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December 2013

IMPROVING THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE THROUGH TECHNOLOGY

TO PUMP UP DATA VOLUME,

CONNECT CUSTOMER CHANNELS
For stellar customer service, departments beyond the call center need access
to customer information. That takes integrationand a solid security plan.
BY LENA J. WEINER AND BRENT LEARY

D Social Climbers

D Share the

Data Load

D Dirty Looks

D Your Name,
Please?

D Protect and Serve

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an
internal call center
at financial management company
Deloitte Services,
Gerry Barber has seen trends come and go. In the 1970s,
call center workers were mostly unionized, he recalled, and
today the ranks of call centers have become more diverse,
multilingual and tech-savvy. The next big thing, he says,
is the real deal: the move toward multichannel CRM.
Multichannel customer service is all about enabling
customers to reach organizations through all available
meanssocial media sites like Twitter and Facebook,
mobile apps, Short Message Service, websites and even the
good, old-fashioned telephone. Its also about making sure
each customer has one identity, regardless of whichor
how manycommunications channels he or she chooses
to use.

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S DIRECTOR OF

P U M P U P DATA VO LU M E , C O N N E CT C U S T O M E R C H A N N E L S

In the old days, when people needed help from a retailer,

utility or government agency, there was pretty much one
way of getting it. They simply called and spoke with a customer service representative. Sure, some people sent letters, but the vast majority of requests took place over the
phone. No longer. Organizations today need be flexible and
let people connect with them on their own termsand they
must track all interactions to provide call center agents
with a single view of each customers history. That means
providing access to customer information to departments
throughout companiesand ensuring databases and communication channels are properly integrated. And most
arent there yet.
Multichannel customer service is still in its infancy,
said Nicolas de Kouchkovsky, analyst and operator of
CaCube Consulting in San Francisco. You can no longer
optimize a single channel in isolation. Providing a consistent experience across those channels and understanding

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the journey clients and prospects are going to go through

is very, very important. (See Thoroughly Modern CRM,
page 4.)

SHARE THE DATA LOAD

The best multichannel strategies are based on a philosophy
of sharing, according to Nathan Pepper, a cloud developer
at legal document provider LegalZoom.com. As customer
service requests come in through various channels, various
departments may be tasked with responding. According
to Pepper, departments need to share that information to
avoid creating information siloes.
Pepper described a state of utter confusion at his former
employer, Guidance Software, a Los Angeles-area vendor
of computer forensics applications. The company had two
separate sales teams, and because the groups didnt communicate and each considered its leads private, customers

43

Percentage of companies
that consider mobile customer
service a priority

Source: The International Customer Management Institutes 2013 report A Mobile

Customer Service Strategy: The Contact Center, the Agent, and the Challenges of
Implementation, which was based on a survey of 422 customer service professional
worldwide

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were often given two files. Pepper said he spent more time
reorganizing and cleaning up data than doing the job he
was supposed to be doingcustomizing Salesforce.com
applications.
This scenario plays out daily in customer service and
sales departments where theres poor logging of customer
contactand in a multichannel business, such practices
pose a real problem. While helping customers resolve issues
is always a part of their job descriptions, many reps find it
difficult or inconvenient to log each interaction due to time
constraints.
The ability to keep the data organized, available to all
teams and safe is becoming a differentiator between mediocre and world-class customer service, according to David
Loshin, president of Knowledge Integrity, a Marylandbased IT consultancy (see How to Win Over Todays Customers, page 6).
Not having the right information available is definitely
going to contribute to a negative customer experience,
Loshin said. You want to maximize the opportunity for
creative value at every touch point.

YOUR NAME, PLEASE?

First though, organizations have to get their hands on
the customer data, and today its easy. Gone are the days
when a retailer had to bribe customers to give up personal

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information. They filled out a survey; the store handed out a

T-shirt or a keychain.
Organizations that offer mobile applications as a contact
channel can program apps to provide information about

customers, including name, phone number, contacts and

where they are at any given moment. Or they can give call
center representatives an incentivea cash bonus, say, or
extra time offto obtain as much information as possible

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Thoroughly Modern CRM

Protect
and Serve

CUSTOMERS TODAY EXPECT faster

to retain players. Although the

Service Cloud, which allow organiza-

responses, better information and

company boasted millions of active

tions to communicate with customers

greater value. Implementing multi-

users, it received very little feed-

across social media channels, provide

channel CRM technology will help

back. To get it, Kabam implemented

the full context of interactions across

ensure that they get what they want.

