POWER TO THE PEOPLE: ONLINE SELF-SERVICE EVOLVES 2013 WEB CUSTOMER SERVICE SURVEY

Transcription

1 POWER TO THE PEOPLE: ONLINE SELF-SERVICE EVOLVES 2013 WEB CUSTOMER SERVICE SURVEY A destinationcrm REPORT By Joseph McKendrick, Research Analyst Produced by Unisphere Research, a Division of Information Today, Inc. June 2013 Sponsored by

2 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Executive Summary Customer Support Landscape Self-Service Implementations Self-Service Impacts Self-Service Issues Self-Service Analytics Demographics

3 3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY WHILE COMPANIES have long boasted that they put the customer in charge, technology is now making this a reality. Online self-service capabilities which enable customers to make inquiries, check transaction status, or even resolve an issue without going through live customer-service agents have made the leap from phonebased interactive voice response (IVR) systems to the web. With it, customers are now empowered to manage their transactions and inquiries from any type of device, from any location, at any time of day or night. The web has become the primary first point of interaction between most consumers and the organizations they do business with, allowing them to seek answers to their commonly asked questions without having to pick up the phone or wait for an ed response. Many organizations understand and are enabling increasing amounts of self-service via web-enabled devices, such as smartphones, laptops and tablets, and are seeing some of the operational advantages the technology provides. For example, offering automated help for routine inquiries and common problems is lessening the workloads of call centers, which can now devote more resources to higher-level initiatives. In fact, half of the companies that have self-service interfaces report lower costs and reduced traffic to their call centers. Along with operational and cost-saving advantages, managers are just beginning to tap into the opportunities for richer customer relationships that these technologies offer. In an era in which competitive differentiation is achieved through better understanding and better serving customers, most organizations are only beginning to grasp the ways more automated customer service platforms can help achieve such differentiation. Delivering a superior customer experience is essential these days, and doing so online has become both necessary and very achievable. Ultimately, customers can and will go to competitors if they feel they need to jump through hoops to get the answers they want from a company. No matter how well-trained and friendly call center staff may be, customers will only be frustrated if they have to wait extended periods of time on the phone to get the information they need, resulting in a clear impact on the bottom line. These are the results of a new survey conducted by destinationcrm, the leading site for contact center executives and professionals. The survey, conducted in partnership with IntelliResponse, included input from 520 call center executives, managers or supervisors. The following summarizes key survey results that explore issues around managing customer contact center environments: Close to half of CRM managers and professionals responding to the survey say they have web or mobile-based self-service capabilities. The self-service channel is growing, with three-fifths of respondents expecting to increase its use over the coming year. Respondents have had web self-service capabilities for a number of years now, and six out of 10 are also moving into mobile. Despite this fact, most of these capabilities are limited to customer portals with FAQs or the use of site search in a customer service environment. About half of these systems share the same technology and data with their customer service center. Up-and-coming features expected to be added over the next three years include interactive videos, social media channels for customer forums, and interactive, realtime chat options. There is an overarching movement towards the notion of providing answers to natural language questions and doing so across a variety of online channels. About half of respondents, with web or mobile self-service capabilities, report measurable reductions in phone inquiries, as well as less traffic. A majority of respondents have also seen increased sales through their customer self-service channel. When moving to web or mobile self-service, most organizations are concerned with the rising complexity of their websites, as well as the need to integrate these systems and the associated data with existing customer service channels. Notably as well, most do not foresee their live-agent customer care centers going away anytime soon. If anything, more than 40% expect their live contact centers to keep expanding. While most companies capture some customer self-service interaction data, most are not yet applying the data to improving their customers experiences. Forward-thinking organizations work to deliver answers to self-service inquiries, not static FAQs or lists of search results These same organizations deliver a well-organized process of right-channeling customer interactions, using online selfservice as the first point of contact. As one respondent put it, moving to customer self-service requires planning, technology, and commitment. Pieces will fall into place if we base the ideal self-service environment on the needs of our customers, not on our own biases or preconceived notions. Ultimately, the respondent adds, customers should be able to reschedule appointments, pay bills, or change payment info, as well as get instant answers to commonly asked questions, regardless of where they are on their online journey. The ability to provide sophisticated virtual assistants, dynamic searches, customer forums, how-to videos, product brochures, requests certificates of installation, referrals to friends, and e-commerce capabilities are all available today. Indeed, the pieces are starting to fall into place, as we'll show on the following pages.

