Premium Technical Support as a Strategic Imperative Monetizing the customer experience yields tangible return on investment. By: Dinesh Pai Senior Vice President Global Premium Tech Support Sitel Global Markets Organization www.sitel.com/solutions Premium Technical Support as a Strategic Imperative www.sitel.com/solutions Page 1
Whitepaper Content: How a new wave of Technical Support solutions are changing the contact center industry. What is Premium Technical Support? How clients are benefiting from premium technical support services to: o o o Enhance the customer experience Create new revenue streams from out of scope contacts Improve margins on low-profit products Who should read this Whitepaper: Business leaders looking to reduce cost and create profit centers Marketing leaders designing new product revenue streams Operational VPs looking for efficiency improvements in technical support operations Any leader challenged with out of scope support contacts Premium Technical Support as a Strategic Imperative www.sitel.com/solutions Page 2
Introduction The Environment Creating the New Need There is a battle for big business to own the home. Meaning, there is an aggressive movement by virtually all large players in communications, home services, consumer electronics, appliances and PC manufacturing to grow revenue by expanding the number of products and services provided. IMAGE: Sitel New Digital Home Infographic. www.sitel.com/solutions These products and services are increasingly interconnected and complex to install, maintain and troubleshoot when something goes wrong. This complex environment creates challenges, yet, if managed correctly, also creates associated opportunities. Misdirected customers, more commonly referred to as Out-of-Scope customers, have a real need that can be met or redirected. The traditional response has been to point the finger at someone else and redirect the customer to an alternate provider s support line. Obviously, resulting in additional frustration to the already-troubled customer. Premium Technical Support as a Strategic Imperative www.sitel.com/solutions Page 3
In today s world, these Out of Scope customers have been put back In Scope with a multichannel platform that enables any caller s issue to be addressed and resolved for a fee, and additional ancillary services or products to be sold. In addition to monetizing the out of scope contact at the point of need, premium technical support (PTS) is fortifying the customer relationship. A successfully resolved issue is always rated more positively than an unsolved issue. Even when a fee is applied, the customer views the PTS experience as favorable because their issues have been resolved and their lives made less complex by giving them a single point of contact to resolve all the issues inside the modern networked home. In summary, a well-positioned and effective PTS can be a market differentiator in the ongoing race to grow revenue with satisfied customers with benefits like: Enhanced customer experience resulting in increased customer loyalty and retention New revenue realized from premium service and ancillary sale of products, peripherals and consumables Improved margins on low-profit products Standing Out in the Crowd Product features change and improve so rapidly that the real opportunity a brand has to build loyalty is the relationship they are able to forge with customers. How well they get to know individual customers and how they manifest this understanding defines the level of customer intimacy and, ultimately, loyalty they will be able to achieve. Customer support is the moment of truth to demonstrate this knowledge and commitment to caring. By resolving customers issues, customers can be turned into loyal customers and loyal customers can be turned into raving fans and promoters. Quality technical support is just as important as the quality of the product itself for technology consumers and small businesses. With the increasing dependence on technology, swift guidance to address issues and technical incidents is critical in enhancing customer experience and maintaining loyalty. In today s marketplace, the frustration caused by lengthy hold times and unresolved problems can quickly result in a poor reputation, customer erosion and, consequently, lost revenue. Yet a positive experience can produce repeat buyers with multiple networked devices and services. Premium Technical Support as a Strategic Imperative www.sitel.com/solutions Page 4
The quality of customer interaction is becoming one the frustration caused by of the top reasons for recommending a company 1. lengthy hold times and unresolved problems can Technical Support has evolved from a reactive activity quickly result in a poor viewed largely as a cost center-based tactical reputation, customer erosion and, consequently, lost necessity, to a proactive management function that revenue. can set a company apart from the competition. According to a recent report published by Sitel, more than 86% of customers say they will simply stop using a brand after one bad experience, and 82% of customers will communicate their bad service experience with others. 