We’re all familiar with surveying, one of the most common methods of gathering customer data, and a useful, cost-effective tool for the vast majority of questions we might want to ask our customers.

But anyone familiar with administering customer surveys is likely to be equally familiar with their limitations. Indeed, even the best-designed customer survey often fails to capture the “why” behind an action that a customer takes.

Gathering these additional details—the “why” behind the “what”—calls for a more qualitative methodology; and none, perhaps, is more common than the focus group. While marketing has traditionally been the business unit to leverage focus groups, customer service organizations looking for a deeper understanding of their customers might find this methodology to be an attractive option. In fact, we’ve been hearing from an increasing number of members who are interested in learning more about focus groups, citing the potential difficulties of capturing the entirety of today’s multichannel experiences using traditional quantitative methods.

So what’s the catch? Read More »

In the context of online self-service, companies will often tell us “our customers like to do research online, but when they actually decide to fix their problem/transfer funds/purchase a product, they prefer to call.”  The big question in our minds, however, is this:

How do you KNOW that customers PRERER to call you?

The fact that customers still call (indeed, even that they call after having visited the website) should not be seen as proof that the live phone is the preferred channel.  In all likelihood, the reason why many of your customers still call is because your website has failed them in some way.

The key, then, to understanding how customers prefer to interact with your company—online or in another channel—is to ask the customer directly rather than making assumptions based on customer behavior.  This sounds like an in-depth survey process (and certainly it could be), but there are shortcut ways that companies are unearthing channel switching root cause drivers in a low-cost way.

Specifically, Fidelity Investments discovered a low-tech, customer-friendly method to capture customers’ reasons for abandoning Web self-service for live channels.  They use inbound calls as opportunities to conduct two-question surveys to gather in-the-moment customer feedback about the company’s online self-service and customers’ reasons for switching to the phone.

In addition, Fidelity is very careful about phrasing the questions so that the survey does not come across as an attempt to push self-service but rather a learning exercise.  We believe this is a big part of the strategy’s success—customers are not made to feel as though the company doesn’t want them to call.  Instead, the company simply wants to know more about what customers want from them.

CCC members, learn more about Fidelity’s two-question framework in a new summary here.

Related CCC Resources:

1. Improving Web Self-Service with Customer Voice (Event Replay)
2. Full Case Study: Fidelity’s Channel-Switching VOC
3. Diagnosing Online Failures (Study Chapter)

As fashion experts Stacy London and Clint Kelly would tell you, sometimes folks simply need a little advice to make a big difference. So in borrowing from the TLC show “What Not to Wear,” we as customer service experts want to bring you our own, “What Not to Do” advice as it relates to customer surveys.

To conduct successful post-contact surveys, companies need to do more than simply “ask questions.” From conversations with member companies, we’ve come across some common survey pitfalls and mistakes that detract from a successful survey. Accordingly, here is our compilation of things that you as a customer survey guru should avoid:

• Don’t ask too many questions. We’ve all unfortunately been stuck in surveys that seem to never end. When designing your survey, remain cognizant of the survey length and only ask questions that are necessary. Taking steps like setting a specific survey goal, defining a question limit, or rotating questions can be helpful for avoiding this faux pas.

• Remove jargon from surveys. Company lingo is good for boardroom meetings (or is it?), but your internal jargon is meaningless to the average customer. Including this type of language in surveys causes extra effort for customers and can lead to poor-quality responses. Before deploying your survey, make sure to fit your language to different audiences, and use the customer’s language, not yours.

Read More »

For those of you who read this blog consistently, you already know that we were hard at work in the fourth quarter of 2011 compiling new research on measuring the customer experience.  And with a no-nonsense title like the one I’ve chosen here (“what you need to know”), I’ll cut to the chase. 

Our research is finished, resulting in a number of new tools and resources for CCC members.  And while surveys are not the most glamorous of research topics, there were a few interesting points that are, indeed, “need to know.”  So without further delay:

Read More »

Rep scorecards.   Shortly after the creation of the service organization came the creation of the rep scorecard, and with good reason, too.  In an effort to boost frontline performance service executives measure and report everything from calls answered to quality scores to sales performance.  But how about issue resolution?  Do you report that on your reps’ scorecards, and more importantly, should you?  That’s the question my colleague and I aimed to answer when we renewed our friendly debate. 

