Forrester Research on Customer Success: Support Practices for Creating a Profit Center

Aaron FulkersonFounder and CEO, MindTouch

Customer Support Practices For Creating A Profit Center

Tuesday, April 8, 14

© 2014 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited

WHAT TYPE OF SERVICE DO CUSTOMERS EXPECT FROM BUSINESSES THAT THEY INTERACT WITH?


Customers want support when they want it, where they want it, and how they want it. Otherwise it will be hard

to keep them.Tuesday, April 8, 14


Fifty-two percent of consumers agree: “I am very likely to abandon my online purchase if I cannot find a quick answer to my questions”

Source: Understand Communication Channel Needs To Craft Your Customer Service Strategy, March 2013


http://www.sxc.hu/browse.phtml?f=download&id=1207962





Fifty-two percent of consumers agree: “I am very likely to abandon my online purchase if I cannot find a quick answer to my questions”










Seventy-one percent of consumers agree: “Valuing








Seventy-one percent of consumers agree: “Valuing








Common Challenges

Fragmented and Inconsistent“Useful information is spread over more than 30 systems and seven

formats. Every department is using something different.” – Remington

Hard to Update


Common Challenges



Hard to Update“It takes us 18 months to update knowledge across our support channels. We can’t say for certain that it has been updated.” – HP


Common Challenges



Hard to Update“It takes us 18 months to update knowledge across our support channels. We can’t say for certain that it has been updated.” – HP

Collaboration and Feedback“The people closest to our customers need to contribute to and provide feedback on product information, but we’re still using PDF and old printed materials.” – Verizon

No analytics, no SEO“I can tell you which articles support is using, but we have no clue what else is being used by customers and prospects or how this affects our business.” – Blackboard.com



WHY IS MEETING CUSTOMERS EXPECTATIONS FOR GOOD



First, good customer experiences are good for business

March 2012 “The Business Impact Of Customer Experience, 2012”



And, second, poor service is costly

Your customers switch to more expensive channels when

August 2012 “Websites That Don’t Support Customers Waste Millions”



Your customers talk negatively about your brand which is amplified with social technologies


Right Knowledge, Right Now

• Centralize

• Connect All Support Channels


Right Knowledge, Right Now

• Centralize

• Connect All Support Channels

• Capture and Reuse

• Empower Experts



HOW DO COMPANIES VIEW



CostCustomer

satisfaction and loyalty Revenue

Compliance

Customer service centers must balance customer needs with business needs



Companies want contact centers to deliver good customer service; but many manage them as cost centersWhat is the strategy for your contact center

Sample size: 808

What are the main drivers for your contact center

Sample size: 808

Source: Dimension Data Contact Center Benchmaking Report, 2013


Why Can’t Support Be A Profit Center?



79% of buyers self-educate online




Product knowledge: • Improves organic site traffic




Product knowledge: • Improves organic site traffic• Increases prospective buyer traffic




Product knowledge: • Improves organic site traffic• Increases prospective buyer traffic• Improves Net Promoter Score



HOW DO CUSTOMERS WANT TO ENGAGE WITH CUSTOMER SERVICE



Customers want to use an increasing number of channels


Knowledge-as-a-Service

Knowledge Center Contextual Knowledge

Chat IntegrationSocial Channels

CRM and Case

ManagementCommunityIntegration

Ticket Deflection

KaaS



IS IT JUST ABOUT CHANNELS, OR IS IT SUPPORTING THE



You must support your customers through the entire journey that they expect to have with a company



Example: cross-channel journeys are growing in popularity across Europe

February 2013 “European Online Retail: Five Trends To Watch In 2013”



Most of the time this journey is fractured. Why?



Most of the time this journey is fractured. Why?



Most companies are a mess of disconnected technology



Most companies are a mess of disconnected technology


Elevating Customer Success

Elevated Knowledge Layer

+ Analytics




+ Analytics + Marketing Automation




+ Analytics + Marketing Automation + Process! --------------------------------

! Customer Success & Upsell Opportunity



WHAT ARE THE FOUNDATIONAL



Customer service organizations must provide efficient, personalized and proactive service at a cost that makes sense to the business

Pain-freePersonalizedProactive

Productive


Proactive: Elevated Knowledge Layer

Deployment in days/weeks, not months

Time-to-Value within days of deployment:! ! ! Organic traffic! ! ! Net Promoter Score!


