One of the things I learned long ago about business in general and about contact centers in particular, is that you can’t do everything at once.

Concentrating on the key issues that could address 80% of the customer’s problems will give you enough payoff, to buy you time to get to the next twenty.

In all the customer research I have consumed over the years, it is clear that customers value two aspects of the customer support experience over any others:

1. Answer the phone/chat/mail/ now.

2. Solve my problem today.

These two criteria correlate directly with Average Speed of Answer (ASA) and First Call Resolution (FCR).

All aspects and variables in a call center have been identified or created in order to better manage these 2 issues.

I believe if you cannot manage these 2 aspects, very little else will matter.

Once you do these, let’s work on the accents !

Just read a post here, which considers if investors are/should be concerned about Comcast Cable’s alleged lack of customer centricity.

I believe the the answer is a resounding YES. Extreme Customer Satisfaction is one of the main drivers of loyalty in a commoditized environment.

Harvard Business Review published the article “Beating the Market with Customer Satisfaction”, Christopher W. Hart, March 2007, where they discuss the groundbreaking study by Michigan University which shows direct impact of customer satisfaction on market valuation.

The study follows a hedge fund containing only the top rated companies on the American Customer Satisfaction Index. The results show this fund beats out the market without exception. Here is the chart.

Yes, Comcast Investors should care. I sold my shares.

Are XCS and sustainable increases in sales mutually exclusive?
I have had this discussion too many times to count. But, it doesn’t get any easier.
I believe XCS and increased sales are very compatible. Sales is a long term enterprise, even if your boss is whipping you for quota this month.

Konusuke Matsushita, the founder of Panasonic said it best, (not verbatim )”we as industrialists have a responsibility to add value to society and to improve the quality of life of our fellow man. As such, profit is the just reward provided us by society for successfully fulfilling this responsibilty, daily”.
His philosphy held we should not worry about profit, we should just worry about adding value to society.
If we did, everything else will fall into place. Mr. Matsushita was not suggesting that we run our businesses ignoring the bottom line. But if our intentions and our efforts are focused on, and successful at adding value, the rest will probably take care of itself. To some taking this line of thinking seriously may require taking a great leap of faith. To others it may seem easily applied.For too long we have held Sales to be a “cut throat”, “at all costs” discipline.
I remember growing up my father thoroughly disliked sales people.

He thought they all wanted to get their hands in you pockets. He was not pleased when I became head of sales many years later. Is this the real essence of sales? The stereotypical used car salesman?
I think preditory behavior is almost always a short-cut to an ends, but almost never the best way to skin the cat.
An XCS-based sales person, builds relationships, honestly caring for his prospective customer’s best interest, finding a way to add value through the product or the relationship that well justifies the cost.
Sure, if you didn’t care about your customer you could probably sell more in the short term, but will you ever realize the lifetime value of that customer? NO.

My broker, always did what he thought was right for me and as a result more than once took lesser commissions. When he left Ameriprise for Merril guess what I did?

XCS and sales go together like Peanut Butter and Jelly.
Don’t you think?

As we move towards customer loyalty through great service experiences the issue of Contact Center Staffing always arises as a major issue.

In my experience many Contact Centers accept the difficulty of “Staffing for Success” as insurmountable. It is not.

The mantra for any contact center manager is:

The Right People in the Right Seats at the Right Time

let’s split it into two sections . . . . .

1. Right people in the right seats (a reference to Good to Great-if you haven’t read it, I recommend it) and

2. At the right time.

1. Right People in the Right Seats- Although we value exceptional service as critically important, not all people have the mindset or the inclination to provide it. Customer Centricity cannot be faked, or imposed. Therefore, finding people with the “Right” aptitude is vital. If our people do not derive pleasure from exceeding customer’s expectations, they can become more of a liability than an asset.

Employee attrition is at epidemic proportions, often reaching over 50%. Most of these occur in the first 90 days, after we have spent time and funds to train them. Did you know that the cost of attrition is between $6,000 and $8,000 per employee? How many do you loose every year? Do the math.

Countermeasures for ensuring a good fit are: Make sure your prospects fully understand the scope of the job. Do not oversell the position as a “sales executive position” when in fact it is an entry level customer support position.

