February 2000

BY RICH TEHRANI, GROUP PUBLISHER, TMC

Go Right To: In This Issue: Quality, CRM, Ergonomics And More

The one great lesson Ive learned about CRM/eCRM thus far is that it is more philosophy than technology. Yes, technology plays an important part in the process of providing world-class CRM, but without the proper business plan, all the technology in the world wont help you keep your customers or acquire new ones.

There are many ways to boost your customer relationships. The best way to find out what is effective for your company is to survey your customers frequently to discover how you are doing and where you can improve. Many times, third-party surveys are helpful. I recently read a survey from the Polk Company targeted at the automobile industry. I found it to be an excellent example of the proper way to get good customer feedback.

Polks study analyzed the impact of automakers CRM achievements as they relate to the purchase of new vehicles. The first part of Polks survey ( Figure 1 ) focused on what CRM activities were apparent to customers prior to their purchases. These are initiatives that automakers and dealers are taking to ensure their customers loyalty.

What I find most interesting about this survey is how well customers remember what actions the automaker and dealers took to keep them loyal. The average recognition rate is approximately 75 percent! This is an impressive figure and proves that customers remember the little things you do to maintain your relationship with them.

The results from the second part of the survey highlight customers feelings on what affected their purchase decision the most. The most important item to customers was the provision of a toll-free number to field their questions. Regular contact with your audience is crucial. One-third of the decision-making process is affected by seemingly insignificant items such as the availability of a toll-free number or the receipt of regular newsletters. Car buyers seem to appreciate close contact with the companies that manufacture their vehicles and enjoy receiving correspondence and updates on a regular basis.

What I like most about these surveys is that they target the less obvious aspects of CRM those not involved in immediate customer satisfaction. What I gather from Polks survey is that major purchase decisions, such as automobile purchase decisions, are influenced by something as simple as receiving a personal letter. Customers appreciate and recall simple courtesies.

As a customer myself, I know this is true. About a year ago, I had the pleasure of flying on Southwest Airlines for the first time. In one day, I was a passenger on three of their short flights within Texas and I still remember that the service was superior. I fly a great deal and I had never before experienced service of the caliber of Southwests. Although this was only a single days worth of flights, I look forward to the day when Southwest begins offering service from the airports close to me.

So remember, experience tells us that the little things are the most important when it comes to CRM. If you lose sight of the details, you will never get the big picture right.

Your Guide To The Communications Frontier: Communications Solutions EXPO
The last CTI™ EXPO, held this past December in Las Vegas, heralded the beginning of a new era on two fronts. First, it ushered in the end of the millennium. Second, it was the last time our event was to carry the CTI™ EXPO banner. In the new millennium, our conference and exposition will be called Communications Solutions™ EXPO.

Aside from standing on the verge of a new era, I was overwhelmed to find that CTI™ EXPOs conference attendance had doubled to well over 1,200 total attendees in just one year. Agog, I couldnt help but survey the attendees, who explained that they decided to participate in CTI™ EXPO because they perceived that TMCs expositions are objective and in-depth, and dispense with the hype that is all too familiar at many other shows.

We attribute this perception to the fact that TMC conferences are designed by the editors of TMCs publica tions (Communications Solutions™, Internet Telephony® and C@ll Center CRM Solutions™) as well as the engineers of TMC™ Labs. It is the industry knowledge of these editors coupled with their longevity in the industry three members (including myself) go back over 18 years that contribute to an unusually powerful conference program.

Since the designers of our conferences stay on top of the latest technology, our conference programs are always state-of-the-art. And, since our mandate has expanded as technology has evolved, we feel we should emphasize that our new name, Communications Solutions™ EXPO, more accurately describes the types of products and services on display in the exhibit hall. The response to our new name has been extraordinarily positive and we look forward to staging our next event and officially inaugurating Communications Solutions™ EXPO in Washington, D.C., on April 2628, 2000. If you register online today at www.comsolexpo.com, you will save the $50 entrance fee charged at the door for exhibit hall admission.

We realize you are busy and your time is precious, so we have dedicated ourselves to constructing a conference program so comprehensive, you are guaranteed to learn more from Communications Solutions™ EXPO than any other industry event. We believe in supplying you with the most rigorous, noncommercial conferences and imparting the most relevant and readily assimilated information to make it easier for you to integrate the information you need into your own corporate strategies.

Given the gratifyingly high level of interest in our conference program, we will soon post the full conference program on our Web site. In the meantime, I will list two of the nine conference tracks, summarizing what I feel are very appealing sessions. For a full description of all of the Spring 2000 conference sessions, see the brochure between pages 32 and 33.

