How technology affects agent performance and the bottom line by @dr natalie petouhoff-contact center
1. Technology’s
Affect
on:
Delivering
Great
Customer
Experiences
via
Agents
&
The
Bo?om-‐Line
By
Dr.
Natalie
Petouhoff
www.DrNatalieNews.com
@DrNatalie
on
Twi9er
2. Dr. Natalie’s Background
Analyst Rankings:
PWC Management Consultant
Chief Strategist for Social Media &
Digital Communications
PR & Marketing Agency
Top Forrester
Customer Service,
Social Media, CRM
Analyst
Instructor at Center for Entertainment, Media
and Sports Summer Institutes at UCLA Anderson
7. THE
RESULTS:
What
We
Found…
• Agent
Technology…
• Can
increase
operaEonal
costs
• Has
a
direct
affect
on
customer
churn
&
sales
• The
eight
reasons
why
these
condiEons
exist
• Steps
to
take
to
ensure
the
technology
is
supporEng
your
agent’s
ability
to
deliver
their
best
customer
experience
8. What’s
New?
Most
Contact
Centers…
• SEll
seen
as
a
cost
center
• But
for
this
hour,
consider
that
a
contact
center
is
revenue
center…
• Even
if
it
doesn’t
answer
one
direct
sales
call…
• Consider
that
perhaps
Service
Drivesà
Sales,
PR,
MarkeEng,
Engineering,
Manufacturing,
Supply
Chain…
9. The
Contact
Centers
is
the
Most
Customer-‐facing
Department
• It
always
has
been…
• And
even
before
social
media
it
had
a
direct
influence
on
future
and
present
sales
• But
with
social
media,
the
contact
center
ma9ers
more
now
than
ever…
• And
it’s
easier
to
prove…
Why?
10. It’s
always
been
true…
The Contact
Center is
Like a
Canary in
Coal Mine
11. Most everything the business needs to know…
• What’s
working
• What’s
not
working
• What
would
be
be9er
if…
Can be seen by evaluating
customer conversations…
But it’s been difficult to “get”
senior management to understand that…
12. But Social Media has
Changed the Game
In the
Contact Center’s Favor…
The difference?
We call it the
Witness Factor™!
13. Go
Back
In
Time…
People
Were
PredicTng
This…
There
would
be…
A
place
in
3me
Where
the…
• Customer‘s
voice
• Employee’s
voice
Would
start
to
mean
something…
And
there
would
be
an
enabling
technology
That
is
web
2.0
social
media…
We
are
here
now…
This
is
your
opportunity…
14. GO BACK FURTHER…
MANY SCHOLARS
HAD ADVOCATED TO
LISTEN TO
CUSTOMERS,
EMPLOYEES…
15. GO BACK FURTHER…
MANY SCHOLARS
HAD ADVOCATED TO
LISTEN TO
CUSTOMERS,
EMPLOYEES…
Integrating That Feedback Back Into
Products & Services…
Means you’d have better products, services,
a better company,
more engaged employees & more loyal customers…
16. Today
Customer’s
Post
Comments
online…
• On
review
sites
like
–
Yelp,
Amazon…
• On
Facebook
• On
Twi9er
• In
Forums
&
CommuniEes…
Just
because
a
company
is
not
listening
online,
doesn’t
mean
that
customer’s
are
not
posEng…
What
should
you
do
about
that?
Come
to
my
session
tomorrow:
MulE-‐Channel
Customer
Service
at
11:45
AM
7
Steps
to
IntegraEng
TradiEonal
with
Social…
17. Word-‐of-‐mouth
in
social
media
tends
to
be
very
direct
&
authenEc
Most
everything
the
business
needs
to
know…
• What’s
working
• What’s
not
working
• What
would
be
be9er
if…
Can
be
seen
in
social
networks…
18. Witness Factor™
Describes the idea that
with social media
customer feedback
is now public
And like cave paintings,
it’s permanent—
for millions of
people to see, forever…
19. 1-9-90
• 1% complain
• 9% respond to complainer
• 90% read but don’t post
Most of your customers
are in the 90%
20. Social Customer Service:
Not only good at
providing
mission critical
information
to the company…
But its public nature is
helping executives
understand why the
Contact Center
is so important
Canaries in Coal Mine
21. Remember the book:
Who Moved My Cheese?
