Fall 2015 SOLVE magazine by ⌘ ⇧ ⌥

Getting Honest Feedback pg 6

Plugging in to the Internet of Things pg 8

Why Health Care Needs HDTV pg 12

FALL 2015

WINNING THE CUSTOMER HOW TO CREATE AN AMAZING EXPERIENCE

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TURN TO PAGE 12 to read more about improving the patient experience and gaining a competitive edge through technology amenities!

When your patients feel more at home, everyone sees the benefits.

Provide a homelike viewing experience with an HD video solution designed for healthcare. HD Video for Healthcare is a smart, cost-effective video solution to help improve patient satisfaction, HCAHPS scores and facility ratings. Plus, you can tailor the solution to your needs, with features like a customizable menu guide, the ability to insert site specific content and a Video Services Portal for 24/7 administrative control.

To learn more about HD Video for Healthcare, or to schedule a customized solution assessment, call or click today.

877.857.0727 | BUSINESS.TWC.COM

HD Video for Healthcare Benefits • 100+ HD channels

• On Demand bookmarks

• Thousands of hours of FREE On Demand content

• User-friendly, anti-microbial remote control

• Ability to pause live TV, fast forward or rewind up to 60 minutes

• Closed Captioning (CC) and Second Audio Programming (SAP) enabled

• Interactive program guide

• Parental controls

• Power-on channel management

• Integrates with most brands of pillow speakers

Products and services not available in all areas. Some restrictions apply. Subject to change without notice. Time Warner Cable Business Class is a trademark of Time Warner Inc. Used under license. ©2015 Time Warner Enterprises LLC. All rights reserved.

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FALL 2015 | VOLUME 2 | NO.4

Features Departments HOW TO GET

HONEST FEEDBACK

FROM YOUR

EMPLOYEES

p. 06

02 The “Easy” Answer

FAST FACTS

03 How Customers Rule

TIME MAN AGEMEN T

04 Happy, Productive Holidays

THE INTERNET

OF THINGS:

F IEL D REPORTS

WHAT EVERY CEO MUST KNOW

POWER TO THE

PATIENT p. 12

L ETTER TO THE READER

05 Catskill Hudson Bank’s Speedy Success A community bank redefines itself, thanks to fiber. 10 Alphapointe: Vision Accomplished A nonprofit leverages technology to train the sight-impaired. 22 MMC Corp: Constructive Connections A construction services company uses a fiber ELAN to build its future.

How HDTV and technology amenities lead to a competitive edge SUCCESS IN ACTION

Chief Talk: CEOs Share Key Lessons They’ve Learned 20 Dollamur Sports Surfaces: A Game Plan for Growth

WINNING THE CUSTOMER

• Connecting, Person to Person • Low Effort Equals Excellence • Technology That Treats Customers Right

p. 16

GUIDE TO GO

24 Decoding Tech Jargon Embracing the customer experience Fall 2015

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LETTER TO THE READER

FALL 2015 | VOLUME 2 | NO.4 RSL MEDIA EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Robert Levin

The “Easy” Answer

SPECIAL PROJECTS EDITOR

Lee Lusardi Connor ART DIRECTION

Jim Nissen

There’s a growing consensus that customer experience—more than price, product, or distribution—is the battlefield on which companies rise or fall today. From the moment they “meet” your brand until the time they become repeat customers, the people who buy from you expect speed and quality in every interaction. Fortunately, new business technologies allow companies of all sizes to meet these great expectations and we will explore these throughout this issue. The best technology enables an intuitive and implementable experience for your customer. Think of it like “plug-and-play,” in which a device or software program works ﬂawlessly from a user’s first try. Demand for this ease of service takes an endless variety of forms. Take, for example, television service in a hospital room. Patients want not just TV, but a wide variety of options, delivered via a simple, easy-to-use remote control. In “Power to the Patient,” on page 12, learn how health-care institutions that meet this demand are gaining a competitive edge. The same high standards extend to the employee experience. Across the board, companies now need what might be called “plug-and-work”—reliable, fast, and robust Internet and voice services that allow employees to work seamlessly wherever and whenever they need. That’s the kind of experience that we at Time Warner Cable Business Class are proud to provide for each of our customers. Speaking of pride, we are delighted to announce that SOLVE magazine has received a coveted 2015 American Business Award, known as a “Stevie.” Though proud, we are not surprised—because we continue to get such great feedback from readers about SOLVE. Please keep your comments coming. After all, SOLVE—like all of TWCBC—is dedicated to being at your service.

Jeff Greenberg Group Vice President – Mid-Market, Channels and Alliances

st Getting Hone

pg 6 Feedback

in to the Plugging

8 Things pg Internet of

s HDTV pg h Care Need Why Healt

FALL 2015

G WINNIN MER O T S U C E EATE AN AMAZING EXPERIENCE TH W TO CR HO

TELL US WHAT YOU THINK Talk to us! How did you like this issue, and what should we cover next? Write to SolveMagazine@twcable.com. See previous issues at www.solvemagazine.com. And if you've worked with TWCBC to SOLVE your technology challenges, we'd like to hear about it for future issues. Visit business.twc.com/nomination to share your story.

DESIGNER

Jaclyn Threadgill

TIME WARNER CABLE BUSINESS CLASS CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER

Stephanie Anderson GROUP VICE PRESIDENT – MID-MARKET, CHANNELS AND ALLIANCES

Jeff Greenberg SENIOR DIRECTOR – CUSTOMER LIFECYCLE MARKETING

Orlando Betancourt MARKETING MANAGER

Nafeisa Shukair © 2015 Time Warner Cable Enterprises, LLC. All rights reserved. Time Warner Cable and the Time Warner Cable logo are trademarks of Time Warner Inc. Used under license. All trademarks remain the property of their respective owners. Material in this publication must not be stored or reproduced in any form without permission. This magazine includes content created by third parties not affiliated with Time Warner Cable Inc. Time Warner Cable does not control or guarantee the accuracy or completeness of third party information nor does it endorse the views expressed or products/ services offered by third parties. All users accessing third party websites are subject to the policies of those websites.

