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E S S E N T I A L M A N A G E R S

ExtraordinaryCustomer

ServiceC O N T A C T P O I N T S

C O N T A C T C E N T E R

VIRTUAL CALL

C O M P E T I T I V E AD V A N T A G E

E X P E R I E N C E

S O L U T I O N S

C E N T E R RE S P E C TE X P E R T I S E


Service

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EXTRAORDINARYCUSTOMERSERVICE

M A N A G E R SE S S E N T I A L

Compliments of

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3

BEST PRACTICES

FOR IMPROVING

THE CUSTOMER

EXPERIENCE

28

CONSISTENTBRANDEXPERIENCE

ENHANCED

SELF-SERVICE

DIFFERENTIATEDSERVICE

PROACTIVECONTACT

VIRTUALCONTACTCENTER

EXPERTISE ONDEMAND

INFORMATIONMANAGEMENT

THEPATH TOINTELLIGENTCUSTOMER

SERVICE

20

22

CREATING A

WINNING

CUSTOMER

EXPERIENCE

16

18

EXTRAORDINARYCUSTOMERSERVICE: THESUSTAINABLECOMPETITIVEADVANTAGE

WHATCUSTOMERSREALLYWANT

OPTIMIZING THETOTALCUSTOMEREXPERIENCE

CUSTOMEREXPERIENCEMANAGEMENT

PUTTINGYOURENTERPRISE AT THESERVICE OFYOURCUSTOMERS

26

32

ASSESSINGYOURSTATUS

ASSESSINGYOURPRIORITIES

INDEX

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

46

42

2

THECUSTOMERSPERSPECTIVE

THECUSTOMERSERVICEOPPORTUNITY

CUSTOMERSERVICE: THEBALANCE OFEFFICIENCYANDEFFECTIVENESS

HOWYOURCONTACTCENTERIMPACTSYOURBOTTOMLINE

HOWDOESYOURCONTACTCENTERRATE?

6

TODAYS

CUSTOMER

EXPERIENCE

CONTENTS

8

10

12

4 INTRODUCTIONDK LONDONProject Editor Nicky Munro

US Editor Margaret ParrishDTP Designer Rajen Shah

Production Controller Kevin WardManaging EditorAdle HaywardManaging Art Editor Karen Self

Category Publisher Stephanie Jackson

DK DELHI

Project Editor Sheema MookherjeeEditor Rimli Borooah

Project Art Editor Kavita DuttaDTP Designer Balwant Singh

Managing Editor Ira PandeManaging Art EditorAparna Sharma

Editorial ConsultantAnita Roy

First American Edition 2007Published in the United States by

DK Publishing, Inc.375 Hudson Street

New York, New York 10014

03 04 05 06 07 08 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Copyright 2008 Dorling Kindersley Limited

All rights reserved under International andPan-American Copyright Conventions. No part ofthis publication may be reproduced, stored in a

retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by

any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,recording, or otherwise, without the prior writtenpermission of the copyright owner. Published in

Great Britain by Dorling Kindersley Limited.

Printed and bound inChinaby Wing King Tong

See our complete product line at

www.dk.com

LONDON, NEW YORK, MUNICH,

MELBOURNE, AND DELHI

14

36

48

24

30

34

38

40

44

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INTRODUCTION

What your customers think about yourcompany is often a result of their

experience when they contact you. Whetheror not they remain customers is often aresult of the quality of service you provide.Extraordinary Customer Service exploresthe contact center as a strategic part of

your enterprisewhere you can leveragedifferentiated services to provide a superiorcustomer experience that can build brandloyalty and increase profits. Presented hereare the best practices, trends, and innovationsthat can help empower your people to bemore productive, your processes to be moreintelligent, and your customers to be moresatisfied.

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76

THE CUSTOMERS

PERSPECTIVE

Customers expect more today fromcustomer service than ever before.

Businesses must ask themselves some tellingquestions to ensure theyre providing the best

possible service to their customers. How manymenus must a customer navigate? Are agentsempowered to completely serve a customer?How does your customer service compare toyour competitors? How many of yourcustomers would be willing to refer others toyou? How consistently are you able to providea customer experience that not just meets, butexceeds expectation?

What your customers think about your company is a reflectionof their experiences when they try to contact you, as well

as the quality of the service you provide.

TODAYS

CUSTOMER

EXPERIENCE

THE CUSTOMERS PERSPECTIVETODAYS CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

The contact

center defines theway customers

feel about yourcompany.

1

Is customer service a corevalue of your company?

How do customers regard thelevel of service that youprovide?

How does your customerservice environment compareto your top competitors?

Are your customers happydoing business with you, andwill they come back (and telltheir friends)?

Q

Q

Q

Q

QUESTIONS TO ASKYOURSELF

IS YOU R CU S T O M E R ASATISFIED CUSTOMER?Customers continuously are raising the bar for

customer service, and so must you. To know if

your customer is a satisfied customer you must

continually evaluate the total customer

experience. A menu of options can create a

satisfying experience when logical and relevant.

Prompting customers for information you need,

not information you already know, minimizes

frustration. Agent interactions should consistently

provide the same level of service regardless ofagent, time of day, or complexity of the inquiry.

All aspects of the interaction need to be

monitored and adjusted to drive satisfaction and

revenue. A satisfied customer is not one that will

hang up, but one that will buy now and come

back to buy more.

TAKING ADVANTAGE OFTH E CUSTOMER SERVICEEXPERIENCEWhat the customer wants is immediate

satisfaction. The phone rings, and the

customer is greeted with a simple set of

choices. One request later, and the

customer is speaking with a live agent.Within minutes, the agent answers the

customers question, and the call is

completed. Fast service and appropriate

answers create a positive experienceand

a satisfied customer. Everything that goes

into creating this positive experience can

be achieved with the right mix of strategy

and technology. Satisfied customers and a

competitive advantagethats what you

should be striving for.

Your customers are exposed to a wide varietyof customer service experiences throughout

their day, and they will compare theirexperience to the customer service they

receive from your company.

Measure total

customersatisfaction.

2

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98

THE CUSTOMER SERVICE

OPPORTUNITY

THE CUSTOMER SERVICE OPPORTUNITYTODAYS CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

Compare your

customer service

to industry

benchmarks.

3

Extraordinary

customer service

gives your

company a unique

competitive

advantage.

5

WHY DO CONTACT CENTERS DISAPPOINT?

High expectations. Many businesses and

brands may set high expectations for

serviceand contact centers need to

deliver. When a customer expects more

than what a contact center has been

designed to deliver, the gap results in

dissatisfaction.

Unkept promises. Inflexible contact

center workflows can result in not

keeping promises made to customersto send out additional information, to

make a return phone call, or just to

follow-up and confirm a product or

service has been received. When a

contact center fails to keep a promise, it

risks losing a customer.

