The Key to CRM Success: Add Value to Every Customer Interaction

With nearly 1 million business customers inmore than 90 countries, our broad customerbase includes approximately 90 percent of theFortune 500 companies. In fiscal 2001, Avayahad revenue of approximately $6.8 billion andnet income of approximately $214 million.

➤

Your CRM initiatives could be at risk if yourcommunication channels are not integratedor your data is isolated. Avaya makes it easierthan ever to integrate channels, data, andprocesses to provide a holistic customer expe-rience that adds value to every interaction.

Each time your company sponsors a newcustomer relationship management initiativeto increase customer value, your IT depart-ment gets pressed to find new and better solu-tions. You’re charged with finding innovativetechnology that offers more meaningful linksto systems and applications (and access tomore and more data) for customers, contactcenter agents, and management.

But the reality for enterprises today is thatCRM initiatives too often rely on individualcontact centers that use disparate contactmanagement software. Even when a com-pany has huge silos of information, if thatinformation is not integrated, it can’t beused effectively. The fact is, most business-side transactions and customer-facing interactions lack access to the necessarydata to make CRM initiatives a success.

In terms of service and information, cus-tomers’ expectations are at all-time highs.They expect real-time access to what theyconsider to be basic information, such astheir order status, account activity, or whento expect their shipment. Management’sneeds keep getting more sophisticated, too.They need real-time and historical informa-tion that enables them to monitor forefficiency, balance agent workloads, andprovide service to their customers in waysthat add more value to each interaction.

But increasing value means more thanadding various media channels and offeringnew levels of information. In fact, addingmore channels without careful integrationonly amplifies the possible points of failure. Inother words, it’s not only the technology that’simportant. It’s also how well it’s deployed thatmatters. To provide meaningful interactions,and the information customers need, CRMsuccess is about integrating multiple chan-

nels, data, and business processes. That’s theonly way to create value-adding interactionswith customers, track those interactionsthrough all channels, and tie that informationto back-office data for a complete, 360-degreeview of your customer. This is what it takestoday to build customer loyalty and delivernew levels of profitability with new sales orservice campaigns that can be leveraged forfurther CRM success.

What’s more, without integration of chan-nels, data, and business processes, companiesstruggle to segment customers and applyappropriate service strategies to those segments. Because business managers don’thave access to key information from previouscampaigns, they are not able to predict fluctu-ations in contact center volumes and schedulestaff accordingly. Most companies don’t knowwhether any given contact is coming from amost-valued, long-term customer or a brandnew customer (each having different expecta-tions). Even if they can identify customer sta-tus, most companies cannot match individualcustomers with the most appropriately skilledagent or resource to meet their needs.

Avaya Solutions for CRM SuccessAvaya’s advanced technology and expertisecan help integrate people, sites, and platforms,making them work together to deliver customer value at every touch point.

In contrast to point solution vendors,Avaya covers a wide spectrum of communi-cation solutions including applications, network infrastructure, and services. Withmore customers around the world, morethan 1,500 patents and patent applications,and market-leading offerings , customersand industry analysts alike acknowledgeAvaya as an innovative leader in communi-cation technology solutions.

With access to unique tools for communi-cation and interaction analysis, Avaya’scustomers apply real-time and historicalknowledge to grow their customer relation-ships. They also leverage collected intelli-

gence to improve their quality assurance,service level objectives, marketing cam-paigns, and workforce management acrossall media channels and locations.

All of our customers need to leverage atleast some of their existing IT investments.For this reason, they value the ability to useour offerings independently, in combinationwith other Avaya offerings, or with industry-leading applications from providers such asSiebel, PeopleSoft, and IBM. By leveragingexisting applications and systems, Avaya’scustomers may quickly realize superiorreturn on investment and ultimatelyimprove customer value.

Avaya Multimedia Contact Center Solutions Avaya’s contact center solutions can deliverconsistent, personalized customer serviceacross channels, even if the customer usesseveral channels to complete a single inter-action. Companies can also provide theircustomers with a variety of self-serviceoptions: telephone, fax, pager, email, orWeb. That way, customers can access infor-mation around the clock, in the way that’smost convenient to them, which can also bemore cost effective for the enterprise.

Also, tracking and storing the details ofevery interaction and customer profile isvital. Our comprehensive solution enablescompanies to use this data to improve busi-ness process efficiency and effectiveness,while delivering service that’s tailored to

Defying the Limits • 139

Solution Provider

each customer’s needs and preferences. Thisknowledge and insight empowers compa-nies to get customers to the right agent, theone that has the right training for a specificinteraction. It also gives that agent the rightinformation to make the most of the interac-tion, whether that’s quickly resolving anissue or up-selling more products or services.This makes it possible to always match high-value customers with the best agents.

This right-match ability also enables com-panies to identify customers with attributesthat can help predict new business opportu-nities and areas to further improve servicequality optimize resources, increase mar-keting campaign effectiveness, and developbetter product and service offerings.

Proactive Contact Management SolutionsWith the power to place up to 130,000 callsper hour, our customers have leveragedAvaya’s patented predictive dialing technol-ogy to increase the number of right-partycontacts and eliminate up to 97 percent ofthe causes of abandoned calls.

In addition to high-caliber dialing, yourcompany may want to add value to your cus-

tomer contacts by offering more meaningfulinteractions through the use of multi-chan-nel outbound capabilities. For example,some of our customers mix email with phonecalls for automated delivery scheduling orpost-sales service follow-up. Other compa-nies report better use of agent resources byimplementing blended outbound/inbound,multi-channel capabilities. And others linkcustomer-facing applications to back-office

procedures or personnel to trigger andrespond to any of these customer contacts.