UserVoice help desk software and

departments so organizations can

interacted with players in the gaming

deliver quick and accurate responses.

customers can buy flight tickets using

At Delta Air Lines, for example,

applications. It now gets upwards of

To connect with customers, com-

laptops, tablets or mobile apps. When

200 opinions weekly from one gaming

panies have to use attention-grabbing

its time to check in, travelers can print

forum alone.

mediums like video and images, opti-

out boarding passes at home. They can

mize them for the right devices and

even use Deltas app to track checked

social, demographic and transac-

deliver them over the right channels.

luggage, and they can receive text

tional informationsuch as SAS Visual

This gives organizations the best

message notifications if something

Analytics and the Adobe Marketing

chance to stay connected, but more

goes awry with an upcoming flight.

Cloudcan determine what customers

important, it opens up avenues that

want and the best ways to reach them.

turn one-time buyers into returning

Systems like Oracle CX and Salesforce

customers. Brent Leary

Video-game company Kabam wanted to gather more customer feedback

4 TO

Tools that aggregate and analyze

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about customers on the line. And for retailers there are

loyalty cards, which give customers access to special sale
pricesallowing stores to track their shopping habits.
But what can an organization do with all that info?
For starters, it can be used as fuel for marketing initiatives that, for example, target customers who live in a particular area or have a common product preference. It can
also help organizations learn more about their audiences
so they can better shape future product or service development. And it can be used throughout an organization.
Finance and accounts receivable might use it to avoid billing mistakes, and sales can use it to better target potential
buyers.
Today, sales and call center reps are expected to know all
about the customer and their relationship with the company before any sale or service call even beginsand that
knowledge begins with customer data.
That info drives the relevance of whatever dialogue you

62

Percentage of companies that

think mobile customer service
will give them a competitive
advantage

Source: The International Customer Management Institutes 2013 report

A Mobile Customer Service Strategy: The Contact Center, the Agent, and the
Challenges of Implementation, which was based on a survey of 422 customer
service professional worldwide

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can have with a potential client, de Kouchkovsky said. Its

becoming crucial.

SOCIAL CLIMBERS
A great deal of useful information is also available on social
media sites, with LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook changing
the way customer information is handled and business is
conducted.
Software such as the 2013 release of Microsoft Dynamics CRM is designed to look at social media connections,
automatically pulling information from more than 30,000
online sources, including social networks and news outlets. Sales teams will benefit most from the technology,
explained Bill Patterson, senior director of planning for Microsofts flagship customer service offering. For example, if
a rep using the software sees that a contact knows a CIO at
an organization he wishes to sell to, he can use that connection to get his foot in the door.
Dynamics also enables sales reps and others to keep tabs
on organizations theyre interested in so they can make better decisions. So if a rep learns that a company has been in
the news because its facing bankruptcy, he can rule against
chasing down leads there.
Using technologies like Dynamics, people are paying
attention to what you post online, said Kim Proctor, a
(Continued on page 7)

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How to Win Over Todays Customers

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CUSTOMERS TODAY HAVE more than

2 Break away from HiPPO culture.

4 Review processes. Many cus-

cash on their side. Armed with mobile

With more information about custom-

tomer-facing processes and systems

phones and access to social media

ers available today than ever before,

have been in use for years. It may be

sites, they have a voice. To keep them

its critical to create a data-driven cul-

time to determine which ones need

happy organizations need to aim for

ture where decisions are made based

to be changed, or removed, and which

real change. Here are five tips that will

on solid informationas opposed to

new ones should be added. Getting the

help get them there.

the gut feelings of the highest-paid

right people together to do analysis

person in the organization, or HiPPO.

is critical to building the right founda-

1 Change the culture to match cus-

6 TO

tions.

tomer expectations. Many organiza-

3 Remember the need for speed.

tions believe all that is needed to solve

In customer service, speed thrills and

5 Offer subscriptions. The business

problems is new technology. But it

slowness kills. An organizations abil-

model used by services like Hulu and

takes more than flashy tools to satisfy.

ity to react and respond quickly goes a

Zipcar is well-aligned with customer

Before using social media and mobile

long way toward satisfying customers.

