Recently, I had to fly United Airlines mainly due to schedule constraints and I hope I don't need to again anytime soon.
The Boarding Process for someone that is a frequent traveler was a lot of unnecessary chaos. What precipitated most of the chaos was all of their different customer segments.
Global Services
United First
United 100K
United Business
Executive Premier
Gold
Silver
1
2
3
I was probably most amazed at how many people went up to the gate attendant who had no idea when to board and how far they were down the process and thus it held people up, disrupted the flow and then they had to be sent back and DON'T YOU DARE WALK ON OUR RED CARPET.
Okay, I get it reward loyal customers, but guess what? We all take off at the same time and there is probably a better way than to have 10 segments especially if you only have 22 passengers. My one flight had 330 passengers, so 10 segments may not have been as bad, but the sequence is not intuitive or predictable and again, many people came up out of turn.
I had more experiences on my flight, but I wanted to bring focus to the impression that this made and how even for people that fly United often, this isn't a great experience.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Friday, November 19, 2010
The Under the Radar Speech Analytics Evaluation Characteristic
I have discovered that there is a serious element that many companies are failing to use in their evaluation of Speech Analytics vendors, and understandably so, because it is so difficult to find.....BUYER'S REMORSE.
Think about what you need to overcome to find this. First, do you think a company is going to give you a reference to a company that didn't have success with their product. That doesn't makes these references worthless, but you have to take that under advisement. More importantly, do you think a company is going to tell you they screwed up with their first adventure using speech analytics in their attempts to be an early adopter?
I can think of a handful of companies that have not had good experiences with implementing speech analytics and their buyer's remorse comes down to these elements.
Total Cost of Ownership: How big is your hardware footprint? How much is available out of the box and how much needs to be customized for your business? How high maintenance is it going to be in terms of employee effort?
Spectrum of Search: Can you do search on speech? How about chat text and surveys?
Vendor Relationship: How long have you been working with the vendor on speech analytics? What type of support is on the clock and what type of support is benevolent? How do they deepen the customer insight and how quickly do they do it? Are they a partner or are they a transaction?
Analytical Horsepower and Operationalization: How do they convert customer insight into choreographed customer interaction? How do they help me measure performance? Are they evaluating a customer interaction or a complete customer experience? Are their tools flexible enough to allow me to change my definitions and transcend different definitions across various companies.
Who else did you evaluate and is this the first company you've had integrated? This is hard to ask and harder to answer, but you need to find out if this is their first or second try, based on Speech Analytics just now reaching mainstream. The other way to look at this is to find out what company logos are on the vendor website, and then compare that to the companies they actually give you as references and try to triangulate to an answer.
As a last resort, you may have to ask the question via social networking sites, but you have to be skeptical with some of the answers. Regardless, do your due diligence and find those companies that are less than happy with the results. You will likely find a recording platform company that is trying to be all things to all people.
Think about what you need to overcome to find this. First, do you think a company is going to give you a reference to a company that didn't have success with their product. That doesn't makes these references worthless, but you have to take that under advisement. More importantly, do you think a company is going to tell you they screwed up with their first adventure using speech analytics in their attempts to be an early adopter?
I can think of a handful of companies that have not had good experiences with implementing speech analytics and their buyer's remorse comes down to these elements.
Total Cost of Ownership: How big is your hardware footprint? How much is available out of the box and how much needs to be customized for your business? How high maintenance is it going to be in terms of employee effort?
Spectrum of Search: Can you do search on speech? How about chat text and surveys?
Vendor Relationship: How long have you been working with the vendor on speech analytics? What type of support is on the clock and what type of support is benevolent? How do they deepen the customer insight and how quickly do they do it? Are they a partner or are they a transaction?
Analytical Horsepower and Operationalization: How do they convert customer insight into choreographed customer interaction? How do they help me measure performance? Are they evaluating a customer interaction or a complete customer experience? Are their tools flexible enough to allow me to change my definitions and transcend different definitions across various companies.
Who else did you evaluate and is this the first company you've had integrated? This is hard to ask and harder to answer, but you need to find out if this is their first or second try, based on Speech Analytics just now reaching mainstream. The other way to look at this is to find out what company logos are on the vendor website, and then compare that to the companies they actually give you as references and try to triangulate to an answer.
