Stoffer's Soapbox

The Multi-Channel Customer Experience

There was an interesting post from the eStara blog topically about finding the best contact center technology. However, I found eStara's emphasis to be spot on: "Organizations need to think beyond whether or not customers are having a good call center experience, or a good Web site experience, and worry about whether customers are having a good brand experience. Nothing is more frustrating to a customer than investing time and effort online and then having to transition to a phone call and “start all over again.” The best contact center technologies are those that provide a seamless cross-channel experience and offer a continuity of experience for the customer."

In the for-profit education industry, the emphasis has shifted toward reaching the potential student when they want, where they want and through whichever channel they want. The next step is, as eStara states above, putting the systems in place to give emloyees a single view of the customer. That way, employees can view a history of every contact a student or potential student has had with the school, can avoid having to recollect information and can work to optimize the customer experience each and every time.

Workforce Optimization for Outbound Telesales

Witness Systems has published an excellent white paper on how workforce optimization is more than simply forecasting the number of agents required, based on expected call volume, and scheduling appropriately. Instead, true workforce optimization should be customer-centric - integrating QA, training, forecasting and scheduling. I'd add recruiting and a CSAT program to this list as well.

Below are some special considerations I have found useful in striving to be customer-centric in an outbound telesales environment. 

1. Implementing a Customer-Centric Sales Process. Use information from shopping competitors, customer surveys and quality monitoring to ensure your sales process meets customer needs

• Segment customers based on demographics & needs unveiled by surveys/QA monitoring
• Understand your competitors' sales processes through regular mystery shopping
• Use information from surveys/monitoring/competitor shops to adapt the right call flow/scripting and tools to optimize conversions within each customer segment
• Develop rebuttal guides to help salespeople overcome prospect objections

2. Hire salespeople with the skill sets needed to execute your process most effectively.

• Assess the skill set needed to sell your product most effectively - you can do this by profiling your best salespeople. Also use this profile in screening new hires
• Determine whether your compensation/employee benefits are appropriate by benchmarking competitors and comparable industries (also if all your best salespeople are defecting to other companies, you know you have a problem)
• Assess whether you can expand your labor pool by using home agents or locating in a different geographic location

3. Ensure your inside salespeople are properly equipped to handle your sales process

• Determine what foundational training & coaching is needed for onboarding new salespeople
• Determine what foundational training & coaching is needed to ensure that newly promoted/hired coaches understand how to coach your sales process
• Once a salesperson is on the phones, use QA and supervisor coaching to identify gaps in agent skill sets
• Use a mix of e-learning, simulation and live coaching to close gaps in agent and coach skill sets
• Measure agent, coach and organization-wide training needs via a learning management system.
• Ideally you should be able to statistically tie skill set trainings and scoring to changes in performance

4. Optimize Agent Time Management and Staffing

• Determine optimal average handle time for each part of the sales process based on customer segment. Use this to set agent expectations,  being mindful of the fact that every customer is different
  
• Determine how changes in customer wait time during the sales process affect conversion rates (e.g. if it takes over x amount of time for a potential student to reach a financial aid advisor, how does it affect sales). Use this information to make the right staffing decisions
• Note that it is challenging to schedule optimally when inside sales agents are executing complex sales that require multiple contacts with the potential customer. You cannot simply staff to meet a service level on an inbound queue.
  
  • For example, in education, an admissions advisor may talk to a potential student  three or four times prior to the student making their decision to enroll in class and six more times prior to the student starting class.  When a student is having second doubts, these are often best addressed by phone rather than email.
  • When scheduling, you need to creatively think about how a customer can receive the personalized attention and service they need when the work schedule of the salesperson  does not always match the time when a potential customer is available

5. Lead Allocation. You also need to think about the optimal number of sales leads an agent can handle, to maximize conversions across your workforce (but this is a discussion for another day)

Ending Call Center Scripting as We Know It

I have shopped all the major online schools and the only consistent thing across them all is the scripted nature of the conversations with admissions advisors. In the vast majority of calls to schools like UOPX or DeVry, there are several minutes of conversation that are scripted - so scripted in fact, that many admissions advisors seem to place their primary focus on asking the next question on the script rather than listening to the potential student. The best advisors are very different - they concentrate on building rapport with the potential student and addressing that person's specific situation and concerns.

I came across a great article from Brazilian publication RC&C, titled "Is It Time for Call-Center Workers To Ditch the Script?", which addresses this very question.

There is a balance to strike between scripted and free flow conversation, but I believe - if you hire high quality inside sales professionals - that a simple call flow guideline works far better than a script. Of course, this call flow can be combined with call monitoring & coaching - regular monitoring will balance any concerns about advisors getting the university into regulatory problems and calls from your best advisors can be broken down to determine the best practices that can be coached to increase productivity.

What experiences have others had moving to this less scripted environment?

Apple: A Great Retail Environment

In direct contrast to the truly poor service experience at Ruby Tuesday's, Apple has turned its mall stores into a consumer paradise. They offer differentiated and quality customer service options, an inviting retail environment and unique marketing via free courses/classes. Apple has managed to even interest someone like me - who typically dislikes any and all forms of shopping.

