Worst Case Scenario for Delivering New Customer Value

Here is a worst case scenario:

• A well known product, already experienced by the entire market.
• It’s had many re-introductions in different forms, packages, and industry verticals.
• Fully commoditized.
• The market may be emotionally attached to the original version so the new version may be potentially undesirable.

We must agree that under such a scenario new value-add, demand and certainly loyalty would be difficult to achieve.

However, if we are willing to look beyond our paradigms, and if we know our customers well enough to offer them something they never knew they wanted,
then, maybe we have a chance to lead.

Take a look:

What is special about this video?
Knowing your customer is the key to adding unforeseen value.

Rudy Vidal
Committed to XCL

BlackBerry – Taking Their Eye Off the Ball?

We prefer to find good examples of customer centricity to make our point.
However, sometimes examples of poor alignment with customer values can serve as helpful warning beacons.

First, I must say that I love BlackBerry products, they are reliable and do the job.

Today I was delighted to see BlackBerry had corrected their lack of a Desktop Manager for Mac, which has caused me countless hours of grief in trying to sync my PDA and Entourage on my Mac. I was excited, so I followed the link and downloaded the software.

Here is my experience:

1.  The download did not include a pdf of the instructions. I went to the website to find the instructions and also found release notes – Cool.
2.  Oops, the release notes say that when synchronizing with Entourage there are several unresolved issues with data integrity, the same ones that were giving me grief with the third party software.
3.  I decided to call the contact center to ask if the release notes were still current and/or to get advice on whether I should make the switch.  No phone number listed for customer support.  They have self help and forums, I spent 15 minutes looking for an answer then gave up.
4.  Decided to send an email to the support desk with my question – I received a reply saying the email was not delivered, we have self-help options or payed-for-support.

• Why would a device come without necessary software to synch to well known computers?
• Why would they deliver software without operating instructions?
• Why would they deliver software that does not work, and not let you know before you download?
• Why would they lead customers to believe there is a support email address when there is not?
• Why would they consider reliable customer support for business people something beyond their responsibility?

The answer could be simple, and it can happen to any company in the blink of an eye:
Sometimes we may not consider the effects of our business decisions on the customer experience.
Perhaps even less if our products are leading the market.

Well, it’s not about the product, its about the customer and the company’s alignment to their values.

My 7 years of BlackBerry usage mean nothing if I don’t feel the company is ready to support me when I need them.

The point here is that great companies can quickly loose their footing simply by forgetting that we are no longer in a product economy.
Products are great, but no longer brand differentiators.  The differentiator is now the customer experience due to the company’s integrity of purpose.

My partner Donna Root, said it perfectly yesterday :  ” A company’s alignment to their purpose is critical because in an experience economy customers care about “HOW” companies win.”

Your customers have evolved.  Their criteria for loyalty has shifted to a more holistic view.  They care about what company’s stand for and about their authenticity in that purpose.

What does your company stand for?

Rudy Vidal
Committed to XCL

A master of Experience and Differentiation

Friends,

Some of you may remember this posting from over a year ago.

As the need to differentiate becomes more and more critical, I thought I would have Johnny remind us
how its done.

This is a perfect example of the importance of the experience and the value of differentiation.

Enjoy.

Click for Johnny’s Video

Thank you.

Some Lessons Learned

This posting includes video, please click here to see the post on Xtreme Customer Loyalty Blog

Thank you

Rudy Vidal
Committed to XCL

10 Considerations for Successful Contact Center Culture Shifts-Part 1

In this series of 3 postings, we will cover 10 considerations for creating successful cultures shifts in support contact centers.  Although not a complete or exhaustive list, it calls attention to areas often overlooked or of critical importance.  These considerations can apply to other types of organizations and contact centers.

These postings will shortly be compiled into a whitepaper available on our website.  If you’d like to receive a FREE copy, please click hereand we’ll email you a copy once compiled, or click here to be notified of updates.

Introduction
Contact Centers form very specific kinds of cultures, which can present challenges not usually seen elsewhere in the organization.  The proactive management of cultures is often avoided because it is seen as a difficult and even dangerous long-term endeavor.  This does not have to be the case, in fact, the proactive management of cultures increases the likelihood of success and is rewarding to all those involved.

Bob Greenberg, CMO of Panasonic, a dear friend and mentor, once said to me: “left alone, disarray and lack of grace always prevails.  If we want to maintain grace and beauty in our systems, we must be involved”.  An example is: A house left alone will deteriorate faster than one that is lived-in and cared for.  For the same reason, we need to nurture cultures over time.  Left alone, the forces of everyday business as well as changes in management and staff can move cultures away from the desired focus.

