Cross-channel

Can a bad customer experience with one brand affect another brand?

Holiday season; I excitedly went online to Expedia, found decent fares for my flight to Thailand and proceeded to the booking page. Everything went smoothly until I reached the confirmation page: instead of getting the much anticipated confirmation number, I received a sad “Sorry, we were unable to make your reservation” message. Ok, fair enough; I told myself that I must have had mistyped my bank details and decided to try again.

Following this slight disappointment, I went onto my online banking to make sure that a lack of provision on my account hadn’t been the reason of the failure. Once logged in, the view of my statement petrified me: I had actually been debited of the amount of the flight I was trying to book. I must have sworn harder than for my internet problem.   I had no booking but the money had gone.

Upon calling Expedia, I was immediately reassured and told to contact my bank, ask for a fax number and a representative’s name, so that Expedia could fax the bank a cancellation order. Basically, my money had flown out of my account to land into a mysterious buffer zone between my bank and Expedia, waiting to be authorised. What I did not know at the time, was that if the retailer doesn’t claim the money, (which was the case with Expedia as the booking had not gone through) the pending transaction would cancel out after a few days and the money would return onto my account.

What follows now is a joke of call centre support:

• Phoned up the ‘current account’ service of my bank for the fax number (20 minute wait)
• Told “in the wrong service department” and transferred to the ‘fraud division’
• Another friendly but unhelpful support person (another 20 minute wait) told me I still wasn’t in the right service and the operator told me “Sir, I’ll transfer you to online banking operations”.
• From then on, every 5 minutes, the lad would pause the increasingly annoying waiting tune to announce me that he was trying to jump the queue and connect me to somebody.
• Another 20 minutes of this comedy (I was 1 hour on the phone at this point), told that nobody seemed to be working anymore as no-one was picking up the phone. Out of curiosity, I asked him for the direct number of that department.
• Called direct and received the automated response “This service is no longer available. Please call xxx for online banking operations”. Guess what Gordon Ramsay would have said at that point.

After blaming loudly and angrily my bank’s internal communication system, I phoned up the new number, waited a tiny bit, got to talk to someone, got a name and fax number, call back Expedia and eventually got my money back three days later.

So what’s the morale of the story…? Did this epic experience affect my perception of Expedia? Yes, a little bit as I now fear the same issue to happen again. However, the bad online user experience was offset by a professional, quick and friendly service on the phone.

Did this affect my perception of the bank: yes a lot, as it felt like no-one on the phone knew what they were talking about (I actually forgave them the waiting time). The incompetence of a few ones completely discredited the seriousness of the bank. However, I went to my local branch on the following working day and had my distrust of the bank blown away by a professional and very capable clerk.

Hopefully for them, neither of these two brands relied on one channel only to convey their image. But this story really demonstrates is how a travel agency almost made my bank lose a customer.

With a few exceptions, call centres are pretty awful. One reason is that customers aren’t pushing hard enough for improvement. They might complain bitterly about the lousy wait times, but they will consider that against a background of all the other poor call centre experiences and partition it off. If the value of a brand is truly a measure of ‘everything’ including all customer touch points then it seems there is an opportunity being missed.Ethnographic research has shown that customers compare online experiences between different brands, and even different sectors so they expect the same service from a white goods supplier as they do from one that provides consumables. So why haven’t customers started to compare experiences between different channels and demanded an improvement in the call centre?

There has been grumbling in customer service forums, but it’s had little effect. Businesses have been looking at improvements, but they have been focused on adding and optimising single channels. Integration has been a relatively recent phenomenon.

I believe the recession will be a catalyst for change, as it has been so many times before. The need to save money has placed business operations under a microscope and this will drive businesses to integrate previously disparate channels so that cross-channel service delivery becomes a reality.

Foviance has already seen a big increase in the number of organisations that are asking us to map out their customers’ journeys across all channels. We have then identified how the lower cost channels can be used to save money, without causing damage to the customer experience.

