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September 2000

 

The Next Route To Customers: Tele/Web Integration

BY FRED FASSMAN, IBM.COM

For companies trying to win business on the Internet, the newest wrinkle on the World Wide Web is real, live people.

Many e-business firms are moving fast to link their Web sites with their customer support call centers -- what some call tele/Web integration. This new route to market offers an opportunity for companies to boost their e-commerce revenue, improve customer service and leverage their existing call centers.

It's difficult to pin down how many companies have tele/Web capability today, but it's safe to say the number is growing. According to the California-based consulting firm Frost & Sullivan, there has been a 100 percent annual increase of call centers that are becoming integrated with the Web.

For companies doing business on the Internet, the incentives to invest in building a tele/Web capability are considerable. For starters, Internet telephony can help overcome the low conversion rate of browsers to buyers at retail Web sites. Although a large percentage of customers bail out of transactions on the Web before they are completed, Forrester Research reports that 63 percent of visitors would finish their purchase if they had more information. With more interactive customer service options available, companies are able to improve customer conversion rates and even upsell buyers who engage in conversation with a knowledgeable sales rep.

The other significant benefit for firms is the added efficiency the tele/Web channel brings to the market coverage model. As customers use the self-service capabilities of the Internet for presales reconnaissance work and to complete simple, low-cost transactions, salespeople have more time to spend closing transactions and focusing on complex, profitable opportunities.

Dramatic Implications For Call Centers
Like many ramifications of the Internet, the explosion in Web-based business has affected call centers in different ways than originally assumed. The common expectation had been that as more customers used the Web for e-commerce, call centers would experience a drop in call volumes and transactions. That has not proven to be the case.

In fact, the rapid emergence of the Web as both a sales and services channel for business customers and consumers is transforming the role of traditional call centers. Early adopters of the tele/Web channel are experiencing a significant change in both the type and volume of calls coming into their centers.

As tele/Web takes hold, call center inquiries decrease at both ends of the sales cycle. A bell curve emerges as the number of calls in the center of the sales cycle spikes and the number of inquiries from customers needing pre- or post-sales information decreases. Customers often find self-service on the Web a more efficient means of finding answers to basic questions, but research suggests that a firm's Web site can drive call center volumes overall by up to 20 percent, thanks to the Web's ability to generate demand.

This shift in call type represents a positive trend for companies seeking to leverage their call center resources. It means reps can spend more time where they should: upselling, cross-selling and closing orders on qualified sales leads.

New Tools And Technologies
The implementation of the Web in call centers requires basic technology investments. One is to Web-enable the telephone switches in your call centers. Connecting a Web server with a call center's telephony system is technically feasible and reasonably affordable.

Another vital technology in creating a tele/Web capability is Web collaboration software. There are software products that allow telesales agents to initiate collaborative activity with customers. They also allow a company's agents to demo software products and escort customers through presentations -- making collaborative notes as necessary -- while the rep and customer talk on the phone. Use of these technologies increases confidence in the Web site and helps companies develop online relationships with their customers.

Lessons Learned From Tele/Web Pilots
Here at IBM, the tele/Web capability is being aggressively rolled out. This year, we have been conducting pilots with call request buttons on many sites in North America. Calls generated by the sites have been routed to our sales centers in Toronto and Atlanta. We are in the process of deploying similar pilots in Europe, where calls will be directed to IBM's Dublin sales center.

Our initial pilots offer some early lessons in what will be required to effectively develop this new channel.

This new channel must be marketed successfully to succeed. Tele/Web is an ideal way to provide cost-efficient support to customers on simple transactions. But customers need clear incentives to use this new channel and it needs to be promoted. Selling in a global medium over the Internet makes pricing very complex, but the goals are straightforward: no matter what the product, pricing structures need to be as simple as possible and currency valuations transparent.

Many companies will find they require new measurements. Linking telesales and the Web together into a single channel requires the development of a new management system to realign the objectives and incentives driving performance in these two formerly distinct channels. For example, in the telesales environment, telereps are measured on order volumes and revenue. In a tele/Web role, telesales reps must be given incentives to convince customers to use the Web for presales technical support and post-sales service. To be successful in moving transactions to the Web, a firm must reward its sales team for helping to make this happen.

Common infrastructure is a big plus. For large, established multinational firms with a multitude of sales and distribution call centers and thousands of employees, a common set of systems and applications across all call centers is important. It makes it possible to assemble a treasure trove of customer information gleaned from tele/Web transactions that can be stored in a common database.

Companies that integrate their call centers and Web functionality also require highly skilled telesales agents. Often, Web site-generated customer inquiries to the call center are more complex than typical questions that come through a toll-free number published on direct marketing materials. Tele/Web customers want more than the information they can find on the Web site. They are looking for assistance from knowledgeable, experienced professionals who can help them navigate their choices on the Web and make intelligent buying decisions. The telesales reps who field Web-generated calls need to be thoroughly schooled in the Web sites their customers are surfing -- and be able to add value by providing additional information and examples beyond what customers can find on their own.

Tele/Web promotes teamwork. In IBM's initial tele/Web pilots, our primary objective was to test how customers would respond to "call-me" buttons. Going through the process of putting together a workflow model to implement this capability turned out to be a strong impetus for building teamwork across many new functions. Making the technology appear seamless to customers requires cross-unit coordination among the call centers, the Web management team and the offering product divisions. To be effective, tele/Web requires continual integration of processes and teamwork throughout a company. If that is not happening as much as it should in your organization, the creation of a tele/Web capability should help promote the sort of internal collaborations that benefit customers.