Through experience, we can list a few guidelines for initial thoughts:

-        Cultures require management ownership
-        Cultures are not the employees.
-        Cultures are usually the effect, not the cause.
-        Cultures cannot be changed; they are either shifted or damaged.
-        Culture shifts cannot be mandated.  Mandate = Damage
-        Cultures must be seen as a labor of love.

We feel very strongly about these factoids forming a foundation for success.  If you disagree, we love your comments.

1. Definition

Although there is room for interpretation, an over-simplified definition of a corporate culture is offered as:

“The  generally accepted norms and values of an organization that result in a behavioral or operational paradigm”

In short, an organization adopts certain norms and values that result in certain consistencies in the way it thinks, feels and acts.

Considering the definition we are tempted to equate “culture” to “workforce”.  But that is an incomplete view.  The culture is not simply the sum of the workforce, but is instead, the result of what can be considered a “chemical” reaction between People, Purpose and Environment.

This interaction results in the set of values and norms that allow us to predict organizational behavior under certain conditions.  To the extent that these norms and values magnify or support the core purpose of the organization, we can say we have a satisfactorily aligned culture.

Let’s cover the components briefly:

People:
As mentioned, the people component is not limited to employees but include all those in the interaction: management, customers, vendors as well as employees.  Some organizational behaviorists may include special external influencers such as labor unions or immediate family.

The importance of managing the people component is obvious, but the reason often eludes us.  We must manage the people component because it is “the people” that set the stage for the purpose, the environment and the chemical reaction and it is in “the people” that the chemical reaction takes place.

People are the most important asset of the culture, nothing happens without people.

Purpose:
In today’s experience economy (“The Experience Economy“, Pine and Gilmore), products and services are no longer considered long-term brand differentiators.  The market differentiators have now become “experiences”.  Experiences are a broader output and are driven by the organization’s intention or purpose.

The purpose of the contact center goes beyond the pragmatic “job” to be done, it reaches for the “WHY” or essence for which the contact center stands. (see “Start with Why”, Sinek)

By aligning our departments, employees, policies, processes, etc., to this “WHY”, we can create consistent and repeatable experiences for our customers across the organization.  A clearly defined purpose simplifies decisions, facilitates empowerment, promotes employee engagement and creates focus.

The purpose defines the culture.

Environment
The environment is the sum of the all other variables creating the conditions for the chemical reaction.  It is comprised of processes, policies, systems, tools, expectations, metrics, etc.  The variables we normally manipulate to improve our performance are most often part of the environment.

In Short
The Purpose defines the Culture, while the People and Environment make it possible.
By managing People, Purpose and Environment we can shift cultures.

Next Posting:

2. Management Ownership
3. Ensuring a Need for a Culture Shift
4. Clarifying the “Purpose”
5. Identifying Needed Cultural Qualities
6. Employee Engagement

Rudy Vidal
Committed to XCL

Front-line Empowerment Can Makes All the Difference

This story is sad, but a little funny at the same time.

Continental Airlines Flight 47 kept about 50 passengers on this regional Jet on the tarmac overnight.
Fifty people in a regional Jet with babies and backed up bathrooms can be a pretty scary thing.

The airplane was diverted and landed in Rochester about 12:30 am.  Passengers were not let off of the plane because the security officers had already left for the day.  The airport reports that it told the crew they could deplane, but the crew disagrees. (full story on USA TODAY.)

Of course, we can expect confusion when a flight is diverted after hours to a small airport that is not serviced by the airline.
But what a difference a little front-line EMPOWERMENT would have made !

A crew member calling the police on their cell phone saying – It seems very unreasonable for us to keep 50 people in here all night.  Can you help us reach some authorities that could give us options? – Instant emotion, Instant Loyalty.

Take a chance on Empowerment, it works !

(I wonder what a SouthWest Airlines crew member would have done)

Rudy Vidal
Committed to Extreme Customer Loyalty

Copyright 2009 – Rudy VidalFron

Average Handle Time – A Good Metric? For Whom?

Two things drive me to a posting on Average Handle Time (AHT).

1. A previous posting on Average Speed of Answer (ASA) remains the most popular posting on the blog, so I thought another Contact Center metric may be welcomed by our visitors.
2. A recent discussion with a group of the Contact Center managers clearly showed AHT to be a point of interest.

Metrics can be a subjective bunch, and as such, definitive answers about their use may be ilusive, so please be ready for some generalizations based mostly on my personal experience – which by no means is definitive.

