THE CEO’S CUT
BUILDING STRONGER BONDS THROUGH EXPERIENCE MANAGEMENT Series Two
ABOUT
COMNAVIG W
elcome to the second edition of the CEOs Cut. A series specifically designed to provide the C-Suite with summarized but critical insights into key business technology environment within Experience Management. C-Suite Insights are aggregated from our own comprehensive market experience, insights collated from our M-Level and C-level Masterclasses, and perspectives of leading OEMs and solution providers in this space. At Comnavig, we help our clients to make informed and appropriate ICT decisions. Simple. Recognizing that companies who ultimately supply solutions are not best placed to provide clients with unbiased advice, we focus exclusively on the provision of impartial expert advisory services, and do not supply products or solutions. Since 2004, we have provided a clear path through the often confusing ICT maze for numerous public and private sector organizations through structured RFPs, evaluation of competing solutions, procurement advise, project management, ICT health checks and other services, empowering them to make the right ICT choices, enhancing operational efficiency, saving costs, strengthening customer bonds and increasing profitability. We hope this report delivers the intended value!!
OLUFEMI ADEAGBO Managing Director/CEO
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he underlying fundamentals of retail in Nigeria have shifted significantly, and that is largely due to widespread telecommunications availability. People can now contact organizations and viceversa at the touch of a few buttons. Mobile devices represent the most pervasive cross cutting denominator amongst the populace. This new state of being means that the customer or potential now has a tool through which they can engage or be proactively engaged. This becomes a critical driver of experience and as we know, the experience, delivered to a customer can lead to disaster, if negative, and upsell / cross sell and references, if positive.
“Engaged customers deliver more business, propagate the brand positively and consequently yield added revenues.” How this new reality is leveraged, both strategically and tactically, will be a significant factor in determining sector leaders over the next few years across sectors like banking, insurance, pension, retail, aviation, services, automobile consumer goods, and even the public sector. At the heart of this transformation of focus and opportunity lies the notion of ‘Customer Experience Management’ as a critical determinant of success. Engaged customers deliver more business,
propagate the brand positively and consequently, yield added revenues. It is an undisputed fact of marketing science that unhappy ones, especially in a social media enabled world, can erode brand value in an instance. Increasingly, managing this critical experience layer is the Contact Center, in conjunction with tools such as Customer Relationship Management (CRM) applications, and of course, skilled personnel working to well established business processes. These platforms are beginning to drive strategy in significant ways within some sectors. For example, some financial service players are shifting towards much smaller, rent - friendlier boutique style retail outlets within shared infrastructure environments like malls and hotels, that undertake cash and a few other specialized services, whilst moving a significant amount of customer support activity to consolidated Contact Center environments that perform proactive outbound services as well as inbound activity. A Nigerian bank leverages these platforms extensively for debt recollection purposes that see recollection agents earning huge commissions based on their recovery outcomes. Away from the banking sector, insurance companies are also leveraging communications pervasiveness to deliver micro insurance services to a broad bouquet of customers. The pension sector is not left out in this transformation as measures are being put in place to leverage these unique platforms for optimal service delivery to retirees.
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NIGERIAN BANKS ARE BUILDING PURPOSE SPECIFIC CONTACT CENTER VILLAGES CONTACT CENTERS AT THE HEART OF EXPERIENCE MANAGEMENT With global trends which Nigerian establishments are mirroring, though slowly, it is clear that the balance of power has shifted to the customer who can now complain about bad service to the world at large with severe consequences. The late adoption of high end Contact Center technology actually affords organizations with a window of opportunity to rethink their entire interaction models and embed the technology capabilities within the strategy formulation. We believe that the Contact Center will not only alter the dynamics of service delivery in Nigeria, but will change entire business models in critical sectors. Underscoring the shift towards a converged experience management environment that can be tracked and measured on each interaction is simply not achievable in the conventional retail model as service gaps - that do cost the institution –often occur untracked. Furthermore, the success of innovative schemes, products and marketing campaigns etc; will still place demands on the organization, and the Contact Center, rather than retail points is best positioned to handle majority of these interactions leading to cost savings, revenue potential and monitored service levels. The paradigm shift is to recognize these interactions as opportunities to deliver positive experience whether in the process of complaint resolution, sales enquiry management, proactive outbound or other primary purpose for the communication. It must be seen as an opportunity to win a brand ambassador, up and cross sell.