Fall 2015

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d ks .

ir an

by er neit / s t

FAST FACTS

HOW CUSTOMERS RULE

We’ve entered the Age of the Customer, according to Forrester Research, Inc. The three main reasons: the commoditization of competitive barriers, the dissolution of traditional industry boundaries, and the increasing power of consumers due to online channels. To ﬁnd your company’s tools for success, turn to our special section starting on page 16.

of consumers began doing business with a competitor following a poor customer experience (1)

of customers say they have spent more with a company because of a history of positive customer service experiences (3)

of online consumers say that they’ve had unsatisfactory service interactions in the past 12 months (2)

FACTS 60% CUSTOMER TO GUIDE YOUR

EXPERIENCE EFFORTS

Companies that prioritize customer experience generate 60 percent higher profits than those of their competitors (4)

6-7x

It is 6 to 7 times more costly to attract a new customer than it is to retain an existing customer. (5) Sources: (1) 2011 Customer Experience Impact Report, RightNow Technologies and Harris Interactive. (2) Forrester’s North American Technographics Customer Experience Online Survey, 2013. (3) American Express 2014 Global Customer Service Barometer. (4) Gartner Group, “Leading on the Edge of Chaos”. (5) White House Office of Consumer Affairs.

Fall 2015

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TIME MANAGEMENT

Happy, Productive Holidays It’s the most wonderful time of the year—to get things done.

BY WENDY WOLLNER

rom the C-suite on down, companies tend to unconsciously regard the period between Thanksgiving and New Year’s as a less-thanproductive time. We think no one will be available to take meetings or go to seminars. We assume “everyone” is going on vacation, so we put new projects on the back burner. And as a result, we lose opportunities and money.

Yes, in many ways, the holidays have a slower pace. But based on my work with a range of companies, and as a CEO myself, I can tell you that the end of the year is actually a fantastic time for leaders to get things done. You can use this time to:

BUILD RELATIONSHIPS It’s easier to get on the calendar of people you want to meet, whether a client, a connection, or someone you might want to hire. Take the person out 4

for lunch for an hour, or more. Have a thank-you get-together, with wine and cheese, for your advisory board.

SCHEDULE PRESENTATIONS My company provides training sessions, and early on I was warned not to try to schedule them between Thanksgiving and Christmas because “no one will come.” I learned that is just not true; people come in droves. We also find that prospective clients are more open to sales calls at year’s end because their daily schedules are more ﬂexible.

DIG INTO AN ISSUE YOU HAVEN’T BEEN ABLE TO FOCUS ON Maybe you’ve wanted to redo your marketing, or rethink your organizational chart, or pursue a new media platform, or create a customer survey. No need to wait for the new year—go for it. Lately, a number of executives have told me they are using this time to really dig deep into their P&L and balance sheets. As a company grows, it’s easy to lose track of a few thousand here or there—for example, in coffee or catering expenses. A few thousand here and there can add up to $50,000.

CONNECT WITH EMPLOYEES It is truly empowering for employees to have the CEO’s ear once in a while. Of course, you need to be nurturing relationships with employees year-round. But think of the holidays as shoring up your foundation. You can take time to further pursue creative thinking, and to ask employees to help you develop what the next year is going to be like. During peak times, a staff meeting might consist of, “Okay, we have 20 minutes; tell me what I need to know.” Now, you have time to listen to ideas without having to rush. Over the course of the year, good ideas come up that you just can’t pursue at the moment. We call these “parking lot ideas,” make note of them, and save them for a meeting in December when we are less pressed for time. It’s all about a shift in perspective that can make the holiday season one of your most productive ever—and set the tone for your employees to do the same. Wendy Wollner is founder and president of Balancing Life’s Issues, a national provider of custom work/life balance training and programs for executives and employees.

Fall 2015

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FIELD REPORT

CEO TED TOMITA

Catskill Hudson Bank’s Speedy Success A community bank redeﬁnes itself, thanks to ﬁber.

THE CHALLENGE:

Catskill Hudson Bank wanted to transcend its roots as a community bank serving Sullivan County, New York, and grow to be a leading provider to business customers throughout a wide area. Because of its network limitations, however, operations at one branch or another were coming to a halt every few days due to connectivity issues or overloads. Meanwhile, customer expectations for service were only increasing. “Today, they don’t necessarily want to come to a brick-and-mortar bank,” says Kevin McLaren, executive vice president. “They want things like the ability to make deposits by taking a picture of a check with a phone.” Catskill Hudson CEO Ted Tomita knew the bank needed far better connectivity, reliability, and functionality in order to grow.

THE SOLUTION:

Tomita’s vision was to redesign the bank’s piecemeal system under one network and one brand. Today, the solution provided by Time Warner Cable Business Class (TWCBC) includes an Ethernet Local Area Network (ELAN) connecting more than a dozen bank branches, with circuits ranging from 10 to 50 Mbps. Two of these locations also have 50 Mbps Dedicated Internet Access (DIA) that provides symmetrical and dedicated fiber-based Internet access. Affordable, scalable Primary Rate Interface (PRI) provides IP-enabled voice services. Despite the volume of calls and data flowing across the ELAN, Catskill Hudson enjoys an exceedingly high level of security. In fact, the overall quality of the network has earned the bank flawless ratings in audits and reviews.

With this new [system] design, we can put a branch anywhere. –Ted Tomita

THE RESULT:

With ﬁber, Catskill Hudson now enjoys a competitive advantage in bringing products to market faster. The infrastructure is so robust that the bank was able to roll out a massive new customer service feature in under 30 days. And the network is more reliable than it ever was, even with 30 times more data ﬂowing between branches. The network’s scalability also supports rapid growth, allowing the bank to add branches far outside its original footprint. Its furthest branches are now located three-and-ahalf hours apart. Moreover, Catskill Hudson can turn any customer location into a virtual branch by providing the business with a scanner and software. “With this new design,” says Tomita, “we can put a branch anywhere.”

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GETTING

HONEST FEEDBACK FROM YOUR EMPLOYEES Don’t be the leader who’s out of the loop.

BY CLAIRE LEW

ave you ever been the last to know something in the company you run? Perhaps it was when you found out that a project was unexpectedly going south. Or that a major client was unhappy about something. Or maybe it was when you were caught off guard when a key employee decided to leave the company. You used to be in the loop about 6

things like this. But as your company has grown to 40, 50, 60 employees, and counting, it’s hard to know your people as well as you used to. If you don’t know what’s going on with people who work for you—how satisfied they are, whether they’re thinking about leaving—it’s tough to lead your company well. For one thing, you won’t hear about small problems until they’re big ones. For another, there’s a steep price to be paid—in dollars and morale—for employee turnover.

Getting honest employee feedback as your company grows is a common challenge, but it’s far from insurmountable. Further, you don’t need a large human resources budget or elaborate programs to do so. Technology—surveys, software—can help, but by far your most effective tool will be good old conversation with your direct reports and with others in the company. You can take these four simple actions to elicit meaningful feedback:

Fall 2015

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THE HIGH COST OF

TURNOVER

GO FIRST Employees are keenly aware of the power differential between you and them. They don’t want to upset or annoy you. That’s why you can’t necessarily assume that employees will come to you when they have an idea, question, suggestion, or concern. So, you want to initiate the conversation. This means being vulnerable in approaching employees, and actively seeking their feedback. Try this: Ask for advice. One CEO I worked with, the head of a 200-person company, sensed that one of her senior employees tended to withhold his opinions. When she said, “Hey, I’d love to get your thoughts on how we could’ve handled that last board meeting,” she got a wealth of information.

