Be Different: Learn from the Leaders. The Five Myths of Customer Experience Management

Transcription

1 Be Different: Learn from the Leaders The Five Myths of Customer Experience Management

2 Learn from the Leaders: The Five Myths of Customer Experience Management Contents Introduction... 3 Myth 1: Management is about Measurement... 4 Myth 2: The more metrics you have, the more you know... 5 Myth 3: All customer effort is equal... 6 Myth 4: Mapping the full customer experience journey makes for revolutionary change... 7 Myth 5: Improving the customer experience will cost more... 8 Solutions... 9 Who we are Copyright Limebridge Australia Pty. Ltd.

3 Introduction We have the benefit in consulting of talking to a wide range of businesses as well as a wide range of people within those businesses. Some industries are going through remarkable structural change (retail, publishing) and with the recent economic woes, some industries are focussing on existing customers (Banks, Insurance Companies, Utilities). The good news in Australia, perhaps because of those changes, is that we are seeing a strong and consistent push to improve the customer experience. Technological speed and exciting developments like social media are clouding this issue and there are many confusing vendors of products out there spruiking magical cures. When Team Leaders and Managers ask us what are the key customer experience items to focus on, i.e. How can we better manage the customer experience? the good news is we are telling a consistent story. So, in keeping with our usual approach, we have chosen five common myths of customer experience management and in debunking them we hope to give you some food for thought. Our five for today are: Myth 1: Customer Experience Management is about measurement Myth 2: The more metrics you have, the more you know Myth 3: All customer effort is equal Myth 4: Mapping the full customer experience journey makes for revolutionary change Myth 5: Improving the customer experience will cost more Taking each in turn: Copyright Limebridge Australia Pty. Ltd. 3

4 Myth 1: Management is about Measurement The great mantra of modern day management is what gets measured gets done. Well it s now a truism and we think in the customer experience space measurement may have become a somewhat addictive obsession. We all know how dangerous addictions can be. Our decade in customer experience consulting has lead us to understand the problems with global customer experience metrics. Companies have spent small fortunes implementing customer satisfaction or net promoter scoring. The first problem is that once you have measured the raw number it s often incredibly difficult to see what the causal factors are in moving that number. There is also the side problem of what it means to have, for example, a NPS score of X. Even with such a benchmark it may leave a company none the wiser on which segments they want to move and what customer experience factors are the problem. The second area we find falling down in this macro measurement concept is that companies rarely think through and resource a continuous improvement methodology that is based on truly listening to customers - worse still, when budget cuts like during the GFC come along, this is often the first to go. LimeBridge has developed a Continuous Improvement methodology that asks companies to carefully consider the multiple salient data sources they have available to them and create a constant listening programme as shown below. 4 Copyright Limebridge Australia Pty. Ltd.

5 So rather than a what gets measured gets done idea, we maintain that a rigorous management process that is appropriately funded gets more done. When companies have attempted such a model we are often surprised to hear that the prime sources of customer data their own front line staff members, are omitted from such a programme. So although we could write a whole whitepaper on this alone, here are a few pointers to consider: Even if you don t have fancy social media, data analytics and information aggregation software, targeted listening to your customer contact staff members is low cost and will get you 90% of the way there Have a true commitment to solving customer frustration, within policy constraints Redesigning and providing a solution to frustrating things can be easier than you think with a few committed people and some bright thinking they just need a way of doing it Tracking results of individual issues will give a far greater momentum than an overarching score Concentrate on the controllable. Myth 2: The more metrics you have, the more you know The desire to introduce new customer experience metrics is all pervading in some companies. The drive to find more data and in doing so, use the resources they would otherwise utilise to actually do something becomes self defeating. Some of the most common measures are failing. Research has conclusively demonstrated that metrics like average speed of answer and queue times are not correlated statistically with customer satisfaction (CSat). Over the past 10 years we ve also grown to accept that CSat is not even a great predictor of loyalty. We all have plenty of examples where satisfied customers do leave us, and where dissatisfied customers actually stay (sometimes in spite of our best efforts to allow them to leave). We know that mystery shopping is restricted to a limited transaction or enquiry set and rarely measure moments of truth such as when something has gone wrong. NPS has been promoted as the only measure you need but would you promote our business? is a difficult one where the customer does not have a choice, or doesn t wish to speak about your industry over the Sunday BBQ. We have many measures like wait times, service levels, abandoned calls, repeat contact data, complaints volumes and enquiry type information. Some even have relevant NPS data and yet companies are still wanting to look for more data on their customer experience. Copyright Limebridge Australia Pty. Ltd. 5