As a last resort, you may have to ask the question via social networking sites, but you have to be skeptical with some of the answers. Regardless, do your due diligence and find those companies that are less than happy with the results. You will likely find a recording platform company that is trying to be all things to all people.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
The 4 Critical Ingredients to a Great Customer Experience
Lots of folks including many I respect, have recently put out new material on imperatives and necessities to the customer experience. Many tackle strategic and corporate prerequisites which are important, however the tactical customer view is what is really needed and must bridge the gap between this strategic and the tactical, customer-facing view.
So, I have attempted to build my own model and I'd love your feedback on it. I tossed around a bunch of terms and tried to balance being too specific without being too vague simultaneously.
A great customer experience must be predictable, informative, fulfilling, and trustworthy. Let me explain.
Predictable: Predictable to me means that I can anticipate what the agent will say and the agent can anticipate where I am going with my potentially unique request. Predictable means you can quickly realize whether or not I need to be transferred and respecting my time. Predictable means an easy transaction, it means I can anticipate how long I may be on hold or whether or not I can handle my needs on line.
Trustworthy: Trustworthy goes beyond secure data and privacy. It means that you are benevolent in your interaction and doing what's right for me, regardless of what puts more money in your pocket. It's genuine. It's personal without adversity because you looked at my situation as a person and not as how it fits your policy.
Fulfilling: Fulfilling means closure. It means I have checked something off my list and it means I just avoided an issue where I may have had to call two weeks from now. It means complete and at peace with the result.
Informative: Experiences must be informative. Informative is mutually beneficial to the customer and the company. Informative is enjoyable and allows you to think about what to do the next time something happens, whether that is the time to call, the form to retrieve, the information to be prepared with, or the time that something will be on sale or a product that will provide me greater value of my time and money.
I have also included what happens or what the experience is if you only have three of the four. I'm sure this model will evolve as I get ready to tackle some major consulting engagements here over the next six months, but I have a place to start and would love to learn more from you on how this model can be improved.
So, I have attempted to build my own model and I'd love your feedback on it. I tossed around a bunch of terms and tried to balance being too specific without being too vague simultaneously.
A great customer experience must be predictable, informative, fulfilling, and trustworthy. Let me explain.
Predictable: Predictable to me means that I can anticipate what the agent will say and the agent can anticipate where I am going with my potentially unique request. Predictable means you can quickly realize whether or not I need to be transferred and respecting my time. Predictable means an easy transaction, it means I can anticipate how long I may be on hold or whether or not I can handle my needs on line.
Trustworthy: Trustworthy goes beyond secure data and privacy. It means that you are benevolent in your interaction and doing what's right for me, regardless of what puts more money in your pocket. It's genuine. It's personal without adversity because you looked at my situation as a person and not as how it fits your policy.
Fulfilling: Fulfilling means closure. It means I have checked something off my list and it means I just avoided an issue where I may have had to call two weeks from now. It means complete and at peace with the result.
Informative: Experiences must be informative. Informative is mutually beneficial to the customer and the company. Informative is enjoyable and allows you to think about what to do the next time something happens, whether that is the time to call, the form to retrieve, the information to be prepared with, or the time that something will be on sale or a product that will provide me greater value of my time and money.
I have also included what happens or what the experience is if you only have three of the four. I'm sure this model will evolve as I get ready to tackle some major consulting engagements here over the next six months, but I have a place to start and would love to learn more from you on how this model can be improved.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Predictability is an under-rated Customer Experience Characteristic
When you consider the various aspects of a customer experience, many elements seem to gravitate to how predictable the experience is to the customer.
Consider the concept of the IVR. Think of how unpredictable this experience is from company-to-company or for that matter for a given company. Who hasn't heard, "please listen to this entire message as our options have changed"? That is probably the only thing you can predict. The fact that the website, www.gethuman.com even exists tells you how hard the concept is of reaching an agent.
Now take a company like ClickFox. ClickFox basically shows all the various experiences and navigation paths that a call can take. While a significant percentage falls into a certain category, the concept of "other" is too large a component as companies have introduced their own complexities on one of many fronts. ClickFox's value proposition is to show how unpredictable your customer experience is and where the opportunities exist to make that experience more predictable.
If a customer can have a predictable experience where they can manage their own expectations better, they are more likely to have better experiences. Companies that are more likely to correctly predict why a customer is entering an interaction, regardless of channel, is more likely to exceed the expectations of the customer.
Predictability of experience is something that the customer (implicitly) wants. Imagine a customer being able to anticipate what the agent will ask for and in what order. The call will be expedited which saves time for everyone and costs for you. Hidden behind that predictable experience is the ability of companies to anticipate the reason for the engagement in the first place, so ask yourself and your company how are you mutually creating a predictable experience.