Agents aren't empowered. Sometimes

we diminish the power of the contact

center experience by training agents to

stick to a script, rather than explore

customer cues. Agents need the training

and the empowerment to ask for and act

on customer feedback, to respond to

off-script situations, and to answer thecustomers real questions, not the ones

imagined in the script. An agent that is

restrained from acting can't adequately

serve the customer.

Customers who callyour contact center

want solutions.Empower your

agents to respondto off-script

situations.

Are you utilizing your contact center asa means to cement your companys

branding and to build customer loyalty?Leading organizations see the opportunity inproviding extraordinary customer servicepositive contact results in future profits.

THE IMPACT OFPOO RSERVICE

When a customer contacts your company, youmust manage that customer interaction accuratelyand intelligently across all touch points. A poor

customer experience has a negative ripple effect

on customer satisfaction. Over time, poor

customer service increases your costs, by forcing

multiple interactions with multiple employees

over multiple channels; it decreases potential

revenues, by losing valuable cross-selling or up-

selling opportunities; and it forces your customers

to consider dealing with your competitors.

THE GAP : EXPECTATIONVERSUSREALITY

Despite years of attention and investment, theremay still be a gap between customer expectations

and the reality of the service being provided.

Understanding the drivers of the gap is critical.

How are your target markets and their behaviors

changing? Are your internal processes aligned

with both customer need and P&L realities?

Closing the gap can avoid the impact of poor

service, and create the upside of extraordinary

service.

THE UPSIDE OFEXTRAORDINARYSERVICE

When you offer an extraordinarycustomer experience, however, all of

these negatives are turned into

positives. A small investment in

customer service results in a huge

payback in customer satisfaction and

future revenues. Over time,extraordinary customer service

decreases your costs by answering

customer questions with fewer,

shorter interactions; increases

potential revenues, by cross-selling or

up-selling additional goods and

services; and ensures that your

customers will remain loyal to your

company over time, securing future

customer sales.

Deliver an

enterprise-wide

and consistent

customer

experience.

4

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1110

CUSTOMER SERVICE: THE

BALANCE OF EFFICIENCY

AND EFFECTIVENESS

CUSTOMER SERVICE: THE BALANCE OF EFFICIENCY AND EFFECTIVENESSTODAYS CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

Treat your contactcenter as a profit

center.

6

CASESTUDY

Arapidlygrowingmo

bile

telecommunicationscompany

neededtoincreaseits

agent

productivityandenha

nceits

customerserviceto

customers.With17m

illion

subscribers,thecomp

any's

existingcontactcenter

infrastructrewasbeco

ming

overwhelmed.

Thecompanyresearch

edthe

technologyavailable, a

nd

decidedtoinvestina

centralizedvirtualIPcon

tact

center.Subscribercallsa

re

nowroutedtothemos

t

appropriateagentforresolving

acustomerissueinthe

shortestpossibletime,

resultinginloweraband

oned

callratesandaverageh

olding

time, andimprovedstaff

competency.

Your contact center may be either a cost center or aprofit center. Regardless, you must deliver a highly

effective and satisfying customer experience. Thebalance of efficiency and effectiveness is in your control.

As important as customer service is, both tothe customer and to the company, its

surprising how little investment somecompanies devote to their contact centers. Whydo many businesses hesitate to adopt bestpractices in this area? Its all about perception.

ACHI E V I NG T HERI GHT BA L A NCE

Unfortunately, a singular focus

on costs without a more

balanced view of efficiency

and effectiveness goals may

cause you to create a poor

experience that frustrates your

customer. For efficient self-

service channels,

consider the experience

and how it integrateswith other channels.

When evaluating your

agent resources,

complement basic skills

with access to information

and resources to increase

effectiveness. And, enhance

advanced skills with

empowerment tools that

enable these agents to exceed

customer expectations. Smart

cost reduction that drives

efficiency, and strategic

investment that drives

effectiveness, can give

you the right balance tomeet both operational

and business goals.

INVEST FOR FUTURE PROFITS

Savvy organizations view every customer contact center not as a cost center but as a profit

center. They adopt industry best practices and invest in their contact center technology

and staff. The immediate result is the ability to provide better service and more satisfied

customersbut the long-term result is a stronger brand image.

THE CONTACT CE N T ER A SCOS T CE NT E RMost organizations invest in activities that directly

and obviously lead to revenue and profits. A contact

center, unfortunately, is not always an obvious profit center. In

fact most businesses view a customer service contact center as a

cost center. With a cost center, the primary goal is expense

reductionnot investment. The focus is on minimizing the cost of

each customer transaction, moving customers to

more efficient self-service

channels, and

scrutinizing agent wages

and investments intraining. Profit is increased,

the thinking goes, by

cutting contact center costs.

But even in a cost center,

some investment in

effectiveness needs to be

considered because servicing

customers better today, leads

to greater potential for future

sales and profits.

Invest in industrybest practices.

7

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1312

HOW YOUR CONTACT

CENTER IMPACTS YOUR

BOTTOM LINE

HOW YOU R CONTACT CENTER IMPACTS YOUR BOTTOM LINETODAYS CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

Think of yourcontact center as a

very effective formof advertising.

8

Your contactcenter is the

public face of yourcompany.

9

How do you tie customerloyalty to bottom line impact?

How does your organizationmeasure the value of individualcustomers?

How does your contact centercontribute to customer loyalty?Q

Q

Q


CONTACT C ENTER IMPACT

90%

10%

Customers whochange opinion after

phone contact

Contactcentercommuni-cations canbe moreeffectivethantelevisionadvertising.

Customers dont care about yourprofits. Customers care about how

they are treated. Your company, however,must care about both. A good contactcenter creates satisfied customers andbuilds brand loyalty. A bad customerexperience can hurt a companysreputationand cost a company salesand profits.

CUSTOMER SERVICECHANGES CUSTOMEROPINIONSNoted customer experience expert Seth

Godin in his paper, Is Your Contact

Center a Powerful Brand Experience?

says that more than 90 percent of

customers change their opinion of a

company based on the manner in whichthe company deals with them on the

phone. An exceptional contact center

experience, however, can change an

ambivalent or negative perception into a

positive oneand win a customer for life.

Customers who are delighted with the

experience they get from your business

become repeat customers, and not only

purchase more over time but also

recommend your company to their peers.

THE MOS T EFFECTIVEADVERTISING MEDIUMWhat other medium offers the opportunity to

positively impact 90 percent of your current and

potential customers? If you knew a magazine ad

or television commercial would change the way

90 percent of your audience thinks about your

company, youd double your advertising budget.

So why not similarly invest in your contact

center?

THE PUBLIC FA C E O FYOU R COMPANYA successful contact center not only maintains

your current customer base, it also attracts new

customers. Your contact center is a powerful force

for building your brand identity, establishing yourcompanys reputation, and developing future

sales. More than any advertisement, your contact

center is the public face of your company. The

experience a customer receives defines how he or

she feels about your company. This is why your

contact center should reinforce your companys

message and build your brand. This is why you

need to provide the best possible service, every

time. And it will have a positive impact to your

bottom linetoday, and in the future.

