Last Call For Participation: 2008 Service and Support Metrics Survey

Supportindustry.com would like to invite you to participate in our annual Service and Support Metrics Survey. This important survey, sponsored by Parature, is designed to capture data on the crucial metrics essential to running your support operation. The results will help you benchmark your support operation against what other leading companies are doing today.

The executive summary of the survey will be made available for free to all who participate. As an additional incentive, three lucky participants will receive a $75 Amazon.com gift certificate (winners will be chosen at random).

To take part in the survey, click here. Your response is requested by February 26, 2008.

Autonomy etalk Unveils Enhanced Web Interface for Global Call Recording Access
Autonomy Corporation, a provider of infrastructure software for the enterprise, announced the immediate availability of Qfiniti Web Access, an enhanced secure and robust thin-client user interface for accessing its etalk Intelligent Contact Center solutions suite. Qfiniti Web Access provides remote users with direct access to search and playback contact center voice and screen recordings and perform agent performance evaluations from a web-enabled browser, regardless of location or language spoken. This solution employs business rules-based permission settings and security features such as HTTPS, data encryption, and client-side certificates to ensure only authorized users have access to contact center information. Qfiniti Web Access, along with the entire Qfiniti suite, automatically detects the agent or user's language in the browser and displays the interface in more than 15 languages.

Convergys Canadian Withdrawal Tip of Iceberg for US Nearshore Contact Centers
The recent announcement of Convergys CEO David Dougherty that his firm would be closing facilities in Canada should surprise no one, and by all accounts, will become a strategy that will find its way into the playbooks of many US-based outsourcers that have heavy Canadian deployments servicing American customers. Research firm Datamonitor believes that a number of economic and demographic challenges will lead other outsourcing companies based in Canada serving American customers to seek opportunities in other delivery markets. These include: exchange rate appreciation, reduced labor availability and limited Spanish-speakers. In the future, American outsourcers will consider their global options for both English and Spanish contact center service delivery, fuelled by the need to save costs in uncertain economic times, the need for accessible labor and multilingual capacity that reflects US demographic shifts.

Miami-Dade County Deploys Impact 360 Workforce Management from Verint
Verint(R) Systems Inc. announced that Miami-Dade County has implemented the Impact 360(R) Workforce Management solution from its Verint Witness Actionable Solutions(TM) business line to help optimize the operations of the county's non-emergency 311 contact center, a division within the Florida Government Information Center.

Services Industry Summit - eService Strategies and Challenges
April 21-23, 2008

Join us for the Services Industry Summit - eService Strategies and Challenges, April 21-23, 2008 in historic Charleston, SC. Industry luminaries from leading organizations will share their insights and discuss the latest issues and trends in the areas of eservices, knowledge management and others!

Check it out today!

The average CRI score for the industry was 6.3 on a ten-point scale, which represents a slight overall gain since the last report; the increase was mostly concentrated in improvements measured in site simplicity (general usability). The leading company was Hewlett-Packard with an overall CRI ranking of 7.7, followed by Intuit and Xerox with 7.6. The most usable sites were judged to be Sun, Xerox and Microsoft.

Support sections have become critical in providing cost effective support to customers. All companies have separate support sections structured around the concept of specific product home pages from which information, manuals and drivers can be delivered. Eighty eight percent of support sites provide user manuals in various formats; all sites have product specific FAQs and links to updated drivers.

Support sites provide a wide array of navigation methods, and site search facilities are especially strong compared to other industries. Sites have been technically well architected, providing better support for various disadvantaged users such as those with poor eyesight. The industry recorded the highest average score for any industry for accessibility.

High-technology support sites exceed those from other industries in the provision of options for customers to gain information. Two-thirds now have user forums. Most companies are now fully invested in monitoring and updating such forums, preferring this option to allowing unofficial forums to grow in popularity. In most cases, forum contents are incorporated into general search results.

One-third provide some form of alert through the use of RSS or other mechanisms. Online chat has become common practice in the industry, with more than half providing this facility to customers, compared to 30 percent six months ago. Chat has started to challenge e-mail as the website dialog of preference. With less than 50 percent of email questions answered in a helpful manner within a 24 hour time period, real-time chat might be increasingly demanded by customers. Of special note was the strong performance of Intuit, Microsoft and Symantec in responding to customer questions. Interestingly, Apple provides no chat or email support options and encourages users to contact Apple through stores and by telephone to solve issues. This approach is closer to consumer electronics than the technical self-help nature of comparable sites.