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AG G R EG AT ED IN S IG H T S We have aggregated the insights from our local Master- classes held in Abuja and Lagos; and the two editions designed for CEO’s and C - suite executives which held in Dubai, UAE during July and August 2014. Masterclasses were enriched by site visits, simulations and high- level Industry engagement with practitioners, users and technology providers. Bringing competitors, end users and specialists into one room in a non-competitive atmosphere was one of the stand out accomplishments of the masterclass format. This led to unprecedented sharing and exchange of insights which many of the attending organizations have since translated into action.
SUMMATION OF SUCCESS FACTORS FOR EXPERIENCE MANAGEMENT, CONTACT CENTERS AND CRM IMPLEMENTATIONS CROSS CUTTING ALIGNMENT WITH CORPORATE STRATEGY it is critical that senior management understand that experience management needs to be placed at the center of organizational strategy to get a clear and connected view of organizational inputs like product development, optimized marketing costs, increased business development opportunities, brand security, etc. All these aspects and how they are positively affected must go into the experience management Return On Investment(ROI) model as it is prioritized by each organization.
LEADERSHIP At the head of the charge is the CEO, the one person the organization looks toward for company direction and philosophy. It is the responsibility of the CEO to win the support of key groups within an organization – from the Board of Directors to financial analysts. Project must be owned by the business and driven from the C-suite.
ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE ALIGNMENT Project must be complemented by organization and culture alignment. The Customer must be recognized and accepted as the focal point of the company and the product sets and experience management designed around exceeding the customers’ expectations.
STRUCTURED BIDDING PROCESS Projects must follow a requirements based bidding process, leveraging RFP templates that ask the critical questions that often determine whether an implementation achieves its objectives or falls short of the grade.
INTERNAL PROJECT GOVERNANCE Independent Project governance and oversight is critical as implementations often have integration components with other systems to collate and deliver the required insights to the required personnel across departments like marketing, customer support, product development, and CRM.
CHANGE MANAGEMENT The change required is holistic and will likely involve organizational culture, some processes and technology. Such change, from extensive research is far easier to translate to measurable projects that can be executed, when the initiative is driven from the top because this type of change can be difficult, expensive, time and resource consuming, and may at times challenge the way people are used to handling things.
ROI MODEL Return On Investment and performance measurement models must be built to gauge the effectiveness of the project implementation. Product development, optimized marketing costs, increased business development opportunities, brand security, and how they are positively affected must go into the Experience management Return On Investment model as it is prioritized by each organization.
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THE PHONE STILL HANDLES AROUND 68% OF ALL CONTACT CENTER COMMUNICATION
SOURCE : NEW VOICE MEDIA
Despite the increasing number of options available, the phone is still holding prime position within the Contact Center industry - handling around 68% of all Contact Center communications. By comparison social media channels handle just 3%.
Retailer A lists over 10 phone numbers and names for readers to contact. Retailers B advertisement contains only one number feeding into a Contact Center. The outcomes are predictable:. Take for example, the automobile
In spite of this sharp contrast, there is no denying the fact that social media has changed the face of customer service. Consumers can no longer be kept at bay with a maze of IVR messages or ignored completely without consequence. There is a new generation of customers at large - armed with a smart phone and a Twitter account - and failing to keep them happy could have severe consequences for a business.
• Callers may not be successful in reaching the individual mobile numbers listed for a variety of reason, not least the network condition, unavailability of staff and other reasons.
The answer is to anticipate intent, connect in real time, and engage customers throughout their journey. The insights basically address a number of critical questions:
• T he call is never logged at the company, meaning the opportunity may be lost to a more responsive competitor. • Call gets picked and logged once it rings on the system in a Contact Center. • Information is always consistent in the Contact Center as it is coming from the same live source.