ASK SPECIFIC QUESTIONS TO GET SPECIFIC ANSWERS This seems intuitive, but often when bosses ask for feedback, they ask broad, general questions, such as “How’s it going?” When you ask a question about a specific time frame, event, or project, you get more meaningful and actionable feedback. Try this: Ask, “What’s one thing we could have done better in the past week?” Or, at your next senior leadership team meeting, ask everyone, “Is there anything you think we’re behind the curve on?” A CEO of a 40-person software company told me that when he asked his team this question, the feedback resulted in the company’s doubling down on its online security efforts.

RECOGNIZE THE MESSENGER Human nature is to respond well to positive reinforcement. So when an employee in your company makes a suggestion, be sure to recognize that person publicly. Over time, employees will get the message that the boss values their opinion, and the feedback will start to ﬂow. Try this: Praise suggestions, even when you cannot implement them. In addition to reinforcing feedback, you can create a teachable moment that helps employees understand the bigger picture. One CEO did this at an all-staff meeting, essentially saying, “Hey, I really appreciate this person bringing up this idea. Here’s why we’re not implementing it, but I do think it’s great that he suggested it, and I welcome hearing more suggestions like that from any of you.”

KNOCK OUT A SMALL WIN Here’s the biggest thing you can do as a boss to encourage employees to speak up: Take action. Forward the idea to the appropriate department and ask for their reaction, put it on the next management agenda, or respond with an e-mail sharing your thoughts. If there’s an idea that has merit that you’ve been meaning to get around to, either delegate it or take care of it yourself. You will create positive momentum for communication and see the effects almost immediately. Try this: Act on solid employee feedback right away. For instance, a CEO of an 80-person company told

10 30

The cost of replacing an employee is between 10 and 30 percent of the employee’s annual salary. SOURCE: CENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS INSTITUTE

me that he learned employees felt meetings could be a lot shorter and still be productive. In response, he set the weekly staff meetings to last for 30 minutes instead of an hour. Even though it was a relatively small change, he sensed a significant boost in company morale. Of course, all these points sound good in theory—but in practice, they are hard to put into action day-to-day. As a CEO myself, I know firsthand the difficulty of prioritizing getting feedback from employees. It’s easy to reason that you don’t have time, or that it’s somebody else’s job. But each time I catch myself thinking that way, I simply remember the cost of turnover and employee disengagement. And I remind myself that I don’t want to be the last to know. Claire Lew is the CEO of Know Your Company, a software tool that helps business owners with 25 to 75 employees overcome company growing pains. Fall 2015

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The Internet of Things:

What Every CEO Must Know Why you should believe the buzz— and how to get your company on board BY CARL KRUPITZER

oes it sometimes seem that everyone in business is talking about the commercial possibilities of the Internet of Things (IoT), in which devices communicate wirelessly with the Internet and with each other? That’s not far from the truth. In fact, last year Gartner, Inc., placed the IoT 8

at the peak of its “Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies” report. As with many technology trends, much of the hype is being driven in consumer markets by IoT innovations, such as a “smart” thermostat that regulates your home’s temperature based on occupancy and usage, or a

connected car that alerts you to your teenager’s driving habits and location. Clearly, though, the potential of the IoT extends well beyond consumer products. In the industrial arena, devices in engineering, R&D, and manufacturing have been collecting data and “talking” to each other for years. Increasingly, the IoT’s impact is being felt in a broad range of industries and fields, including health care, government, education, logistics, retail, hospitality, and many more. But what does all this potential mean for a mid-market company? How can the IoT help your business grow—especially if you don’t have millions to spend on a custom solution?

Fall 2015

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THE WORLDWIDE IoT MARKET The IoT Is Growing Fast

Breaking into the IoT Technology trends accelerate fast, and the IoT phenomenon is arguably evolving the most rapidly of all. So when considering how your company can best benefit from the IoT, make a business case for projects in which you’ll see a benefit quickly—in 12 to 18 months, not three years down the road. Next, realize that it’s possible to use off-the-shelf solutions for the IoT, particularly when they are offered by a cloud-based platform that allows for easy scaling. Salesforce or Amazon Web Services offer such platforms, which can be integrated with your own equipment and devices, either independently or with the assistance of a capable consulting team. Know, too, that even custom implementations on a small scale are within your grasp. Wireless technologies, such as Bluetooth LE and LoRa from Semtech, are now commonplace and affordable, enabling even small businesses to prototype and optimize proof-of-concept IoT integrations before investing in company-wide deployment. Before you commit significant resources, do research on how connected devices are currently influencing, or have the potential to influence, your industry. Trade shows are great sources of information. Identify the areas that are the greatest sources of pain for your company and inhibiting its ability to grow. Consider engaging a consulting firm for a day or two to offer a workshop about the IoT to help you build a vision and a roadmap. Carl Krupitzer is the CEO of ThingLogix, a consulting firm specializing in the business and technology of the IoT.

$655.8

BILLION

$1.7

TRILLION

2014

2020

SOURCES: INTERNATIONAL DATA CORPORATION, MCKINSEY GLOBAL INSTITUTE

THE IoT COULD ACCOUNT FOR UP TO

OF THE WORLD’S ECONOMY BY 2025

Avenues for Growth There are numerous ways companies can use IoT data and insights to re-engineer or enable existing business processes. For instance, companies should consider IoT as an opportunity to improve in the following areas. Asset utilization. IoT sensor data can track the status and location of company inventory and equipment at any time, ensuring that all assets are fully utilized. For instance, if you run a ﬂeet of delivery trucks, using connected car technology can help you track exactly where each vehicle is, so that you can plan out delivery routes in proximity to their current location. Employee productivity. IoT-linked equipment can track employee output and work patterns, allowing management to schedule difficult tasks and meetings for the most energetic times of day. Internet-connected and geographically tagged equipment and devices are easily located, saving time spent searching for them. Internet-enabled devices can give advance notice of technical problems and often be repaired remotely, eliminating the need for employees to be idle while waiting for the repair person to arrive. Supply chain logistics. By incorporating IoT technology into your operating process, you can automatically replenish inventory or source materials that are running low. Connecting delivery personnel with nearby supplies and people via the IoT can optimize delivery return trips. IoT devices enable automated and real-time tracking, reducing losses due to human error. Customer experience. With IoT technology, manufacturers can remain constantly aware of how their customers are engaging with their products, even after the products have left the factory. Companies can now proactively identify product malfunctions or maintenance needs, often remotely diagnosing and correcting the problem without the need for customers to schedule services. IoT can also be used to more clearly understand customers’ habits, and make changes— whether in products, marketing, or sales—to accommodate them. Innovation. Finally, IoT technology can be used to drive innovation in product development. Manufacturers can connect their own products with other devices and software so that they can share data and “talk” to each other, making it easier to develop collaborative partnerships with complementary businesses. Consider the example of SmartThings, an app that turns a smartphone into a remote control for other manufacturers’ IoT-enabled refrigerators, stereo systems, dimmers, and more. If your company wants to improve its innovation and data-collection processes, streamline its operations, and automate manual and labor-intensive processes, making the move to the Internet of Things is the key. It’s not nearly as expensive or complex as you might think, and you’ll begin to realize the benefits almost immediately. Fall 2015