AHT is an often misunderstood metric because on the surface it looks like a problem to be managed, while if we look deeper, it tends to act more like a symptom.

AHT Definition: The average length of time it take agents to handle a customer, wrap-up and become available for the next customers? (This differs from Average Talk Time (ATT), which excludes wrap-up and other ancillary activities such as research).

The obvious benefit of a short AHT is that agents can take care of more customers in a set time and therefore, less agens are required to handle the incoming load. Expectedly, management, usually upper management, feels very comfortable placing attention on AHT as a way to control the largest cost of a contact center, people. Likewise, many Contact Center managers concentrate on AHT ensuring agent efficiency, at times incenting agents to achieve lower an lower AHT levels.

In my experience, the control-point for AHT is not the agent. In stead, AHT is more directly affected by our ability to provide the appropriate environment, knowledge, tools and expectations.

Here are the areas I believe contribute most to AHT.

Appropriate Staffing Levels
Staffing can become a vicious cycle. “If we had more staff we would not have this problem, but, if we were more efficient we would not need so much staff”. Although this posting is too general to address this important balance, we do know that bad Average Speed of Answer, Service Levels and excessive hold times which are greatly affected by staffing levels, can add 30 to 60 seconds to your AHT. Primarily, in the time it takes to calm down irate customers and the composure time for agent stress. Irate customers have a great effect on agent morale and the efficient flow of the call. It’s amazing how much more efficient we can be when our customers are cooperative and our agents are not stressed out.

Training
It goes without saying that knowledgeable agents have lower AHT than new agents. But technical and product training only take us so far. Our agents must also know how to quickly assess a customer’s needs, troubleshoot and create an interactive flow that is conducive to quick resolution. They must also know when to escalate. An simple analysis of call length within a queue can show us the tipping point of AHT. Passed a certain call length, we can see calls have a higher likelihood of reaching astronomical AHTs. That is the point at which to intervene and ask your agents if they need help. I know of a team that calls this the 12 minute rule – at 12 minutes a lead agent or supervisor would simply ask “need help?”. Less stress for the agent, lower AHT.

Processes
How many screens do your agents need to manage in order to manage an interaction? Do they need to get up from their station and send faxes, pull manuals, etc? Inefficient processes can add considerably to handle time.

Empowerment
An empowered agent is a less stressed agent who knows he/she has some decision-making power to do the right thing for the customer. Less time is spent working towards an unlikely solution while giving the agent more ownership of the outcome and more perceived value as an employee.
Of course, empowerment is not for every agent and requires proper training and clear guidelines, but we would do well to push as much empowerment as possible to the front lines of our customer touch-points. Surprisingly, empowerment can be easier to manage than the policies and processed designed to ensure customer satisfaction through escalations.

Attrition
Attrition is an indicator to most, if not all agent inefficiencies. It is the single most costly event in a contact center, mostly occurring within 90 days of hire and costing up to $8,000 per agent.
When we have high attrition, our average newbie rate on the floor is high, which means knowledge and efficiency is low (just think what happens to your stats -including AHT – when you have a new team nesting? uhgg!).

Also, high attrition floors have more challenges in agent dynamics which make empowerment, quality, and employee participation less likely and more difficult.
Average Handle Time is therefore, greatly affected by our ability to hire and keep the right employees. If you have an attrition rate of more than 50%, don’t worry about AHT. You’ve got bigger problems.

Perhaps most controversial, is the topic of agent relations.
At times, we can enter into contentious cycles with our agent community. Usually driven by frustration in our inability to improve operations, we’ll begin to feel a disconnect and a difficulty sharing the same side of the fence with those who directly manage the customer.

As long as it’s acceptable for us not to share the same side of the fence with our agents, AHT will remain difficult to manage and, unfortunately, we will continue to press the wrong button, expecting different results.  AHT is not a measure of agents approach or willingness to follow direction, but a measure of management’s ability to Train, Hire and Empower.

I believe AHT is not the best indicator of agent efficiency but a greater indicator of management effectiveness.

Rudy Vidal
Committed to XCS!

Have we what it takes to be like Johnny?

Friends,

Today a colleague sent me this video which I think is not only inspiring but revolutionary in its simplicity and effectiveness to present the essence of XCS.

Please view it, it will make a difference.

Johnny’s video

Thank you.

Rudy Vidal
Committed to XCS !

Regularly Scheduled Reminder: Back to Basics

Yesterday I had the pleasure of speaking at a regional gathering of the Contact Center Networking Group (www.ccng.com) in Phoenix, AZ..

I love CCNG meetings because I am always inspired by the common force and unity that Contact Center Professional feel for their craft. They are inherently united and willing to help each other.