Customers who donot change opinionafter phone contact

CONSISTENT

BRANDEXPERIENCE

Customers interact with your

company in different ways: in

stores or branch offices, over the

phone, on your website, and via

email. They see information about

your company in newspaper and

television ads, and hear about

your company from other

customers and word of mouth.

Your companys message conveys a

kind of promise about how well

you will treat your customers. Do

all of your communications live

up to this promise? In this age ofmultiple-customer contact points,

its important that your company

delivers the same branded

experienceno matter how your

customer connects. You can be

high touch in one channel, self-

service in another, but still deliver

a consistent customer experience

that reinforces your brand image.

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1514

HOW DOES YOUR CONTACT

CENTER RATE?

HOW DOES YOU R CONTACT CENTER RATE?TODAYS CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

Does your contact centermeasure activity or the end-to-

end customer experience?How does your contact centercompare with those of yourcompetitors?

How has your companyinvested in contact centertechnology over the past fewyears?

Does your company treat yourcontact center as a cost centeror as a profit center?

Q

Q

Q

Q


Does your contact center deliver awinning customer experience? You can

find out for yourself. Just put down thisbook, pick up the phone, and make the call.Ask a few simple questions about yourcompanys products or services, maybe

pretend to have a product problem. Youmight be surprised at the response.

ISYOU RCONTACTCENTERGOO D ORGREAT?

A good contact center answers a customersquestion or solves his problem. A great contact

center does that and more it creates a favorable

impression of the company and brand, and makes

the customer want to come back for more. Call

your contact center and see what kind of

experience you receive. Is it good or is great?

The difference between average and extraordinary

customer service is the difference between the

contact center as an expense and the contact center

as a profit center for your company.

Even a single

contact center

interaction canresult in future

sales.

10

JUDGE FORYOURSELFWhen you call your contact

center, measure how long it

takes to get your question

answered or your problem

solved. How much work does

the system make you do? How

many steps are required before

you get to a representative? And

how many calls does it take to

provide a satisfactory result?More important, how does the

entire experience make you feel?

Are you satisfied with the result,

or frustrated at the process? Has

the contact center answered

your question? Has it provided

more or less than you expected?

And how do you feel about the

company after youve completed

the call?

STEPS TOSUCCESSThere are many steps in which a

contact center can fail the customer. A

lot of things have to go right, which

means that a lot of things can go

wrong. A successful result, however,

is more than the culmination

of these steps, its the

impression generated by the

entire experience.

Everything has to work

together. Its possible to getyour question answered

but still have a bad

experience

although its

unlikely youll

have a good

experience if

your question

goes

unanswered.

A great contactcenter does morethan just answerquestions. Dontfrustrate callerswith overly com-

plex customerservice processes.

With the right investment andfocus, your company canprovide a consistently brandedcustomer experience.

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1716

EXTRAORDINARY CUSTOMER

SERVICE: THE SUSTAINABLE

COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

Differentiated customer serviceoptimizes infrastructure, applications,

business processes, and people across anorganization to provide a customer serviceexperience that sets a business apart fromits competitors.

CREATING A

WINNING

CUSTOMER

EXPERIENCE

THE SUSTAINABLE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGECREATING A WINNING CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

Tailor your

contact center

experience to an

individuals needs.

11

BUILDINGFUTURESALES

Every customer your contact center serves

today represents the opportunity for

additional sales tomorrow. A strong,

branded, positive customer interactioncreates a customer predisposed to future

business with your company. Whether you

simply answer a question, resolve an issue,

or make a sale, a single contact center

interaction can result in future revenues.

And, a positive experience increases brand

loyalty and reduces the propensity to shop

elsewhere. You increase the ownership of

your customers with every successful

experience with your contact center.

A WINNING

EXAMPLE

At the core of market differentiation for any business is the

ability to deliver superior customer service through intelligent

communications. This differentiation begins in the contact

center and extends across the enterprise.

Use information collectedduring a contact to

target futuremarketing to

that customer.

Say a customer logs onto a travelwebsite to research a family

vacation to Hawaii. When that

customer later calls to book an

unrelated business trip, the agent

sees the Hawaii information in

the database and inquires

whether the customer would like

assistance in booking the familytrip. Casual contact information

is used to build a longer-term

relationship with the customer

and book additional sales. Its all

about using Intelligent

Communications to up-sell and

cross-sell, thus generating

additional revenue per customer.

ESTABLISHINGBRANDIMAGEInteraction with your contact center can help to

affirm your brand image one customer at a time.

It represents a unique opportunity to demonstrate

the brand promise directly with the customer.

But, it is in the ongoing interactions that brand

affinity is established. When a person calls in with

a product question, or for tech support, or to buy

something, an impression is created that helps to

form the brand experience. And, when dealing

with a customer on a one-to-one basis, yourbrand promise can be tailored specifically to that

individuals needs. In this regard, your contact

center is as much a marketing vehicle as it is a

support or sales center.

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1918

WHAT CUSTOMERS REALLYWANTCREATING A WINNING CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

SOLUTIONSFirst and foremost, a customer who

calls your contact center or contacts

you on your website or via email

has a specific problem that needs to

be solved, or a need that must be

addressed. Any customer who

makes the effort to contact you also

represents an opportunity.

Responding to the immediate

request will satisfy customers, but

offering a more complete solutionwill delight them. Youre the expert,

and the customer expects expert

answers and advice. These are the

moments for your company to

cross-sell or up-sell other products

and services, increasing revenue per

interaction.

EXPERTISECustomers expect a knowledgeable skilled

representative each and every time they contact

you. Agent empowerment is key to meeting this

expectation. Your opportunity exists in providing

your agents with the tools that put information at

their fingertips and experts at the ready. Agent

performance management helps assess the

effectiveness of your agents in leveraging these

tools. Quality monitoring lets you use your best-

skilled agents to illustrate high performance for

new hires or lesser-skilled agents. Ongoingtraining can ensure a consistent and more

satisfying experience for your customersan

experience that keeps them coming back.

SP E E D A N DCONSISTENCYEvery customer who contacts

you on a repeat basis wants a

consistent experience and fast

response. You must be able to

balance right resource with

available resource in a way

that is consistent with the level

of service your brand demands.

Knowing what the customer

wants can speed how quickly

they will be served. Self-service

applications can collect

information the agent can use

for faster call handling.

WHAT CUSTOMERS

REALLYWANT

What do customers really want whenthey call your contact center? Its

more than a simple answer. There areseveral implied customer expectations thatyour company must meet.

Addressing both

surfaced and nascentcustomer needs can

result in greaterrevenue per

interaction.

12

A customer with a problem orneed wants a solution.

Providing prompt,

accurate responsesrespects your

customers time.

13

Do your contact center agentshave the tools to providesolutions in a timely manner?

Do your agents take the timeto really understand the needsof your customers?

Do you monitor agentinteractions with customers toidentify training needs?

Q

Q

Q

QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURCONTACT CENTER

Respect yourcustomer's

timeprovideprompt solutions.

