John RagsdaleResearch Director, CRMForrester Research

From Tactical to Strategic:Contact Centers Evolve to Help Meet Corporate Business Objectives

The Contact Center is

poised to become one of

the most strategic

businesses in the

enterprise…

. . . but not without organizational changeand embracing new technology.

“Turn Your Contact Center Into a Profit Center”

“Turn Your Contact Center Into a Profit Center”

“Turn Your Contact Center Into a Profit Center”

Yadda, yadda, yadda . . .

Traditional CRM and e-service vendors

have focused on:

• Technology to deflect calls

• Technology to streamline agent activities

• Downsizing and outsourcing

New Drivers for Contact Center as Profit Center

It’s no longer about acquisition, it’s about

retention

Marketing taking ownership of customer

interactions to protect brand

Viewing service interactions in context of

overall customer experience

Legislation, consumer control, harder to gain

access to the consumer

Enabling Technology

Analytics/personalization present offers in

context of service call

Quality monitoring derives business intelligence

from captured interactions

Tools enabling marketing to extend to multi-

media service channels

More intelligence in agent assisted and self-

service

Enabling Technology

Analytics/personalization present offers in context

of service call

Quality monitoring derives business intelligence

from captured interactions

Tools enabling marketing to extend to multi-media

service channels

More intelligence in agent assisted and self-service

Objectives

• Increase revenue generated in call center

• Provide value not matched by competitors

Challenges with Inbound Sales

• CSRs resistant to the idea of selling during a customer service call

• Sales efforts frequently took the focus away from the caller’s purpose, impacting quality of service

• CSRs handling calls for more than 300 magazines cannot remember complex offers and qualification criteria

Results

• More than 850,000 offers presented

• More than 100,000 offers accepted – 8.5%

accept rate

• Generated $1,700,000 in incremental sales in

2003

• Able to do up-selling without impacting the

quality of service provided

• Impact on call length much lower than

originally expected

• Offer extension is a good control tool for call

wrap-up

Barriers to Blending Service/Sales

Philosophical view of service as

separate from sales

Traditionally contact centers are

driven solely by agent

productivity metrics and costs

Some existing metrics are in

conflict with revenue goals

Training - Agents refuse to sell or

very bad at selling

Invest in Agent Training

Pitney Bowes• 14% increase in revenue from tech support calls

Adelphia• 14% increase in sales units per CSR

Continental Airlines• 8% increase in e-tickets

• 22% increase in vendor transfer program

Bank of America• Grew contact center sales by 20%

Enabling Technology

Analytics/personalization present offers in

context of service call

Quality monitoring derives business intelligence

from captured interactions

Tools enabling marketing to extend to multi-

media service channels

More intelligence in agent assisted and self-

service

Quality Monitoring Enables Business Optimization

TechnicalSupport

OrderProcessing

ComplaintTracking

Fulfillment

Ag

en

tA

cti

vit

ies

AccountManagement

WebMail

PhoneFaxIn

Person

Email

Cu

sto

mer

Ch

an

nels

Quality Monitoring Enables Business Optimization

TechnicalSupport

OrderProcessing

ComplaintTracking

Fulfillment

Ag

en

tA

cti

vit

ies

AccountManagement

WebMail

PhoneFaxIn Person

Email

Cap

ture

d

Inte

racti

on

s

Product feedback: quality, usability, pricing Missing products, features, services Process feedback: too complex, too lengthy

Reaction to corporate news or events Reaction to announcements Reaction to promotions or campaigns

Competitive product information• Competitive pricing information

Cu

sto

mer

Ch

an

nels

Quality Monitoring Enables Business Optimization

TechnicalSupport

OrderProcessing

ComplaintTracking

Fulfillment

Ag

en

tA

cti

vit

ies

AccountManagement

WebMail

PhoneFaxIn Person

Email

Cap

ture

d

Inte

racti

on

s

• Product feedback: quality, usability, pricing• Missing products, features, services• Process feedback: too complex, too lengthy

