how mobile and social are changing consumer engagement and ...€¦ · on tuesday, may 19, 2015, a...

IntroductionFrost & Sullivan recently invited a select group oforganizations to participate in a unique thoughtleadership forum—A Frost & Sullivan ExecutiveThink Tank:

! Lyn Dotterweich Head of Customer CarePhilips for the Americas

! Joe GagnonSVP and GM of Cloud SolutionsAspect

! Stephen KnellCreative DirectorMegaphone TV

! Kim MartinDirector Corporate CommunicationsAspect

! Rebecca Pappas VP of Audience Development Customer Service and ProductionBizBash Media

! Ken Parmelee Business Development Technology ExecutiveIBM MobileFirst

! Lisa RosenfeldGeneral Manager, Customer Assistance CenterMercedes-Benz USA

! Lauren SallataVP of MarketingXerox

! Allyson SchultzManager, Enterprise MarketingEmblemHealth

! Al SedenGlobal PartnerGTS Mobility Services

! Sergio VelascoStrategic SolutionsAspect

The issues discussed included:

! The Changing Nature of Customer Engagement

! Assessing the Customer Experience

! Who Owns the Customer Experience?

! The Customer of the Future

Moderated by Stephen Loynd, Global Program Director, Customer Contact — Frost & Sullivan

How Mobile and Social are Changing Consumer Engagementand the Future of Customer Service

EXECUTIVE THINK TANKEXECUTIVE THINK TANK

The Changing Nature of Customer EngagementOn Tuesday, May 19, 2015, a group of Customer Engagement industry professionalsgathered for an Executive Think Tank addressing the topic, “How Mobile and Socialare Changing Consumer Engagement and the Future of Customer Service.”Participants from a wide range of industries met to discuss key questions aboutCustomer Engagement, the overall Customer Experience today and what digital toolswill be needed to serve the Customer of the Future. The conversation was wide-ranging and spirited. Just a few highlights of that discussion are captured here.

Stephen Loynd, Global Program Director, Customer Contact, Frost & Sullivan, opened thediscussion with a general introduction on the changing nature of Customer Engagement.

Loynd stated that, “For most companies today, when it comes to CustomerEngagement, one significant challenge is to optimize customers’ time, knowing thatincreasingly time-taxed and impatient consumers are demanding easy and compellingchannel experiences. And yet, as consumers forge connections with brands throughvaried and often newly-emerging channels, achieving a single brand experience is easiersaid than done. Over time the Customer Journey has grown more complex.”

“After all, Generation Y (which will constitute 34% of the global population by 2020)is helping lead a restructuring toward a digital world and new ways of spending. Infact, younger generations in particular will often turn to Web self-service, virtual agents(VAs), SMS/text, and social media and social communities for immediate care. Theyalso may use live Chat when interacting with customer service and support (CSS).Obviously too, a growing number of customers are obtaining support from theirsmartphones. And video is yet another burgeoning channel. Moreover, as theeconomy grows, many companies may well become more reliant on automatedsupport solutions to minimize agent use.”

Assessing the Customer ExperienceThe group then began to discuss the specific survey questions:

Survey Question 1: The Customer Experience is critical to the financialsuccess of my company

100% of the respondents to the survey said that this was “True.”

EXECUTIVE THINK TANK

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“Increasingly time-taxedand impatientconsumers are

demanding easy andcompelling channel

experiences.”

— Stephen Loynd,Global

Program Director, Customer Contact,

Frost & Sullivan

*Polled results from Executive Think Tank Panelists on May 19, 2015


“Managing data silos isparticularly difficult forhealthcare companies…

they need to organizedata while complying

with a host of regulatoryrequirements.”

— Allyson SchultzManager, Enterprise

Marketing,Emblem Health

Loynd asked the gathered group if this is what they’re seeing at their companies. Isit true that all companies are so concerned with the Customer Experience? If so,what are they doing about it?

A few in the group noted that there is a difference between the goals we set and thereality. Consider the New Year’s resolution of going on a diet as an example. Mostof the time, that promise, that determination, lasts a few days, then people tend tosimply drift back to their old habits. The same issue exists with corporate Americawhen it comes to offering a great Customer Experience. Organizations have a toughtime delivering!