4 4 CUSTOMER SUPPORT LANDSCAPE Close to half of CRM managers and professionals responding to the survey say they have web or mobile-based self-service capabilities. The self-service channel is growing, with three-fifths of respondents expecting to increase its use over the coming year. Respondents organizations support a wide range of customersupport functions and channels, from standard call centers to product help desks to web-based self-service systems. Close to two-thirds of respondents oversee inbound call centers, as well as online support centers including onsite, remote, and contracted services. Web-based self-service capabilities are also emerging on many of the sites covered in the survey close to half, 48%, report they also manage web-based self-service capabilities. Interestingly, these web-based capabilities are more prevalent than phone-based IVR systems, which have been around for a longer time. (See Figure 1.) Adoption of self-service websites is most often seen across the financial services and insurance sector, the survey shows. Utilities and telecommunications providers are the leading adopters of phone-based IVR systems. The retail sector lags in both areas, suggesting a continuing strong emphasis on live contacts via call centers. (See Figure 2.) On average, 46% of customer interactions are currently conducted through phone self-service systems. Though IVR systems tend to be mature and customers are highly familiar with them, they are often the focus of frustration as a self-service tool because when customers escalate to the phone channel they typically want live interactions. In addition, close to a third of interactions, 31%, come through self-service websites. (See Figure 3.) It s also notable that the highest successful-resolution rates for interactions are those that occur over telephone-based IVR systems. Sixty-one percent of inquiries or issues coming through this channel are resolved, so that the customer doesn t have to escalate the inquiry to a call to the live contact center, as opposed to about half of the inquiries coming in via websites being resolved. IVRs usually represent organizations first attempts at customer self-service. While these systems have often been tedious and frustrating to consumers, their ability to address common questions before they hit the live call centers provides a working business with efficiency, resolving many of the most common issues before it is necessary to involve live agents a costly escalation. (See Figure 4.) How do respondents expect their customer self-service interactions through their web and mobile channels to grow over the next 12 months? A majority of respondents, 60%, say they expect to see growth in these channels. About 8% of the samples are fast-growing sites, anticipating growth topping 50%. (See Figure 5.) Online self-service channels contribute to sales or transactions. A total of 8% of the sample see the majority of their interactions through these channels. (See Figure 6.) Respondents within the utilities and telecom sectors report the highest levels of sales and transactions through self-service channels more than one-third indicate that more than 25% of their transactions come in this way. Financial services and government/educational agencies follow with 28% reporting this level of transactions. (See Figure 7.)

5 5 Figure 1: Customer Support Functions and Channels Supported Inbound call center(s) 68% Online support center(s) (e.g., , chat, 63% social networking) Web-based self-service 48% Product help desk/support center(s) 47% Outbound call center(s) 34% Phone-based interactive voice response (IVR) 31% Survey/market research center(s) 20% Other 7% Figure 2: Self-Service Channels By Industry Web-based Phone interactive self-service voice response (IVR) Finance/insurance 52% 41% Government/education/nonprofit 50% 28% IT services/products 49% 20% Manufacturing 49% 27% Utilities/telecom 48% 70% Retail 22% 28% Other 44% 17%

6 6 Figure 3: Average Percentage of Customer Interactions Conducted via the Following Channels Telephone (IVR) 46% Website 31% Mobile web/mobile apps 9% (Total does not equal 100% due to exclusion of other modes of contact.) Figure 4: Average Successful Resolution Rates for Online Self-Service Channels Telephone (IVR) 61% Website 48% Mobile web/mobile apps 29%

7 7 Figure 5: Expected Growth of Self-Service Interactions Over Next 12 Months No growth 3% 1% to 10% 31% 11% to 25% 29% 26% to 50% 14% >50% 8% Don't know/unsure 15% Figure 6: Percent of Total Sales or Transactions Coming Through Self-Service Channels None 11% 1% to 10% 30% 11% to 25% 21% 26% to 50% 13% 51% to 99% 7% 100% 1% Don't know/unsure 17%