E-Sales E-Service Solutions

• Dot Com To Income: Turning A Profit In The Internet Channel. Online, your competitors are just a click away. This session will cover whats needed to compete and win in the e-marketplace.
• Foiling The Hackers: Implementing E-Commerce Security. Studies show that the average e-commerce site is so non-secured a teenage hacker can collect personal information in less time than it takes to make an online purchase. Learn how to safeguard both your company and your consumers.
• Helping Customers Help Themselves Through Better Web Site Design. A well-designed Web site provides potential buyers with all the information they need, offering customer service and increasing sales at very little cost. Find out how the most successful e-commerce ventures help customers help themselves.
• Why You Need Chat And Instant Messaging On Your Companys Web Site. Properly implemented, chat and instant messaging capabilities can take the place of expensive toll-free telephone calls. Learn about the available products and the features and functions served up by these essential e-service solutions.
• Listen To Your Customers: Using Feedback To Improve Sales. Want to know why two-thirds of your e-shoppers never complete their transactions? By listening to your customers concerns, you can better understand how to implement changes to make them happy and see your sales rise. Gain valuable insight on how to design effective survey and polling campaigns to learn as much as possible from your best advisors and critics your customers.

CRM Solutions

• Using Knowledge Bases For Better CRM. This session will examine the techniques and technologies for connecting your companys touch points to your corporate knowledge bases, ensuring that everyone has access to the same information. Access to the right information doesnt just mean more power it means better customer service.
• Technologies And Techniques For Data Mining And Warehousing. Where is that information you need to make the sale, qualify a prospect or resolve a customers problem? You know its theresomewhere. This session will focus on the database tools and resources available that allow access to information by the people who need it.
• The Nuts And Bolts Of CRM. CRM is more than software: Its a way of doing business. This session will discuss which departments are involved in CRM, how to change your business processes for successful CRM and which technologies will help you implement an effective solution.
• Using CRM To Target Your Best Prospects. Learning to use feedback and statistics from phone calls, Web site surveys and customer e-mail can help you get the information from your customer contact points to your marketing department and better develop one-to-one marketing campaigns that keep sales in the loop.
• How To Use Web Portals For Improved CRM. The Internet is the perfect medium to provide personalized information not only to your customers, but also to your sales and support staff. Find out how Web portals can take advantage of existing systems and provide timely, targeted information for both customers and staff.
• How CRM Can Reduce Customer Churn. Its a simple truth: you need to understand what your customers want before you can give it to them. Youll learn how to provide a consistent message and quality service across all customer interaction channels within your organization.
• Implementing CRM Systems: Turnkey Or ASP? Endless upgrades, systems integration charges, IT staff nightmares these are some of the problems involved when adapting piecemeal CRM components from different vendors. Examine the pros and cons of using an all-in-one integrated system versus outsourcing to an application service provider.

Sincerely,

Rich Tehrani
Group Publisher
rtehrani@tmcnet.com

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In This Issue: Quality, CRM, Ergonomics And More

Once you do adopt the correct CRM philosophy, you will need to implement it effectively. To that end, we have identified 28 companies that have done just that. This issue features our Seventh-Annual MVP (Marketing Via Phone) Quality Awards, the definitive ranking of call center quality practices (see page 88). Each year, our editorial team assesses a voluminous amount of MVP Quality Award applications before determining the winners. While the award program is open to both in-house and third-party call center companies, the vast majority of applications are submitted by third-party outsourced teleservices providers. There may be a solid reason for this: Our editors have found that teleservices companies have done an excellent job of implementing quality procedures that facilitate CRM. This is good news. When you outsource any business practice, especially your call center functions, it is crucial that your chosen outsourcer meet or even exceed the quality of your own internal operations.

Our editors also found that many call center outsourcers are gearing up to help companies make the most of their e-commerce initiatives. In fact, Millennium Teleservices recently opened its 27th call center. This new call center in West Virginia has brought 400 new jobs to the area and will allow each Millennium customer service agent to receive a voice call, e-mail, fax and Web chat through his or her individual computer terminal. This is exactly the type of service many of todays Internet companies need, especially in light of the fact that the customer service of many dot com companies this past Christmas season left a great deal to be desired.

This issue of CALL CENTER CRM™ Solutions also contains a host of informative technology articles. You can learn how to select and buy CRM software by reading "Selecting And Buying CRM Software," discover the benefits of humanizing your Web site through callback and chat by reading "Humanizing Your Web Site Through Callback And Chat" and understand the art of voice recognition technology through "Service With A Smile: The Art Of Speech Over The Phone."

Additionally, this months issue addresses a timely topic in Call Center Ergonomics Makes Good Business Sense. This is an important but often ignored subject. The height of a chair in relation to a desk is not normally considered information that stops the presses, but in light of recent proposed legislation, it has become a subject worthy of every call center managers attention. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has recently outlined new ergonomic standards for the prevention of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). These include repetitive strain injuries such as carpal tunnel syndrome. Repetitive strain injuries are thought to be the result of tasks such as typing or even repeatedly picking up the phone. Muscle strains resulting from repetitive activities and poor or awkward postures are among the most likely MSDs to occur among call center employees. I strongly urge you to read the "Call Center Ergonomics Makes Good Business Sense" and Corpus Jursis regarding this proposed ergonomic standard.