Consider the concept of the IVR. Think of how unpredictable this experience is from company-to-company or for that matter for a given company. Who hasn't heard, "please listen to this entire message as our options have changed"? That is probably the only thing you can predict. The fact that the website, www.gethuman.com even exists tells you how hard the concept is of reaching an agent.
Now take a company like ClickFox. ClickFox basically shows all the various experiences and navigation paths that a call can take. While a significant percentage falls into a certain category, the concept of "other" is too large a component as companies have introduced their own complexities on one of many fronts. ClickFox's value proposition is to show how unpredictable your customer experience is and where the opportunities exist to make that experience more predictable.
If a customer can have a predictable experience where they can manage their own expectations better, they are more likely to have better experiences. Companies that are more likely to correctly predict why a customer is entering an interaction, regardless of channel, is more likely to exceed the expectations of the customer.
Predictability of experience is something that the customer (implicitly) wants. Imagine a customer being able to anticipate what the agent will ask for and in what order. The call will be expedited which saves time for everyone and costs for you. Hidden behind that predictable experience is the ability of companies to anticipate the reason for the engagement in the first place, so ask yourself and your company how are you mutually creating a predictable experience.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
How to overcome the objection of "Intangible" ROI
When you look at Customer Experience, Customer Behavior, and the data/analytics that are required to make the most of these opportunities, several technical, political, and cultural barriers are usually thrown at those making the case to invest in customer experience.
If you have tried to influence someone based on an intangible or soft ROI, you know that these objections typically have a hidden agenda. Let's examine some of these further.
If you have an emerging technology and you are trying to solve some of the traditional problems like FCR or AHT, many may be skeptical. Their mindset may be, "Six Sigma didn't solve it, and while your technology may be able to better identify the problem, the real problem is my internal execution." There is probably some truth in that statement, but it is really a path of least resistance mentality.
The Customer Experience Renaissance that has occurred over the past 4 years really couldn't have had worse timing in many respects. We have had an economic downturn coupled with a fragile recovery. We have had a much stronger regulatory environment. Lastly, we've seen many businesses either fail or merge. Customer Analytics has had to overcome a lot. How do you make that work when you are busy just integrating two company data sets into one?
However, crisis also introduces opportunity and in many respects, Customer Analytics should have been embedded in the solution on these challenges.
Probably the biggest objection that people in Customer Experience face is "soft" return on business cases. The way that I would approach that is to turn the question around.
Are you willing to risk uncertain higher revenue at a certain higher costs?
This argument holds true in many industries. Consider the mutual fund industry. Higher expense ratios do not deliver higher returns.
This higher costs has two components: the cost of complexity and the cost of complacency. The cost of service is inflated because companies introduce higher costs due to these elements. These elements impact the customer experience as well.
The Cost of Complexity
Complexity typically exists with product proliferation and customer segmentation.
The Cost of Complacency
Complacency takes the shape of organizational silos that don't communicate effectively and unstructured data and data strategies..
Unnecessary costs = (The Cost of Complexity + The Cost of Complacency) * Coefficient of Chaos
The coefficient of chaos is a factor based on the lack of an integrated customer experience strategy that includes Vision, Leadership, Goals, Communication, and Data. Today, many companies have more activity, more responsibility, less headcount, less budget, but the operational folks still must "guarantee" results on their operational initiatives. Existing tolls, processes, and organizational structures fail to solve for these 3 factors and any initiative must consider how they will breakdown each one independently and collectively.
Overcoming the Objections
There are really four elements that are required to overcome the objections.
First, reframe the question like we talked about early.
There are three other components that you will see in future blog posts.
1) Solve your data leadership and organizational structure flaws
2) Provide a comprehensive, choreographed customer experience for your customers and your company
3) Communicate Consistently: Restate the reframed question every time and provide supporting documentation.
If you have tried to influence someone based on an intangible or soft ROI, you know that these objections typically have a hidden agenda. Let's examine some of these further.
If you have an emerging technology and you are trying to solve some of the traditional problems like FCR or AHT, many may be skeptical. Their mindset may be, "Six Sigma didn't solve it, and while your technology may be able to better identify the problem, the real problem is my internal execution." There is probably some truth in that statement, but it is really a path of least resistance mentality.
