Challenge
A global mobile communications provider used customer centricity as a differentiator to steal market share from bigger competitors. It needed a customer service partner that was imbued with the same culture and had a demonstrable track record of achievement. Our focus on performance and proactive customer service made it a natural choice for this long-term strategic partnership.
Our solution
Over 10 years, we have brought consistent performance delivery to the client relationship. We have provided 24/7 customer support through 4,000 associates located in six sites in the Americas and Southeast Asia. Associates were responsible for general customer care, mobile customer support with billing and wireless mobile queries, and service-to-sales initiatives in voice, chat, and messaging channels.
With the team in place, we focused on providing the client with innovations in leadership, quality, and technology to improve care operations.
Part of the program’s success is attributed to our policy of appointing a director for each line of business. Directors developed a deep understanding of the client’s business model and maintained a dedicated executive presence, ensuring all strategies were executed in line with the overall objective of the program. As key decision-makers, TTEC directors expedited the resolution of issues and ensured that people development was rapidly scaled up to match the requirements of each area of the business.
Other leadership brainstorming sessions shared front-line insight to improve client operations, including one proactive recommendation to auto-generate SMS messages to customers waiting for a first response.
From the start of the relationship TTEC also addressed staffing gaps, reducing the time customers waited for a first response. Analysis of conversations enabled increased associate productivity from an average of 4 to 8 chats per hour.
Quality was maintained via continuous improvement training and collaboration sessions, such as those to familiarize associates with the functionality of a new phone so they can confidently handle calls following new product launches. Typically, only a few days’ notice might be given for a new phone launch, so this strategic approach was critical to success. These ‘huddles’ also served as best practice sharing sessions where top conversation drivers and their resolution were shared. Key performance indicators and other published metrics showed that TTEC delivered an excellent customer experience that matched the client’s brand promise.
And our innovative technology support via SMS messaging, mobile app, and online let customers engage with brand ambassadors at their own convenience. Each conversation could be continued at any time like a regular SMS conversation, since chat interactions were saved and routed to the same associate whenever that person was available.
Results
TTEC employees kept up performance levels with in-house employees, and customer satisfaction scores rose from 7.5 to 8.6 out of 10 in the past year, an increase of 15 percent. As a result, TTEC was awarded the ‘Best Partner’ award by the client in 2017.