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OPTIMIZING THE TOTAL CUSTOMER EXPERIENCECREATING A WINNING CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

THE ENTERPRISE-WID E CUSTOMEREXPERIENCECustomers expect all their

interactions with your company to be

consistent. It doesnt matter whether

the contact is via phone, email, or

website, or which department he

contacts, he wants to deal with asingle entitynot different

departments with different goals and

messages. That means a business must

organize around the customer, with

enterprise-wide, customer-focused

objectives. Leveraging more integrated

voice, email, and Web channels across

your organization helps to create a

branded experience across all

customer interactions.

ENHANCED SEL F-S ERVICEA customer doesnt have to talk to a human agent

to have an extraordinary experience. Many

customer interactions can and should beautomated; self-service support is often faster and

more efficient for the customer. Enhancing self-

service applications with speech recognition is the

next wave in optimizing the customer experience.

Speech enables you to automate more complex

interactions, overcoming the boundaries of

traditional menu-tree phone self-service. This

more natural exchange of information opens the

door to greater personalization for each customer

interaction.

OPTIMIZING THE TOTAL

CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

What is the total customer experience?Its the impression a customer gets of

your company however he contacts thecompany.

Align the customer

service strategy

with the business

strategy so the

whole enterpriseis working to

enhance the

customers total

experience.

14

Who owns the customerexperience in your enterprise?

Are all dimensions of yourenterprise aligned to deliversuperior customer service?

Q

Q

QUESTIONS TO ASK

YOUR CONTACT CENTER

Technicaldepartment

Orderdeparment

Customer service

department

ENTERPRISE-WIDEEXPERIENCE

Returnsdepartment

Main office

FORGING LONG-TERM CUSTOMER

RELATIONSHIPS

When a prospect calls your

contact center, hes taken the

first step towards becoming a

long-term customer. By making

one phone call, hes shown hisinterest in your company or

product; its now your

responsibility to capitalize on

that interest. A savvy company

can use the information

collected during the contact

center call or website visit to

target future marketing directly

to that customer.

The total customerexperience is one that is

optimized acrossdepartments,processes, andchannels(email, phone,Web, or face

to face).

Whether the customer calls technical support, customersupport, the help desk, or the order desk, he receives aconsistent experience and equal access to information

and solutions. One company, one experience.

PROCESS INTEGRATIONAN D TRANSPARENCYThe communications processes involved in your

contact center also can be integrated with the

business processes that run across your entire

organization. Through this integration, you

accelerate the speed of your business and

minimize latency in customer communications.

The customer experience is optimized, and the

underlying business processes are improved

through communications enablement.

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2322

CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE MANAGEMENTCREATING A WINNING CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

TRADITIONALBENCHMARKS ARELIMITEDTraditional metrics can only tell you

so much. Average length per call,

average speed of answer, number of

repeat calls, and so forth are important

to know, but this raw data doesnt tell

you how effective each call was, or how

satisfied were the customers. Tomeasure impact and satisfaction, you

need new benchmarks and analytical

tools. With the right tools, you can

measure not just contact center activity,

but also the complete customer

experience. Using the integrated insight

provided by customer experience

management metrics can improve

performance by linking activities with

revenue.

CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

MANAGEMENT

To build an effective contactcenter, you must measure the

business impact of every customercontact, using intelligent reportingand analytics. New benchmarks

are required to measure not justthe activity of your contact center,but also the impact of eachcustomer interaction.

Understand your customercare strategy and how it sup-

ports your business strategy,then establish the metrics to

measure against this strategyand get the right results.

15

You can gain additional insight intocontact center performance by integratingdata from multiple sources to viewbusiness performance correlations.

By integrating business performancedata with your traditional call

center data, you can uncoveractionable intelligence, including

Which contact center programcreates the most return onyour marketing investment?

Which communicationschannel leads to more sales?

Can you measure results at theenterprise, site or function level?

How do self-service appli-cations affect call outcomesfor better or worse?

Q

Q

Q

Q

QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR

CONTACT CENTER

BEYOND SATISFACTIONTO LOYALTYNew analytics provide a more holistic view of

customer experience and help connect customer

satisfaction to business outcomes related to

revenue and loyalty. Actionable intelligence

includes measuring the cost benefits of getting

calls to the right agent or evaluating if investments

in agent training are having a positive impact onrevenues. Loyalty metrics take satisfaction

measures to the next level. For example, in Fred

Reichhelds The Ultimate Question, the NetPromoter Score is based on the answer to a simple

question: Would a customer recommend your

company to a friend? When you know how a

customer feels about your company, you can then

predict the future loyalty of that customer and the

impact of loyalty on both current and new

revenue streams.

Measure impact, not activity.17

Track agent behaviors against

customer satisfaction.16

BENEFITS OF CEM

CEM helps managers measure

Campaign effectiveness (calls converted

to revenue).

Channel effectiveness (channels

converted to revenue).

Service effectiveness (percent of first-call

resolutions, call handle times).

Sales agent metrics (average talk time

converted to opportunity generation).

Integrated voice response (IVR) metrics

(agent transfers and hang ups).

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2524

PUTTING YOUR ENTERPRISE

AT THE SERVICE OF YOUR

CUSTOMERS

PUTTING YOUR ENTERPRISE AT THE SERVIC E OFYOU R CUSTOMERSBES T PRACTICES FORIMPROVING THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

Todays customer has many ways ofcommunicating with youlandline

or cellular phone, email, instant

messaging, or using the Web. Thesecommunication points provide greaterflexibility for interaction, but create morecomplexity in serving customerseffectively. An organization can useIntelligent Communications to helpovercome these challenges and at the sametime, lower the cost of raising thecustomer experience.

Use your contactcenter as a

doorway to

exceed customerexpectations.

18

MULTIPLEWAYS TOCOMMUNICATE

As customer communicationsbecome more immediate, your

contact center must adapt to

answer any form of contact, at

any time of day, with the same

evel of immediacy. This type

of responsiveness can only be

accomplished via the adoption

of Intelligent Communications

solutions across the entire

organization.

A STRONGTECHNOLOGYFOUNDATIONCentral to Intelligent Communications

is a strong technology foundation built

on IP. Taking advantage of Voice over

IP (VoIP) technology, a virtual contact

center that is highly scalable can

deliver extraordinary customer service

across multiple locations and multiple

time zones. New, innovative solutions

using SIP services can supportuniversal routing of voice, video, email,

and other media; voice portal

techonology can deliver personalized

speech applications; and

inbound/outbound reporting and

analysis can maximize agent

productivity and customer satisfaction

in real time.

MODULARAPPLICATIONSOLUTIONSSince customers can contact you via

multiple communications media,

your communications solution must

be modular and scalable. As newtechnologies, such as streaming

video, come online, your systems

can be updated by adding new

communications modules. You can

choose the modules that best meet

your organizations needs today

and tomorrow. The result is a

customized suite of applications,

designed to best serve your

organization and your customers.