• Reaction to corporate news or events• Reaction to announcements• Reaction to promotions or campaigns

• Competitive product information• Competitive pricing information

ProductPlanning

MarketIntelligence

Sales Strategy

Cu

sto

mer

Ch

an

nels

Visual Mapping: Audentify

Enabling Technology

Analytics/personalization present offers in

context of service call

Quality monitoring derives business intelligence

from captured interactions

Tools enabling marketing to extend to multi-

media service channels

More intelligence in agent assisted and self-

service

Upsell/Cross-Sell for the Web

Marketing

messages

in context

of self-

service

questions

Enabling Technology

Analytics/personalization present offers in

context of service call

Quality monitoring derives business intelligence

from captured interactions

Tools enabling marketing to extend to multi-

media service channels

More intelligence in agent assisted and self-

service

Proactive Service and Support

Convenience overrides paranoia

Just in time knowledge delivery:

notifications and alerting

Underlying search technology improving

Adding intelligence for predictive

problem solving

Proactive Service and Support

Convenience overrides paranoia

Just in time knowledge delivery:

notifications and alerting

Underlying search technology improving

Adding intelligence for predictive

problem solving

BellSouth FastAccess.com

50% to 75% of customers call each month

Typical connection time: 30 to 40 minutes

High churn factor: 20% to 30%

Proactive Service and Support

Convenience overrides paranoia

Just in time knowledge delivery:

notifications and alerting

Underlying search technology improving

Adding intelligence for predictive

problem solving

Case Study: Electric Insurance

Challenge

• Reduce policy terminations due to non-

payment

• Two full-time agents only able to call 10% of

at-risk customers

Implemented EnvoyWorldWide

• Integrated to back-office/billing system

• Now reach 100% of at-risk customers

• Same success rate as with live agents

Proactive Service and Support

Convenience overrides paranoia

Just in time knowledge delivery: notifications and alerting

Underlying search technology improving

Adding intelligence for predictive problem solving

NEC Europe Snapshot

• 1.3 million customers with 7 million computers across Europe

• Over 1 million calls annually

• 250 agents in five multi-lingual contact centers, located in France, Italy, Holland, Spain and Scandinavia.

Project Goals

• Decrease the complexity of current support processes, cutting costs and increasing customer satisfaction

• Implement technology to streamline problem diagnosis and resolution process

• Improve self-help options on the Web

NEC Europe

Solution: Kaidara• Guided search using

dynamic induction, which prompts for specific details to correctly diagnose a problem

• Implementation complete in three months

• Six agents trained as authors, spending 50% of their time on adding and editing content

Results• 8% of total issues resolved

via web self-service, deflecting over 100,000 issues a year

• Reduced time in creating and maintaining content

• 10-15 % increase in agent productivity

• Shorter hold times for customers.

• Higher agent quality scores, agent job satisfaction and customer satisfaction scores

Recommended ‘best practices’• Tightly integrate web self-service with CRM

• Technology supports, not replaces, process change

• Single system for both customers and agents.

• Leverage the system for multiple channels

• Promote self-service to encourage customer adoption

Proactive Service and Support

Convenience overrides paranoia

Just in time knowledge delivery:

notifications and alerting

Underlying search technology improving

Adding intelligence for predictive

problem solving

Future: Anticipating Customer Needs

“I’m empty.I’m contacting

PeaPod!”

“My ice makeris overflowing.”

“I’m set on 10 degreesand freezing the

milk.”

“I’m due for aservice call.”

“My plug isn’tgrounded. My warranty

is not valid.”

“My door seal is loose. I’vecalled for repair.”

“Oh, snackingat 2 a.m. again?”

The Web Refrigerator

Stake Your Claim on Customer Experience

Find a champion at the VP or C level

Inventory all existing customer data and

figure out ways to leverage it

Metrics, metrics, metrics

Strong training programs can help change

long-held attitudes