by Stephanie Rabinowotz | Nov 6, 2015 | Customer Satisfaction
Today’s culture is all about instant gratification. If we can’t get our Starbucks in a drive through or if our SnapChat won’t download we feel hugely inconvenienced. With these types of expectations, our generation is accustomed to getting everything we want and getting it now. Even though this seems like a very selfish way to live (and sometimes it definitely is), companies are wising up to these expectations and accommodating to them.
Think about Amazon, they offer Amazon Prime so that you can get packages delivered within 2 days as opposed to an indefinite 3-5 days. Not only are they making shipping quicker, but they now track your purchases so they can better advertise to you what you may need… making your shopping experience much faster. Rather than having to search the internet, the internet seems to know you. All you have to do is type half a word into a Google search and magically it knows what you are trying to look for.
This is all because of Big Data. Big Data is what tracks us; everything about us is being recorded and sent to companies now. Talk about being stalked. But this is being stalked in a good way, at least according to our culture. We like having everything at our finger tips, less work = better. In one sense it is sad to see our work ethic dive bombing, but our world is also becoming more efficient. The use of Big Data is allowing everything to become faster and more accurate.
A great example of this is Pandora. Pandora studies what songs we like and dislike and uses that information to put together playlists that seem meant for our individual music tastes. It is much more convenient to listen to a radio station that only plays our favorite songs. This way we get to listen to great music without wasting time searching for the next song or listening to our own homemade playlist on repeat. This is the type of business that will go far with our current culture, the type that caters to individuals in a fast and easy manner.
Not only is Big Data saving people time, it is making companies a lot of money. Companies that play into the instant gratification game are rising to success with the use of Big Data. By understanding their customers and knowing how to give them what they want as fast as possible, businesses are excelling.
by Stephanie Rabinowotz | Oct 7, 2015 | Customer Satisfaction
Trying to operate in today’s world without utilizing optimization tools such as Big Data is like trying to drive a car with a flat tire. Although Big Data is not the answer to all of life’s problems, it is an incredible resource used to enable companies to perform with the utmost efficiency.
Zendesk, a software company that controls customer service calls and websites has learned how to utilize big data to perform where human intuition lacks. Customer service calls are usually unpleasant, for both the customer and the service specialist. Often times customers become very upset with the service specialist ( even though the service specialist usually has no control over the issue) leading the service specialist to drown out the yelling. The other issue is that not all angry customers yell, some can be very call and then turn around and write a horrible review about the company’s service.
With Social Media’s strong influence, a few negative tweets or posts can be devastating to a company’s reputation.
Zendesk’s hope is that their Big Data software will be able to pick out trigger words that have often been correlated with “dangerous” customers. If service specialists are given this information about unusually angry customer, they can make that customer a priority and hopefully solve any issues.
Some may think that it is a bit excessive to use a computer to determine if someone is upset, but sometimes emotions can be lost in translation. Customer service is not something that a machine can do , but when a customer service specialists uses Big Data as a tool for catching an emotions they may have missed, there is a good chance we can make the customer service experience much more enjoyable.
by Stephanie Rabinowotz | Oct 5, 2015 | Customer Satisfaction
In the medical field, time can be crucial. Think about an emergency room, doctors don’t have time to open up a book or research a patient’s symptoms when they are bleeding out on the table. A doctor must make a quick decision based on the information at hand. What if our doctors had quicker access to information? Information that is up to date and accumulated from other cases all over the world? Could we potentially save more lives if Big Data could provide doctors with the information needed to make faster, more accurate decisions?
Yes.
This is already happening as companies such as Cerner have taken their expertise in healthcare IT and combined it with the power of Big Data. Cerner and Cloudera have created a platform in which healthcare records and patient information can be collected and standardized. The more information we can gather and make sense of, the better we can understand symptoms and prescribe treatments. This tool can be used by doctors to quickly diagnose symptoms such as a blood disease and treat it accordingly rather than have to run multiple tests to reach the same answer. If our doctors can diagnose patients with less tests, the cost of a hospital visit will decrease dramatically.
Not only is the use of Big Data in healthcare records saving lives but it also has the capability of saving patients a lot of money. To learn more about how the healthcare system is utilizing Big Data CLICK HERE!
by Lucile Williams | Jul 4, 2015 | Business Optimization, Customer Satisfaction
In the continuously evolving world of business, perfection is a moving target. Companies design processes to provide services, manufacture products, or deliver on promises to customers efficiently and effectively, within time and budget constraints. But in just the time between process design and implementation, the marketplace changes. Keep business optimization in mind to keep your organization moving forward.
It’s a virtual certainty that there’s room for improvement in even the most elegant process or system. Don’t rest on your laurels when it looks like things are humming along. Instead, to optimize business, examine the data and metrics you’ve gathered and see how your company is performing against expectations and against industry peers. With an open mind and expert guidance, you’ll find opportunities that can transform the organization.
Establish Business Optimization Goals
Ultimately, every company should seek greater customer satisfaction. A business optimization effort designed to increase customer satisfaction will increase your competitive advantage and may allow you to enter new markets. Of course, increased profitability is an eternal goal for any business. By continuously improving existing processes, a business optimization project can reduce costs, reduce defects, improve productivity, or increase revenues for a demonstrable return on investment.