A prospective employees psychological profile is also important. A collections agent must be less empathetic than a customer support agent, for example. It is important that the prospective employee fully understand the job and be the type of person that will derive pleasure from assisting customers with their needs. it may sound unlikely to those not in our field, but there are people that actually enjoy helping others (sorry for the sarcasm)

I suggest the use of professional recruiters who utilize profile testing in order to ensure the right fit. The benefits will be lower attrition rates, increased customer satisfaction and a more easily manageable culture.

2. At the Right Time - Making sure we are ready for the customers when they need us is equally important, but not easily done.

Reasons for this shortfall may be, lack of forecasting ability, unpredictable employee compliance to work schedules, lack of budgets,etc. Whatever the reason, creating dissatisfied customers because we are not ready to support our business is not good for anyone.

Take a look at what is negatively affecting your efficiency so that you can reduce the insatiable need. The answer to more people is not always people, but better processes. How many times do your agents need to get up from their stations to complete necessary processes? Are the agents properly trained to find the necessary answers easily or they fumble in their attempts. Are you providing them with the information they need?

If processes are not the problem, consider self help solutions in your phone queues as well as on your website (1 agent can handle up to 3 simultaneous web chats).

When customers don’t need to call back multiples times becuase they reached the right person and had their their problem addressed on the first attempt, beautiful things begin to happen to your volume and customer satisfaction. Volume usually goes down as customer satisfaction rises (satisfied customers don’t call back and don’t take 2 minutes ranting at the start of each call).

If you measure the First call resolution rate of your support staff you can calculate the savings in volume you will get from having the right people in the right seats at the right time.

Things to consider:

Integrated Workforce Management systems – will help you forecast the volume as well as the type of people you will need per Queue.

ACDs with Skills Based Routing – pay for themselves in no time, by bringing together the right customer with the right agent.

Integrated Training solutions – providing the appropriate training for your agents based on their customer’s satisfaction levels is critical to reducing Average Handle Time and increasing First Call Resolution.

Survey your customers – As quickly as possible after the experience and feed the results back to your agents. Agents tend to listen to the customer’s comments much more than they do to your QA staff.

The biggest determinant of Customer Satisfaction is First Call/Visit Resolution. To do this we must have the “Right People in the Right Seats at the Right Time”

In 1987 Jan Carlzon wrote a great little book called “Moments of Truth”. Carlzon used this phrase to describe that moment when a company touches a customer and a good or a poor lasting impression could be made.

This book started me thinking about how to create change in the customer experience.

He was right, no matter how you slice it our customer’s experience is inextricably tied to those Moments of Truth or touchpoints.

So, if you want to improve your level of customer satisfaction, you must address those touchpoints.

Following is a simplified approach I use in the XCS methodology, to manage touchpoints:

Step 1- Identify the touchpoints. A typical company can have hundreds of touchpoints, but the good news is that the 80/20 rule also applies to touchpoints. There are methods to identify hidden touchpoints. I can discuss that further is anyone cares to know the details.

Step 2- Identify those touchpoints with highest ability to affect XCS.

Since XCS comes from our ability to transform a transaction into an emotional event, then touchpoints with high XCS potential,would be those with large customer volumes and high level of potential emotion. These will usually be such touchpoints as Customer contact centers, websites, service departments, etc.

Step 3 – Understand the customer’s expectation – It is critical that in our effort to understand the customer’s expectation, we don’t impose our perception on the customer. Believe it or not, we are not usually right in our perception of customer needs. A short survey to your customers can provide the answer.

Step 4- During the same survey, assess the customer satisfaction level of the touchpoint. I use Dissatisfied, Satisfied and Extremely Satisfied, include the reason why they feel the way they do.

Step 5- Now, identify those things that would help to exceed the customer’s expectations. You don’t have to give away the store. The goal is to create positive emotion as a result of receiving more than expected.

Step 6 – Identify the process or policy change necessary to exceed the customer’s expectations and implement it and implement.

Step 7 – Measure:

• improvement in customer satisfaction
• Improvement in repurchase and willingness to recommend.