• How important is the role of Contact Center and allied technologies in the experience management infrastructure within the organization? • How do organizations really contribution to bottom-line?
measure
the
• What are the business impacts of under investment? • How does the organization ensure it is not sold products but implements solutions that can support business strategy and also infuse innovation onto that strategic template? • How should the C- suite get involved? Customer Experience Delivery drives sales, referrals, brand propagation and directly impacts the bottomline as does a negative experience achieve the opposite. Furthermore, by not contextualizing the role, hundreds of millions in revenue go unrealized year after year. Take for example, the automobile retailer who advertises at a cost in the newspapers:
Telephony Penetration in Nigeria
100
Source: TNS -Navigating growth in Africa
100
80
Teledensity (%)
Mobile subscribers in Nigeria
80 60 60 40 40
0
0 2005
2006
2007 2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013 2014
Years Source: Nigeria Telecommunications Commission. (2014 Annual Industry Overview)
25%
of Mobile subscribes use smartphones
59% of Mobile
subscribers use basic feature phones
16% use Advance feature phones.
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THE RETURN ON INVESTMENT CONUNDRUM Our Masterclasses revealed a significant problem that was clearly widespread: a disconnect between the technology and/or business units driving the acquisition and those holding the ultimate budgetary levers. Often time, this disconnect has its roots in the absence of a clearly articulated business case with a clear - cut Return On Investment articulation.
ROI components can therefore include parameters such as:
When all the perspectives are examined and even ranged against global observations, it is clear that Return On Investment parameters will vary from organization to organization, and will primarily focus on the opportunity cost of the problem that is being addressed by the implementation.
• Product sales increase attributable to insights gained from CRM solution etc. The insights may have enabled responsive product design and more effective marketing activity;
This cost must be empirically established within a range of error tolerance, and must be based on careful collation of historic information across impacted business lines, for example, product development can be significantly influenced by feedback gathered from the Contact Center and CRM tools.
• Understanding and minimizing the parts of the call which do not add value;
Some organizations will value what the Contact Center collates simply in terms of savings realized by not engaging an external research agency to collate feedback. Some will go beyond that and look at how the feedback has influenced the product enhancement and the value of that enhancement to the bottom-line and/ or how the enhancements allow the company to provide support, for example more cost effectively and efficiently. Essentially, the measures of value and extent of them will be determined by each organizations line of business, structure and cost allocation regime. However, besides operational and financial parameters, Customer Value Measures (CVMs) are also critical.
• Measurable parameters like dormancy recovery and prevention based on baseline targets; • Increase in repeat business based on proactive engagement from trend spotting and predictive analysis;
• Reduction in headcount from automation of call monitoring and compliance checking;
• Avoidance of fines and damages for noncompliance; • Reduction in cost of unnecessary call backs after improving first-call resolution rates through root cause analysis ; • Avoidance of live calls that can be handled by better IVR or website self-service; • Reduced cost of QA and QM ; • Understanding customer preferences and consequently anticipating / stimulating latent demand; and • Brand value increase through customer satisfaction.
20%
Estimated annual revenue loss for businesses Not offering positive customer experience
SOURCE: Global Insight on succeeding in the customer experience era. Oracle, 2013
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VIDEO CONFERENCING OVER MPLS WANS AND IN THE CONTACT CENTER
R
esourcery PLC recently completed the implementation of a 29 node video conferencing network for the Nigerian Research Education Network (NGREN), a National Universities Commission/Committee of Vice Chancellors project supported in its take off phase by the World Bank STEB - B project. The High Definition implementation is one of the largest in the country and was the backdrop of insights in terms of deployment and commercial perspectives. Video-Conferencing can slash an organizations costs and increase productivity in untold ways. With economic belt tightening, and decreased connectivity costs, video now represents, more than ever, an effective substitute to transportation and other cost incurred traveling for intra and inter organization meetings, training and other activities that require visual and do participation. The effects can be dramatic especially in our own environment where flight delays, traffic jams and other impediments dramatically reduce productivity of human assets.
However, building an ROI case for video is often viewed as an abstract. This is incorrect. The insights shared revealed that Video ROI is actually empirically derivable and can have significant impact on the overall experience delivery and on organizational costs and efficiency. Both strands discussed here (Video Within The Enterprise) and (Video Enabled Contact Center) are increasingly viable. In fact, the Video Within The Enterprise (VWTE) must now be considered a priority, drawing on the historical fact of how quickly the Nigerian environment embraces technology. Internal efficiency based on Video Conferencing reduces operational costs and these savings and efficiency gains can be passed on to customer in terms of market competitiveness and added investments in experience management. Mobile phones will soon be able to initiate video sessions with Contact Center agents putting more proximity and personality into interactions. Video is also powerful for Increase in sales conversion rates and values based on dissemination of best practice across agents.