Customer Service Options
I went with my future brother-in-law to get his iPod fixed and made an appointment with the "Genius Bar" to talk to customer support. Apple immediately builds trust by not calling its employees customer service reps, but rather "geniuses." The wait at the store in our case was 2 hours plus, so I wondered if there was a way in the future to make an appointment online. Alas, there was - you can go online and make the appointment for an hour window later in the day. For those who want even more priority service, you can pay $99 a year to immediately get the first spot in the queue for the "genius bar."

Inviting Retail Environment
While waiting for service, the store's upbeat music, huge rows of gadgets to demo and overall environment made me "hang out" at the store rather than browse the rest of the mall, not to mention add to next year's holiday gift list. The great Bose stereo systems with a built in iPod dock might have a margin of 50% for Bose and Apple, but they are so visually appealing I convinced myself I need one. Why would I listen to my iPod in the car with regular headphones if, for $100, I could hook the iPod into my car stereo system. Note that the store targets the whole family - a teenager could browse iPods, while dad checks his email on huge monitor and mom plays computer games with their daughter in a special kids area. Of course, all of these activities could very well end in a purchase.

Unique Marketing Via Free Courses/Classes
Every store has free drop-in classes on every piece of Apple related gear and software imaginable. Some stores even have massive auditoriums where these courses take place. What a great way to drive customer loyalty and sales. See a snapshot calendar from an LA store below. My only complaint is that I cannot get an RSS feed of all these events. Instead, I can only download to my desktop a calendar - why should I have to that when other dynamic content I can look at via my Google Reader feed.

Ruby Tuesdays: Getting Charged for Bug-Covered Nachos

I ended up in Ruby Tuesday's today - restaurants like Ruby are not my first choice, but I was waiting on my future brother-in-law Doug's appointment at the Apple store and NFL playoffs were a calling.

Doug ordered -  and when the plate was delivered, there was a bug in the middle of his nachos. The manager brought out a new plate and apologized, but we were we were still charged for the nachos. What restaurant manager in their right mind would not comp the bill if a customer  found an insect in their food. If I want to the local taqueria, the owner would be mortified and do everything he could to keep me as a customer (or at least prevent me from reporting it to the public health department). Given I can get better service in my neighborhood, why would I possibly go back to Ruby's, ever.

This poses an interesting challenge - how as a chain restaurant, or any chain retail operation for that matter, do you get your employees to act as owners and actually care about the customer experience. In my next posting I will talk about the Apple Store, which creates what I would consider the best customer retail environment in the market today.

Blockbuster: Upselling Me All the Way to Netflix

At Blockbuster this past weekend, I stood in line with a few movies as the employees lackadaisically served the customers in front of me.

When I did get to the front of the line, the clerk, with her eyes averted, mumbled "Welcome to Blockbuster." Then, she turned away from me to help her fellow employee figure out to sell someone a DVD. Finally, the extended and ineffective upsell began. She mumbled, "Would you like a soda or popcorn with those movies?"  I said, "No, thank you." Then she quickly spit out under her breath, "Would you like to join Blockbuster Online, where  you get unlimited DVD rentals for $17.99 a month?"

I just don't get it. First of all, when I go to the supermarket, the checkout aisle, like Blockbuster, is chock full of soda and candy. And never am I asked whether I want to buy it - supermarket's  management knows that if I did, I would just reach over and grab the soda and candy right next to the checkout counter. Secondly, there is a computer set up near the checkout counter at Blockbuster with a big sign touting all the features of Blockbuster Online and letting people sign up today. Is there really the need to ask again?

It was readily apparent that the Blockbuster employee was getting mystery shopped on occasion to make sure she said the scripted upsells. But the Blockbuster employee never made eye contact or even flashed a smile - if she is mystery shopped, shouldn't this be part of the evaluation criteria? I can say with certainty that a combination of unfriendly customer service and irritating upsells is an unprofitable strategy - any revenue gained by upsells is lost by turned off customers going to the store less frequently or, as I did, surfing to netflix.com as soon as they come home.

Executives at Blockbuster face a huge challenge to stay alive as new channels to buy movies continue to encroach on its traditional rental business. They will have to look farther than selling more soda to find the key to survival.

Sears Auto Center: The Definition of Poor Service

Amanda and I were holiday shopping yesterday and when we went back to the car to go home, it wouldn't start. Lucky for us (or so we thought), a Sears Auto Center was 50 feet from our parking spot.

After an unsuccessful jump attempt, I went into the Sears auto shop and waited for 20 minutes in line only to be told that the Sears Auto Center would not help us unless we could drive our car into the shop. All it would have taken for Sears to get potentially $1,000 in business (new starter?, new fuel pump?) would have been to walk out with me to the car, put it in neutral and help me push it 50 feet to the shop. Instead, I called AAA and had the car towed to the dealer.

Compare Sears' service to Nordstrom's, another anchor department store. Nordstrom's stresses that its sales associates can even deliver merchandise to customers' homes if they deem it appropriate. Compare the service at Sears Auto Center to Lexus, which offers new car owners 24-hour, 365-day Roadside Assistance Protection for the first four years after purchase.

No wonder Sears is a dying and undifferentiated brand - any company that leaves profit standing literally at its doorstep is destined to fail in the long run.