6 LimeBridge s experience shows that companies have a plethora of customer experience information. This includes feedback which can be gleaned from asking the people on the front line who listen and talk to the customer every day, all day. Companies that mine and analyse what they do have, are streets ahead of those that are still conducting the quest for the holy grail. The customer experience benefit goes to those companies who act on the information they have rather than measure more. We recommend that you do something, with the mounds of data that you already have, rather than spending signficant investment in more information that you may not need. And don t forget to actually listen to real customer conversations and to explore the customer experience with those closest to the customer your front line team and then take action. Myth 3: All customer effort is equal We seem to keep having similar conversations with our clients despite the industry they are in, so we often end up asking the client: do your customers honestly wake up in the morning and say Gee I d really love to call you or visit or ?! We don t think so so here for the record, are our three golden rules of customer experience management: 1. Don t create reasons for customers to contact unless those enquiries are strategically valuable to you and to them, 2. If they do make contact, obtain a result on the first contact without the need for problematic follow up; and, 3. (in relation to the cartoon), make it as quick, effective and painless as possible. It s amazing to see the myriad of ways that companies can get themselves into a pickle here. We totally agree with the idea of customer effort and reducing it wherever possible. We do have to hand it to Apple; recently one of our consultants had a problem with their phone, walked into a shop (not the one he bought it from) explained it wasn t working and then the Apple guy said sorry for the inconvenience - here s your new phone, plonking a replacement down in front of him. Amazing - and a high benchmark for us all. Here are some recent unforgivable examples of customer effort gone wrong (and we hope you don t recognise any!): Putting the customers though an unruly IVR or speech maze so that you can have accurate statistics when the calls all get answered by the same team!!! Surveying the customer so often they start to hate it Complex and crazy identification processes not aligned with real privacy regulations 6 Copyright Limebridge Australia Pty. Ltd.

7 Misunderstanding effort. For example; 5 minutes waiting in a queue does not equal 5 minutes talking to an agent; 20 minutes talking to a skilled agent does not equal 20 minutes being passed around the company trying to find an answer to the question although the AHTs are identical Measuring and driving handling times when the customer doesn t get adequate resolution and has to repeat the contact Not having enough authority to resolve issues resulting in hand offs and repeat contacts Not offering choice of channel forcing customers one way or the other depending on your internal strategy and making them work in a way they don t want to. We still believe that having a clear view of the operating model, designing the best experience for each enquiry type and getting the quickest resolution, is still the most productive way to create a great experience. Thinking through some of the clangers above may reap some quick results! Myth 4: Mapping the full customer experience journey makes for revolutionary change Mapping is one of our favourite topics because there are some consultants and six sigma experts out there who believe that mapping is the most constructive process of all to understand the customer experience. It s always great to get the swim lane diagrams and look for redundant steps, together with the recent trend in overlaying the map with customer emotions or expectations at each point. We re not saying this process is pointless however, it s important to recognise some significant gaps in doing such mapping. Customer Maps don t always consider the cycle time or effort involved at each point Maps often show how processes should work, not the reality of how they do work Maps don t show the frustration of non resolution and repeat contacts by a customer Mapping can t show the part operational management should play in keeping a model running smoothly and effectively They are very hard to read or understand when they are (often) deployed as guides for staff So in short we are saying that mapping gives an aspect of the way queries can be resolved effectively, but may not tell the whole story. Copyright Limebridge Australia Pty. Ltd. 7