Content relevancy has become a significant issue for many high-technology companies with the explosive growth in less sophisticated users looking for more basic “how to” information. The technical customer is generally well serviced on sites, but the new or less technical user in general is less supported. Ninety five percent of sites have incorporated feedback options on all advice notes, so this is obviously being monitored as the industry struggles to mature from technical roots to a more consumer electronic base.
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Outsourcing Programs Hampered By Poor Planning and Narrow Focus on Cost Savings
A new study from Deloitte reports that enterprises entering into outsourcing arrangements are focusing too heavily on reducing costs through labor arbitrage alone, resulting in high levels of disappointment and conflict even though most companies are realizing the cost savings that they had hoped for.

The Deloitte study, "Why Settle for Less: 2008 Outsourcing Report" reported that 83 percent of companies surveyed had achieved an ROI of over 25 percent on their outsourcing projects. However, 49 percent of the executives surveyed indicated they would have defined service levels that aligned better with their companies’ business goals if they could start their outsourcing projects over and only 34 percent of respondents reported that they had gained important benefits from their service providers’ innovative ideas or transformation of their operations.

In addition, by a 3-to-1 margin, the outsourcing service providers polled reported that their client companies did not have a solid outsourcing plan, lacked the operational data needed to make sound decisions and did not understand how the to-be organization would really work. Such contradictory findings could be the result of a failure to properly define the goals of the outsourcing projects as being more than saving money.
According to Deloitte, while there is no single right way to use outsourcing for each company, companies should examine the following aspects of an outsourcing deal to see if they need to correct their course even in mid-stream:

• Did you clearly define the strategy? Companies need to ask themselves if they are outsourcing the right things for the right reasons. Transferring a dysfunctional operation to a vendor in hopes of saving costs through economies of scale or arbitrage can be a case of “your mess for less.”

• Do we have a solid foundation? Companies need to ask if they have defined and quantified what they expect from outsourcing. The creation of a business case and the establishment of effective service level agreements (SLAs) should not be given short shrift; but in practice this is too common.

• Vendor selection now means something different. Companies need to select the right service provider, one that is capable of delivering strategic process improvements as well as cost reductions. When things do not go well in outsourcing, most companies automatically scrutinize the service provider, but do not recognize that their decision to select a vendor on cost alone may be the actual root cause of their problems.

• Striking the deal. Companies need to ask if their contracting process is mutual and flexible. Contract negotiation is a pivotal point in the outsourcing process.

• After the deal is signed, are you getting what you paid for? It can be tempting to think the signing of the outsourcing contract is the culmination of the outsourcing process. But in reality, effective performance management, especially the insistence that service providers actively search for, develop and implement strategic improvements, is the crowning component of an effective outsourcing initiative.

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Companies Pressured to Deliver CRM Access Anywhere Turn to Software-as-a-Service Solutions
A recent survey conducted by the Aberdeen Group revealed that only 7% of respondents will not consider purchasing CRM delivered via SaaS. The move towards SaaS as the preferred delivery method for a CRM system is due in part by the need for organizations to find efficient ways to increase the productivity of a diverse sales force.

The top pressure causing all organizations to focus resources on SaaS as a CRM delivery method is the need to provide access to account information anywhere to an increasingly mobile and global workforce. Best-in-Class companies indicated that they currently blend organizational capabilities, such as the ability to provide remote access to employees (95%) and CRM security processes (57%), with technology deployment to positively affect the productivity of sales reps, while reducing the IT constraints that would accompany an on-premise solution. As a result, Best-in-Class companies have reduced Time-to-Close 30% more than Laggards. Furthermore, 71% of Best-in-Class companies integrate lead management technology with a CRM solution to provide increased visibility into the sales pipeline.

The report demonstrates the value of collectively leveraging organizational practices in process, performance measurement, knowledge management and technology to maximize the productivity and efficiency of an organization’s CRM system and sales force. By utilizing CRM/SFA (90%) and system access restrictions (67%), Best-in-Class companies are able to provide their employees with a secure repository of account, contact, and customer information.
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Green movement offers significant market opportunities for the technology sector
As public awareness and support for global environmentalism increases, technology organizations are beginning to implement green initiatives to mitigate their impact on the planet. However, altruism is just one of many motivating factors behind the green movement according to a recent study conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers titled: “Technology Executive Connections: Going Green: Sustainable Growth Strategies.” The strongest driver is economic.

Forty percent of technology executives claim the green movement creates significant market opportunities for their companies, as evidenced by a noticeable increase in customer demand for green products and services. Additionally, 60 percent of respondents cite energy savings as one of the most important factors in their company’s environmental decision-making process.