8 8 Figure 7: Organizations with More Than 25% of Sales or Transactions Coming Through Self-Service By Industry Utilities/telecom 34% Finance/insurance 28% Government/education/nonprofit 28% IT services/products 18% Manufacturing 12% Retail 6% Other 25%

9 9 SELF-SERVICE IMPLEMENTATIONS Respondents have had web self-service capabilities for a number of years now, and six out of 10 are also moving into mobile. Despite this fact, most of these capabilities are limited to customer portals with FAQs or the use of site search in a customer service environment. About half of these systems share the same technology and data with their customer service center. Up-and-coming features expected to be added over the next three years include interactive videos, social media channels for customer forums, and interactive, real-time chat options. There is an overarching movement towards the notion of providing answers to natural language questions and doing so across a variety of online channels. Old school online customer self-service is on its way out. To some degree, self-service s rather limited capability may be as old as the World Wide Web itself, as organizations deployed FAQs and contact information on their early websites. Many respondents have had such capabilities for a number of years 22% say they built such sites more than five years ago, while 57% have established such capabilities within the past five years. (See Figure 8.) In short, the market is ripe for disruption and change and consumers are demanding the ability to serve themselves for commonly asked questions. Self-service websites that will fit into a small screen mobile devices are also in demand these days. A total of 59% of respondents either already have such capabilities, or are planning such capabilities within the coming year. One-third of respondents already have mobile websites in place. (See Figure 9.) Larger organizations (with more than 5,000 employees) are much more likely to have these capabilities already in place, as cited by 49%, versus only 22% of smaller companies (with 500 or fewer employees). (See Figure 10.) The next logical step after mobile websites is to provide a downloadable mobile app that can run natively on customers mobile devices. The app phenomenon is something that has captured the interest of many respondents organizations at least 43% also provide or are planning to provide apps for customer self-service interactions. Twenty percent offer mobile apps today. (See Figure 11.) Smaller companies or agencies with 500 or fewer employees are far less inclined to be offering apps at this time only 9% have such offerings. By contrast, about one-third of their larger counterparts say that they now offer downloadable apps. (See Figure 12.) The drive to mobile may soon be the major vehicle of customer interaction, says one respondent. I could see up to 60% of routine contacts going web or mobile, leaving the call center to handle expert contacts primarily. The respondent adds, This will call for major upgrades in systems and personnel, which we are planning for now. Respondents online customer self-service web and mobile channels share the same technology with numerous other customer interaction channels. About half of respondents, 48%, say these systems are the same as those used by online support centers that support , chat, and social networking. Another 42% report that they use the same system as inbound call centers. (See Figure 13.) Respondents online self-service systems are even more likely to be sharing data with other customer service channels. A majority of respondents, 53%, say their online self-service interfaces access the same data as their inbound call centers, while 40% say their online self-service interfaces also use the same data as their online support centers. (See Figure 14.) What are the current and planned elements of respondents web or mobile customer self-service channels? The leading categories of online services include FAQs (65%), contact information (63%), a self-service knowledgebase or virtual agent (53%) and product views (49%). Up-and-coming features expected to be added over the next three years include interactive videos (29% intend to add this feature, 33% currently have it), social media channels for customer forums (28% plan to add this, 32% already have), and interactive, real-time chat options (25% intend to add this, 16% have it). (See Figure 15.) Currently, a majority of the largest organizations in the survey offer such basic features as FAQs, contact information, searchable knowledge bases, and product views. Larger organizations are also taking the lead with newer features such as videos (46%, versus 28% of the smallest companies or agencies in the survey), social channels (42% versus 26%), virtual agents or assistants (17% versus 8%), and up-sell offers (23% versus 6%). (See Figure 16.) One respondent sees better knowledgebase content as the key to addressing a broader range of self-service questions. In addition, this respondent s company is looking to capture and make available a history of past support tickets, and resolutions of those tickets, so clients can reference answers to their previous questions.