2 The Revenue Imperative Experts agree that 2013-2015 will be a critical timeframe for contact centers from a revenue generation perspective. Companies like Sitel are seeing many businesses transforming core support processes to optimize them for creating revenue. Nearly half of all customer service interactions result in the positioning of another value added offering. Each positive contact resolution is being linked to additional services, warranties, refills, peripherals and enhancements. Of the business-to-consumer (B2C) organizations surveyed, 69% consider contact centers to be critical to revenue generation 3. According to a recent survey of IT managers conducted by IDG Research, 47% view technical support and service desk operations as a strategic enabler to achieving broader business goals. Further, an overwhelming majority of respondents say that, among other things, when it comes to the true benefits of servicing the customer it is all connected: improved service = increased loyalty = raised lifetime value = improved acquisition. Furthermore, 57% actively track and correlate the success of their service and support operations to the achievement of broader business goals. 47 percent view technical One tangible example was the recent experience of a support and service desk Sitel client that decided to implement what the operations as a strategic enabler to achieving broader company calls Premium Technical Support. business goals. This diversified electronics manufacturer, which provides a wide range of products and services worldwide, was struggling to control the costs of operations while increasing customer satisfaction. Instead of the traditional cost cutting approach, the company decided to 1 Source: Harris Interactive, Customer Experience Impact Report 2009-2011 2 Source: Harris Interactive, Customer Experience Impact Report 2009-2011 3 Source: Loudhouse Research Survey: Call Centers Are Expected to Create Revenue,- December 22, 2010 Premium Technical Support as a Strategic Imperative www.sitel.com/solutions Page 5
invest in a new platform to improve service proficiency and monetize out-of-scope contacts. The result? The Premium Technical Support platform reports monthly revenue of $250K. The company was able to create a solid revenue stream in less than three months after launch with upsell conversion rates above 15% and improved customer satisfaction of 45% in the period. Consumers have amazing options at their fingertips: information, services and the ability to shop from anywhere via any number of personal technology devices. According to Forrester Research, more than 40% of Western Europeans purchase goods online, with Germany, Switzerland and France all reporting more than 50% of consumers doing so. In the US, 67% of consumers currently shop online, using four or five web outlets 4. IMAGE: Sitel PTS Results. More information on page 7 Executives across the enterprise are recognizing that every customer touch point must first retain a customer and then turn positive experiences into improvements to the bottom line. In recent research 4, it was noted that companies need to become far more innovative, rebooting their strategy to emphasize quality and customer experience, not pricing. In a fast-moving and ultra-competitive marketplace, the customer service agents who are truly listening and engaging are the part of the business creating meaningful value at moments of truth that matter. 4 Customers take control, December 2011, PWC Premium Technical Support as a Strategic Imperative www.sitel.com/solutions Page 6
As we ve seen before, an innovative technical support approach can deliver scalable services that enhance the customer experience while increasing business profitability as a whole. Companies like Sitel, one of the pioneers in this arena, report that a Premium Technical Support solution can help avoid customer frustration due to unexpected, prolonged downtime with post-warranty coverage that continually supports their customers, provides critical business information and generates revenue. The company points four imperative elements on the revenue generation aspect: Convert a cost center to a profit center Turn non-revenue generating calls into revenue streams Save on spend in the customer care operation Provide an opportunity to pay for results, not effort These imperatives may sound familiar, as experts from different regions and industries are pointing that a primary challenge for companies in the following years is determining how to provide services at competitive prices while at the same time ensuring decent profit margins. This was the case of a leading global electronics manufacture, Sitel s PTS client since 2012. The initial objectives and challenges of this company were: In less than three months after the new PTS solution implementation, this Sitel client has achieved the following performance results: Exceeded USD $4K revenue per agent target Premium Technical Support as a Strategic Imperative www.sitel.com/solutions Page 7
Conversion rate 25% + (Call/Upsell) Creation of a solid revenue stream in less than a quarter 82% overall NPS (96% for PTS customers) Net Profit added to client s bottom line The Evolution of Remote PC Support Despite the torrid growth of everything mobile, the technical support and service desk industry is apparently not well prepared to deal with this new customer. Only 24% of respondents to the IDG survey have a remote support solution enabling them to connect to a customer s mobile device. Conversely, more than 60% say that such a solution would positively impact their customer service and satisfaction metrics. That disconnect clearly points that customers are not getting the support they expect. says Dinesh Pai, Senior Vice President, Sitel Global PTS. According to Sitel Premium Technical Support experts, to provide a far more satisfactory customer experience, contact options should include phone, email, chat, social media or access to self-service tools, developing a holistic and innovative plan to realign how customers contact technical a holistic