Select Business Optimization Opportunities
As you pursue growth and improvement, the smartest first step is to engage a seasoned business optimization adviser. Your adviser’s objectivity and expertise will help you identify high-impact opportunities. Draw on your business intelligence – a combination of company key performance indicators, performance compared to your industry, and what you learn every day from customers. Work with your adviser to analyze this data annually with find high-potential, cross-functional areas for improvement that aligns with your long-term strategic goals.
Ensure Business Optimization Success
Business optimization begins with the right people and the right methodology. Your trusted advisor will help analyze your situation and identify improvement opportunities, but that shouldn’t be the end of the engagement. Maintain a consultative relationship between the advisor and the internal employees who developed the process that will be improved, and who will carry the business optimization forward.
Once you’ve identified the project, pursue business optimization by applying a systematic approach using the appropriate methodology. Six-sigma projects achieve long-term defect reduction where the final outcome may be unknown. Other opportunities may call for a more direct or immediate approach.
Gathering the right business optimization team is a critical piece of the puzzle. Seek out subject matter experts on the processes that will be addressed. Your team should be a blend of people with open minds who will consider alternative solutions, along with devil’s advocates who will keep the group grounded.
Be sure to establish controls in the project that will allow you to demonstrate improvement. Whether your investment is just the team’s time, or the significant expense of a new automated system, you must prove a return on that investment. Incorporate controls that will point out the project’s impact on business metrics such as increased productivity, reduced cost, or greater customer satisfaction. Proper controls will allow you to monitor progress along the way and make adjustments if needed. Ultimately, these controls will prove business optimization results, whether that means getting an under-performing organization up to target, or moving from satisfactory performance to an industry leadership position.
Finally, celebrate success. Business optimization is a time-consuming effort that deserves recognition. Honor the people involved and their achievements. In addition to raising team morale, you’ll build enthusiasm for the current successful project, and for future business optimization efforts.
Business Optimization, Customer Satisfaction & ROI – by Lucile Williams, Six Sigma Master Black Belt
Visit Cliintel at www.cliintel.com
by Richard Batenburg | May 6, 2015 | Customer Satisfaction
Improving the customer experience is a universal goal in business, right along with revenue growth and return on investment. But although we all know that customer care is the road to customer satisfaction, it can be difficult to navigate the journey. Knowing what to avoid can help you reach your destination more quickly and easily. Following are a few roadblocks to steer clear of in your pursuit of exceptional customer care.
Avoid indirect routing: As you chart your path to customer satisfaction, the most direct route is the most effective. Customer care cannot be a departmental initiative – it must be a company-wide vision that starts at the top. Don’t allow your organization’s customer care mission to be seen as the responsibility of any single group. Rather, insist on a commitment to quality linking everyone to the customer, from C-level executives to front-line staff.
No bad drivers: The customer care agents who respond to customers are the face of your organization: don’t let the wrong hires damage your reputation. Make sure your hiring criteria emphasize customer empathy and a commitment to serve. Train employees to see every situation from the customer’s point of view, and to listen closely to assess the nature of the problem and relationship so they can give extra attention to your best customers. Reward employees who go the extra mile in customer care, for example, calling to tell the customer when a service technician is on the way. Impose consequences for failure to follow up.
No back-seat driving: No customer ever wants to be put on hold while an agent tracks down a manager for permission to do the right thing. Build a culture of empowerment in your company in which every customer care agent can resolve a customer problem without seeking an OK from on high. Give your customer care staff the authority to make customers happy.
Kick-the-can is not allowed: Do not allow a customer to be transferred from department to department in search of a resolution to his problem. Customer care demands one-stop shopping. Align goals across all departments and divisions so everyone knows that the goal is to delight the customer, not to get rid of him.
Are we there yet? (or: How do you know where you’re going if you don’t know where you’ve been?) Failure to measure virtually guarantees failure to improve. Exceptional customer care can only be achieved through scrupulous measurement and management. Establish a baseline of satisfaction. For example, a service organization might determine that no customer should have to call with a problem more than twice a year, and offer some kind of compensation if that baseline is exceeded. Establish triggers that signal potential dissatisfaction and build them into customer records. Survey customers regularly to determine their level of satisfaction, and follow up to measure improvement after a customer care transaction. As problems are resolved, be sure that you measure total customer care response time, including time spent waiting for parts or service delivery.
Don’t forget regular maintenance: As we tend to customer care problems, it’s easy to lose sight of those who don’t appear on the daily radar. Recognize and reward good customers, even if they don’t experience problems. Thank them for their business through special offers and rewards.
Great customer care doesn’t have to be expensive – it’s a matter of avoiding the detours along the way and convincing your customers that you’re the only company they want to buy from. Going the extra mile and respecting your customer’s time and concerns will ensure a positive experience for the customer and long-term benefit for your company.
To learn more about customer care, please visit www.cliintel.com or e-mail askcliintel@cliintel.com.
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