10 10 Figure 8: When Online or Web-Based Self-Service Capabilities Were First Launched Still under development 12% Within the past year 10% 1 to 2 years ago 19% 3 to 5 years ago 28% 6 to 10 years ago 15% >10 years ago 7% Don't know/unsure 10% Figure 9: Provide Mobile-Optimized Self-Service Website? Planned within the next 12 months 26% No 41% Yes 33%

11 11 Figure 10: Provide Mobile-Optimized Self-Service Website By Company Size 1 to 500 employees 22% 501 to 5,000 employees 35% >5,000 employees 49% Figure 11: Provide Downloadable Mobile App for Customer Self-Service Interactions? Planned within the next 12 months 23% No 56% Yes 20% (Total does not equal 100% due to rounding.) Figure 12: Provide Downloadable Mobile App By Company Size 1 to 500 employees 9% 501 to 5,000 employees 35% >5,000 employees 32%

12 12 Figure 13: Where Online Customer Self-Service Web and Mobile Channel Technology Is Shared Online support center(s) ( , chat, 48% social networking) Inbound call center(s) 42% Product help desk/support center(s) 30% Phone-based interactive voice response (IVR) 26% Outbound call center(s) 14% Survey/market research center(s) 12% Other 9% Figure 14: Where Online Customer Self-Service Web and Mobile Channel Data Is Shared Inbound call center(s) 53% Online support center(s) ( , chat, 40% social networking) Product help desk/support center(s) 39% Outbound call center(s) 25% Phone-based interactive voice response (IVR) 22% Survey/market research center(s) 13% Other 10%

13 13 Figure 15: Current and Planned Elements of Self-Service Channels Currently have Will add in 3 yrs FAQs 65% 18% Contact information 63% 11% Search/knowledgebase or virtual agent 53% 23% Product views 49% 17% Downloadable forms/brochures 48% 14% (marketing and technical specs) Support center 43% 17% Pricing information/forms 34% 14% Videos 33% 29% Social channels customer forums, discussions 32% 28% Order tracking/confirmation 31% 20% Site feedback 25% 12% Interactive real-time chat option 16% 25% Stand alone virtual agents or virtual assistants 11% 19% Up-sell offer triggers 11% 20% Automated interactive voice response 5% 8% Natural language query processing 5% 11% Other 4% 12%

14 14 Figure 16: Current Elements of Self-Service Channels By Company Size 1 to to 5,000 5,000+ FAQs 57% 78% 75% Contact information 69% 56% 68% Search/knowledgebase or virtual agent 48% 74% 68% Product views 43% 62% 55% Downloadable forms/brochures 50% 45% 48% (marketing and technical specs) Support center 39% 53% 49% Pricing information/forms 32% 36% 42% Videos 28% 38% 46% Social channels customer forums, discussions 26% 36% 42% Order tracking/confirmation 25% 43% 45% Site feedback 19% 33% 39% Interactive real-time chat option 12% 15% 25% Virtual agents or virtual assistants 8% 18% 17% Up-sell offer triggers 6% 7% 23% Automated interactive voice response 3% 7% 10% Natural language query processing 7% 0% 4% Other 1% 7% 4%

15 15 SELF-SERVICE IMPACTS About half of respondents with web or mobile self-service capabilities report measurable reductions in phone inquiries, as well as less traffic. A majority of respondents have also seen increased sales through their customer self-service channel. One of the most compelling promises of self-service interfaces is the potential to reduce workloads at corporate call centers. In turn, customer service representatives can be trained to concentrate on the thornier problems brought to their attention. High volumes of relatively simple inquiries such as checking on an order status or an account balance can be substantially reduced or eliminated by shifting these interactions to the selfservice environment. Among respondents who have launched self-service interfaces on their web or mobile channels, there has been a noticeable impact. Close to half, 45%, report a measurable reduction in the number of phone-based inquiries or issues brought to their live contact centers. In most cases, phone escalations have decreased by 1% and 25%, respondents report. (See Figure 17.) Customer self-service has also helped divert s away from the contact center. A total of 39% of respondents report a decrease in the volume of s sent to their live contact center. For the most part, the volume has dropped between 1% and 10%. (See Figure 18.) At the same time, web traffic is spiking in many respondents locations, as a direct result of the addition of self-service capabilities. A majority of respondents, 54%, report increased web traffic since launching online self-service on the web or mobile. For about one-third of respondents, the increase has been between 1% and 25%. (See Figure 19.) Of course, the provisioning of self-service systems needs to be more than simply cutting contact center costs. Self-service capabilities represent a prime opportunity to deliver customer satisfaction, which translates to customer loyalty and impacts both the top and bottom lines. Additionally, there are potential direct benefits as well these apps and interfaces can serve to pitch additional products or services. Since launching self-service systems via the web or mobile, close to half the respondents, 47%, report additional sales or transactions as a direct result of interactions through this channel. Most of these direct sales gains ranged between 1% and 10%. (See Figure 20.) There are several types of interactions that occur on an online self-service basis, the survey finds. The most prevalent interaction, cited by 47% of respondents, is using the web channel to research products and services. Another 42% say their web self-service point is accessed to conduct routine inquiries (order status, account balance). Initial ordering of goods/services and the online resolution of complaints and issues is cited by 41% and 40%, respectively. (See Figure 21.) An important component of online sales is up-selling and cross-selling to customers who are online or on the phone. At this point, only one out of five respondents (21%) has the capability for automated up-sell or cross-sell, while another 23% intend to adopt such functionality within the coming year. (See Figure 22.) Among the largest organizations in the survey, 28% already have automated up-sell/cross-sell capabilities, versus 18% of the smallest companies or agencies. (See Figure 23.) Do respondents measure their customers' satisfaction levels with online self-service? Close to half, 49%, say they measure these levels, but only 14% report that this measurement takes place extensively. (See Figure 24.) Larger organizations (with more than 5,000 employees) are more than twice as likely to be measuring self-service satisfaction, the survey also shows. (See Figure 25.) What techniques do respondents employ to measure their customers satisfaction with their online self-service experiences? Close to half, 45%, say they will send a follow-up to their customers, while about one-fourth will even follow up with a phone call. There isn t demand yet for real-time feedback only 17% of respondents report having pop-up surveys to immediately gauge the quality of a customer's experience. (See Figure 26.)