8 Secondly, mapping can often fall into an historical paradigm. In other words drawing up the current situation can focus the attention on improving that current state, not creating a far better one altogether. It reminds us of the query we workshopped where a suspension for an insurance policy had a process where customers were told to bring in an itinerary to prove they were going overseas and go in to a branch to have it photocopied, then sent to a processing centre to suspend then send documentation back to the client (now overseas presumably). All good? We suppose mapping this out may have made the process more effective. We, however, asked a simple question: When did you last get an itinerary for travel? The implication of our question was twofold: why are we making it so difficult, and secondly, the old process didn t recognise how things currently work. The controls were way over the top. When we attacked it from a what would the customer want viewpoint, the frontline staff said that s easy: a simple call resolved on the spot. So instead of journey mapping, rethink it completely and ask yourselves whether the transaction is necessary at all. You would be surprised at how a targeted rethinking of the future interaction can be done quickly and effectively with people from within the company. We have done it scores of times and the reduced impact on the customer is amazing. By the way this process saved enormous work, reducing overall cost. So don t look back look forward! Myth 5: Improving the customer experience will cost more In the previous commentary we discussed measures, mapping and effort. If you read between the lines we are calling out that we continually find that better experiences are nearly always cheaper. So what happens when you want to change the experience to a better one? How do you prove it s cheaper? Our experience tells us the answer is linked to two key dimensions. These have worked across many implementations in Contact Centres, Retail and Administration areas. We suggest your team has a look at the holistic Demand/Supply model. Demand We would say that resolution rates across industries are consistently lower than is estimated by management. A lot of false thinking is centred on resolution. We get worried when we hear statements like in my opinion that query is resolved because we have provided the information It shouldn t be an opinion, it s simple did the customer have to do anything else after the contact? If yes, it s not resolved. We regularly diagnose service operations and find resolution rates of 40-60% despite what the company is touting. Secondly, related to this statistic is the repeat contact rate. Both these are key because they show the hidden work and customer effort in the process. If practices can be subtly altered to increase resolution and reduce repeat contact, the cost of service diminishes and customer effort reduces. 8 Copyright Limebridge Australia Pty. Ltd.

9 Supply In supply, we find it s how the contacts are handled, and the way management is structured around the operating model to deliver service that matters. Practices are still king. If resolution can be quick and effective, cost will fall. Even in a sales context we have often heard this related myth: keep talking and this will build rapport which is the key. Unfortunately this myth totally misses the point that other opportunities are going begging and also fails to value the customer s time. We say the right practice that targets propensity to buy without prejudicing the sale is the correct way. Creating a group of shorter transactions for unlikely buyers will create better throughput, lower effort, and increase conversion rates at the same time. Creating the right process and handling complexity better produces a great customer experience at lower cost. When this is combined with better ways to manage people and work intra-day, the results can contribute to a different way of handling contacts, improved service, sales and reduced overall cost. We call this a transformation of the supply model and fast high impact results are very achievable. Solutions So we hope this paper has given you some ideas: 1. Use your own internal customer effort data that you can easily access, to discover what is happening for customers 2. Use contact demand and complaints as a really good place to start 3. Always look at resolution and repeat rates both notoriously hard to calulate but start by asking the simple question; did the customer or the business have to do anything else? 4. Create a Continuous Improvement loop measure specific problem areas rather than whole experience NPS type figures, and improve those specific problem areas through targeted practice design 5. Be careful about mapping it can get stuck in the past, take a long time and be unusable just cut through and look at your future practices 6. Work on a Demand/Supply model and understand what customers really think about your demand. If you re-think processes for the customer, the business will win as well. Copyright Limebridge Australia Pty. Ltd. 9

10 Who we are LimeBridge Australia is a specialised consultancy firm that helps our clients deliver better sales and service interactions for their customers. We work across all types of customer interaction and have an outstanding track record in delivery of operational improvements that are better for the company and customer. We have a blue chip list of past clients who are references for our work and results. LimeBridge Australia s design and implementation programmes are targeted at improving the customer experience and often create capacity of more than 20%. In all prior implementations LimeBridge have delivered a better customer experience at a lower cost. We improve the customer experience and create 20-40% capacity within four months through operational transformation We deliver benefits in all customer contact points including call centres, self service, retail and back office administration We start with a targeted diagnostic of 4-6 weeks which confirms the customer benefits, the size of the prize and the changes you ll need Our point of difference is that we work with and train your people in our methods so that you can improve continuously. 10 Copyright Limebridge Australia Pty. Ltd.

11 Victoria L Collins Street Melbourne VIC 3000 T E info@limebridge.com.au New South Wales L57 MLC Centre, Martin Place Sydney NSW 2000 T E info@limebridge.com.au Western Australia L18, Central Park St Georges Terrace Perth WA 6000 T E info@limebridge.com.au Queensland Level 36, Riparian Plaza 71 Eagle Street Brisbane QLD 4000 T: E info@limebridge.com.au Copyright Limebridge Australia Pty. Ltd. 11

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