• Social Media is not going away
• It’s not about:
• If the cheese is going to move
• Or where it’s moving
• It’s what are you doing about it…
• Do you want to learn about it now?
• Or be in a reactive, PR nightmare?
22. But Social Media has
Changed the Game
In the
Contact Center’s Favor…
The difference?
We call it the
Witness Factor™!
23. Go
Back
In
Time…
People
Were
PredicTng
This…
There
would
be…
A
place
in
3me
Where
the…
• Customer‘s
voice
• Employee’s
voice
Would
start
to
mean
something…
And
there
would
be
an
enabling
technology
That
is
web
2.0
social
media…
We
are
here
now…
This
is
your
opportunity…
24. GO BACK FURTHER…
MANY SCHOLARS
HAD ADVOCATED TO
LISTEN TO
CUSTOMERS,
EMPLOYEES…
25. GO BACK FURTHER…
MANY SCHOLARS
HAD ADVOCATED TO
LISTEN TO
CUSTOMERS,
EMPLOYEES…
Integrating That Feedback Back Into
Products & Services…
Means you’d have better products, services,
a better company,
more engaged employees & more loyal customers…
26. Today
Customer’s
Post
Comments
online…
• On
review
sites
like
–
Yelp,
Amazon…
• On
Facebook
• On
Twi9er
• In
Forums
&
CommuniEes…
Just
because
a
company
is
not
listening
online,
doesn’t
mean
that
customer’s
are
not
posEng…
What
should
you
do
about
that?
Come
to
my
session
tomorrow:
MulE-‐Channel
Customer
Service
at
11:45
AM
7
Steps
to
IntegraEng
TradiEonal
with
Social…
27. Word-‐of-‐mouth
in
social
media
tends
to
be
very
direct
&
authenEc
Most
everything
the
business
needs
to
know…
• What’s
working
• What’s
not
working
• What
would
be
be9er
if…
Can
be
seen
in
social
networks…
28. Witness Factor™
Describes the idea that
with social media
customer feedback
is now public
And like cave paintings,
it’s permanent—
for millions of
people to see, forever…
29. 1-9-90
• 1% complain
• 9% respond to complainer
• 90% read but don’t post
Most of your customers
are in the 90%
30. Social Customer Service:
Not only good at
providing
mission critical
information
to the company…
But its public nature is
helping executives
understand why the
Contact Center
is so important
Canaries in Coal Mine
31. Remember the book:
Who Moved My Cheese?
• Social Media is not going away
• It’s not about:
• If the cheese is going to move
• Or where it’s moving
• It’s what are you doing about it…
• Do you want to learn about it now?
• Or be in a reactive, PR nightmare?