The Customer Experience Renaissance that has occurred over the past 4 years really couldn't have had worse timing in many respects. We have had an economic downturn coupled with a fragile recovery. We have had a much stronger regulatory environment. Lastly, we've seen many businesses either fail or merge. Customer Analytics has had to overcome a lot. How do you make that work when you are busy just integrating two company data sets into one?
However, crisis also introduces opportunity and in many respects, Customer Analytics should have been embedded in the solution on these challenges.
Probably the biggest objection that people in Customer Experience face is "soft" return on business cases. The way that I would approach that is to turn the question around.
Are you willing to risk uncertain higher revenue at a certain higher costs?
This argument holds true in many industries. Consider the mutual fund industry. Higher expense ratios do not deliver higher returns.
This higher costs has two components: the cost of complexity and the cost of complacency. The cost of service is inflated because companies introduce higher costs due to these elements. These elements impact the customer experience as well.
The Cost of Complexity
Complexity typically exists with product proliferation and customer segmentation.
The Cost of Complacency
Complacency takes the shape of organizational silos that don't communicate effectively and unstructured data and data strategies..
Unnecessary costs = (The Cost of Complexity + The Cost of Complacency) * Coefficient of Chaos
The coefficient of chaos is a factor based on the lack of an integrated customer experience strategy that includes Vision, Leadership, Goals, Communication, and Data. Today, many companies have more activity, more responsibility, less headcount, less budget, but the operational folks still must "guarantee" results on their operational initiatives. Existing tolls, processes, and organizational structures fail to solve for these 3 factors and any initiative must consider how they will breakdown each one independently and collectively.
Overcoming the Objections
There are really four elements that are required to overcome the objections.
First, reframe the question like we talked about early.
There are three other components that you will see in future blog posts.
1) Solve your data leadership and organizational structure flaws
2) Provide a comprehensive, choreographed customer experience for your customers and your company
3) Communicate Consistently: Restate the reframed question every time and provide supporting documentation.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Unique Customers Want To Be Treated Uniquely
When I look at the spectrum of my personal experiences, the experiences of my clients and customers, and the 000's of experiences I have evaluated in my consulting business, one thing transcends all industries more than anything else.
Unique customers want to be treated uniquely.
Think of every situation in your lifetime where you had unique circumstances and either were late to an appointment or missed a payment or something else that a company's systems would set off red flags. These unique situations require companies to assume positive intent and demonstrate mutual trust so that is rewarded back to the company.
It doesn't matter if you are a financial advisor with a client who has been diagnosed with cancer or if you broke your ankle trying to help a friend get something accomplished. Many of us have lived a good life, and every once in a while, things happen. Your job as an owner of a company is to empathize and make that customer or client feel unique and how you are going to help them solve this temporary setback.
My last eight months have been super-saturated with unique events - nearly lost a finger, had a baby, son fell at school, wife was in a car accident while 6.5 months pregnant, I was stuck in Europe during the Icelandic volcano, and I sprained an ankle.
Do you think I have a list of companies in my head that treated me a little better than those that didn't? You better believe it. While my situation and compilation of events is unique, don't think for a second that someone else with an otherwise perfect relationship with your company might be suffering a temporary setback. Maybe the think to do to make yourself a unique company to your unique customer is to reach out to them and ask if everything is okay and if there is something you can do.
Do you have the data at your fingertips to identify those customers? If not, you may have a bigger problem.
Unique customers want to be treated uniquely.
Think of every situation in your lifetime where you had unique circumstances and either were late to an appointment or missed a payment or something else that a company's systems would set off red flags. These unique situations require companies to assume positive intent and demonstrate mutual trust so that is rewarded back to the company.
It doesn't matter if you are a financial advisor with a client who has been diagnosed with cancer or if you broke your ankle trying to help a friend get something accomplished. Many of us have lived a good life, and every once in a while, things happen. Your job as an owner of a company is to empathize and make that customer or client feel unique and how you are going to help them solve this temporary setback.
My last eight months have been super-saturated with unique events - nearly lost a finger, had a baby, son fell at school, wife was in a car accident while 6.5 months pregnant, I was stuck in Europe during the Icelandic volcano, and I sprained an ankle.
Do you think I have a list of companies in my head that treated me a little better than those that didn't? You better believe it. While my situation and compilation of events is unique, don't think for a second that someone else with an otherwise perfect relationship with your company might be suffering a temporary setback. Maybe the think to do to make yourself a unique company to your unique customer is to reach out to them and ask if everything is okay and if there is something you can do.
Do you have the data at your fingertips to identify those customers? If not, you may have a bigger problem.
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