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FIELD REPORT

ALPHAPOINTE FOUNDATION EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR GINA GOWIN

Alphapointe: Vision Accomplished A nonproﬁt leverages technology to train the sight-impaired.

Think about things like making a phone call, turning on the news, or surﬁng the Web without sight. –Gina Gowin

THE CHALLENGE:

THE SOLUTION:

For more than a century, nonproﬁt Alphapointe has provided rehabilitation and occupational services—including a technology camp, adaptive technology, job training, and more—for people with vision loss. Last year, Alphapointe doubled its size by merging with New York City Industries for the Blind (NYCIB), giving it a total of 400 employees operating in nine locations in four states. The organization needed fast and roomy bandwidth to provide leading-edge technology to its clients and employees, as well as to connect remote locations in Arkansas, Nebraska, Missouri, and New York to the Kansas City, Missouri, headquarters. Further, Alphapointe needed to simplify operations by consolidating all of its IT, customer support, and ﬁnancial accounting services in one location.

Time Warner Cable Business Class (TWCBC) has been helping Alphapointe achieve its mission since 2009, when it installed fiberbased Dedicated Internet Access (DIA) and a fiber Primary Rate Interface (PRI) circuit for voice. At the time of the 2014 merger, it was a simple matter for Alphapointe to call TWCBC to upgrade to 100 Mbps DIA and add a second fiber PRI circuit. Alphapointe has been able to use DIA’s symmetrical upload and download connectivity to seamlessly connect its locations via Virtual Private Networks (VPNs). DIA also powers Alphapointe’s primary revenue engine: its online retail business for office supplies, plastics, and other products. Meanwhile, the robust fiber PRI voice solution has provided a real-time portal for managing usage details and reporting capabilities.

Fall 2015

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ROUTER SETUP

ENHANCING PRODUCTIVITY

REDUCING CAPITAL EXPENSES

THE RESULTS: The merger with NYCIB went smoothly. “Our current solutions from Time Warner Cable Business Class did not require any adjustments or changes,” says Stan Wright, Alphapointe’s IT director. “That enabled us to focus on getting the New York site migrated and rolled in.” In addition to consolidating back-office operations, Wright could relax with the knowledge that TWCBC’s service level agreement (SLA) would maintain uptime between different locations. Moreover, the reliability and scalability of the TWCBC solutions allowed Alphapointe to move its call center business from a college campus 50 miles away to a new 60-seat, state-of-the-art facility located in the agency’s Kansas City headquarters. Most important, Alphapointe relies on TWCBC’s advanced technology to remove barriers and advance its mission for the visually impaired. Whereas the organization traditionally has focused on helping its community train for manufacturing jobs, it now needs to be responsive to the desire of younger generations to have access to white-collar jobs. “Students come here to learn accessible software and services they’re going to use in college, or in a job—perhaps even in telework,” says Gina Gowin, executive director of the Alphapointe Foundation. Adaptive technologies and apps help students overcome daily challenges and socialize with friends. “Think about things like making a phone call, turning on the news, or surfing the Web without sight,” Gowin says. “That’s all technology that Time Warner Cable Business Class provides us so we can help enrich our students’ lives.”

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INCREASING COLLABORATION

PLANNING AND PROCUREMENT MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE

TRAINING STAFF

STRATEGIC INITIATIVES

ONGOING MAINTENANCE SOFTWARE UPGRADES AND PATCHES

CONNECTING MULTIPLE LOCATIONS

AS YOUR BUSINESS EXPANDS, THERE’S A LOT ON YOUR MIND.

Why not put it on our shoulders? With Managed Router Service for Ethernet, you can focus on moving your business forward, because we’re focused on almost everything else.

Enjoy fullymanaged, turnkey high-bandwidth WAN connectivity and management

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Benefit from a predictable monthly rate and avoid the cost of implementing and managing your own systems

Free up your IT staff to concentrate on more strategic initiatives

Call to schedule a free technology audit with a local, dedicated Account Executive today, or visit us online to calculate how much your business could save with Managed Router Service!

877.857.0727 | TCO.NETWORK-NEEDS.COM

How did you partner with TWCBC to SOLVE your technology issues? Tell us about it for a chance to be featured in an upcoming issue of SOLVE. Visit business.twc.com/nomination to share your story. Products and services not available in all areas. Some restrictions apply. Subject to change without notice. Time Warner Cable Business Class is a trademark of Time Warner Inc. Used under license. ©2015 Time Warner Enterprises LLC. All rights reserved.

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POWER TO THE

PATIENT

How HDTV and technology amenities lead to an improved patient experience—and a competitive edge

oes it matter what’s on TV in a hospital room? To the patient, who may be bored, restless, or seeking distraction, it does matter—a lot. A patient who is satisfied by the choices available is a happier patient, with a greater sense of control—and that fact makes “what’s on TV” a matter of concern for hospital administrators, too. Technological advances are, of course, rapidly revolutionizing the way medical treatment, from diagnosis through after-care, is delivered. (For more on this hot topic, see “Health Care’s New High-Tech Touch” from the SOLVE Spring 2015 issue at business. twc.com/spring2015)

In recent years, however, hospitals and other health-care facilities have realized that first-rate medical care must be combined with an increased attention to the patient experience. Connectivity is creating new best practices for patient in-room services, especially in the areas of High-Definition Television (HDTV) and Internet access. It’s also creating new opportunities to attract patients to a health-care facility. “Amenities play an increasing role in the competition for market share,” noted a report in the New England Journal of Medicine. And when it comes to preferred amenities, the consumer has spoken: a majority of patients in the United States would

switch facilities for better entertainment and food options, according to consulting firm McKinsey & Company. Hospital administrators also know that a happier patient will result in a higher rank on the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems surveys (better known as HCAHPS, pronounced H-caps). Satisfied patients also share their opinions through word of mouth and via social media. With so much competition in health care, and the importance of patient satisfaction scores to Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement, a robust digital offering—once considered a luxury—has become a necessity.