32. Our
Study
Looked
At…
Agent
ProducTvity
&
Costs:
• A
Siloed
Channel
Approach
Agent
Desktop
• Not
IntegraEng
All
Channels
• Inaccurate
Knowledge
Management
Databases
Customer
LifeTme
Value
&
Revenue:
• Reducing
Customer
Churn
Rates
&
Increasing
Sales
– Immediate
Responses
to
NegaEve
Word-‐of-‐Mouth
– ProacEve
Social
Customer
Engagement
&
PosiEve
Word-‐of-‐
Mouth
Agent
AVtudes:
• Drive
A9riEon
• Poor
Customer
Experiences
33. 3
Case
Studies
• Case
Study
1:
– $60M
private,
online
community
&
subscripEon-‐based
services
company
providing
sales
&
support
• Case
Study
2:
– $700M
publically-‐traded,
consumer
electronics
company,
providing
sales
&
tech
support
• Case
Study
3:
– $31B
publically-‐traded
telecommunicaEons
company,
providing
technical
consumer
support
34. Case
Study
#1:
Company
Background
• 60
contact
center
agents
• QuesEons:
– Technical
“how
to”
&
Billing
&
product
info
• Agent’s
measured
on
– ReducEon
of
churn
/
subscripEon
saves
– Quality
of
interacEon
• Contact
Center
Management
System
• Provided
by
outsourced
vendor
– Highly
customized
– Lack
of
desktop
integraEon:
• Chat
• Social
Media
35. Case
Study
#2:
Company
Background
• 75
agents
• QuesEons:
– Technical
“how
to”
on
2500
SKUs
–
B2B
and
B2C
• Agent’s
measured
on
– Quality
of
interacEon
– Technical
proficiency
• Contact
Center
Management
System
• SaaS
implemented
1
year
ago,
with
some
customizaEons
– Lack
of
desktop
integraEon:
• Chat
• Social
Media
36. Case
Study
#3:
Company
Background
• 1005
agents
in
this
center;
17,000
Agents
total
• 49%
Agent
A9riEon
• QuesEons:
– Technical
“how
to,”
product
informaEon
– Social
Media
posts
(done
by
hand)
• Agent’s
measured
on:
– ReducEon
of
subscriber
churn
or
subscripEon
saves
– Quality
of
contact
• CRM
system
– 10
year
old
system,
highly
customized
– Lack
of
desktop
integraEon:
• Chat
• Social
Media
37. Case
Study
#3:
Company
Background
• 1005
agents
in
this
center;
17,000
Agents
total
• 49%
Agent
A9riEon
• QuesEons:
– Technical
“how
to,”
product
informaEon
– Social
Media
posts
(done
by
hand)
• Agent’s
measured
on:
– ReducEon
of
subscriber
churn
or
subscripEon
saves
– Quality
of
contact
• CRM
system
– 10
year
old
system,
highly
customized
– Lack
of
desktop
integraEon:
• Chat
• Social
Media
38. We
Did
Time-‐MoEon
Studies
to
Look
at:
Agent
ProducTvity
&
Costs:
– A
Siloed
Channel
Approach
Agent
Desktop
– Not
IntegraEng
All
Channels
– Inaccurate
Knowledge
Management
Databases…
39. The
Time
MoEon
Analysis
of…
• Agents
using
current
agent
desktop
• ProducEvity
loss:
41. Loss
in
ProducEvity
due
to…
• Too
many
screens
open
at
once;
Eme
toggling
between
screens
• System
very
slow
• Having
to
cut
and
paste
informaEon
from
one
system
to
another
• Knowledge
bases
had
poor
search;
difficult
to
find
correct
answers
– Long
handle
Emes
– Oqen
not
able
to
resolve
the
issue
the
first
Eme
• Didn’t
have
chat
or
co-‐browse
or
it
integrated
to
the
desktop…
42. Loss
in
ProducEvity
due
to…
• Tweets,
Facebook
posts
not
integrated
to
the
agent
desktop-‐
doing
it
by
hand
– Go
out
to
company’s
Twi9er
handle
– Look
for
comments
– Cut
and
paste
the
comment
from
Twi9er
back
into
the
contact
center
management
system
– Try
to
idenEfy
if
the
comment
was
made
by
a
customer
– Direct
Message
the
customer
– SomeEmes
can’t
match
social
media
idenEty
to
customer
record
– Search
for
answer
in
the
knowledge
base
-‐
can’t
find
the
answer….
43. The
Cost
of
Lost
ProducEvity
/
Year
ProducTvity
Metric
Phone
eMail
/
chat
Social
Media
FCR
Agent
A9riEon
Case
Study
#1
-‐$236,040
Case
Study
#2
Case
Study
#3
-‐$542,072
-‐$4,440,800
44. Our
Study
Looked
At…
Customer
LifeTme
Value
&
Revenue:
– Reducing
Customer
Churn
Rates
&
Increasing
Sales
• Immediate
Responses
to
NegaEve
Word-‐of-‐Mouth
• ProacEve
Social
Customer
Engagement
&
PosiEve
Word-‐of-‐Mouth
45. NegaEve
Word-‐of-‐Mouth
Leads
to
Customer
Churn-‐
especially
online…
“When
customers
see
other
customer’s
negaEve
posts,
they
believe
other
customers
more
than
the
company’s
AdverEsing
and
MarkeEng.”