This is an area where co-creation is an excellent approach as the answers come from our consultants, customers and their customers working together, rather than in isolation. Indeed I would extend the group even further and include call centre consultancies. Many of these have already helped organisations identify a huge number of operational efficiencies. Without the constraint of a single channel, they could find new opportunities for further gains.

It is pleasing to see publications such as Customer Strategy, which has a long heritage in customer service and call centre strategy, embracing the change that is required and projecting itself as more cross-channel in its editorial approach and content. For example, the publication is currently running a series of masterclasses, the last of which in July is focussed on helping organisations establish a cross-channel approach to improving customer service and cutting costs. The masterclass will be run by RXperience. The course description includes the words “using a contact strategy that reinforces your brand”, and if organisations do start to take this approach, perhaps motivated by the recession, we will see a step change in the quality of customer experience delivery.

I attended the eConsultancy user and customer experience roundtable last week, where I was able share knowledge and experience about the current state of play online, and listen to stories from others working in the field.

I was heartened to hear from the majority of those attendees working in house, their plans for 2009 are largely intact, as budgets concerning customer experience are still available - this is in line with a recent US based article I read from Forrester. And it is not surprising in the current climate, that for some, measurements are moving more to customer engagement, rather than simply conversion.

Multi-variant testing was discussed, as some attendees currently use the technology; while others appeared sceptical of investment (financial outlay, design, technical) - they are more interested in placing their efforts into refining concepts and copy as a part of an iterative design process, engaging with customers along the way.

Lastly,  the discussion I valued the most was on measuring customer experience using more than just the online channel. For example, looking at channel management from call centre to web, click to call functions, and the total cost of a sale. Here I got the feeling that the industry is moving in the right direction, but there are few organisations out there who have really taken the time to define comprehensive channel management programs. At the moment the majority of approaches are of a more tactical nature, focusing on particular products. Let’s hope that with maturity, will come broader approaches.

Senior business consultant, Arthur Moan is presenting a case study with Shop Direct Group, on their flagship brand Littlewoods.com at The eCommerce EXPO in Manchester in June.

Digital marketing and e-commerce is growing strongly despite the recession. Being part of the digital revolution is key to succeeding. The exhibition is for cross-channel retailers, Pure Play online businesses or even just for learning about e-commerce.

Read about the Expo and view Arthur Moan’s presentation

Like everyone, I am looking to make any savings I can in these times of the credit crunch. Judging by the number of emails, direct mail and cold telephone calls I have received in the last three months, it is obvious that companies are looking to take full advantage of this consumer mindset. I am constantly bombarded with offers, discounts and complicated saver deals on a daily basis via email, telephone and direct mail; ‘register online and save £20 a year’, ‘order now and get a £10 shopping voucher.’

Despite these temptations, I immediately delete ‘save now’ emails, recycle direct mail without reading it and hang up when cold called. I acknowledge that the grass is probably greener on the other side and that savings could be made by filling out a form online or speaking to customer service after listening to ‘Greensleeves’ for 20 minutes using a 0845 number. But there are two reasons I don’t do this. Firstly, I don’t have the time to compare all these offers and secondly, I am a ‘lazy’ customer.

I have been with the same utility company for 7 years and bank for over 20 years. There is rationale for this long term loyalty; these companies are known quantities. They provide a good product or service cross- channel and they treat me like a valued customer. If I have a problem, they fix it.

It is a simple equation, look after me and I am literally willing to pay a premium for this. For me, there is a risk involved in time, money and possible inconvenience, in becoming someone’s new customer for the sake of few pounds. In other words, I am less likely to switch service providers even if there are savings to be made elsewhere. These factors have a direct impact on my behaviour as a consumer.