16 16 Figure 17: Impact of Online Self-Service on Live Contact Center Phone Volume No impact 23% Escalations reduced 10% 22% Reduced 11% to 25% 18% Reduced 26% to 50% 3% Reduced by more than 50% 2% Don't know/unsure 32% Figure 18: Impact of Online Self-Service on Live Contact Center Volume No impact 28% s reduced by 10% 22% Reduced 11% to 25% 11% Reduced 26% to 50% 4% Reduced by more than 50% 2% Don't know/unsure 33%

17 17 Figure 19: Impact of Online Self-Service on Website Traffic No impact 16% Website traffic increased 1% to 25% 32% Increased 26% to 50% 17% Increased 51% to 100% 4% Increased by more than 100% 1% Don't know/unsure 30% Figure 20: Impact of Online Self-Service on Sales or Transaction Volume No additional sales/transactions 17% Sales/transactions increased 1% to 10% 30% Increased 11% to 25% 10% Increased 25% to 50% 4% Increased 51% to 100% 2% Increased by more than 100% 1% Don't know/unsure 36%

18 18 Figure 21: Types of Self-Service Interactions Research products/services 47% Routine inquiries (order status, 42% account balance) Initial ordering of goods/services 41% Complaints/issues 40% Track status of an order in process 28% Change/modify an order in process 19% Other 6% Figure 22: Provide Up-Sell and Cross-Sell Opportunities Through Self-Service Channel? Planned within the next 12 months 23% No 39% Yes 21% Don t know/unsure 17%

19 19 Figure 23: Provide Up-Sell and Cross-Sell Opportunities Through Self-Service Channel By Company Size 1 to 500 employees 18% 501 to 5,000 employees 24% >5,000 employees 28% Figure 24: Measure Customer Satisfaction Levels With Online Self-Service? Yes, some of the time 35% No 35% Yes, extensively 14% Don t know/unsure 36% Figure 25: Measure Customer Satisfaction Levels With Online Self-Service By Company Size 1 to 500 employees 9% 501 to 5,000 employees 22% >5,000 employees 21%

20 20 Figure 26: Techniques Employed to Measure Customers Satisfaction With Self-Service Experiences Follow-up to customer 45% Follow-up phone call to customer 24% Pop-up surveys 17% Follow-up /call from customer 14% Follow-up letter to customer 9% Don't know/unsure 31% Other 8%