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CONTACT CENTER
T E C H N O L O G Y & I N N OVAT I O N S
Between three market leaders ASPECT, AVAYA and CISCO systems, a raft of innovations were shared and discussed, all having relevance, though in varying degrees to the performance of the modern Contact Center. However, a few stood out that we believe the C-suite must be aware of as they consider their Experience Management Strategies.
Insight Contributors Aspect / CCSNL Avaya / ICT Convergence Cisco Systems / Resourcery PLC
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TANGENTIAL CONSIDERATIONS The WAN is Critical K EY H IG H LIG H T S AR E: The meeting point of networks and the Contact Center are more poignant than they may initially appear. First, impact on the network will almost certainly trigger complaints to the Contact Center, and in many cases, depending on the core design, the Center may be able to access information resources and resolve the customer issue by virtue of having access to centralized operational resources on a redundant and secure data link. The network is what brings customers in touch with the information assets of the organization whether when using web self service or using a retail outlet that relies on the network to reach centralized information resources. For organizations who have multiple locations, the Wide Area Network is critical in the experience delivery chain. As Netfocus aptly observed, the network transmits all the power locked in the data room to points where they are of value to the customer. Airtel’s showcase of the NGREN network was particularly impactful. The NGREN network is a 29node network with STM-1 (155Mbps) to each node; a shared internet pool of over 500 Mbp/s and 29 high definition video conferencing systems.
• CEOs should lead their teams to explore means of traffic aggregation and WAN redesign for optimum performance. This can dramatically slash cost by tens if not hundreds of millions in the case of large organizations such as banks. • With MPLS technology and advancements in subsea connectivity, significant performance improvements can also be derived. • NGREN had quotations ranging from $8m to $40m for the same network specifications in the same market. The project was successfully implemented at the lower pricing level. This demonstrates the huge pricing swings in the broadband space occasioned by each companies priorities, network asset ownership, availability of spare capacity, financial status, long term outlook of a particular transaction and many other various factors. Wide Area Networks can no longer be viewed as pure technology item, the ability of the network to support multimedia and other communications reliably can alter business models. • WAN ROIs should capture the efficiencies of technologies such as video conferencing using historical cost data from cost centers such as travelling, meeting logistic costs etc.
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HUMANS MATTER HUMAN AND PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT The human factor is critical and deserving of more than a passing mention especially in terms of performance delivery. Alignment of agent activities with Contact Center/Experience Management objectives such as outstanding customer experience, low operating cost and strict compliance is critical. The emphasis is moving away from metrics that measure operational performance like call handling, time to answer etc. The focus is now on how performance is actually measured in terms of delivery on bottom line objectives. Sadly, Performance Management has not found a lot of consideration within many Contact Center environments though a few have identified this strategic tool and its advantages and are deploying solutions. CCSNL, a leading provider of such solutions says that performance management solutions allow appropriate persons to view and understand employee achievement from many different perspectives and then take immediate action to get agents on the proper track. Performance Management consolidate data from your interaction management environment (ACD), workforce management, quality management, back office optimization system, speech and text analytics engines - or any other source to create a comprehensive balanced performance scorecard. However, we note that Performance Management implementations are few and far between indicating that organizations may be investing in customer experience management platforms without availing themselves the critical benefit of tools that align them to empirical organizational scorecards which deliver measurement and the ability to make appropriate adjustments as required. The complexities usually associated with agent management and ROI can be minimized by aligning people around common data and goals, and then there can be focus on accountability and action at the frontline. Various benchmark studies have demonstrated how alignment around a single source of truth can focus the frontline on activities and behaviours that matter most to customers.
KEY DRIVERS OF HUMAN PERFORMANCE Leadership Practices Employee Engagement Knowledge Accessibility Workforce Optimization Learning Capacity
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SOCIAL MEDIA Social Media is powerful, very powerful. It can make brands and can deplete brand value in an instant. A viral post mismanaged by a major airline was cited as one of the key reasons behind a 10% decline in its stock ($180m) four days after the post. This is why it is critical for organizations to ensure their ContactCenter platforms have comprehensive Social Media integration and features that allow the organization to do the following things: • Get notification of mentions to enable them take control of discussions about the brand and instantly respond to opportunities or threats. • Mine the extensive amount of data in the Social Media cloud to deliver specific insights that support business decisions. Oracle, one of the insight contributors at the Masterclass sighted an excellent case study of how Lexus used analytics to mine social media cloud to determine which sporting personality was the best for representing the brand.