Proactive: Elevated Knowledge Layer

Deployment in days/weeks, not months

Time-to-Value within days of deployment:! ! ! Organic traffic! ! ! Net Promoter Score! ! ! ! Ticket Deflection


Knowledge-as-a-Service



CRM and Case


Ticket Deflection

KaaS


Capture and Reuse



CRM and Case


Ticket Deflection

KaaSwith

Capture


A Self-Improving Cycle

Knowledge Request

TransactSelf-Service or

Agent

OptimizeHelpRankTM and

Collaboration

Synchronize



Knowledge Request


Agent


Collaboration

Synchronize

Continuously Improving:



Knowledge Request


Agent


Collaboration

Synchronize

Continuously Improving: • Deflection



Knowledge Request


Agent


Collaboration

Synchronize

Continuously Improving: • Deflection• First call resolution



Knowledge Request


Agent


Collaboration

Synchronize


• Average handle time



Knowledge Request


Agent


Collaboration

Synchronize


• Average handle time

• User adoption


Support that Creates Revenue

Consistent, searchable and discoverable

Open to feedback and collaboration





Fast to update





Fast to update

Drives organic site traffic





Fast to update


Adaptive and context sensitive





Fast to update


Adaptive and context sensitive

Self-learning and analytics rich

Informs automated success and upsell campaignsTuesday, April 8, 14

WHAT KINDS OF TECHNOLOGIES SERVE TO ENABLE A TRULY



Cloud deployments are increasing

Nearly 70% of organizations are using, or are interested in, SaaS solutions for horizontal processes like CRM

…Forrsights Services Survey, 2011 Base: 1031 North American and European IT services decision-makers



The drivers of cloud adoption are improved business agility, speed-to-value, and vendor delivered innovation

Base: 920 packaged application decision-makers

Source: Forrsights Software Survey, Q4 2012


Some Critical Requirements


Some Critical Requirements• Standards adherence – avoid lock in


Some Critical Requirements• Standards adherence – avoid lock in• REST API first – future proof


Some Critical Requirements• Standards adherence – avoid lock in• REST API first – future proof • Drag-and-drop easy feedback and authoring

! Rich media support – no code!



! Rich media support – no code!• CRM and CEM interfaces



! Rich media support – no code!• CRM and CEM interfaces• Avoid flat knowledge

! Hard to manage! Poor discovery, decision tree





• Easy to brand





• Easy to brand• Adaptive to group and channel





• Easy to brand• Adaptive to group and channel• Speed matters


Free Requirements Checklist

http://mndt.ch/rqmts



EVERYONE IS STRUGGLING WITH



Customer service operations should be managed



Skew your scorecard to align with your brand



Start with your business outcomes

Reduced operational costs

Increased revenue

Increased compliance

Increased customer satisfaction



Choose the KPIs that map to business outcomes


Increased revenue



Increased agent productivity

Number of cross and upsells

Regulatory compliance fees

NPSCustomer effort score

Customer service executive



Align the operational measures to business


Increased revenue







Customer service manager

AHT, ASA, shrinkage, turnover, schedule adherence

Sale/agentSale/product

Non-compliant cases/agent or queue or channel

Abandon rate, FCR, survey sat scores, social sentiment analysis



Align the operational measures to business


Increased revenue







Customer service manager

AHT, ASA, shrinkage, turnover, schedule adherence

Sale/agentSale/product

Non-compliant cases/agent or queue or channel

Abandon rate, FCR, survey sat scores, social sentiment analysis


Thank youKate LeggettPrincipal Analyst

Thank you


Business and Project Planning

MindTouch is rapidly transforming how companies support customer success by revolutionizing product knowledge.


Requirements Checklist: http://mndt.ch/rqmts


Forrester Research on Customer Success: Support Practices for Creating a Profit Center

Leadership & Management