By Gary Cunha, ARRIS
We have arrived. Our light bulbs finally have IP addresses!
Meanwhile, operators must hire buildings full of customer service representatives (CSRs) to answer questions about networks and devices over which they have little control. There’s a better way to maintain and grow the Customer eXperience (CX) by leveraging data, technology, and methods that are available today.
Homes that previously hosted a single computer with high speed data service now have numerous Internet of Things (IoT) devices, complex Wi-Fi networks, and subscribers that insist it all work seamlessly.
Business subscribers and home-based workers have even higher expectations. Call centers are strained trying to keep up with technology advances and are buried under a growing call volume.
In their Customers 2020 research, a Walker study finds that CX is overtaking price and product as the key brand differentiator. In fact, over 85% of subscribers would be willing to pay more for a better customer experience [Campbell]. Poor experiences drive consumers to buy less and share their bad experiences more. According to the White House office of consumer affairs, news of a bad customer experience reaches more than twice as many ears as praise for a good service.
For call centers, the days of simple workflow, scripted line-of-questioning tools have passed. Energeticcable operators have attempted to take a next step by aggregating piles of data into one screen, only to find they still are not getting ahead. CSRs are not analysts: there’s not enough time on calls and not enough training available for operators to expect them to arrive at a clean situational view of a subscriber’s service challenges. While some tech savvy cable operators are performing some form of periodic subscriber churn analysis or leveraging basic data aggregation to guide call center workflows, a more comprehensive approach is needed.
Additionally, with CX impacting all areas of the cable organization, advanced strategies must be upleveled and made a top priority across the organization, combining resources to establish a systematic and aggressive CX plan. Business survival is at stake, as a growing number of subscribers have alternative service options available and are being marketed to for additional revenue.
This paper discusses CX drivers, reviews metrics, and lessons learned from several CX initiatives. It also provides an approach for addressing CX challenges. A cross-group view is used here as the basis for discussion – in an effort to give the reader a larger vision of the CX opportunity.