Enormous Potential
For call centers, the emergence of the tele/Web channel is a tremendous opportunity to drive large increases in revenue and customer satisfaction. But it requires a strong commitment across a company to create and nurture this new route to customers. For companies who can marry the skilled people resources in their call centers with the dynamic medium of the Internet, tele/Web holds enormous potential as a new way to attract business and delight customers.

Fred Fassman is vice president, global call centers for IBM, the predecessor of the current IBM.com organization. He is responsible for leveraging IBM's investment in over thirty worldwide call centers and integrating these with the company's Web site into a new sales channel. IBM is a developer and manufacturer of advanced information technologies, including computer systems, software networking systems, storage devices and microelectronics.

[ Return To The September 2000 Table Of Contents ]


Customer Experiences On The Web Shouldn't Be A Roller Coaster Ride

BY JOHN GRAY, CUSTOMERASSISTANCE.COM

There's no doubt about it: e-commerce is here to stay. Sure, the hackers will continue their shenanigans and try to bring online businesses to a screeching halt -- or at least to their knees. However, in the long run, the real culprit for the breakdown or failure of many online businesses will not be the occasional prankster, but rather the perennial lack of reliable customer assistance online. A 1999 report from Datamonitor concludes that in 1998 alone, e-commerce companies lost $1.6 billion in revenue by failing to Web-enable their customer service operations.(1)

If anything is proof of this phenomenon, take a look at last year's holiday season, which caught many online businesses off guard, particularly those in the consumer retail space. Orders late, missing or simply unfilled, along with requests not answered quickly or at all, as well as a variety of other problems, caused consternation and created in the minds of consumers a lack of trust and confidence in e-commerce. So began the roller coaster ride.

One of the most overlooked areas of online and e-commerce venues is customer service and support -- a key component of customer relationship management (CRM). While businesses and consumers alike enjoy surfing Web sites for information and for buying goods, they often become frustrated at the lack of available assistance online. Even some brick-and-mortar businesses that provide excellent customer support offline do not make the transition to cyberspace equally as well with regard to customer service. Many businesses simply have too many infrastructure concerns; i.e., trying to get their information, goods and services online, and customer service is sometimes an afterthought -- if even that.

It's clear that online businesses need to make customer care a critical business component as they design, develop and implement their Web and e-commerce sites. Studies show that nearly 90 percent of online shoppers prefer human interaction when purchasing products or services over the Internet. Consequently, the vast majority of buyers are likely to consider online assistance a major advantage when comparison shopping.

The basic fundamentals of customer care in the digital marketplace are really no different from the essential concepts and processes of customer service and support for brick-and-mortar companies. All businesses need to be committed to creating responsive customer assistance efforts, no matter how those customers come in the door -- whether by phone, e-mail, Internet, fax or snail mail. How companies go about creating excellent customer care, including the tools and technologies they use, will vary greatly. Nonetheless, customer care efforts in the digital marketplace should be focused on:

  • Creating real-time customer interactions and ultimately satisfied customers (by using cutting-edge, multimedia-based CRM tools and technologies),
  • Building integrity and customer loyalty (rather than just making a quick online sale), and
  • Personalizing the online customer experience (to create returning and repeat customers, thereby increasing revenue and profitability).

The Key Elements Of Online Customer Care
The most important aspect of implementing online customer care is making the decision to include it as part of the online/e-commerce business planning process. Companies can best maximize their customer care online if they first perform the critical tasks necessary to make sure that all their bases are covered with regard to their customers' needs. Because e-commerce venues vary as far as products and services offered, every online business will offer different service levels, in part dictated by customer expectations. A customer buying a car online will probably expect a much higher level of service than someone surfing to buy a book.

There are a number of customer care technologies and processes that online businesses should consider, including a variety of interactive assistance options such as:

  • Instant chat, for real-time text-based conversations,
  • Page push, in which the agent "pushes" a Web page onto the browsing customer's screen,
  • "Follow me" browsing, which allows the customer to watch what the agent does,
  • Split screening, for comparison shopping, cross-selling and upselling,
  • Form sharing, for assistance with completing forms, and
  • "Call me," which allows customers to request an immediate or scheduled callback from an agent.

There are a great number of variables for companies to consider when deciding on the appropriate level of online customer assistance to provide, and trying to provide all of them might prove burdensome and impractical. Therefore, online businesses must be selective in deciding which processes and interactive options they will choose to ensure they are meeting their customers' expectations with regard to online support. In some cases, businesses can perhaps limit their scope initially and expand into other areas as the dynamics of their online venues change.
Many online businesses, though, are in business for the short haul. They have dollar signs in their eyes and exit strategies in their minds -- which means customer care is not on their radar screens. But even these companies need to be concerned about satisfying their customers. Companies looking to acquire other businesses sometimes make customer service a deal breaker. So even those companies looking to "flip" themselves (to be acquired after a short period of time) need to stay on the upswing of the customer care coaster ride.

1 Source, Web Enabled Call Centers in the US: Filling Up the Shopping Cart, published by Datamonitor, 1999.

CustomerAssistance.com, a subsidiary of APAC Customer Services, delivers a suite of electronic CRM (e-CRM) products and services, including e.PAC, a channel-neutral platform that supports a broad range of integrated, Internet-based customer interaction capabilities.







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