RAISING THE BAR ON THE

COMPETITION

Converging voice and data on a single

network doesnt just reduce network and

phone costs, it also increases possibilities

for greater customer satisfaction. IP

telephony and SIP services make your

employees more available to customers, no

matter where they are located. The ability

to capture and move information with a

call is greatly simplified. Employees getmore intelligent access to more information

and to colleagues across the enterprise,

which facilitates making decisions faster

and with greater precision.

Accelerate thespeed of business.

19

Delivering the rightinformation at the righttime, through the rightmedia results in more

loyal customers.

Build on current investments.20

ContactCenter

InstantMessaging

Voice Email

Fax Web

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2726

CONSISTENT BRAND

EXPERIENCE

The contact center is a uniqueopportunity to introduce your brand

directly to your customers. The brandexperience should be consistent across allcustomer touchpoints from outboundmarketing to inbound customer support.

The art of customer care is constantly evolving. Currenttrends move beyond simple response metrics to encompassthe entire branded company experiencewhile still striving

to balance efficiency and effectiveness.

BEST PRACTICES

FOR IMPROVING

THE CUSTOMER

EXPERIENCE

CONSISTENT BRAND EXPERIENCEBES T PRACTICES FORIMPROVING THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

PERSONALIZED SERVICEPart and parcel of a consistent brand experience is

personalized service. The information provided

should be specific to the needs and profile of the

individual customerwhether a human agent or

an automated response system provides the service.

QUALITY OFSUPPORTThe brand experience is expressed via the type

and quality of support offereda high-touch

brand should have high-touch customer service,

while an economy brand might rely more onautomated information. The type and quality of

support should be consistent across all methods of

contact. Analytics and metrics should measure

channel effectiveness and the end-to-end customer

experience, including profitability.

No matter how

your customerscontact you, they

are dealing with a

single entity.

21

that brands customer support is

primarily self-service to provide

fast answers.The customers of

another brand are more likely to

be cooking enthusiasts, so

customer support features live

agents expert in the subject

matter.

CASESTUDY

Amajorappliance

manufactureroff

ersmultiple

retailbrands.Itd

efinesa

personalitypro

fileforeach

brand,using27d

ifferent

attributes.Thecu

stomercare

foreachbrandi

sfocusedon

servingthatbra

nds

personalityprofi

le.

Forexample,the

customers

ofonebrandare

concerned

abouttimeand

efficiency,so

Can you track and analyze allinteractions individualcustomers have with your

organization?Does everyone in theorganization see eachcustomer in the same way?

Q

Q


Create a single

view of thecustomer.

23

VOICE, EMAIL, AN DWEBINTEGRATIONCompanies that choose to create a competitive

advantage via brand positioning do all they can to

make all customer interactions as consistent as

possible. They choose technology that can store and

share customer

information across all

customer interactionchannelsvoice, Web,

email, instant messaging,

and the like. No matter

which door the customer

enters, their information

should be used to route

them to the appropriate

resource or application,

consistent with the brand

promise.

Focus on servingthe customervia

whatever communi-cation tool or

device is preferredby the customer.

22

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2928

ENHANCED SELF-SERVICE

Customers want personal attention, evenin a self-service environment.

Personalized self-service is now possible,thanks to speech recognition and other newtechnologies. This not only frees up humanagents to deal with more complex issues, italso provides a faster and potentially moreinformative experience for the customer.

ENHANCED SEL F-SERVICEBES T PRACTICES FORIMPROVING THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

SPE E CH-E NABLEDSOL UT I ONSTouch-toning through layers upon layers of phone

menus can be frustrating. Speech-enabled solutions

let customers talk through a transaction, using voice

commands, thus bypassing those slow and

cumbersome menus. This is especially important as

more and more customers access contact centers via

cell phones; when commuting, punching buttons

isnt an option. In addition, speech recognition can

also be used within a voice call to capture

information that would otherwise have to be input

by an agent. This helps the agent remain focused on

the customerand translates to both faster response

and higher productivity.

PERSONALIZED CONTENTInformation and behaviors captured in contact

histories can provide the foundation for

personalized communications. Dynamically

generated content can then be leveraged withintelephony and Web self-service applications to

provide a more satisfying customer experience. A

customer with an outstanding service issue can be

presented a quick status message the next time they

contact you. An inquiry on a particular product or

service can help to prioritize how information is

presented in future interactions for cross-sell/up-sell

opportunities. The more personalized the

information, the more satisfied the customerwith

resulting positive impact on revenues and profits.

OT HE R FO R M S O FINFORMATION DELIVERYVoice recognition is ideal for phone-based

customer communications, but not all

customers contact your company via phone.

Web-based architectures enable consistent

applications across voice and Web self-service.

Common applications, leveraging common

databases, also can deliver more personalized

interactions, regardless of channel.

Provide

personalized,custom responses

to yourcustomers.

25

CAPTURING

INFORMATION

Speech technology is an

excellent way to capture

customer information,

whether the next step is an

automated response or

transfer to a human agent.

Caller intent can be

validated, and information

can be easily collected and

forwarded with the contact.

Provide animmediate

responseat anytime of day.

24

Provide speech-

enabled solutions.

26

Perhaps the biggest opportunity Intelligent Communications provides is the competitive

advantage gained by enhanced customer service. Speech-enabled routing provides

enhanced self-service and personalized content; routine, but complex interactions can be

moved from more expensive agent resources to cost-effective, self-service channels; and

customers reaching your enterprise on cellular phones in a mobile context can interact

more easily and flexibly.

Integrate self-service and live-

agent interactionsto improve

productivity.

27Your companyscontact center is

your face toboth currentand prospectivecustomers.

ENHANCING CUSTOMER SERVICE

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3130

DIFFERENTIATED SERVICE

One of the benefits of intelligent customerservice is the ability to better match the

level of service to the lifetime value of thecustomer. The organization is moving beyondsimple agent productivity to focus on theability to manage agents for high-qualitycustomer interactions. You want to provide thehighest level of service to your most valuablecustomers and to those that offer thehighest growth potential.

DIFFERENTIATED SERVICEBES T PRACTICES FORIMPROVING THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

CUSTOMER SEGMENTATIONTo provide differentiated service, you have to

know your customers and to segment them by

type. You can use reporting tools to analyze

customer interactions and look for patterns on how

different customers interact. Your least profitable

customers are offered more economical support;

more profitable customers receive a higher-quality

one-to-one experience.

THE RIGHT RESOURCEHow do you integrate what you know about your

customers, what they need at any given moment, and

the resources you have to serve them? Your most

valuable customers need flexibility to leverage highly

skilled agent resources when needed, but economical

channels for quick answers. With a diverse set of

resources and agent skills, routing needs to align the

right resource for a particular customer (high value,

low value) and problem (simple or complex). You

define what right means, connecting valued

customers effectively and efficiently.

MOR E VALUE COMMANDSMOR E RESOURCES

The key to differentiated service is to take whatyou know about your customers and act on it.