21 21 SELF-SERVICE ISSUES When moving to web or mobile self-service, most organizations are concerned with the rising complexity of their websites, as well as the need to integrate these systems and the associated data with existing customer service channels. Additionally, most do not foresee their live-agent customer care centers going away anytime soon. If anything, more than 40% expect their live contact centers to keep expanding. Respondents were asked about the most pressing or vexing issues with deploying self-service web or mobile technology. The top issue cited was website complexity (45%), with respondents pointing to the additional development work, updating, monitoring, and support which accompanies an effort to build a user-friendly and interactive site. As noted earlier in this report, close to half of the self-service sites in the survey share the same data and applications used by other parts of the enterprise, particularly call centers and IVR systems. Such cross-enterprise sharing of services requires integrating data across the various customer service systems supported, a challenge noted by 43% of respondents. At the same time, many of these systems are built on different platforms. At least 40% of respondents say maintaining multiple platforms for different interfaces such as web versus mobile apps is an issue for them. (See Figure 27.) The need for greater integration between systems was highlighted by one respondent, who laments that centralized, one-stop shopping for all product-related data is hard in our current environment, because the various things customers need are scattered about in disconnected systems that have been developed separately over a long time. Along with technical issues, some respondents indicate that their top managers also need persuading. Our online service center provides high-quality support through various channels online, phone, and otherwise and any migration would require management s approval; and I am not personally aware of any such moves to be implemented in the near future, says one respondent. How do respondents perceive their self-service web or mobile systems in comparison to customer service installations in their industry or region? They are evenly divided on this question. More than a third, 35%, feel they are lagging in this area, while 32% feel they are up-to-date with the latest solutions. Only about 6% are confident enough to feel they are more advanced than most typical self-service web or mobile channel systems. (See Figure 28.) Respondents in the retail sector are feeling the most pressure in this regard, with a majority labeling their self-service systems as behind the times. Close to half of the manufacturers in the survey also feel this way. Respondents in the utilities and telecommunications sector are most likely to see their systems as state-of-the-art. (See Figure 29.) As organizations shift many of their routine or common customer service inquiries and issues to online self-service, what is the impact on those live customer contact centers, which may be charged with addressing more sophisticated or thornier questions? Close to half of respondents, 45%, report their adoption of online self-service web or mobile has changed the priorities of their live contact centers. Most prominently, as cited by 25%, it has required agent retraining which helps achieve greater competency in online communication. It has also necessitated more agent training to help agents handle more difficult calls, according to 22% of respondents. (See Figure 30.) The rising adoption of front-end web and mobile self-service will not necessarily diminish the role of live-agent customer contact centers, the survey finds. If anything, the largest segment of respondents, 42%, predict that their contact centers will continue to expand because they expect their businesses to expand. Another 37% foresee no changes to the size and scope of their live contact centers. Only 15% predict their contact centers will shrink in size due to greater adoption of self-service web and mobile interfaces. (See Figure 31.) Respondents within government, education and the utilities and telecom sectors are the most inclined to see their call centers shrinking as a result of greater self-service, indicated by 26%. (See Figure 32.)

22 22 Figure 27: Self-Service Systems Deployment Issues Reducing website complexity 45% Integrating data with other customer 43% service systems Maintaining multiple platforms for different 40% interfaces (e.g., web versus mobile apps Managing and mining data from the 32% self-service site Enabling real-time data sharing with other 31% customer service systems Enduring accurate responses 28% Maintaining website uptime/performance 23% Providing verification to online customers 18% Increasing and enabling greater remote 15% monitoring of self-service transactions Increasing and enabling more auditing 15% of self-service transactions Other 5%

23 23 Figure 28: How Advanced are Respondents Self-Service Web or Mobile Technologies? Behind the times 35% More advanced than most typical self-service web or mobile channel systems 6% Up-to-date and competitive 32% Don t know/unsure 28% (Total does not equal 100% due to rounding.) Figure 29: How Advanced are Respondents Self-Service Web or Mobile Technologies By Industry Behind Up-to-date and More advanced than most the times competitive typical self-service web or mobile channel systems Retail 54% 24% 6% Manufacturing 47% 26% 3% Government/education/nonprofit 43% 32% 0% IT services/products 34% 34% 5% Finance/insurance 30% 35% 5% Utilities/telecom 26% 35% 13% Other 27% 29% 10%