BLENDED INTERACTIONS Increasingly, the C-suite wants to know how effectively the Contact Center can be leveraged as a revenue generating resource without compromising its service and support function. Besides the skilling of personnel in non-visual sales, it is important to put the role of the blended dialer into firm perspective. At the most advanced level of operation, blended systems will use sophisticated algorithms (often customizable to suit individual organization preferences) to automatically place outbound calls based on Contact Center conditions. The conditions will typically include variables such as agent availability, urgency of outbound calls due to a time deadline or other factor, ability to connect only when a human being answers, blended statistics to ensure reporting reflects the basket of outbound and inbound activities, etc. Blended interactions bring a new perspective to the role of the Contact Center placing it at the forefront of sales, marketing and brand efforts, thus deepening the ROI case for the highly evolved Contact Center.
SPEECH ANALYTICS
a predefined line of action – such as notifying a supervisor. This could be very useful as a self policing mechanism on calls and ensuring inappropriate language or words are minimized or eliminated in interactions with customers. The business advantage of this is incalculable. Using speech analytics, managers can discover the root cause of customer calls – and work with agents to help resolve issues before they escalate. The advanced platforms deliver the capability to allow supervisors and quality analysts to monitor in-progress calls for language and acoustic characteristics (i.e., escalation attempts, churn language, profanity, compliance scripts, or high emotion) and intervene where necessary.
VIDEO CALLING Although in its infancy, Video Calling is an interesting innovation that allows Contact Centers to engage more intimately with customers, thus deepening the bonds, putting a human face to the brand at all times and often times, increasing resolution. The increased adoption of smart phones with video capabilities in the Nigerian market makes this a realization within the near future. It is our assessment that video enabled Contact Centers will be a key feature of early technology adopters over the course of the next three years. Nigerians are very fast adopters of complex features on their devices and the youth segment is even more demanding in the levels of sophistication they require. In our view, video evolves the role of the Contact Center to true customer and company collaboration. Video collapses the visual barrier and enables the resolution of many scenarios where a visual dimension helps communication, collaboration and resolution. Organizations can also leverage Video on hold to push resolution options, demonstrations and brand messages. Combined with self-help capabilities of the IVR, Video introduces a very powerful dimension that should, in our view be evaluated as a component of any modern Contact Center assessment. Finally, as operators continue to optimize their data bundles to reflect market demand, bundles will become more value for money oriented businesses and this will help drive adoption of data centric technologies like the video enabled Contact Center.
Speech analytics allow the system to listen for specific words and if detected immediately follows
In 2009, 70% of 31, 076,204 internet users in Nigeria were visiting social networking sites
By 2013, 72% of 57, 735, 862 internet users in Nigeria were visiting social networking sites Source, Africa Practice -The Social Media landscape in Nigeria.
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Information Communication Technology
ICT CONVERGENCE LIMITED
….Lets Diagnose your ICT needs and prescribe the right solution. About us ICT CONVERGENCE LIMITED is a wholly owned Nigerian company incorporated in 2004 to provide service excellence in the field of information and communication technology [data, voice, video and Network Infrastructure] in our ever changing world The drive to achieve service excellence motivates us to constantly strive to offer world class telecommunication solutions to industry leaders who have come to rely on our association with major manufacturers viz:
NETWORK & COMPUTER HARDWARES DATA STORAGE AND VIRTUAL STORAGE FABRICATION & ERECTION OF MAST PROVISION OF TRAINED PERSONNEL FOR HELP-DESK SERVICE AND PABX CONSOLE OPERATIONS
AVAYA, MATRIX, DLINK, MICROTIK, CERAGON, MOLEX, PADUIT, C OMMSCOPE, SYSTIMAX, CISCO, PROLANCER, POLYCOM, GILAT, DRISHTI, VERSADIAL, MICROSOFT, TELESOFT, KONFTEL, WAVION, SKYVISION, EMC, RADWIN, ANDREW ETC. On our team are trained engineers and technocrats with experience in the fields of system design, engineering, consultancy and telecommunication management.