This approach can be operationalized through a

combination of routing techniques, self-service

applications, or proactive contact programs. The

more value a customer represents, the more

resources, specialized information, options, and

proactive outreach you provide. Segmentation

and differentiated service drive profitable

revenue and growth across your customer

universe.

Segment your baseand treat customers

differently.

30

Providedifferentiated

levels of service.

28Do you know who your bestcustomers are?

Do you segment themdifferently?Q

Q


EXECUTION

+LEVERAGE

RELATIONSHIP DEPTH

Least profitablecustomers

Growth potentialcustomers

Most valuablecustomers

CONTACT CENTER BUSINESS STRATEGY

BENEFITS OFCEBP

Communications-enabled

business processes (CEBP)

give any organization the

ability to embed

communications in their

business practices, includingtheir customer contact. A

business event, such as a

product recall or perhaps a

fluctuation in the market,

can immediately launch

communications to affected

customers. CEBP offers new

possibilities for differentiated

service.

Differentiatedservice results in

more satifiedcustomers.

29

Real time high touch

One to one experience

Multi channel:

All information linked

Improved

Segmentation/profile

Economical

service

Moment

of truth

Right

information

Right channel

Right resource

Right context doing right work

Reduce customer frustration

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3332

PROACTIVE CONTACT

PROACTIVE CONTACTBES T PRACTICES FORIMPROVING THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

INCREASED CONTACTCENTER PERFORMANCEThese challenges can be met, however, through

a suite of hardware and software applications

that enable proactive, opportunistic

management of customer relationships within

the contact center. While your goal is to provide

a consistent brand experience, with proactive

contact solutions you can deliver differentiated

customer service using an Intelligent

Communications solution that connects people

to people and businesses to customersat the

right time and with the right information,

increasing your operational efficiency and

profitability.

Drive customerloyalty to increase

profitability.

31Connect with your customers. It soundsso simple. In reality, however, its a

complex undertaking, one with manychallenges, including regulatory issues,answering machines, voicemail, caller ID,busy signals, and agent turnover, amongother issues.

How do you follow up withcustomers after theyvepurchased a product/servicefrom your enterprise?

Do you proactively reach outto customers when changes totheir service or product arecoming in the near future?

Q

Q

QUESTIONS TO ASK

YOURSELF

INCREASED CONTACTCENTER RE T U R N O NINVESTMENTUsing Intelligent Communications, your contact

centers effectiveness can be boosted with

applications that manage decision-making tools.

Your contact center can increase transactions per

hour, deal more positively and effectively with

customers, raise performance and productivity

of its agents, and do so with a significant return

on investment.

INCREASED CONTACTCENTER PRODUCTIVITYProactive contact solutions allow agents to reach

more customers, more quickly. These robust

systems include both efficiency and effectiveness

tools to help optimize profitably in the contact

center. Efficiency tools include voice detection

technology which drives down agent idle time and

increases right-party connects. Effectiveness tools,

with features that allow agents personal

ownership in selected accounts, can

support differentiated service

objectives. All of this results in as

much as six times the productivity.

Through proactive customer

contact you can providepersonalized communications,

reaching out to customers with

information they value as

well as time-sensitive

communications; deliver

customer care through high-

value, one-to-one dialogs;

and personalize service to

each customer segment of

your market.

Blend your

inbound andoutbound

communicationsto maximize

productivity.

32

Reach out to your

customers withhigh-value, time-

sensitiveinformation.

33

DELIVERINGPROACTIVE CARE

By using outbound interactive

communications to deliver

proactive care, enterprises can

expand their value proposition

to their customers. Outbound

applications can be leveraged

as new service offerings that

increase customer engagement

and loyalty.

INCREASING PROACTIVE CUSTOMER OUTREACH

In order to increase proactive customer care, communications solutions can be embedded

right into your business processes so customers can automatically be notified of

cancellations, delays, or product arrivalssaving customers time and keeping them satisfied.

Combining proactive contact and enhanced self-service can efficiently deliver timely

information to customers, and it can even collect a customer response.

Withproactivecontact

you canreach yourcustomers viatelephone,Web, orwhateverchannel they

prefer with time-sensitiveinformation.

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3534

VIRTUAL CONTACT CENTER

VIRTUAL CONTACT CENTERBES T PRACTICES FORIMPROVING THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

Avirtual contact center is enabled byan enterprise-wide infrastructure,

along with connected business practices.An organizations resources can beaccessed via a single queue, regardless oflocation. Follow-the-sun global strategiesare supported by centralized managementand control.

Leverage global

resources.

34

THE VIRTUALCONTACT CENTER

The virtual contact center leverages an

enterprise-wide communications infrastructure in

many ways. A virtual contact center can be easily

scaled as big or as small as a company needs.

Agents are not associated with physical sites; they

can be anywhere you need them to be or

anywhere they happen to bein the main office,

a remote branch, or at home. This increases an

organizations flexibility and reduces its brick and

mortar costs. Customer management systems

offer control over distributed resources, while

enabling your company to deliver the ultimate in

customer experience.

LEVERAGINGGLOBALRESOURCESFinding quality customer care agents

is an increasingly difficult task. By

utilizing a virtual infrastructure, you

can find and attract skilled specialists

to work as agents in your virtual

contact center, no matter where they

live. Agents can easily work from

their homes, with their home

locations remaining transparent tothe customers they serve. By

implementing remote agent tech-

nologies, an organization can access

talent virtually anywhere in the

world, while providing specialized

expertise for their customers.

PROVIDING BUSINESSCONTINUITYThe virtual contact center continues to

evolve as the foundation for advancedpractices that enhance the customer

experience. By applying centralized control

to operations across the virtual infrastructure,

uniform branding and business practices

can more easily be applied across the

organization. And business continuity is

ensured in the event of an individual contact

center closing or temporarily going offline;

services continue via the remaining contact

centers across the virtual organization.Direct contact center calls to availableagentsanywhere in the organization.

ARE YOU USING WORK-AT-HOME

AGENTS TODAY?

Not yet, but we arealready in the

planning stages

No, but we maybe interested in

the future

24%29%

42%

5%

No plans toimplement at

this point

Yes

Avaya polled 300 webinar attendees in July 2006 abouttheir plans and reasons for implementing at-home agent

programs. Two thirds of the respndents are using at-homeagents today, or are actively planning to do so.

THE WORK-FROM-

ANYWHERE

MANDATE

According to a primary research

study conducted by Avaya in

February 2007, 80% of Avaya

customers have some form ofactive work effectively from

anywhere program; 77% of

enterprises are implementing

Unified Communications

solutions to be more responsive

to customers; 61% of companies

are investing in better ways to

support a mobile sales

force/workforce.

With a work-from-anywheresolution in place, your agents can

effectively work from home orother convenient locations.