Let it begin:

Read More »

Several months ago, I used this blog to announce the launch of CCC’s new research initiative on the topic of measuring the modern customer experience.  Since then, the team has blogged about some of our interim thoughts on topics such as survey fatigue and the value of survey incentives.  I hope you have enjoyed reading some of these study updates.

In an effort to get you information faster, we are going to be releasing our findings and newly created tools as we continue through the research process.  To that end, I’m excited to share with you one of our first deliverables: a post-contact customer survey audit. Read More »

With all of the changes that have taken place in the service organization in recent years (e.g., the rise of social media customer service, shifting trends in call center outsourcing, and initiatives to collect and make use of voice of the customer data, just to name a few), it’s comforting to know that one thing remains the same: customers still don’t like long waits. And while this doesn’t come as a surprise, it is interesting to stop and think about the number of things organizations do to combat hold times.

One option that promises to alleviate the frustration of customer holding is virtual hold. This technology allows customers to choose to receive a live callback when they reach the front of the queue, as opposed to waiting on hold to be connected to a representative. This added convenience has been met with open arms by most customers, who report lower-effort experiences as a result of using this option.

While the benefits of virtual hold are fairly straightforward, a recent question posed in CCC’s Discussions Forum highlighted an interesting debate when it comes to how companies measure customer experiences that include virtual hold. To paraphrase the issue at hand: should virtual hold time be counted as part of the traditional service level calculations (such as average speed of answer)—or should virtual hold time be excluded? Read More »

It’s always exciting to start a fresh project here at CCC, and I am very happy to announce that we will be starting next week on new research regarding measuring the customer experience. 

What about measuring the customer experience, you ask?

Well, we are planning to explore many different facets of this topic, so I think there will be something for everyone!  And one of the best things about new research projects in my opinion is that there is always an opportunity for our member companies to help guide the direction of our insights.  Sure, we have a general plan for what we would like to create and share with you, but so much of it depends on what we hear from you.  Where do you struggle?  What would be most valuable to your organization?  Where have you tried and failed?  Tried and succeeded?

I’m hoping that you’ll leave us a note in the comments section with some thoughts.  To get your creative thinking going, here are a few early ideas on our minds: Read More »

In unstable economic times, it has become especially important for financial services companies to focus more attention on serving their customers.

Given the unique issues that customer service professionals in the Financial Services industry face – including customer privacy and financial risk regulations – it can be difficult to know what CCC resources would be most helpful.

Wondering what others in your industry are reading? Here is a list of the CCC resources that your industry peers are downloading most often.

Top 3 CCC Resources for Financial Services Customer Service Professionals

1. Engineering a Low-Effort Customer Experience

What it is: A popular CCC download, this research outlines the most effective, up-to-date strategies for customer effort reduction.  In today’s competitive banking landscape, differentiating the customer experience may be a great way to win and retain customers.

Why your peers use it:

• To understand the sources of customer effort.
• To identify ways to reduce both the objective and subjective sides of effort.
• To coach frontline reps to employ techniques to reduce “in-the-moment” customer effort.

You might also be interested in: The Customer Effort Score – a customer experience metric that accounts for ease of customer interaction during a service request. CCC research has found that this is the most accurate measure of loyalty in a service organization.  Read More »

By Kirsten Robinson

You’ve been told that Speech Analytics has the power to mine, categorize, and analyze audio—in turn, helping to boost QA performance, identify opportunities for process improvements, and identify sales leads.

But, does SA actually work?

We recently spoke with CCC members Ann Glover, Director of Business Performance and Quality Global Reservation Services and Customer Care, and Robby Morehead, Specialist in Business Processes at InterContinental Hotels Group, who described how they’ve leveraged Speech Analytics. They offered insights such as:

• Vendor selection: Make sure the vendor offers the right array of functionalities (and this may sound more simplistic than it really is)
• Hidden costs: Have a good sense for how you’re going to use the tool so that you can budget accordingly (rather than deciding along the way that you “need” various add-ons at unanticipated additional charges).

CCC members, learn more about how IHG implements Speech Analytics by reading excerpts from our Q&A with Ann Glover and Robby Morehead.

Related CCC Research:

• Speech Analytics Research Brief
• Vendor Selection Resource Center
• Speech Analytics: Maximizing Your Technology ROI (webinar replay)