–
Edelman
and
Nielsen
46. By
Taking
A
ProacTve
AcTon
In
Social
Media
And
IntegraTng
Social
Media
Into
the
Agent
Desktop
•
•
•
•
Respond
to
negaEve
comments
and
Turn
them
around
Reduce
negaEve
word-‐of-‐mouth
And
reduce
customer
churn
Metric
Reducing
Customer
Churn
/
NegaEve
WOM
Case
Study
#1
Case
Study
#2
Case
Study
#3
$245,592
$960,000
“Nega&ve
WOM
can
reduce
a
company’s
market
share
by
20%.”
–
McKinsey
$640,000
47. Increased
Incremental
Revenue
/
Year
“A
high-‐impact
recommenda&on—
from
a
trusted
friend
conveying
a
relevant
message,
—is
up
to
50X
more
likely
to
trigger
a
purchase
than
a
low-‐impact
recommenda&on.”
Metric
Increasing
CLTV/
ProacEve/
PosiEve
WOM
Case
Study
#1
Case
Study
#2
Case
Study
#3
$544,000
$719,000
$3,180,000
Word-‐of-‐mouth
is
the
primary
factor
behind
20
to
50%
of
all
purchasing
decisions.”
-‐-‐
McKinsey
48. Why
Word
of
Mouth
Ma9ers
“Sales
directly
aJributable
to
the
proac&ve
and
posi&ve
word-‐of-‐mouth
for
the
iPhone
outstripped
those
aJributable
to
Apple’s
paid
marke&ng-‐-‐
6-‐fold.”
-‐-‐
McKinsey
h9p://vandymkEng.typepad.com/files/2010-‐4-‐mckinsey-‐a-‐new-‐way-‐to-‐measure-‐word-‐of-‐mouth.pdf
49. Technology’s
Affect
On
the
Bo9om-‐line
The
change
in
net
profit
contribuTon…
Metric
Case
Study
#1
Case
Study
#2
Case
Study
#3
Part
1:
Agent
ProducEvity
$236,040
$542,072
$4,440,800
Part
2:
Customer
Churn/
Customer
LifeEme
Value
$789,592
$1,679,000
$3,820,000
50. Technology’s
Affect
On
the
Bo9om-‐line
The
change
in
net
profit
contribuTon…
Metric
Case
Study
#1
Case
Study
#2
Case
Study
#3
Part
1:
Agent
ProducEvity
$236,040
$542,072
$4,440,800
Part
2:
Customer
Churn/
Customer
LifeEme
Value
$789,592
$1,679,000
$3,820,000
$1,025,632
$2,232,592
$9,240,800
TOTAL
52. What
Agent’s
Told
Us…The
Results
“Having
many
screens
open,
remembering
different
login
passwords
and
toggling
back
and
forth
becomes
tedious,
&resome
and
nega&vely
affects
our
aPtude
&
our
work”
53. What
Agent’s
Told
Us…The
Results
“Less
of
us
would
leave
if
the
technology
we
use
everyday
was
easier
to
use;
our
job
would
be
less
repe&&ve
and
less
stressful”
54. What
Agent’s
Told
Us…The
Results
“We
know
that
we
can
not
only
convert
poten&al
customers
into
customers
but
how
we
interact
with
customers
drive
sales
But
the
company
has
to
understand
this
and
give
us
the
right
tools”
55. What
Agent’s
Told
Us…The
Results
“I’m
a
customer.
I
know
that
when
I
see
nega&ve
posts,
it
discourages
me
from
buying
stuff
Our
company
has
to
start
paying
aJen&on
to
social
media…”
56. WHY IS CHANGE DIFFICULT?
1.