and innovative plan to realign how customers contact technical support and take full advantage of self-service features. Also, tailored technical support solutions let support and take full advantage of self-service technicians remotely support a user s Android, features. BlackBerry, ios, Windows Mobile or traditional device, quickly resolving issues. Taking it a step further, some leading manufacturers are bundling remote control software on their devices, enabling support staffs to remotely configure, diagnose and troubleshoot problems wherever the customer has a data connection. This technology also lets technicians collaborate on a remote session to solve more complex problems. Collectively, these tools help solve problems in a way that leaves the customer with a very positive brand experience. Conclusion PTS is a Strategic Imperative Detailed activity monitoring, multi-channeled & remote interactions, careful rules of engagement, active analytic tools, and comprehensive reporting are some of the next generation technical support features that guarantee significant improvements in customer satisfaction, cost efficiencies and also, conversion rates creating new revenue streams. Premium Technical Support as a Strategic Imperative www.sitel.com/solutions Page 8
More than half of the organizations in a recent IDG survey cited high customer satisfaction as the most critical goal for their service operations. The next technical support generation, or Premium Technical Support as it has been called, is an important component of how we deliver meaningful support in the customers chosen channel of interaction - customers are communicating with vendors in different ways depending on who they are, where they are and what device they are using. The multichannel aspect of the new technical support service may make some organizations feel a loss of control, especially in social media, but the new technical support solutions are empowering the ability for a More than half of the organizations in a recent IDG public social interaction to be escalated to a secure survey cited high customer private communication with the same agent, without satisfaction as the most critical goal for their service navigating an IVR or exiting the text channel of operations interaction. Leading the industry change, top tier companies like Sitel are transforming its clients technical support services by applying three key elements: Leveraging automation to improve the efficiency of the technical support process: Customers can take full advantage of remote and self-service features for basic technical support to optimize speed to resolution. Sitel s automated desktop tools can triage issues and resolve technical issues faster than a Specialist working without the Sitel Premium Technical Support platform. Focusing on new revenue generation: Sitel Premium Technical Support solutions was built based on a revenue-sharing approach across the consumer and SMB space, saving on spend in the technical support operation and creating a new revenue stream for its clients. Examples of Sitel PTS offer supporting customers' needs are: o Subscription Plans: Live Tech Support plans (Monthly, Annual): Customers can call anytime they need help. o One-time Request: Service for any single incident (Setup Services, Troubleshooting & Repair Services) o Anytime Technical Support: 24x7, 365 days a year Staffing high-quality, talented and experienced people: With more than 25,000 professionals (almost half of Sitel s global workforce) and unmatched industry experience providing technical support services to major brands and OEM companies, Sitel Premium Technical Support Specialists have the ability and knowledge to help customers with technology challenges around the world. Premium Technical Support as a Strategic Imperative www.sitel.com/solutions Page 9
Common deployment of Premium Technical Support includes: Monetizing warranty, post-warranty or out-of-warranty support Improving the efficiency of troubleshooting o Operating software and application problems o Internet service and networking problems o Computer hardware and peripheral problems Improving the consistency of corporate help desk support Reducing field technician dispatch and support line To learn more about how Sitel Premium Technical Support can help grow your business, contact a Sitel representative or visit www.sitel.com/solutions for the latest research and analysis of industry issues. Premium Technical Support as a Strategic Imperative www.sitel.com/solutions Page 10
About Sitel Sitel is a world leader in outsourced customer care services, including some of the most advanced contact centers in the world. With almost 30 years of industry experience, Sitel has twice been ranked as the top overall call center outsourcing provider in Datamonitor s annual Black Book of Outsourcing survey. Sitel has also been ranked in the Leaders Quadrant in Gartner s Magic Quadrant: Customer Management Contact Center BPO, Worldwide, since 2010. Sitel s 58,000 employees provide clients with predictable and measurable return on their customer investment by building customer loyalty, increasing sales and improving efficiency. Sitel s solutions span +120 domestic, nearshore, and offshore centers, speaking 40 languages in 23 countries. United States Two American Center 3102 West End Avenue Suite 1000 Nashville, TN, 37203, USA +1 866 95 SITEL United Kingdom Building 600 Leavesden Park Hercules Way, Watford WD25 7GS +44 (0) 1923 689 600 For more information, please, visit www.sitel.com Premium Technical Support as a Strategic Imperative www.sitel.com/solutions Page 11