Fall 2015

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2 of 3 out

patients are willing to switch hospitals for improved in-room entertainment and food options SOURCE: MCKINSEY QUARTERLY

In-house channels can provide soothing images.

Small-Screen Solutions Among the most valued experiences for patients is the availability of HDTV. That’s because consumers are accustomed to this viewing experience—in fact, 77 percent of American households now have at least one HDTV set, and those who subscribe to a video service enjoy an average of 82 channels of programming.1 Further, while they have their choice of electronic media options, American consumers continue to spend the most time with television—an average of five hours per day.2 To provide patients and their families a home-like experience, then, healthcare facilities are increasingly offering comprehensive HD video programming services. “People don’t think a television could be that important, but it really is,” says Joseph Gunnels, IT technical manager for Hospice Buffalo, the center for palliative care in Buffalo, New York.

“It really comforts the patient. They can watch TV, which is important when there’s nowhere to go.” In addition to cable and broadcast HD video, hospitals are providing ondemand delivery of movies and other content, thus avoiding the complexity of managing movie libraries, and giving patients instant, around-the-clock access. Beyond providing entertainment, TV can play a therapeutic role. Hospice Buffalo’s service through Time Warner Cable Business Class (TWCBC), for example, allows them to offer custom channels that support clinicians in providing music, relaxation, and expressive therapies. These include live underwater video from the hospice’s breathtaking saltwater aquarium, as well as live video from rotating outdoor cameras that allow patients to enjoy the hospice’s gardens and courtyards even while lying in bed.

Amenities play an increasing role in the competition for [health-care facility] market share. SOURCE: THE NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICINE

70%

of health-care leaders say focusing on patient experience is a top priority SOURCE: THE BERYL INSTITUTE

SOURCES: 1. HDTV XI, LEICHTMAN RESEARCH GROUP, MARCH 2014 2. “AN ERA OF GROWTH: THE CROSS-PLATFORM REPORT,” NIELSEN, MARCH 2014 3. PEW RESEARCH CENTER, “OLDER ADULTS AND TECHNOLOGY USE,” APRIL 2014

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ANATOMY OF A CONNECTED EDGE: Fast, Reliable Connectivity + Ease of Communication with Family and Friends + Ability for Visitors to Work from Health-Care Facility + Online/Onscreen Education about Health-Care Issues + Range of TV Entertainment Choices = Contented Patients + Higher Patient Satisfaction Scores 14

People don’t think a television could be that important, but it really comforts the patient. They can watch TV, which is important when there’s nowhere to go. —JOSEPH GUNNELS, IT TECHNICAL MANAGER FOR HOSPICE BUFFALO

Further, health-care facilities can take advantage of HDTV for on-demand video solutions. These solutions provide required medical educational information that empowers patients and their families to participate more actively in their care. Fortunately, a leading-edge solution called a set back box (see sidebar, right, “Channeling Patient Satisfaction”) can deliver this highly valued amenity in a scalable and cost-effective way.

The Internet Advantage Health-care facilities, including assisted living centers and nursing homes, are finding that fast and reliable Internet access is also critical to a good patient experience—and to remaining competitive.

Take, for example, senior citizens, whose increasing share of the population is spurring demand for senior housing. This group is among the fastest-growing segments of Internet users in the United States: about two-thirds of Americans in their early seventies regularly use the Internet, and more than half have broadband at home. (Among higherincome seniors, those numbers are 90 percent and 82 percent, respectively.3) When it comes to senior housing options, these connected older adults and their family members are looking for the just-like-home experience of fast, reliable Internet. In large part, that’s because going online provides a crucial lifeline to keeping in touch with family and friends, allowing residents to

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easily get news and photos and virtually “attend” a family event. One of the largest providers of assisted living for seniors in the United States recently launched a pilot program that takes connectivity a step further by offering a mobile device rental program. “A daughter, 73, and mother, 93, both got iPads at the same time, and they have been FaceTiming every single day. She and her mom connect because of this project,” says the senior care company’s technology director. Internet access benefits families in other ways, as well. At Hospice Buffalo, Gunnels points out, family members sometimes end up staying with loved ones 24 hours a day for weeks on end. Fiber Internet access keeps them connected to their work—and without it, many people couldn’t be there for loved ones. To meet this need, Hospice Buffalo relies on TWCBC’s 10 Mbps fiber-based symmetrical Dedicated Internet Access (DIA). The bottom line: high-quality connectivity has become a business necessity for health-care facilities, from hospitals through senior living and skilled nursing facilities. It offers a powerful way to enhance patient or resident care, as well as to provide amenities that boost occupancy, revenue, and satisfaction. Increasingly, the question for medical centers and nursing homes is not whether to upgrade their connectivity for patients, but when. By partnering with a service provider that can enable leading-edge cloud and collaboration applications, as well as a just-like-home broadband Internet and HD video experience, healthcare facilities gain an edge in today’s competitive market.

TELEMEDICINE SOLUTIONS To learn about how connectivity is transforming the delivery of medical care, see “Health Care’s New High-Tech Touch” in the Spring 2015 issue of SOLVE at business.twc.com/spring2015

CHANNELING PATIENT SATISFACTION

TWCBC’s HD video for health care is comprehensive and convenient. Health-care TV programming from Time Warner Cable Business Class (TWCBC) helps patients rest easy—and eases the burden on hospital administrators, heads of IT, and facilities managers as well. CUSTOMIZABLE CHANNEL GUIDE THE RICH VARIETY OF PROGRAMMING CHOICES INCLUDES:

• Real-time access to news, business, sports, family, and entertainment channels • Family-friendly channels, including Nickelodeon, Food Network, National Geographic, and Discovery • Programming to suit every patient, including A&E, ABC Family, BET, Bravo, Cartoon Network, CMT, CNN, Comedy Central, Fox News Channel, HGTV, History, Lifetime, and more SUPERIOR SERVICE Installation is hassle-free and quick, and support is available 24/7. Minimal exposure to the elements, thanks to delivery through TWCBC’s reliable, ﬁberrich network, means a consistently clear digital or HD picture. Hospital administrators appreciate one of the service’s key features, the set back box, which mounts discreetly behind any HD television. The set back box doesn’t require costly head-end equipment or rack space, making it costeffective as well as convenient. Most importantly, the set back box delights patients by providing a range of interactive services—including a userfriendly menu guide, parental controls, closed captioning, and more—all through the use of a simpliﬁed, anti-microbial remote control. Viewers enjoy poweron channel management, which sets a favorite channel when the television is powered on; on-demand bookmarks, which allow users to return and restart programs where they left off; and the ability to pause live TV, fast forward, or rewind up to 60 minutes. Facilities can choose their offering from a full portfolio of HD programming, with access to more than 100 HD channels and thousands of free ondemand content choices. Health-care facilities can also reinforce their brand by including their company logo within the customizable channel guide.