Some touchpoints are easier to manage than others. For example, the way a customer is greeted at a store is an important touchpoint and can be easily managed. However, a complex touchpoint such as a Customer Contact Center, may be much more difficult to manage. But at least the goal will be clear to all.

Manage your touchpoints to exceed the customer expectation and you will create loyalty.

Shelly- My Friend the Realtor.

Some of you may know I just moved to Salt Lake City about 3 weeks ago.

The process started with my co-worker and now friend Trish, who early on offered to set me up with the “Best Realtor in the World“, as she called her. Thinking I could use the best in the world, I agreed and so started my adventures with Shelly.

Once I agreed to move forward with Shelly, I received a phone call to discuss my criteria. By the next time I came to SLC, a week later, Shelly had sifted through over 50 properties to create a visiting list of 20. She picked Trish and I up at my hotel and before I knew it, I was in the back seat with a stack of the properties she had prepared, in planned viewing order. That day, we saw an unbelieveable 20 properties in one day. The list of 20 quickly became a list of 5. We chose a house to bid on, which as it turns out was not meant to be for me.

About this time Shelly went into overdrive. She mentioned that although we were not able to get the house I liked, she would find me something as good or better. At this point, Shelly recruited her husband, who she thought also understood my taste. They saw another 2o properties which in turn became a list of 10 to check out.

We went out on a viewing rampage again, and I found a house I love.

The difference between Shelly and any other Realtor I’ve had is good listening practices and personal involvement. We could all learn something from Shelly. After our first outing together, she knew exactly what I wanted. Furthermore, she trained her husband to know what I liked and took personal time to find what I needed. After a little while, it started feeling like I had a realtor friend who was giving me special attention.

After the closing Shelly called me to meet at the house so she could give me the keys. “I’m bringing David” (her husband), she said. When I asked her why, she said, so we can help you unload your moving truck (a 26 ft truck I rented to move from NJ). I fought the idea, but she and David would not have it any other way. They helped my son and I unload in the snow.

When I went inside the house, all the shower heads in all 3 bathrooms had been replaced with beautiful, high-end heads. Then I remembered I had mentioned to her during our walkthrough of the house that I didn’t like the shower heads in the house.

Suddenly I realized I DID have a friend who was a Realtor. She had transformed a transaction into an emotional, fun and personal experience. Did she make money? Yes, but she made a friend in the process. Now I too know “The Best Realtor in the World“.

Extreme Customer Satisfaction is giving the customer Slightly more than they expect. Shelly you had me sold on you on the first day !

If you need Shelly, look up Remax Results (866-806-sold)i n Salt Lake City and tell them you’d like to work with the best agent in the world, they’ll know who you mean. You’ll be glad you did.

Thanks Shelly and David, you guys Rock !

Ok, here is some proof . . . .

The Consumer Electronics Association carries out a large survey every year, in which two of the many questions are:

1) Are you Extremely Satisfied, Satisfied or Dissatisfied with the brand of your purchase?

and,

2) Will you Definitely buy the same brand the next time you need another similar product?

Take a look . . . . .

about 1% of dissatisfied customers say they will definitely purchase again. This makes sense.

But, only 8% of satisfied customers say they will buy the same brand. I was surprised when I first saw that statistic.

The real surprise is that 70% of customers who’s expectations were surpassed, pledged to buy again. WOW!!

Thats an 8.75 X increase in propensity to repurchase between customers who are “satisfied” and those who are “Extremely Satisfied”. I want some of that !

Giving customers more than they expect, transforms a financial transaction into an emotional event which creates a bond with the brand.

POW ! LOYALTY !

No brainer, right?

Ok, I’ll say it . . . I think most of corporate America would rather play golf !

Have you ever heard the saying – “the customer is always right”? Of course, we all have.

Did you know that it’s at least 5 times less expensive to keep an existing customer than it is to gain a new one? I’m willing to guess most of have heard this or a similar statistic. Inherently, we know these, and a million other similar statements to be true. Then why is it that most companies place so little emphasis on maintaining the loyalty of current customers?

I believe the biggest reasons is: Read more »