Questions: Are remote support, self service and other support tools helping or hurting the customer support experience? Is the customer support experience being measured correctly?
Randy Saunders, Marketing Director of Customer Experience Management for Cincom Systems stated: “A contact center’s ability to respond to a customer's problem or request has a very high influence on the overall experience with that company, possibly much more than the product itself .” http://www.tmcnet.com/channels/hosted-contact-center/articles/4515-understanding-customer-experience-management-talk-with-cincoms-randy.htm
Accenture’s 2007 global study on Customer Satisfaction found: “Poor service may also be preventing companies from attracting new customers: nearly 60 percent of our respondents say customer service is the key differentiating factor when choosing a new provider — ahead of even price (55 percent), product (34 percent) and convenience (34 percent).” http://www.accenture.com/NR/rdonlyres/FF56B47D-E97A-4997-8D03-D52AAC76A568/0/ExecSummary_2007_GlobalCustomerSatisfactionSurvey_Final.pdf
So, Customer Support and Satisfaction are important. Where do we do about it? http://doorfromhellradio.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/bush_confused2.jpg
Bruce Temkin with Forrester Research 5 disruptive customer experience strategies “ Ultrasimplicity : stripping away features to better meet the needs of the customers.” “ Online infusion : integrating online features into core offerings.” “ Service infusion : integrating service features into core offerings. “ “ Service amplification : investing in distinctly high levels of service. “ “ Value repositioning : offering a radically different value proposition.” http://experiencematters.wordpress.com/2007/07/12/five-disruptive-customer-experience-strategies http://www.flickr.com/photos/sharynmorrow/5075885
“ Ultrasimplicity: stripping away features to better meet the needs of the customers.” 1 type of plane. Flying tends to be nonstop between two points. 1 class of service with no assigned seats. Result = unload a flight, clean and restock the plane, and board another flight full of passengers in 1/4th of the time it takes most of the competition http://blog.kir.com/archives/images/Southwest_Airlines_logo-1.jpg http://www.wired.com/cars/futuretransport/news/2008/07/portfolio_0708
“Online infusion : integrating online features into core offerings.” Over 1/3 of the respondents using remote connection tools say they’re able to resolve at least 75% of their problems off site. SupportIndustry.com 2008 Service and Support Metrics Survey page 8
Additional Online infusion “more than half of the respondents (53.8%) allow their constituents to access online knowledgebase’s, and another 19% provide dynamic FAQs” SupportIndustry.com 2008 Service and Support Metrics Survey page 9 http://www.flickr.com/photos/forgotever/2112440233
“Service infusion: integrating service features into core offerings.” The link to Apple’s iTunes service was an important part of iPod’s success. http://www.apple.com/itunes/
“Service amplification: investing in distinctly high levels of service ” "We are Ladies and Gentlemen serving Ladies and Gentlemen." http://corporate.ritzcarlton.com/en/About/GoldStandards.htm
Service Infusion and Amplification How does a Service Desk know when… http://www.flickr.com/photos/madgirl/188178176
“In God we trust, all others bring data” W Edwards Deming http://www.metricnet.com/whitepapers-service-2.html
The Trap “We've always collected this metric" or "We collect it because we can" -- this abundance of metrics can actually be a detriment to organizational success for a number of reasons." Jonathan D. Becher Pilot Software CEO and President http://www.flickr.com/photos/smiller/228877471
Goals Matter! Metrics (ways to measure) are important on various levels and certainly influence a customer’s overall satisfaction. However, in most cases, metrics should be considered as not goals or key performance indicators of how the service desk is performing overall. http://graysmatter.codivation.com/content/binary/soccer%20goal%20urinal.jpg
Focus on Key Performance Indicators Cost per Contact Customer Satisfaction Agent Utilization First Contact Resolution First Level Resolution Agent Satisfaction Aggregate Service Desk Performance http://www.flickr.com/photos/patrick999/502722535/
“Value repositioning: offering a radically different value proposition.” Ultrasimplicity, Online infusion, Service infusion and Service amplification help point the direction towards Value repositioning. http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/powers_of_persuasion/its_a_womans_war_too/images_html/images/we_can_do_it.jpg
Answers to the our questions… Are remote support, self service and other support tools helping or hurting the customer support experience? HELPING! Is the customer support experience being measured correctly? YES, in SOME cases.
Final Thoughts The overall performance of a service desk needs to be focused on the customer and their perception of the service desk. Key Performance Indicators, Metrics and support tools need to reflect this if they are truly going to be effective for the company. http://weblogs.newsday.com/entertainment/tv/blog/springerDM2301_228x388.jpg
Credits http://doorfromhellradio.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/bush_confused2.jpg http://www.flickr.com/photos/sharynmorrow/5075885 http://blog.kir.com/archives/images/Southwest_Airlines_logo-1.jpg http://www.flickr.com/photos/forgotever/2112440233 http://www.apple.com/itunes/ http://corporate.ritzcarlton.com/en/About/GoldStandards.htm http://www.flickr.com/photos/madgirl/188178176 http://www.flickr.com/photos/smiller/228877471 http://www.flickr.com/photos/patrick999/502722535/ http://graysmatter.codivation.com/content/binary/soccer%20goal%20urinal.jpg http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/powers_of_persuasion/its_a_womans_war_too/image s_html/images/we_can_do_it.jpg http://weblogs.newsday.com/entertainment/tv/blog/springerDM2301_228x388.jpg
Recommend
More recommend