To learn more, visit business.twc.com/healthcare Fall 2015

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WINNING THE HOW TO CREATE AN AMAZING EXPERIENCE

hat do your customers expect from your company? Nothing less than the excellence and ease provided by Zappos or Apple. Today, in fact, customer experience is where the action is: nine out of 10 marketing leaders believe that their companies will be competing mainly on that basis by 2016, according to Gartner, Inc. technology research. The good news: mid-market companies are well-placed to not only compete, but win on this new battleground for customers.

THREE EXPERTS GIVE HANDS-ON IDEAS FOR PROVIDING EXCELLENCE 16

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CUSTOMER Person to Person: The Simple Secret to Connecting An interview with John Di Julius

our customer experience can be your biggest competitive advantage. To achieve this, your employees— whether accountants or account execs, the CEO or the janitor—must be committed to “owning the moment”

John Di Julius is the founder of the John Robert’s Spa chain in Cleveland, Ohio; CEO of The DiJulius Group, a customer experience consulting firm; and the author of two bestselling books, including The Customer Service Revolution and What’s the Secret? To Providing a World-Class Customer Experience. In an interview, he shared some of his best tips with SOLVE readers.

in every interaction with a client or customer. They have to be in the moment, not thinking about the 5:30 conference call or the cheeseburger they’ll be having for lunch. Use what I call the 5 Es. The first three of these take one second to do simultaneously. The first two are an Enthusiastic Greeting and an Ear-to-Ear Smile. (In my office, we put mirrors on our computer monitors because smiles can be “heard” over the phone.) If it’s an in-person interaction, the third E is make Eye Contact. Always Educate. Explain something a little more thoroughly, so that the client leaves with more information than he or she had before. The final E stands for Engage, and this one is the key. Don’t just take the

The 5 Es of Great Customer Experience  Enthusiastic Greeting  Ear-to-Ear Smile  Eye Contact  Educate  Engage customer’s order or find out what he or she wants; talk to him or her. It doesn’t take long. Engage means you pick up on some information about the person—the diploma on the wall, the nice hat—and build rapport by making Fall 2015

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a comment. It could be as simple as, “I see you’re a Buckeyes fan,” or “Isn’t this warm weather great?” Engaging makes the difference between a transaction and an interaction. This advice is relevant for any department that interacts with customers. In our office, we have a firm rule that you must use the other party’s name two or more times in the conversation or email. And you can’t respond to an email without personalizing it in some way. For example, when my company’s accounts receivable manager sends a bill, she includes a personal note in the email: “Hi, {name}, I hope the weather where you are is better than in Ohio!,” or perhaps a comment about the recipient’s local sports team. If someone is paying attention to you like that, you want to pay that bill first. Customers always overshare; they’ll tell you they have to reschedule because of a daughter’s recital, for example. Your employees shouldn’t be so work-focused that they miss the chance to capture customer intelligence. The following week they can ask, “How was your daughter’s recital?” Finally, every interaction should end with this question: “Is there anything else I can do for you?” Now, what if you’re a professional services provider? Most offices don’t get many visitors—maybe a half dozen a week, or even a month. Why should the receptionist merely ask for a client’s name and who he’s here to see, then tell him to have a seat? After all, how many 2:00 appointments does Tony Smith, Esq., really have? Why not have a monitor with a screen that says “ABC Law Firm welcomes {client name}, we’re happy to see you!”? It’s a small investment of effort that leads to a “wow.” Follow these practices and I guarantee the takeaway for your customers will be that yours is a company they want to do business with. 18

Excellence Requires a Low-Effort Experience B Y D AV I D L L O Y D

or two out of three people, the customer journey starts online, with the majority of customers moving to a live agent—call centers or chat—only if online self-service options are not delivering. Knowing this, companies need to focus on providing the optimal experience for customers across all digital channels. Most of the technology solutions mid-market companies can use to drive a better customer experience are very accessible from a sophistication and cost point of view. There are three layers companies need to consider:

Prediction Predictive platforms look at the breadcrumbs customers have left along their journey in order to better anticipate their needs. They vary in their functionality from simply tracking what a customer is clicking, as with HP’s Autonomy or Adobe Analytics, to using models that represent customer behaviors and journeys, such as [24]7 ’s prediction layer that integrates with virtual agent and chat solutions. Of course, if your customer is already in your CRM system, and has logged in, you have the benefit of even more detailed customer insight. For example, maybe you know that this person’s account is locked, so they’ll likely to be logging on to pay their bill.

Virtual agent This is artificial intelligence that interacts with the customer digitally. This technology can take shape in a chat-style service, for web or mobile. Based on what is known from predictive data, the virtual agent can hone in on what may be needed. Solutions from NextIT and Creative Virtual provide sophisticated virtual agents that can engage in a dialogue with the customer to resolve a problem.

Right-channeling Depending on the customer’s response and what is known about him, the virtual agent can continue the dialogue or direct the customer to the optimal channel, depending on rules the company chooses. As the customer is transferred, his information (or context) must be transferred as well, so that the experience is seamless. The key to providing a low-effort customer experience is finding a set of solutions that support your growth. Ideally, your vendor will have effectively brought together all three, while allowing you to start with certain aspects of the platform and grow into the rest. David Lloyd is president of IntelliResponse, the leading provider of virtual agent technology solutions for private and public sector customers.

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Let Technology Help You Treat Your Customers Right BY TOM BYUN

hether your business is B2B or B2C, providing a good customer experience is more of a competitive differentiator than ever before, and is therefore critical to your success. So, what are some of the offerings you need to be thinking about to provide a great customer experience? There is no one-size-fits-all answer. First, you should consider your overall needs for implementing a customer experience strategy. What are your customers’ typical issues, and how can you best address them? Do they need immediate access to customer service for urgent problems? Or are they mainly contacting you because they haven’t received their package yet? Which channels—telephone, email, chat, messaging—do they typically use to communicate with you? What do you want to achieve with customer experience technology? There are two main goals that most companies have. One is cost savings, as in cutting down on time spent dealing with customer issues, returns, or complaints. The other is sales, as in acquiring new customers, increasing the average order value for existing customers, or improving customer lifetime value through loyalty. By looking at your customer experience holistically, with the big picture in mind, you can begin to drill down to specific channels, such as these:

Live phone help This may be a priority if your customers have serious, time-sensitive matters, such as legal or medical issues.

app for business (similar to Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp), you can engage customers when and where they like. Certain consumers prefer to communicate entirely on their own time, and don’t want to risk being put on hold, or even to spend time on a phone or web real-time session. For them, an asynchronous messaging system—which allows customers to send questions when they have them and get answers when an agent is available—works best.