For example, I recently switched mobile phone provider, the main reason for this was the awful customer experience I had with them for ten months. The entire time I had to deal with an unhelpful customer service department when there were technical problems connecting to their mobile phone service. The only solution offered was a request to pay more money to upgrade my phone. When the contract came to an end, the company still had the nerve to ask me to renew my contract. Not only was it confusing how they could believe I may wish to renew, but there were no offers of compensation and not even an apology. My experience lead me to discuss it with friends, two of them have now been influenced not to sign up with this particular mobile phone provider. See previous blog on the importance of cross-channel focus on customers.

However, the story could have been different if I had received prompt customer service and a quick resolution of the problem. The package was not the cheapest, but it was relatively comparable to other similar mobile phone packages on the market. Consequently, as a ‘lazy’ customer, I probably would have signed another 18 month contract without much thought.

I would like to use my bank as an exapmle of good cross-channel customer experience. They have always been helpful and last year, my current account fell victim to online fraud. My bank’s response was swift. They spoke to the police on my behalf, and vouched for my character, and within three days my funds were replaced. There are some better savings rates and current accounts out there, but I am unlikely to switch because of their impeccable customer service. Why take a risk and change?

I still find it difficult to understand why goods and service providers are paying no heed to the importance of the overall customer experience for their long-term customers. Companies should remember that ‘lazy’ customers like me make up a large bulk of their customer base. Existing customers can only add to a company’s profit. It is easier to sell to existing customers than generate new ones and finding new customers is time consuming and costly.

Of course if there is a fantastic deal out there I will pay attention, but it has to be worth my while to invest the time. Generally, I am happy in my customer laziness until prompted to take action. A strong prompt can include receiving poor customer service. Companies should remember that in these competitive times,  ’lazy’ customers can easily be turned into angry ones and angry customers, even lazy ones like me, do not tend to stay customers for long!

In order to gain a true picture of the customer experience of modern, cross-channel businesses, it is essential to trust consultants who understand the importance of striking the right balance between quantitative and qualitative research.Currently, the new media research industry as a whole is getting it wrong too often.

These two research methodologies are quite distinct approaches that are used to understand customer behaviour through very different practices.

Quantitative research largely revolves around the precise analysis of numerical data: numbers of visitors to a particular website, clicks on banners, time spent reading pages, frequency of referrals - that sort of thing. Quantitative data can be ripped directly from weblogs, but it can also be gained through the structured, objective questioning of a large sample of users of a given service or product. Such surveys produce statistics, calculations, formulae, margins: ‘facts’.

Qualitative research attempts to explore and understand conceptions, attitudes, behaviours, interactions and of course experiences, of individuals and smaller focus groups. Data collected is largely non-numerical, more in-depth, more subjective, and more tailored to circumstance. It must be analysed and interpreted through observation and judgement, with results dependent to a great extent upon the skill and experience of the consultants.

Broadly speaking, quantitative research attempts to objectively nail down universal, repeatable rules for perceived trends, whereas qualitative research tries to subjectively develop a rich understanding of behaviour.

The market research community has been conducting both quantitative and qualitative research since the First World War, when Cadburys won the government contract to provide chocolate to the troops by researching the needs of this new market. Now, in 2009, the global market research industry is set to spend $40 billion, according to Research magazine.

The fledgling experience industry that we operate in certainly has its issues. It is young, fragmented, undisciplined, varied in methodologies, ungoverned by a single guiding body and threatened by a perceived lack of credibility. I believe this has to change, and fast, if our industry is to be taken seriously by the marketing directors accustomed to seeing only the enormous sample sizes typically generated by purely quantitative market research.

At Foviance, our strength is our experience, our ability to specialise, and our judgement about when and how to engage our clients in surveys, panels or web analytics work. I believe that more than any other organisation in our industry, we have the varied skill set and broad abilities to combine both quantitative and qualitative methodologies in innovative, synergetic media research practices. And with 43 of the Top 100 FTSE already on board as clients, I’d say the industry’s top marketing directors agree.

