Case Study - IBM
Customer Service Interactions That Improve Customer Satisfaction
Client - IBM, the world’s largest information technology company
Strategic Goals
Improve customer service when users
call 800#s for technical assistance.
––Reduce
customer complaints.
––Improve
response time to email and phone calls
regarding inquiries and problems.
Communication Challenges
| • | Duplication of research to answer technical questions because of unclear internal communication between the various technical levels of support |
| • | Fewer supervisors to “turn problems over to” when first-line responders could not handle the call |
| • | Lack of follow-up to “close the loop” when customer issues were escalated from first-level responders to more-technical specialists |
| • | Excessive time required by service agents receiving calls to understand the customer issue and communicate solutions |
Solution
Booher's solution included:
| • | Interviewing managers at call centers to determine specific customer issues and to identify skill gaps |
| • | Observing and recording service agents as they respond to customer calls |
| • | Interviewing service agents to determine skill gaps and frustrations |
| • | Analyzing the job skills necessary for various levels of support |
| • | Reviewing and analyzing written customer complaints to identify recurring issues |
| • | Collecting actual customer situations and documents to use in training the staff |
| • | Developing a 24-hour custom training course and job-aids to equip service agents to |
—Write clear emails
to communicate technical information
to customers, to peers, and
to their
own management |
|
| • | Facilitating e-Service classes |
| • | Certifying internal IBM trainers to deliver the training |
Results
Both written and oral customer complaints dropped dramatically within the month and customer satisfaction survey scores rose sharply. Response time improved as agents took responsibility for follow-through when escalating customer issues to the next level of support.
Stress among service agents also decreased as agents learned to use specific techniques. As a result, the company began to have waiting lists for the training.