Self-help If your customer would benefit from having common, but complicated, matters spelled out in white papers or FAQs, you should consider providing more information on your website. (This material also doubles as valuable information you can proactively push out to potential customers.)

Moderated community In certain fields, particularly IT, customers are inclined to seek answers and find vendors by going on blogs and forums. You can have a moderated website with robust content, and embed a proactive chat or message window there.

Live chat One form of customer support that is proliferating rapidly is live chat. Research shows that a chat session costs approximately $1 to $2 per minute, while the cost of a phone representative is $6 to $12 per minute, mainly because a chat agent can handle several chats at a time. Research has also shown that shoppers who use chat convert at three times the rate of those who don’t.

Mobile If you’ve got a busy, on-the-go customer base, mobile messaging and texting might be the platform for you. With an optimized mobile site, or a messaging

uestions for Your Vendor

It’s easy to deploy and test a multitude of customer experience offerings, from cloud computing to analytics. As a result, there are a lot of startups in the customer service space. Make sure a potential vendor can provide satisfactory answers regarding the following: uptime reliability (at least 99.9 percent); the backup and business continuity plan; security compliance; compliance with your industry’s standards and regulations; and integration capabilities with your existing customer relationship management (CRM) system and data. Finally, remember to think ahead. What if you hit major spikes in activity during a particular campaign or business cycle? Many mid-market companies experience hypergrowth in sales or support volume. Make sure your customer experience infrastructure will be able to scale along with your company. Tom Byun is general manager and senior vice president of the global small business division of LivePerson, a leading provider of digital engagement solutions. Fall 2015

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SUCCESS IN ACTION

CHIEF TALK

CEOS SHARE KEY LESSONS THEY’VE LEARNED INTERVIEW BY LEE LUSARDI CONNOR

First, Listen and Learn

DOLLAMUR SPORTS SURFACES: A GAME PLAN FOR GROWTH

A SPECIALTY MAT MAKER BUILDS ITS MARKETING AND TECHNOLOGY MUSCLES.

In the first 90 days as a leader at a new company, you need to learn as much as you can about four components: people, processes, technology, and infrastructure. Dollamur already had strong brand equity and name recognition in 30 countries, largely because of our support of premiere competitive events around the world. We also had great people in place. However, most of the team members I inherited were “home-grown”—meaning they had a tremendous amount of knowledge about the company, but not the breadth of experience at other companies and exposure to best practices that would take us to the next level. The challenge was to build a management team with the right blend of skills, experiences, and industry knowledge. We especially needed to build our marketing and information technology areas.

Improve Technology to Support Growth We hired a gentleman with extensive experience to support three initiatives: improving our Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, improving our Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system, and supporting online sales. We weren’t fully utilizing our existing ERP system. An ERP works best when it’s fully integrated, and you turn it on and all the key modules work together—sales, accounting, manufacturing, and so on. The ERP has to become the heartbeat of everything you do. We are also implementing the technology required to support our direct sales to consumers. Now the consumer can go to Amazon.com or eBay to buy a smaller version of our wrestling mat for use at home. We are also talking to several leading sporting goods retailers to sell our products on their sites.

ollamur Sports Surfaces, maker of specialty mats for wrestling, gymnastics, yoga, martial arts, cheerleading, and more, is a mid-size company with outsize ambitions. “Our strategy is to dominate in every single sports segment we compete in,” says CEO Don Ochsenreiter, who was brought in last year by owner Frist Capital. His mandate: to double the company’s sales to at least $50 million in five years. Ochsenreiter, former CEO of Burton Golf, says the company is well on the way to meeting that goal. Here, he shares his approach to leadership:

The Dollamur name, front and center at a martial arts tournament

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SUCCESS IN ACTION

Mats in action: Ohio High School Athletic Association Wrestling Championship

Cater to Different Customer Segments Coaches and athletes see our brand name at leading competitions, and want the same for their training centers, schools, and so on. That has worked well, but we didn’t have a fully developed marketing plan with consistency in messaging and branding. Now we are focused on developing that. Our website today is good, and very information-driven, but with the new site we’re really going to focus on the customer. We compete in eight very different sports segments. We’re the exclusive supplier to Ultimate Fighting Championship, but we’re also selling to yoga studios all around the country. If you’re a yogi, you don’t want to go to our site and see pictures of people beating the “whatever” out of each other. So we’ll have specific websites and social media initiatives for each of these customer groups.

Grow All Ways We are looking at acquisitions that make strategic sense for our company. However, organic growth will be very important to us. We recently unveiled

a new product: indoor, portable sports turf, just as beautiful and highperformance as the artificial turf you see in a football stadium. It’s called GymTurf 365, and it lets you transform an indoor basketball court into a field that the field hockey team or football team can practice on—in less than 45 minutes. No one else has anything like it. We estimate that the market for this is about $100 million.

For Buy-in, Communicate and Participate To gain your employees’ trust, you have to be great about communication. We have a quarterly town hall–style meeting in which we give everyone an update on what’s going on and do a lot of recognition—new hires, work anniversaries, and anyone who’s gone above and beyond. Each quarter has a theme; a recent one was the importance of quality, in everything from entering orders to speaking with customers. In between, we have focused, smaller team meetings—we find that works better than big weekly staff meetings. You can’t just tell people what to

Our strategy is to dominate in every segment we compete in. —DON OCHSENREITER

do. Whether it’s on the production ﬂoor or in accounting or in sales, you have to roll up your sleeves and be involved. For example, we recently did a sneak preview of our new product at an industry event, which required a team to go to the venue to set up from 11:00 pm until 6:00 am. We appointed six people to do this, and I joined as the seventh person. It was an incredible teambuilding experience. I recently interviewed a management candidate who gave me a great quote: “You give people the opportunity to change, and then, if necessary, you change the people.” That’s true. But my biggest satisfaction comes from seeing those who work here become successful and grow in their roles. Fall 2015

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FIELD REPORT

NETWORK ENGINEER CHRIS TRUSLER

MMC Corp: Constructive Connections A construction services company uses a ﬁber ELAN to build its future.