Our Business Focused on our mission, we have through years of dedicated service delivery and training, carve a niche in the following segments of the telecommunication market: Design, Procurement, Installation and Maintenance of: HYBRID / IP PABX CONTACT CENTER SOLUTION UHF / VHF MICROWAVE RADIO LINK STRUCTURED CABLING
AVAYA CONTACT CENTER Avaya IP Office Contact Center targets existing and potential IP Office customers with 5 to 100 agents, with typically between 50 and 500 users. It can be deployed on a single site or across multiple locations (dedicated server or virtualised). IPOCC was priced with small and mid-size companies’ budgets in mind, offering simplicity for companies where good customer service is important: Fully integrated contact centre Skills-based routing Call Recording
VOICE LOGGING EQUIPMENT AUDIO & VIDEO CONFERENCING SOLUTIONS
Multichannel (Voice, Email, Web chat) Reporting (real-time & historical)
ACCESS CONTROL & TIME ATTENDANCE CLOUD STORAGE
The agent voice licence is required as a minimum for every agent.
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KEY C-SUITE TAKEAWAYS ON ANALYTICS
2. CRM is first and foremost a strategy and corporate philosophy that puts the customer at the center of business operations so as to increase profits by improving customer acquisition and retention. It involves identifying highvalue customers and automating processes so that sales, marketing, and service efforts will be more efficient and effective. In its complete form, CRM provides a 360-degree view of the customer and integrates all necessary information about the customer at every touch point – be it traditional voice, Internet-based, or wireless. 3. A CRM software solution is the vehicle that enables the 360-degree view. The major integrated system components that make up a CRM system include account and contact management, sales automation, marketing automation, customer care (service
“
and support), and integration with back-office applications. 4. CRM makes sense of Big Data from a customer value perspective. Big data of course delivers value to many other aspects of a business but ultimately, all the data must coalesce into useful insights that drive profitability, brand loyalty and customer satisfaction. 5. Organizational issues are just as important, if not more important, than the technology behind a CRM implementation. It is well-known that people resist change. The introduction of a new system may be perceived to challenge the balance of how things are done, who wins, and why. These factors usually determine success or failure. 6. Therefore, it is critical that new-system implementation has organizational buy-in up, down, and across, with very strong leadership from senior management. The fundamental changes involved may be perceived to have far-reaching impact for your representatives, as well as the business processes and technology that support them. Forethought, coordination, and skill are required for a successful CRM implementation.
“
1. A CRM system can be considered as a ‘central hub’ of sorts, extracting information from multiple systems, making sense of the granular information and delivering it to appropriate departments for use either in a transactional sense (call center, etc), or analytical sense (trend spotting, predictive analysis); important for strategic planning, focused marketing and product development.
Successful CRM is about competing in the relationship dimension. Not as an alternative to having a competitive product or reasonable price- but as a differentiator. If your competitors are doing the same thing you are (as they generally are), product and price won’t give you a long-term, sustainable competitive advantage. But if you can get an edge based on how customers feel about your company, it’s a much stickier–sustainable– relationship over the long haul.
Bob Thompson, CustomerThink Corporation
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WHICH DIRECTION? CLOUD. IN-HOUSE. OUT-SOURCE. CLOUD
A WORD ON HOME WORKING
The decision on which model to adopt is a very critical one that transcends technology and financial considerations. There are brand considerations, Infrastructure considerations as the efficacy of outsourced providers infrastructure will impact performance and of course, policies to enforce information confidentiality.
Technology now exists that allows Contact - Center agents to work from disparate or home locations. The advantage in terms of productivity especially when traffic downtime, etc are considered can be massive. Many feel that it could even be a useful way to engage home workers with family obligations, allowing them to utilize time spent at home optimally. Ranged against the benefits are the usual issues of infrastructure unpredictability (power at home), data security, quality control and other factors.
Some providers now offer cloud offerings as an added dimension to outsourced capabilities. This presents enticing value propositions that each organization will have to weigh against its business objectives. Key considerations include: • Connectivity to SAAS / Cloud platforms for models that rely on connectivity; • Compression techniques used in the SAAS model as this will impact voice quality and consequently performance; • Infrastructure environment of outsourced provider in terms of technology platforms, redundancy, power provisions and other critical considerations; and • Immersion of own personnel within outsourced environment as this may prove important in ensuring brand standards are protected and overall quality assured.