35

VIRTUAL

CONTACT CENTER

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3736

EXPERTISE ON DEMAND

EXPERTISE ON DEMANDBES T PRACTICES FORIMPROVING THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

The nature of transactions handled live by anagent has become more complex. When

customers call a contact center, they wantinformation now. It doesnt matter whether its asimple product query or a highly technical problem,answers must be forthcoming in real time to satisfytodays consumer. Short of feeding every agent thesum total of all your companys knowledge, the

only way to provide every answer in real time is toutilize expertise on demand.

Strive for first-call resolution,

leveragingdistributed

knowledge andexpertise.

36

FIRST CONTACTExpertise on demand leverages people and information

throughout your organization to enhance the contact

center experience. In a virtual contact center, software

knows the skill levels of various experts, knows their

presence and availability, and uses this intelligence to find

and connect the best available expert to the agent and

customer already on the call. With the right expert on

board, the entire customer interaction can be completed

on the first contact.

LOCA L KNOW L E D GEENHA NCE S CE NT RA L I ZE DSERVICELocalized knowledge adds richness and depth

to face-to-face interactions but is hard to

replicate in customer contact operations serving

broad geographies. SIP technology enables your

organization to access all available expertise, in

real time, from any location. Local knowledge

becomes global, and your customers benefit.

ENGA GI NG ENT E RPRI S EEXPERTSToday there are more than 9 million contact center

agents around the world. Thats a lot of help available

to customers, but it pales in comparison to the more

than 400 million enterprise workers who could be

providing help and information. The goal of the next-

generation contact center is to leverage expertise from

across the enterprise, so that pockets of information

can be available to anyone who needs that information.

Imagine an expert in Australia answering questions

posed by customers in Germany, and you see the

power of the enterprise-wide customer experience.

IntelligentCommunications

solutions improveemployee

productivitythrough enhanced

collaboration.

37

Contact CenterAgents9+ million

Workers ServingCustomers100+ million

Enterprise Workers>400 million

ENTERPRISE AT THE SERVICE OF THE CUSTOMER

UNDERSTANDING

SIP

One of the foundations of

IP telephony is Session

Initiation Protocol, or SIP.

This is a technology

standard that enables

applications to get and use

presence information; it

provides a rich presence

that captures and reports

on who is available, where

they are, and at whichdevices they can be

reached. SIP delivers all

these rich capabilities

across multiple modes of

communicationsvoice,

video, and dataall in a

single session, enabling

device and application

interoperability.

Customers

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3938

INFORMATION

MANAGEMENT

INFORMATION MANAGEM ENTBES T PRACTICES FORIMPROVING THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

The key to the success of the next-generation contact center is being

able to enhance the organizations abilityto sift through the various islands ofcustomer data, and then realize a course

of action. Useful, actionable details mustbe available on demand, which meansrethinking the traditional means ofcapturing, managing, and accessingthat data.

Respect your

customers time provide prompt

solutions andcustomized

information.

38

DATACAPTURE,REPORTING, ANDANALYSISEnhanced information

management starts with how

data is captured. With

structured data-capture

techniques, new data is made

immediately available to theorganization via assigned fields

in the company database.

Managers and executives can

access the structured data via

prepared reports or real-time

search queries. Customer

contact resources can have

information at their fingertips

as they serve customers in

real-time.

EXPERIENCEVIEWIn a successful contact center,

information management is a tool to

enhance the customer experience.

Whether that data is presented directly

to the customer via email or the Web, or

relayed via a customer service agent, its

important that the customer gets

relevant and up-to-date information

necessary to not only answer his

question or solve his problem, but thatexceeds his expectation. The ability to

measure interaction outcomes, such as

sales and revenue impacts, can help

justify the investments in knowledge-

based decision tools.

CASESTUDY

Alargeautocompan

ywas

facedwithaccessing

customer

informationinreal-ti

meto

provideimmediatere

sponse

tocustomerservice

problems.

Acustomerwhosecarhas

brokendownonthe

road

needstheirissueres

olvedas

quicklyaspossible.

Thecompanyaccele

ratedits

customerresponsebyutilizing

advanceddatacaptu

reand

datawarehousing.It

deployed

computertelephony

technologytocapturea

nd

retrieveinformationabo

ut

customersandtheircars

, as

needed. Forexample,w

hen

answeringaroadside

assistancecall, anagentc

an

nowretrieveallrelevant

data

usingthecallerslicense

numberorvehicle

identificationnumber. Le

ss

timeisspentinterviewin

gthe

customerforparticulars

,

leavingmoretime

tosolvethe

problemathand.

One of the goals of providing a great customerexperience is satisfying customer expectations in atimely fashion by leveraging the right information atthe point of contact.

KNOWLEDGE-BASED DECISIONSThe right information available at

the right time makes for

better decisions. Knowledge-

based decision technology

captures information about

the customer, such as the

products and services he uses,

and his past-call histories to

predict future sales and service

needs. Arming contact center

agents with knowledge-baseddecision tools can enhance

customer interactions and

identify cross-sell and up-sell

opportunities.

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4342

ASSESSING YOU R STATUSBEST PRACTICES

OPTIONS

1 Never

2 Occasionally

3 Frequently

4Always

ASSESSING YOUR STATUS

Providing an exceptional customer experience is amajor undertaking for any organization. The

following questionnaire will help you to evaluate yourorganizations strengths and weaknesses and decidewhere to place the most effort going forward. If youranswer is Never, mark option 1; if it is always, markoption 4; and so on. Add your scores together and referto the analysis to see how your organization scores.

Answering as honestly as you can is a good start towardsimproving your organizations customer communications.

As a customer, wouldyou be satisfied with thecontact center experienceoffered by your company?

1

1 2 3 4

Is your contact centerworkflow flexible enough tocare for ad hoc customerfollow up?

2

1 2 3 4

Do your contact centeragents have information thathelp them treat customerspersonally and interactively?

3

1 2 3 4

Are customers who con-tact your company througha variety of channels givena consistent experience?

4

1 2 3 4

How often is a customerinteraction completed on thefirst call?

5

1 2 3 4

Does your contactcenter offer a level of serviceconsistent with yourcompanys brand?

6

1 2 3 4

Does your company offertechnology-based solutions forenhanced self-service (voicerecognition, etc.)?

7

1 2 3 4

Does your contactcenter offer differentiatedlevels of support, based oncustomer value?

8

1 2 3 4

Does your contactcenter utilize expertise ondemand from across your

enterprise?

9

1 2 3 4

Does your contact centeroffer multiple access points voice, fax, web, email, instant

messaging, and so on?

10

1 2 3 4

Do you leverage thelatest IP and SIP capabilitiesto simplify connectingcustomers with resources?

11

1 2 3 4

Does your companytreat your contact center as aprofit center?

12

1 2 3 4

ANALYSIS

Now that you have completed the

assessment, add your scores and checkyour companys performance by referring

to the following evaluations:

12-23:Your organization is falling short on

providing an excellent customer experience.

It's time to take action by utilizing state-of-

the-art customer service. You need to

increase contact center investment, or you

risk falling behind the competition.