If I need more bandwidth, I can get it quickly—in days, not months. –Chris Trusler

THE CHALLENGE:

THE SOLUTION:

MMC Corp, a holding company made up of construction services brands, is a busy place. It has eight divisions, which handle everything from HVAC installation to general contracting. It also operates up to 60 construction sites at any given time. To streamline communications, MMC Corp wanted data from all locations to ﬂow across a single network. To maintain data security, it needed a dedicated, private network. It also required the ﬂexibility to add and remove locations on the network with ease. Network engineer Chris Trusler considered a Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) system, but its cost, complexity, and inability to scale quickly were deterrents. Trusler and IT director Jim Scales asked Time Warner Cable Business Class (TWCBC) what it could offer.

Today, all MMC Corp offices are connected over a TWCBC Ethernet Local Area Network (ELAN); bandwidth varies from10 Mbps to 500 Mbps, based on the number of employees at the location. In addition, job site trailers can access a Virtual Private Network (VPN) via 15x2 Mbps Business Internet access. On the corporate side, the service connects the offices to MMC Corp’s data center, which is equipped with 1 Gbps of data throughput. This bandwidth ensures that there is no latency, even if many of the company’s 1,200 employees are simultaneously using email or accessing file servers. The ELAN solution also gives MMC Corp a fiber infrastructure, which rarely has problems (such as packet delay and “jitter”) that affect time-sensitive applications.

Fall 2015

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With Business Class PRI, THE RESULT: Greater efﬁciency, security, and opportunities for growth. Enterprise-wide connectivity has allowed MMC Corp to relocate ﬁle servers from dispersed locations to its data center. “On one management console, we can manage and back up the computers that are on job sites, as well as all data and resources,” Trusler says. The ELAN solution also adds stability compared to MPLS services, because it is deployed with simpler electronics placed at the customer site, allowing easy and quick service resolutions. Given the sensitive nature of all that flows across the network—blueprints, CAD drawings, RFPs, accounting data, and more—MMC Corp is more comfortable using its ELAN, located in TWCBC’s facilities-based, privately owned network, than the open Internet. The ELAN also means that businesses such as MMC Corp don’t need to exchange their Private Internet Protocol (PIP) information with their service provider. Finally, the scalability of its ELAN lets MMC Corp seize new business opportunities. It enables the company’s growth strategy, which includes acquisitions and establishing job sites nationwide. (Should a new location be outside TWCBC’s expanding footprint, TWCBC works with local carriers to establish connectivity back to the main network.) If MMC Corp decides to use virtual desktops or virtual desktop image (VDI) files for some job sites, internal bandwidth can be scaled without the need for MMC Corp to add to infrastructure. “If I need additional bandwidth, I can get it quickly,” Trusler says. “We’re talking about days instead of months.”

SHARE YOUR STORY!

How did you partner with TWCBC to SOLVE your technology issues? Tell us about it for a chance to be featured in an upcoming issue of SOLVE. Visit business.twc.com/nomination to share your story.

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877.857.0727 | business.twc.com

9/28/15 1:46 PM

GUIDE TO GO

TECH JARGON

DECODING

Embracing the Customer Experience: 8 TERMS TO HELP BUILD RELATIONSHIPS BY GREG COLLINS

SANDBOX:

In an age of instantaneous access, customers want their problems solved fast. Even more important, they want quality answers delivered by someone who genuinely cares about their experience. In other words, they are looking for relationships with companies. This desire will become especially crucial as the subscription economy—the shift from buying products to buying services—takes off, with the result that transactions are ongoing as opposed to being one-time experiences. Here are some concepts and terms to aid your discussions and decisions about customer service.

CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE: Known as CX, this is the sum of a customer’s interactions with your company or brand, from first awareness through purchase and support. Each point along the customer’s journey—seeing your storefront or website, visiting it, interacting with a salesperson, and making a purchase—is a chance to make service an underlying theme for your brand.

OMNICHANNEL: Omnichannel is the practice of providing a seamless experience for your customers across all channels, from in-person to telephone to smartphone app to website. That means that before, during, and after a transaction or communication, various channels are integrated so that each channel has access to the same information about the customer and all present a consistent brand experience.

SOCIAL CRM: Social customer relationship management utilizes social media to engage with current and potential customers. Social CRM allows your

are from 0 to 10 and based on a direct question: How likely is it that you would recommend our company/product/ service to a friend or colleague?

company to move beyond static data, such as past purchases, and interact with customers authentically on platforms they use, like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, allowing you to meet the customers where they are, before they need to come to you.

FIRST REPLY: First reply or first reply time (FRT) is a metric measuring the interval between the time when a customer initiates a support request and the time when that request is addressed. Caution: a singular focus on reducing FRT can drive negative results if a quick response is not coupled with quality help. Viewing this metric in light of NPS (see below) and your CRM’s customer satisfaction (CSAT) score can provide needed insights.

A sandbox is a separate operating system environment in which new programs or code can be tested. You can create a replica of your CRM platform in a sandbox, where you can experiment and innovate without damaging your CRM or hampering your ability to engage with customers.

SELF-SERVICE: Today’s customers often prefer to find an answer themselves. Self-service is an aspect of CRM that allows customers to access online resources and resolve issues that arise without interacting with a customer support agent. For instance, creating a customer help center and customer knowledge base empowers customers to access key information, share their expertise, and solve their issues.

AGENT COLLISION: This occurs when more than one agent addresses the same ticket, frustrating customers with multiple or conﬂicting replies. Agent collision detection is a CRM feature that will often appear as an alert on the ticket letting others know that the issue is being addressed and doesn’t require further support.

NET PROMOTER SCORE® (NPS): This widely accepted measure of customer loyalty and retention helps companies evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of their customer relationships, and to better direct their marketing and sales efforts. NPS scores

Greg Collins is vice president of global customer advocacy at Zendesk, a customer service platform designed to bring organizations and their customers closer together.

Fall 2015

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For more on TWCBC’s Managed Office 365 Suite, Call us at 888-298-8222 or visit: NaviSite.com Product and services not available in all areas. Some restrictions may apply. Time Warner Cable Business Class is a trademark of Time Warner Inc. used under license. © 2015 Time Warner Cable Enterprises LLC. All rights Reserved. © 2015 NaviSite, Inc. 400 Minuteman Road, Andover, MA 01810. All Rights Reserved.

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Fall 2015 SOLVE magazine

Articles inside

Decoding Tech Jargon

LETTER TO THE READER

Alphapointe: Vision Accomplished

SUCCESS IN ACTION

MMC Corp: Constructive Connections

Catskill Hudson Bank’s Speedy Success

How Customers Rule

TIME MANAGEMENT