IN-HOUSE OR OUT-SOURCE An in-house Contact Center indeed comprises of numerous technology components, but as technology continue to evolve, there is an increasingly significant reduction in the footprint of Contact Center infrastructure making it more data center friendly in terms of physical space and consumption of resources. Nonetheless, a balance has to be established between the benefits of an in-house deployment ( which provides full control), the CAPEX , and the cost of providing first level in-house support for the operation.
In our view, we believe narrow requirements exist that can be met with this business model, provided clear performance indicators and measurement parameters are put in place, alongside supervisory technology that allows a degree of quality assurance through technologies like pushing of calls only when agent is in live and ready status, silent listening, and customer feedback at end of call. Security and data protection are understandably very big concerns as policies and procedures obtainable in a controlled Contact-Center environment will be more difficult to establish. However, a number of methods exist and there is a rich body of case studies from other markets. There are also technology innovations that can capture 100% of agent calls and screens, prevent log-in in absence of associated phone call, automatically log out after call wrap time, etc . Agents understanding that there is a strong remote quality assurance and monitoring process in place, will be less likely to act inappropriately. The gains in terms of space efficiency, employee satisfaction, and lower cost of operations can be significant and should at least persuade some organizations to undertake detailed cost benefit analysis.
A number of organizations in mature markets tend to leverage a hybrid model, outsourcing mundane aspects of the Contact Center operation and retaining the critical aspects that drive experience management and sales management, in-house. Finally on outsourcing, provided the provider has sophisticated analytical tools, he can prove a useful “first step” as a precursor to deploying a full-blown Contact Center operation.
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OPERATIONAL AND ANALYTICAL CRM T H E D E V I L I S I N T H E D E TA I L S Without insight, planning and interaction are largely conducted in the dark. At both Lagos and Dubai Masterclasses, SAP / Hartford Green, CCNSL / Veripark / Microsoft and Oracle shared a wealth of knowledge about the mission criticality of business intelligence and making sense of all the disparate items of information within a company’s purview.
INSIGHTS ARE EVERYTHING Decisions based on accurate baseline data tend to be far more effective in attaining corporate goals. Nothing brings this to the fore than analytical CRM systems that can crunch billions of records for granular insight that allows decision makers across different departments to make incisive decisions.
GLUING IT ALL TOGETHER Trends can reveal serious opportunities that make back room activities more customer aligned. Product development and marketing are two obvious candidates that spring to mind. However, when CRM is integrated into a Contact Center environment, critical insights can be applied to each call to deliver better service and also to develop and close more business. Interaction analysis can trigger significant improvements but all these insight must be glued together to deliver usable data to product development personnel, customer experience managers, marketing, sales and other parts of the organization that require such insights to increase profitability and effectiveness. Failure to implement experience management platforms such as CRM holistically or at least in sync with a clear roadmap, often results in a disconnect between critical aspects of the organization. An example is a bank that keeps sending e-statements, updates etc to a dormant account owner, with no one calling the account owner for well over three years, a clear case of disconnected systems and misaligned process flows.
A TYPICAL SCENARIO BASED ON A USER'S TRUE-LIFE EXPERIENCE THAT DEPICTS LACK OF PRO-ACTION. “There is a bank account I have and have not used since my account officer departed for her masters degree program. I had simply started using another bank whose account officer had been in touch frequently. No one from the bank had noticed the inactivity and the account fell into dormancy, despite the fact that birthdays, sms credits, notification of balance e.t.c. were never missed. On one occasion a message came advising that the account was dormant and the customer to call the Contact Center number? I ignored the message hoping and waiting to receive a call from the back to reactivate the account and haven’t till today”. This scenario reveals the gaps occasioned by systems and processes simply not talking to each other. It also shows a common dependency on the individual (account officer), rather than the institution, with the effect that personnel job migration often leads to account migration or dormancy. Finally, the lack of pro-action was exemplified with the requirement for the customer to call rather than the institution taking control and making the call to reignite the relationship with the customer.
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A CLEAR PATH THROUGH THE ICT MAZE Because we do not provide solutions, we deliver unbiased, vendor neutral advisory services, ensuring our clients leverage their technologies to full advantage.
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