24 24 Figure 30: Impact of Self-Service Channels on Live Contact Centers Has required agent retraining 25% (e.g., for more competency in online communication) Has required more agent training 22% (e.g., handle more difficult calls) Has required changes in agent hiring 15% practices (e.g., more skills required) Has reduced overall call center headcount 15% Has required changes in agent 7% compensation/incentives (e.g., more time spent per call versus volume) No major changes yet 30% Don't know/unsure 25% Other 4% Figure 31: Self-Service s Impact 5 Years from Now Our contact center will only be a fraction of is curent size as self-service 15% There will be no significant changes in the size or mission of our contact center 37% Other 6% Our contact center will continue to expand because we expect our business to expand 42%

25 25 Figure 32: Respondents Predicting Reductions in Call Centers By Industry Government/education/nonprofit 26% Utilities/telecom 26% IT services/products 17% Finance/insurance 16% Retail 12% Manufacturing 6% Other 5%

26 26 SELF-SERVICE ANALYTICS While most companies capture some customer self-service interaction data, most are not yet applying the data to improving their customers experiences. A majority of respondents, 63%, indicate that they are capturing at least some of the customer engagement data which is accumulating via their self-service web or mobile channels. The ability to employ this data to improve service and identify recurring issues is key to the self-service strategy. However, the vast majority of consumers using sites that run into glitches are not likely to have these issues automatically brought to the attention of the site owners. Only 17% of respondents say they actually have all or most of the data coming out of these interactions. (See Figure 33.) Among the largest organizations, the figure climbs to 21%. (See Figure 34.) Of course, none of this data is of value unless it can either be turned into insights for decision-makers, or be fed back into the system to continuously improve the customer experience. At this point, only about one-third of organizations are using analytics in this context. Another one-fourth say they plan to do something with this data within the coming year. (See Figure 35.) With the emerging volume of data from web-based selfservice systems, it stands to reason that there are also concerted efforts to capture data that is accumulating via phone IVR channels as well. While close to half, 48%, are capturing at least some data from IVR channels, only 19% are doing so in a comprehensive way. (See Figure 36.) One of the big challenges with capturing and managing IVR-based data, of course, is being able to manage and analyze voice files, where applicable. For example, many systems offer customers the opportunity to leave voice messages if they are seeking further information or wish to explain their problems in more detail. At the present time, only about 26% of respondents who are capturing IVR data say they are also capturing the voice data. (See Figure 37.) Figure 33: Capture Customer Engagement Data? Don t know/unsure 17% Yes, all or most of it 17% Yes, some of it 45% No 21%

27 27 Figure 34: Capture Customer Engagement Data By Company Size 1 to 500 employees 16% 501 to 5,000 employees 17% >5,000 employees 21% Figure 35: Applying Analytics Against Customer Engagement Data? (Among respondents working with web self-service data) Planned within the next 12 months 26% Don t know/unsure 17% No 24% Yes 33% Figure 36: Capturing Customer Engagement Data From Phone IVR Channel? Don t know/unsure 20% Yes, some of it 29% Yes, all or most of it 19% No 32%

28 28 Figure 37: Capturing Unstructured Data from Phone IVR Channel? (Among respondents working with IVR data) Don t know/unsure 31% No 42% Yes 26% (Total does not equal 100% due to rounding.)

29 29 DEMOGRAPHICS Figure 38: Respondents Job Titles IT/web/technical 22% Marketing manager/professional 16% Customer service manager/supervisor 10% CEO, CFO, vice president 12% Sales manager/professional 12% Contact center director 3% Vice president of contact center operations 2% Vice president of customer 2% service/experience/loyalty Other 22%

30 30 Figure 39: Size of Respondents Contact Centers (By number of agents) <50 59% 51 to 100 9% 101 to 250 8% 251 to 500 4% >500 12% Don't know/unsure/na 8% Figure 40: Size of Respondents Organizations (By number of employees) 1 to 100 employees 35% 101 to 500 employees 18% 501 to 1,000 employees 8% 1,001 to 5,000 employees 12% 5,001 to 10,000 employees 9% >10,000 16% Don't know/unsure/na 3%

31 31 Figure 41: Respondents Primary Industries Services/consulting/system integration 15% Financial services/insurance 14% Manufacturing 13% High-tech (including software and hardware) 13% Education/non-profit 7% Retail 6% Telecommunications 5% Utilities/transportation 5% Life sciences and healthcare (including 3% pharmaceuticals) Government (all levels) 3% Outsourcing 1% Other 15%