Perhaps this isn’t surprising, as it’s difficult for organizations to “walk the talk” – it’scomplicated to integrate a philosophy of the customer across all organizational touch-points. And sometimes business models conspire to trump the needs of the customer.

Organizational Culture and the CustomerThe group decided that what we’re really talking about here is organizational culture.At too many organizations, too many people don’t perceive themselves as being onthe front lines of offering a great Customer Experience – they don’t feel a sense ofresponsibility to the customer (i.e. perhaps those in the accounting department, orin logistics, etc.). It’s difficult to create a company culture that is focused on a greatCustomer Experience, such as Zappos has done, for example. Although Zappos isparticularly good at focusing on the customer, every company isn’t Zappos. Forexample, large organizations find it particularly difficult to embrace and integrate newCustomer Engagement channels. At the same time, legacy systems characterized bystructural barriers and silos also can make organizational change difficult for largerorganizations.

This discussion of IT infrastructure sparked a whole new conversation around offeringservices from the cloud. Everyone around the table affirmed that their companiesare on board with a cloud strategy. Meantime, the biggest concern voiced about thecloud was regarding the realm of security as well as regulatory issues. How to ensurethe cloud is secure? There are still those who have concerns.

Allyson Schultz of Emblem Health suggested that managing data silos is particularlydifficult for healthcare companies, as they need to figure out how to manage andorganize data while complying with a host of regulatory requirements. Joe Gangon,Senior VP of Cloud Solutions at Aspect, pointed out that the reality is that cloud allowsfor an impressive infrastructure; it’s all about how the solution is designed. Goodplanning and design will almost always result in positive outcomes.

The group agreed that the bottom line is this: consumers don’t care about whateverissues an organization might be having with its legacy systems. They expect a seamlessCustomer Experience!

The group also agreed that the solution is almost always strong and effectiveorganizational leadership. Often what is needed is an internal “Customer ExperienceChange Agent” who can enable the right philosophy and processes to flow throughoutan entire organization.

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“The CustomerExperience needs to be a

holistic experienceacross all customer

touch-points.”

— Lisa Rosenfeld,General Manager of the

Customer AssistanceCenter,

Mercedes-Benz, USA

Survey Question 2: Where does ownership for the Customer Experiencefall in your organization?

66.67% of respondents answered “the contact center”

33.33% answered “C-level Customer Experience executive”

0% answered Marketing

Who Owns the Customer Experience?

The group felt that companies that say the C-suite owns the Customer Experience arethe ones that are ahead of the game and are addressing larger shifts toward a customer-centric company culture. Many agreed that is the starting point, and from there ultimatelyagents can be empowered around the customer. And “measuring the customer fromthe beginning is critical” – it’s not just about first call resolution. With the rise of the“Chief Customer Officer,” more data about customers is getting to the C-Suite. This iskey in helping to determine why an organization is pursuing certain strategies and it isessential in figuring out what customers actually want, not just what an organization“thinks” they want. Consider, for example, the importance of empowering customersthrough self-service – millennials are changing the consumer game and expectations.

Lisa Rosenfeld, General Manager of the Customer Assistance Center at Mercedes-Benz,USA, noted that the Customer Experience needs to be a holistic experience across allcustomer touch-points. And it seems as if many organizations are empowered to try toachieve this in pursuit of a JD Power ranking – everyone is trying to be #1.

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“Omni-channel will savemoney if done properly.“Let customers do someself-service and they will

be dazzled.”

— Joe Gangon,SVP and GM of Cloud

Solutions,Aspect

Survey Question 3: Who owns the creation and development of mobileapps within your business?

66.67% of respondents answered “Customers being transferred between departments and agents”

66.67% answered “Customers not having adequate self-service options”

66.67% answered “Inconsistent experience across channels”

55.56% answered “Customers not being able to contact your business using their channel of choice

55.56% answered “Customers having to repeat or input information if the customer changeschannels (IVR to agent, web to IVR, etc.)

44.44% answered “Conversations and service not being personalized”

44.44% answered “Lack of support for mobile apps”

The group agreed that it’s important to use mobile apps to anticipate customer needs– and sending out push notifications and reminders is one way to fulfill on that.But there’s a larger issue: there are too many apps out there. Some wondered, “Whatkind of information do you put out there today? And how do you figure out whatcontent to push and at what time?” The group agreed that, “you need to know thelifecycle, and be aware of context.” In the end, perhaps it “depends on how well youknow your customers – understanding FAQs and pushing that information out tothem.”