Self-Service SolutionsToday, there are many satisfying ways cus-tomers can interact with your company andserve themselves. While this can includeInteractive Voice Response (IVR), it can alsoinclude Web, email, and fax, and accessthrough wireless devices. Self-service pro-vides customers with convenient, cost-effec-tive, around the clock service whenever theyneed it. With efficient business processes toback it up, Avaya’s solution empowers cus-tomers to seamlessly link to a live agent forassistance, and then return to self-serviceapplications afterwards if they want. Such

shifts happen effortlessly for the customer,with every contact point having all the infor-mation needed to smoothly handle each“transitioned interaction.”

Self-Service solutions lead to real gains incontact center productivity through betterallocation and management of agentresources. And that translates to lowerresource costs, even extended hours of oper-ation, because you no longer need to have“operators standing by.”

Business IntelligenceYou can’t fix what you don’t know. And

you can’t improve what you can’t measure.Avaya offers real-time and historical inter-action tracking and reporting tools thatleverage what your company knows aboutthe customer. What is known about any customer should not stop with demograph-ics, purchase information, or propensity tobuy. Many times what is most important iswhat happened with your customer in thelast 90 days, even the last 90 minutes. To address this business challenge, Avaya’sunique reporting capabilities give contactcenter managers the real-time intelligencethey need to instantly react to spikes in workloads, and respond immediately to customer interaction patterns. Historicaldata is also used to anticipate seasonalworkload trends, and improve quality assur-ance monitoring, workforce management,customer segmentation analysis, and callstatistic reporting.

On-demand knowledge like this alsoempowers departments across the enterpriseto access and use collected intelligence toimprove service level objectives, target newcustomers, create more effective marketingcampaigns, and tailor new offerings.

Companies are building their relationshipwith customers by leveraging what theyknow about customer interactions in eachchannel. With a 360-degree view of cus-tomers, agents are empowered to not onlyimmediately answer customer questions,

➤

140 • crmproject.com

Phone

Self-Service

Proactive Contact

Email

Web

WebEmailProactive ContactSelf-ServicePhone

Phone

Self-Service

ProactiveContact

Email

Web

Figure 1 For optimum CRM success, the customer experience should always be at the center.

Solution Provider

Defying the Limits • 141

but also have everything they need to up-sell andcross-sell during the same conversation.

A final note on the importance of BusinessIntelligence: Customers are increasingly asking forimmediate access to information. That means busi-ness intelligence is more crucial than ever.Otherwise, customers simply cannot receive whatthey define as the right service at the right time.

With proper integration, interaction informationcan be gathered across all media channels, inboundand outbound communications, and self- andassisted-service channels. With this 360-degreeview, your business can pinpoint, access, and usethe knowledge it needs to maximize benefits forboth customer and enterprise.

Virtualize Your Enterprise All the solutions discussed here can be linked to multiple sites, or countries, to leverage all theresources you have. But the key to success is integration. Successful integration can mean connecting a single medium, like email, with acomplete, 360-degree view of the customer. Suchintegration can, for example, let a company recog-nize that an email has come in from a preferred customer, and give that email priority treatment.On the customer side, it makes it easy to shift fromemail to the phone and back again. Meanwhile, thehistory of each interaction is not only tracked, butis fully accessible enterprise-wide.

With Avaya’s CRM solution mix, over time, thisbasic integration can grow into something much moresophisticated. Even the simplest solution can evolveinto a seamless connection across multiple sites, chan-nels, and platforms that enable an entire global enter-prise to virtualize and work like one contact center.

One Step at a TimeBecause of ever-changing customer demands, CRMis not a static state of set transactions, processes,and interactions. Rather, it is a dynamic process,

and experts agree the best strategy to expand CRMcapabilities is to take a phased approach.

With Avaya’s solutions, companies can build ontheir existing technology to create a modular mix ofinteraction channels and services. Avaya gives youa range of options to choose from as you define eachnext step you take to increase customer value.

No matter which Avaya offering (or mix of offer-ings) you choose, your solution will be backed upwith excellent service and support. Avaya Services delivers world-class Customer Relation-ship Management (CRM) expertise and our part-nership with Accenture ensures that all of yourneeds will be met. Through a coordinated effort,Avaya Services and Accenture can deliver a com-plete CRM solution to your enterprise that can helpdrive customer loyalty to increase profitability.

About AvayaAvaya Inc., headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J., is a leading global provider of voice and data networks, as well as communications solutions andservices, that help businesses, government agencies and other institutions – including morethan 90 percent of the FORTUNE 500® – excel in the customer economy. Avaya offers Customer Relationship Management Solutions, Unified Communication Solutions, Service Provider Solu-tions, MultiService Networking Infra-structure, andConverged Voice and Data Networks – including thecompany's no-compromise Avaya Enterprise-ClassIP Solutions (ECLIPS) – all supported by AvayaServices and Avaya Labs. Avaya is the worldwideleader in unified messaging, messaging systems,call centers, and structured cabling systems. It isthe U.S. leader in voice communications systemsand services. Avaya is an official sponsor for the2002 FIFA World Cup™, the FIFA Women's WorldCup 2003 and the 2006 FIFA World Cup™ tourna-ments. For more information about Avaya, visitwww.avaya.com. ■

Donald K. PetersonChairman and CEO

Garry K. McGuire, Sr.Chief Financial Officer and Senior VP, Operations

Keith LarsonVP, CRM Solutions

Karyn MashimaVP, Global Strategy and Technology

Avaya Inc.211 Mt. Airy Rd.Basking Ridge, N.J. 07920Phone: 800.GO.AVAYAwww.avaya.comexecutiveoffice@avaya.com

☎Sonia L. MartinezApplications Product and Solutions MarketingPhone 425.558.8231somartin@avaya.com

Solution Provider