I ran out of time at the presentation (not unusual), and could not touch on these basics, so I thought I would cover a couple of them here.

1. Contact Centers Are About People
Although technology, statistics, quality sheets and accuracy are important, contact centers are about people.
- People buy your products
- People call you for assistance
- People deliver the service.

The proper management of contact center is the creation of a conduit that facilitates the efficient servicing of people (customers and employees). Our goal is to exceed both of their expectations in a manner that the human-touch can be noticed. Ultimately, we are transforming transactions into positively emotional events that create the possibility for loyalty.

2. Listen to Customers – Understand Their Expectations.
It is very difficult to exceed expectations we don’t understand.
I often find contact center managers making assumptions about what customers want. Many times we are wrong. The result can be an unnecessary over-extension of resources, or the blatant mis-aiming of our efforts. “If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll end up somewhere else”

Ask your customer what they expect? Build policies and procedures to exceed those expectations.

3. The Customer Wants Only Two Things:
a. Answer the phone Now!
b. Solve my problem Today!

This may sound too basic, but it isn’t.
As we concentrate in areas we know to be deficient, we risk loosing focus. Although ASA, training, calibration, AHT, processes, attrition or any of the hundreds of variables that call our attention play a key role in achieving success, we must make sure we consider and prioritize our activities in the context of how they help us achieve the customer’s expectations.
When deciding on any aspect of our business, we would do well to ask ourselves: “How does this help me answer the phone more efficiently and/or increase First Call Resolution for my customers?”

Which brings me to,

4. Choose the Right Key Performance Indicators

There are two types of KPIs – Leading and Lagging.
A Lagging KPIs point to the past. For example, Customer Satisfaction Results is a lagging KPI. It tells you the level of Customer Satisfaction you’ve achieved. But it doesn’t provide insight on how to improve it.

A leading KPI measures activity that impacts the achievement of the desired result. For example, abandon rate is a leading indicator of Customer Satisfaction. In this case, I would say, make sure you put more weight on Abandon Rate in your balanced KPI set.

Although, abandon rate is leading, and that’s good, it is also passive and that’s not so good. It does not measure actual actions that create the desired goal, and therefore, is a weak leading indicator.

The best leading indicators are active in that they measure actions that lead to the desired results. Here is the perfect example:

McDonald’s needed to increase their average purchase per visit. Naturally, they chose average ticket sales as their KPI. After a year, they saw only marginal improvement. The reason was that their attention was placed on the lagging KPI. So they changed their focus from the lagging indicator to a new and active leading indicator – The percentage of times the host or hostess asked the question: “would you like that super-sized?”. By measuring the percentage of times the host or hostess offers super-sized meals, they are managing action that creates results.

Although Leading vs. Lagging is simple to understand, finding great active leading KPIs is not so easy. One can spend weeks looking for the right leading KPIs, but, they will be weeks well spent.

Keep it simple, keep it basic.

RudyV
Committed to XCS!

Faster is Better

Different types of customers have different needs and thereby, benefit from different customer satisfaction strategies.  One type of customer is the Business to Business (B2B) customer. 

 

Due to the symbiotic relationship between supplier and customer, the B2B customer can have a heavy and seemingly uncontrolled reliance on the supplier’s ability to meet their operational expectations.  Whenever there is potential lack of control, we see a need to manage trust.

 

Customer relationship management is more of an art than a science.  But it’s one of those art-forms more easily managed when the basic principles of the craft are known and followed.  In my view, one of the most important of these CRM principles is response velocity.

 

The Inherently weakness in the armor of a CRM relationship is the customer’s fear in not being able to control a supplier’s personnel or business processes and thus not being able to control their own fate.   “Will they deliver as promised?  Am I one of many customers and will they give me the attention I need to be successful?  Will they add value to my business? 

This fear is tested every time a customer reaches out and makes a request.  The manner in which the request is acknowledged and followed is used as a measure of a suppliers intention to serve.  A high perceived intention to serve will translate to trust.  

 

So, few things strengthen a CRM relationship more than high response velocity.  Even when we solve a customer issue within the expected time frame, if the response velocity is slow, trust will be diminished. 

  

Bottom line – When our B2B customers calls, answer right away.  When we get an email, answer it immediately-not one hour later, even if just to say, “I got your email, I’m on it”. 

Build internal expectations and standards for response velocity.

Delays in getting back to our customer or in reaching out when we should, creates lack of trust and weakens the relationship. 

Giving them more than they expect, feels better on both sides of the relationship.

 

Committed to XCS !

Rudy Vidal