By Cynthia Clark
Published 01/04/2012 in 1to1 Magazine

   Case in Brief: Feedback Triggers
   Swisscom’s Customer Service Improvements

By bolstering its online self-service content based on customer
    feedback, Swisscom reduced calls to its contact center
    while improving its customer experience.

Making changes based on customer feedback can be a profitable endeavor. Just ask Markus Eberhard, who heads the self-service department for Swisscom.

The Swiss telecommunications provider wanted to increase the number of customers who were finding support solutions either on its website or through its mobile app. According to Eberhard, the company’s target was to double the ratio of support requests solved online. The company also wanted to deflect calls to the contact center, which would help reduce service costs. “The major interest of the company is to be more cost-effective,” Eberhard says.

Although Swisscom wanted to deflect calls, it wanted to avoid a complicated IVR system. “If someone calls in, he expects to speak to a person,” says Eberhard.

Achieving these goals began by better understanding customer needs. Swisscom implemented an NPS-integrated feedback platform from Kampyle in 2010 to help it determine what support its customers were looking for and where they were encountering problems when seeking online assistance. “We wanted to know what questions customers had for which they were not finding answers online,” Eberhard says.

One of the initial surveys revealed that less than 50 percent of customers who first looked for support online were finding the information they needed to solve their problem; the majority of those whose support questions were not answered online then called the contact center.

Through the survey, the company quickly identified two main problems with its online support that were driving customers to call the contact center: information customers needed was not available online, and the structure of the online content was not always user-friendly. The company’s executives were also aware that certain products, for example Swissom’s Internet TV, required detailed support information that, if not available online and easy to follow, could lead to an increase in calls to its contact center.

After analyzing customer feedback the company modified its online content to meet customer needs, adding missing information and improving site navigation.

Results

Within a year of optimizing the online content and restructuring the information architecture, Swisscom increased the number of support requests solved online to 65 percent, a jump of more than 15 percent. Eberhard says this has led to savings of up to CHF3 million (around $3.2 million) in just 12 months.

Additionally, the company has seen a spike in customer satisfaction. Eberhard explains that before the online support was restructured, Swisscom had an NPS of zero, with as many detractors as it had promoters, but this shot up to 30 immediately following the changes and has now stabilized at 20. Eberhard says the result is more significant since the company is measuring the NPS of customers who started off with a problem.

Lessons Learned

Understand customers’ needs: Organizations need to listen to their users to determine what support they’re looking for and to learn what information isn’t clearly presented.

Change what doesn’t work: Companies must make the necessary changes to satisfy customers’ requirements.

Reinforce self-service: Customers who look for support online will get frustrated—and may not use a company’s self-service in the future—if they don’t get their questions answered and have to call its contact center.

About the Author

Cynthia Clark is Senior Writer with 1to1 Media, where she writes for 1to1 Magazine, “Think Customers: The 1to1 Blog,” and Customer Strategist journal. Prior to joining 1to1 Media, Cynthia worked as a journalist with The Times, a daily national newspaper in Malta, and wrote regularly for The Sunday Times. She has also contributed articles to several magazines. Contact Cynthia at 203-989-2211 or cynthia.clark@1to1.com

Copyright 2012, 1to1 Media. Reprinted with permission.

About Swisscom

Swisscom is Switzerland’s leading telecoms provider, with 6 million mobile customers and around 1.6 million broadband connections. The company has a presence throughout Switzerland and offers a full range of products and services for mobile, landline and IP-based voice and data communication.