversations to take place, your customers and agents will feel a lot more valued.

• Ensure that your KPI’s, metrics and targets include measuring the call outcome (First Call Resolution, Net Promoter Score, Customer Satisfaction) as well as the operational basics. Most customers will be more concerned about the result of the call than the service provided.

• Reward behaviours that provide consistently resolved outcomes. That means incentivising effectiveness rather than efficiency – think about it.

• I know it’s stating the bleeding obvious but make sure you know what the caller’s desired outcome is at the start of the call. I’ve lost count of the amount of times I’ve clearly stated the nature of my call only to be transferred through numerous IVR options to end up with someone saying “I don’t deal with that…”. Aahh!

• Consider whether the call outcome only solves part of the caller’s problem when in reality it means they have to go elsewhere to find a complete resolve. For example, if your process allows agents to guide callers to where they can find an answer, then great. But if that caller then has to spend 30 minutes struggling through a website to finish the job, are they really going to be satisfied?

• Survey your customers and callers on a scheduled basis. Expectations change, so don’t make the mistake of implementing changes based on assumption.

What are your thoughts?

As I say I have not seen this black hole, maybe it’s in a cloud somewhere (ha ha), but it must exist.  The reason I’ve come to this conclusion is that I have, over the years, filled in surveys, attended forums, spoken to sales and customer service people…the list is endless.  I provided these companies with my thoughts on the experiences I’ve had; always willing to state my views on things but I can’t remember anyone who has sent me any feedback following my input.  Did they take any notice or was the data just sucked up into the “The data blackhole”?

A colleague of mine recently wrote a blog on the subject entitled “What do you do with your customer feedback”  which generated a number of comments from people who have worked on customer feedback programmes where they gave examples of where things have been changed due to the feedback that had been received.  I couldn’t find many that referred to feedback, back to the customer.  So I wanted to check.  How many experiences have you had, as a customer, where companies have said “Thanks, we could not have done it without you” or  “Because of you, we have been able to improve the service we give”?