24-35:You have made good progress by

providing an advanced level of customer

communicationsbut there's room for

improvement. Use the assessment tool onthe next page to identify those areas that

need more investment.

36-48:Your organization provides an

excellent customer experience. Continue

investment to maintain this level of

customer service and to utilize new

technologies. Consider employing CEBP

and next-generation analytical tools to

provide better-targeted customer service.

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4544

ASSESSING YOU R PRIORITIESBEST PRACTICES

OPTIONS

1 Not important

2 Somewhatimportant

3Very important

4Essential

ASSESSING YOUR PRIORITIES

Every organization is different. To improve yourcompanys customer communications, you must

prioritize what areas are most important to yourfirm. To that end, the following questionnaire willhelp you to set your organizations priorities anddetermine future investment. Rank each item on ascale of 1 to 4, with 1 being not important and 4being essential, then refer to the analysis on the

next page to determine how best to target yourcontact center investment.

Enterprise-widecustomer experience andbranding

1

1 2 3 4

ANALYSIS

Your total score on this assessment isnt asimportant as the individual scores for

each item listed. You should make a list of

items ranked by the scores received, and

then act as follows:

4: This item is an extremely important

component of your customer service

portfolio. You need to focus your

investment in this area to provide state-of-

the-art service.

3:

This item is important to yourcompany, and deserves an appropriate

level of investment.

2: This item, while important, is not

necessary for immediate success.

Prioritize investment in this area only if

additional funds are available.

1: This item is unimportant to your

organization. It requires no investment at

this point in time.

Multiple contact points(voice, fax, web, email, IM)

2

1 2 3 4

Translating calls intosales

3

1 2 3 4

Virtual contactcenter/virtual infrastructure

4

1 2 3 4

Expertise on demand5

1 2 3 4

Leveraging localknowledge more broadly

6

1 2 3 4

Voice recognitiontechnology

7

1 2 3 4

Enhanced self-service8

1 2 3 4

Use of home agents9

1 2 3 4

Personalized content10

1 2 3 4

Call routing to improveservice levels

11

1 2 3 4

Differentiated service fordifferent types of customers

12

1 2 3 4

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INDEXINDEX

4746

INDEX

Aagents (contact centers), 31

expertise on demand,

3637

finding, 35

assessing

contact centers, 1415

customer service, 7priorities, 4445

status, 4243

Bbenchmarks for

performance, 2223

brand images

consistent brand

experience, 2627, 33

establishing, 17

building

future sales, 17

long-term customer

relationships, 21

business continuity, 35

business strategy, 31

Cchanging customer

opinions, 12

communications

contact center processes,

21

converged, 13

Intelligent, 25

modules, 25

personalized technology,

29

types, 24

complex customer

transactions, 37

consistent brand

experience, 2627

contact centers

as advertising medium, 13

agents

finding, 35expertise on demand,

3637

assessing, 7, 1415

brand images, 17

business strategy, 31

communications

processes, 21

as cost centers, 10

customer expectations of,

1819

customer opinions,

changing, 12

effectiveness, 11

evolution, 4041


3637

expectations of, 18-19

future sales, building, 17

impact on bottom line,

1213

investing in, 11

IP contact centers, 25

as public face of

companies, 13

reasons for

disappointment, 9

routing software, 30

virtual infrastructure,

3435

converged communications,

13

CRM (customer relationship

management), 22

customer service

assessing, 7

differentiated, 3031extraordinary, 9

industry trends, 33

organization trends, 33

poor, 8

customers

complex transactions, 37

contact center

expectations, 1819

dissatisfaction, 8

long-term relationships,

21

opinions, changing, 12

perspective, 67

satisfaction, 7, 23

segmenting, 30

trends, 32

view of information

management, 39

Ddata capture, 38

data reporting/analysis, 38

differentiated service,

3031

dissatisfaction of customers,

8

E Fenterprise experts, 37

enterprise-wide customer

experience, 20

evolution of contact

centers, 4041


3637

extraordinary customer

service, 9

forms of information

delivery, 29future sales, building, 17

G Iglobal resources, leveraging,

35

improving customer

experiences

consistent brand

experience, 2627

differentiated service,

3031


3637

information management,

3839

outbound proactivecontact, 3233

personalized self-service,

2829

virtual infrastructure,

3435

industry trends in customer

service, 33

information

accessing, 27

forms of delivery, 29

management, 38-39

Intelligent

Communications, 25

investing in contact centers,

11

IP contact centers, 25

IP telephony, 28

J Lknowledge-based decision

technology, 39

local expertise, 36

long-term customer

relationships, 21

M Omeasuring customer

satisfaction, 23

modular communications,

25

organization trends in

customer service, 33

outbound proactive contact,

3233

P Rperformance benchmarks,

2223personalized self-service,

2729

perspective of customers,

67

poor service, 8

priority assessment, 4445

public face of companies,

13

respect, 19

Ssegmenting customers, 30

self-service

part of total customer

experience, 21

personalized, 2729

SIP (Session Initiation

Protocol), 36

solutions, 18

speech-enabled self-service,

28-29

status assessment, 4243

sympathy, 19

T Utechnology

consistent brand

experience, 27

knowledge-based

decision, 39

modular communications,

25

personalized

communications, 29

speech, 28-29

total customer experience,

optimizing, 2021

trends of customers, 32

types of communication, 24

V Zvirtual infrastructure,

3435

VoIP (Voice over IP), 25

work-from-anywhere

mandate, 35

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTSPUBLISHERS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Dorling Kindersley would like to thank the following for their help and

participation in producing this book:

Editor Karen Whitehouse

Interior Design and Layout Kelly Maish

Images Katherine Linder

Indexer Heather McNeill

PICTURE CREDITS

All images are from photos.com (Juniperimages),except pages 15, 19, 20, 21(L), 34, 37, and 40(R,T)

which are from Dorling Kingersley (dkimages); and p. 13 from PAL images.

AUTHOR

S

BIOGRAPHY

Michael Miller is a best-selling writer who has authored more than75 non-fiction books in the past two decades. He writes on a variety of

technology and business topics, including eBay, computer basics, and hometheater systems. He is known for his casual, easy-to-read writing style and

his ability to explain a wide variety of complex topics to an everyday audience.Collectively, his books have sold more than a million copies worldwide.

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E S S E N T I A L M A N A G E R S

ABOUT AVAYA

Avaya enables businesses to achieve superior results by designing, building, and manag-

ing their communications infrastructure and solutions. For over one million businesses

worldwide, including more than 90 percent of the FORTUNE 500,Avaya embedded

solutions help businesses enhance value, improve productivity, and create competitive

advantage by allowing people to be more productive and create more intelligent

processes that satisfy customers. For businesses, large and small,Avaya is a world leader

in secure, reliable IP telephony systems, communications applications and full life-cycle

services. Driving the convergence of embedded voice and data communications with

business applications, Avaya is distinguished by its combination of comprehensive,

world-class products and services.Avaya helps customers across the globe leverage

existing and new networks to achieve superior business results.


Service


Service

Printed in China

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