Ok, so Slumdog Millionaire is a marvelous film and deserves its 8 Oscars, but I think that there was a message for brands embedded into the film that I would like to put our attention to.

In one scene the lead character, Jamal, is seen at work in a Mumbai Call Centre (ostensibly for a mobile phone company) and for those who have never been to see a call centre, it was a highly enlightening experience. The main character Jamal, is a Chai-boy (tea-boy) in the call centre, and is seen taking tea into a daily training session where the call centre staff are being instructed in the day’s plot in Eastenders, thus ensuring they are able to converse with average Brits! A rather crude and clichéd scene, but amusing nonetheless.

Then, Jamal is seen helping out a friend by taking over his seat and answering a call. The call as you can imagine does not go well, the customer asks where she has called as she is calling from Kingussie in Scotland and he replies “ah….I am just down the road (he looks around the room for inspiration and spies a poster of Big Ben and Parliament Square)…at Loch Big Ben!”

Well, it’s played for laughs in the film, but there is a very real lesson here that we need to take heed of, our customers can sniff out a lie, and brands should be measuring the impact of the channels on the customer experience. I bet the call that Jamal hangs up on would not have been recorded, in a typical call centre, or highlighted as a negative customer experience for the customer in Kingussie. This focus on customers across cross-channels is essential in difficult economic times, the more customer-focused brands may do better than others!

Prompt Communications, a specialist in PR, marketing and social media communications, has been awarded the UK PR account for Foviance, a cross-channel user experience consultancy to the world’s leading brands.Prompt will work with Foviance to develop thought leadership initiatives, increase brand awareness and ultimately drive lead generation through a mixture of traditional media outreach, analyst relations, social media, thought leadership communications, and speaker engagements.

Foviance uses expert consultants and advanced technology to improve customer experience, which enables companies to optimise usability, conversion rates and retention. Foviance’s capabilities include researching the customer experience across multiple channels, such as call centres, mobile, iTV, handheld devices and catalogue marketing.

“We see Prompt as an extension of our marketing department and selected the team to add a fresh perspective to the design and operation of our communications programme,” said Paul Blunden, CEO, Foviance. “With our specialism in cross-channel customer experience and the recent addition of our data analytics capabilities, it is important to have an agency that demonstrates a solid understanding of our technologies, services and business model. Most importantly, we needed an agency with experience in delivering consistent, measurable results.”

“Working with Foviance is a fantastic opportunity to further utilise the depth of expertise we have in the cross channel marketing and technology arena,” said Hazel Butters, managing director of Prompt Communications. “Foviance’s unique value proposition enables its blue chip customer base to improve the customer experience globally. We look forward to helping Foviance achieve its goals by creating awareness across traditional and social media channels.”

About Foviance

Foviance is a leading customer experience consultancy that works globally with some of the world’s best known brands to deliver measurable improvements in performance.

Founded in 2001 and with a heritage in website usability and data analytics, Foviance delivers consultancy to its clients about the effectiveness of their individual channels, such as mobile, web and call centre and how they combine in a cross-channel environment. For many clients, insight is provided not only in their home market, but also internationally through Foviance extensive alliance network.

Foviance engages with its customers wherever they are in their product lifecycle, and provides insight so they understand how to improve, create and deliver excellent customer experiences.

Foviance boasts 43 of the UK FTSE 100 companies among its client roster, including Barclays, BSkyB, and Sainsbury’s. In addition Foviance works with International brands such as Astrazeneca, Dell and Nokia.

Press Coverage:

ResponseSource: Foviance appoints Prompt Communications as UK PR agency
By Prompt Communications, February 24, 2009

CallCentreClinic: Foviance appoints Prompt Communications as UK PR agency
By OneWeek Media Ltd, February 24, 2009

For more information or interviews please contact press contacts:
UK: Ellie Turner
Prompt Communications, London
Tel: +44 (0) 20 8996 1650
ellie@prompt-communications.com