According to the survey, 61 percent of executives feel it is very important (29 percent) or important (32 percent) that their companies take steps to reduce their environmental impact. This shift towards green products, services and business operations is having a direct impact on the level of collaboration and innovation found throughout the entire technology value-chain, including marketing, HR, R&D processes, manufacturing, and supply chains.

As organizations continue to evaluate their own business practices, they are paying closer attention to the actions of their partners and suppliers as well. One in five executives (18 percent) claim their companies practice environmentally preferred purchasing, where organizations select products and services that have a lesser effect on the environment than competitive products and services. Within the next two years, this figure will rise to over half (53 percent).

Technology organizations are also taking steps to safeguard themselves from stringent government legislation and regulations in the future by proactively imposing their own green-oriented controls. Twenty percent of survey respondents say their companies maintain a formal and widely distributed environmental policy. This figure will increase significantly over the next two years, jumping to 48 percent. To further reduce the risk of government regulations, technology companies are implementing a range of other environmental processes such as auditing internal green practices, appointing senior executives to oversee green programs, and creating a clearer linkage between green initiatives and performance.

A number of technology companies are also issuing Sustainability Reports. Within an organization, these reports can be used to manage operations more efficiently, while minimizing risks. Externally, technology companies can use these reports to highlight their environmental advantage in the marketplace with competitors, regulators and consumers.

While global organizations across all sectors are striving to become more environmentally responsible, the effects of the green movement on hardware manufacturers compared to software companies varies substantially. The statistics demonstrate greater interest and associated green activity from technology manufacturers relative to service-oriented businesses, such as software providers and content developers. According to the survey, 60 percent of technology manufacturers are developing green products and services, compared to only 33 percent of non-manufacturers.

Technology manufacturers are taking aggressive steps to expand their portfolio of green products and services by pursuing energy efficiency, implementing designs that reduce or eliminate the use of hazardous materials, using recycled or recyclable materials, building products that last longer, and creating packaging that meets or exceeds global environmental standards. A growing focus on reducing the weight of products and improving their capacity for recycling is also helping manufacturers better address “end of life” issues such as the recovery and disposal of products that have run their course.

The green movement also presents software and service-oriented technology companies with sizeable growth opportunities. The need for green technology consulting services and software aimed at helping organizations conduct business virtually to reduce travel and thus the carbon footprint will increase substantially in the coming years.
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Putting Customers First
“Customers first." It's the mantra of businesses everywhere. Yet the average company still loses 10% to 15% of customers each year. Most of them leave due to poor service or a disappointing product experience, yet only 4% of them will tell you about it. And once they've left, it's difficult (not to mention expensive) to get them back. Fostering true loyalty and engagement with customers starts at a basic level, but here are nine techniques you can employ to make customer loyalty a powerful competitive advantage for your company.
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Social Media Will Change Your Business
Look past the yakkers, hobbyists, and political mobs. Your customers and rivals are figuring blogs out. This article’s advice: Catch up…or catch you later.
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Nine Consumer Technologies CIOs Fear
Some of them get it, and some of them don't. That's what our consumer technology survey found when we polled 311 IT decision makers about their views on consumer technologies in the enterprise. The survey found that 54 percent of respondents believe consumer applications are "inappropriate for corporate use," while more than a third say they take the draconian measure of shutting down any unsupported technology as soon as they detect it. So we drilled down and asked them what consumer technologies make them cringe the most.
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ITIL 3: Executive Validation for KM
For the last 17 years, the gold standard for best practice in IT service management (ITSM) has been a framework developed under the sponsorship of the Office of Government Commerce, an arm of the British government. The framework, called the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL), consists of a set of scholarly books laying out the best practices. A substantial, worldwide cottage industry has arisen for consultancies and training organizations teaching ITIL, certifying its practitioners and helping thousands of organizations to adopt the ITIL processes. In March 2007, ITIL saw the launch of the framework’s third major release. ITIL 3 significantly changes the scope of the framework. One important change directly affects those in IT with a stake in the knowledge management discipline.
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Think Smart - Act Smart: Avoiding The Business Mistakes That Even Intelligent People Make
by J. Nightingale

Smart people sometimes make mistakes that seem like good ideas at the time. Why do clearly intelligent people, including business leaders, make spectacularly wrong decisions costing them time, money, and at worst, the loyalty of their customers and employees?
Author and business consultant Jim Nightingale supplies invaluable insight into poor choices made by otherwise intelligent people and reveals that, from the wacky to the disastrous, every kind of erroneous thinking is rooted in similar thought processes that make even the smartest professionals do things wrong. Think Smart––Act Smart examines the faulty thinking of a collection of brilliant people, using case studies drawn from historical examples.

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White Paper: Using Web-based Support Tools to Improve Customer Service
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