Some mentioned the fact that insurance cards are being made available on mobile apps.Lisa Rosenfeld, General Manager, Customer Assistance Center at Mercedes-Benz, USA,offered the example of factoring in vehicle information. Individual cars receive alertsfor health checks all the time, so customers aren’t surprised when they need to go infor an oil change or other service. This information will eventually be integrated withthe dealer network. 5



Implementing Superior Customer CareUltimately, the group felt that the essence of this question came down to how adeptan organization is at dealing with customer care. But a larger question remained:“How do you implement this across the business?”

Survey Question 4: Which of the following customer service experiences do youbelieve has an adverse effect on customer satisfaction?

66.67% of respondents answered “the contact center”

33.33% answered “C-level Customer Experience executive”

0% answered Marketing

Creating An Omni-Channel ExperienceThe group agreed that managing the “omni-channel experience” is of centralimportance. Customers are demanding that companies value their time. In this sense,it’s imperative for organizations to address issues with workflows and processes andto maintain context as customers move from one channel to another. Ultimately, theentire process should be engineered so that the Customer Experience is of high qualitywhile demanding minimal Customer Effort. If necessary, re-engineer the process and“get away from the legacy mindset.” In essence, the ability to have clear visibility intothe entire Customer Experience and to maintain context as conversations movebetween channels is a must.

Lisa Rosenfeld, General Manager, Customer Assistance Center at Mercedes-Benz, USA,said that in her experience, sometimes the challenge is with an organization acceptingand utilizing certain technologies in pursuit of a great Customer Experience.

Joe Gagnon, Senior Vice President of Cloud Solutions and GM at Aspect, noted thattoo often companies try to “fabricate some complex idea of what customer serviceis supposed to be”. But this can be wrong to the extent that it attempts to decidethings for the customer. Gagnon believes customers need to be empowered, andempowered to learn most of all. Again, the conversation circled back to the topicof self-service solutions.6



In any case, while some spoke of the primary importance of company culture, someothers insisted that the business model will always trump company culture – companiesneed to change the ways they are engaging with the customer in order to create realchange within the organization. And clearly, “Just hiring more agents isn’t going tosolve things”.

Survey Question 5: What is the primary challenge of delivering serviceacross an increased number of touch-points?

44.44% of respondents answered “Maintaining continuity of experience as customers movebetween channels”

33.33% answered “Cost barriers to adopting new channels”

22.22% answered “Customer Experience governance”

0% answered “Integration complexity”

The group asserted in unison that true omni-channel is just a buzz word. Not everyoneknows what it really means to be fully integrated. We wondered as a group whatorganizations can offer a true omni-channel experience. Understanding the differencebetween a first-time customer and a repeat customer is critical. It’s also aboutunderstanding what the customer has already done so that he or she doesn’t have torepeat themselves – so that they can pick up where they left off. It’s also about agentsbeing able to deliver a more targeted, personalized, and immediate service. The groupalso agreed that it’s going to be important to be able to support a diversifying array ofchannels as customers continue to adopt new channels.

And in some cases understanding individual customer value also is key; certaincompanies seem to do this very well, by utilizing customer profiles and calibratingwhether or not someone is truly worth keeping as a customer. It’s also increasinglyimportant that agents are able to deliver seamless, targeted, service across a multitudeof channels. 7



Joe Gagnon of Aspect mentioned that omni-channel will save money if done properly.“Let customers do some self-service and they will be dazzled.” It was a nice way towrap up the dinner, and another highly productive Executive Think Tank.

ConclusionIn effect, the group agreed that the needs of the “Customer of the Future” will behighly defined, with huge demand for customized solutions focusing on moods,preferences, and attitudes of the consumer. Companies must therefore embrace aholistic, proactive view of the customer. Advantages will be gained by thoseorganizations with an in-depth understanding of social media and mobile savvyconsumers, including the best tactics with which to engage them.

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how mobile and social are changing consumer engagement and ...€¦ · on tuesday, may 19, 2015, a...

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