OrganizaTonal
PoliTcs
• Lack
of
cross-‐funcEonal
collaboraEon
• MarkeEng
or
PR
department
owns
the
Facebook
page
and/or
all
social
channels
57. WHY IS CHANGE DIFFICULT?
1.
OrganizaTonal
PoliTcs
• Lack
of
cross-‐funcEonal
collaboraEon
• MarkeEng
or
PR
department
owns
the
Facebook
page
and/or
all
social
channels
2.
Ability
to
Adopt
to
Change
• Changing
current
methods
of
operaEng
are
daunEng
58. WHY IS CHANGE DIFFICULT?
1.
OrganizaTonal
PoliTcs
• Lack
of
cross-‐funcEonal
collaboraEon
• MarkeEng
or
PR
department
owns
the
Facebook
page
and/or
all
social
channels
2.
Ability
to
Adopt
to
Change
• Changing
current
methods
of
operaEng
are
daunEng
3.
Training
• Making
changes
to
how
agents
&
outsourced
providers
conduct
tasks
is
Eme
consuming
• Siloed
systems
increase
training
costs
•
3.
59. WHY IS CHANGE DIFFICULT?
OrganizaTonal
PoliTcs
• Lack
of
cross-‐funcEonal
collaboraEon
• MarkeEng
or
PR
department
owns
the
Facebook
page
and/or
all
social
channels
Ability
to
Adopt
to
Change
• Changing
current
methods
of
operaEng
can
be
daunEng
Training
• Making
changes
to
how
agents
&
outsourced
providers
conduct
tasks
is
Eme
consuming
• Siloed
systems
increase
training
costs
4.
Outsourcing
Vendor
Alignment
• Reliance
on
an
outsourced
provider’s
platorm
for
soqware
&
hardware
60. WHY IS CHANGE DIFFICULT?
5.
Legacy
Systems
•
Large
rip
and
replace/integraEon
decisions
can
take
Eme
to
approve
within
IT
and
the
company
61. WHY IS CHANGE DIFFICULT?
5.
Legacy
Systems
•
Large
rip
and
replace/integraEon
decisions
can
take
Eme
to
approve
within
IT
and
the
company
6.
Too
Many
Choices
• ProliferaEon
of
soqware
choices
w/varying
features,
funcEons
and
maturity
62. WHY IS CHANGE DIFFICULT?
5.
Legacy
Systems
•
Large
rip
and
replace/integraEon
decisions
can
take
Eme
to
approve
within
IT
and
the
company
6.
Too
Many
Choices
• ProliferaEon
of
soqware
choices
w/varying
features,
funcEons
and
maturity
7.
Recent
Soiware
Investments
• Are
not
state-‐of-‐the-‐art,
may
be
already
outdated
or
not
easily
extensible
63. WHY IS CHANGE DIFFICULT?
5.
Legacy
Systems
•
Large
rip
and
replace/integraEon
decisions
can
take
Eme
to
approve
within
IT
and
the
company
6.
Too
Many
Choices
• ProliferaEon
of
soqware
choices
w/varying
features,
funcEons
and
maturity
7.
Recent
Soqware
Investments
• Are
not
state-‐of-‐the-‐art,
may
be
already
outdated
or
not
easily
extensible
8.
Need
the
Business
Case
• OperaEonal
costs
and
topline
revenue
impact
of
making
changes
has
not
been
quanEfied
in
terms
of
benefits
and
ROI
to
the
company
64. PracTcal
Steps
To
Take
• Review
the
case
studies
in
depth
• Get
execuEve
buy-‐in
to
benchmark
your
organizaEon
• Get
outside
help
to
benchmark
your
content
–
and
bolster
credibility
• Review
the
analysis
• Create
the
business
case
for
change
to
people,
process
and
technology
• Present
it
to
execuEves
and
get
approval
• Create
a
short-‐
and
long-‐term
plan
• Get
to
it
before
your
compeEtors
beat
you
to
it!
THANK
YOU!
DoctorNatalie@gmail.com
@DrNatalie
www.DrNatalieNews.com