buying patterns. Subscriptions put

technologies to connect with custom-

Tools that automate time-consuming

pressure on companies to keep things

ers, organizations need to align strat-

lead generation and content creation

fresh and provide value. But they

egy, philosophy and culture to meet

processesEloqua, Marketo, HubSpot

also offer an ongoing connection to

their expectations. Take Dell, for exam-

or Lattice Enginescan help organiza-

customers and provide opportunities

ple. After receiving complaints from

tions more efficiently identify, nurture

to build brand loyalty. Cloud-based

users, the computer manufacturer cre-

and convert sales leads. Monitoring

services from companies like Zuora

ated a $25 million social media control

tools like Sprinklr and Sprout Social

or Totango can help organizations

center so it could more quickly reach

can help identify issues on social

implement subscriptions using these

out to customers on social channels.

media channels.

models. Brent Leary

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(Continued from page 5)

consultant at Customers That Click, a customer experience

and social media consultancy in Los Angeles.
A lot of salespeople are using social media for info about
prospects and current customers, she said, adding that a

Social
Climbers

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46

Percentage of consumers who

have used social media to vent
their frustrations about a poor
service experience

Source: A 2012 American Express survey of 1,000 U.S. consumers

little conversational grease can help a rep close a deal. Is

the prospect talking about their kids on their Facebook?
Next time you see them, be sure to ask about their kids.
But not everyone thinks that its fair or acceptable to
use information gleaned through social media to make
business decisions.
If I have a chance of not getting a loan because Im
friends with someoneI have an issue with that, said
Frank Eliason, director of global social media for financial
services titan Citigroup.

DIRTY LOOKS
But there are clear downsides to all this open information.

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Brandon Leach, a senior database administrator at Network Health, a health insurance company based in Medford, Mass., discussed the possibility of employees in health
care or elsewhere looking up the records of a celebrityor
even a normal, everyday person.
This sort of thing is fairly common, according to Leach.
Lets say a football player gets injured practicing, he said.
Theyre treated at the hospital. Someone at the hospital is
thinking about betting on the upcoming game and has access to that players record.
A snooper can study the players medical history and tell
whether he will make it back onto the team for that game,
say, and maybe place some bets. Not only is this a violation
of the athletes privacyit could destroy
the medical providers professional
reputation.
Criminals have also been known
to get medical care or prescriptions
under other peoples namessomething those victims learn about
later, when they hear from

Brandon Leach, a senior database

administrator at health insurance
provider Network Health, protects
customer data security by specifying
permission, giving only the people
who need certain info access to it.

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collection agencies. If the customer information contains

a Social Security number, a thief could apply for a loan or a
credit card, ruining someones credit and maybe even his or
her chances of getting a job.
Media reports about leaks of sensitive customer information abound. The recent hacking of British telecom giant
Vodafone was big news, and theres no shortage of stories
about employees taking information home on thumb
drives, only to lose them. Thats what happened in August
2013 when a vendor contracted by the Boston public school
system lost a flash drive containing data on 21,000 middle
and high school students.

PROTECT AND SERVE

The good news is, there are ways to ensure data security
while granting insight on customers to the right employees.
Organizations should first make sure that only those who
really need to view private customer data have access to
it. Jeremy Roche, CEO of FinancialForce.com, which sells
financial management systems designed to run in tandem
with Salesforce, said his customers use role profiling, which
allows a FinancialForce employee to see only the customer
information that is pertinent to his or her job.
Lets say I want the salesperson to know what the customers balance is, what outstanding invoices theyve got,
and what credit theyve been issued, but I dont want them

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to see any other financial transactions, Roche said. I

switch on what I want each department to see, and [that is
what] appears on their screens.
This switch-on-switch-off functionality protects information and allows marketing teams, for example, to see
demographic information in the CRM system while leaving
out customers personal details like names, addresses and
Social Security numbers. At the same time, role-based profiling ensures that the much-needed information makes its
way to the right people.
At Network Health, departments are broken into what
Leach calls security groups. Even within departments,
there are different levels of privilege, said Leach, who uses
Microsoft SQL Server among other database technologies
to store and manage the insurers customer records. We
specify permissions [within the database] like read and
write on a file level. You can even specify who has permission to launch an application.
Leach hides patient information from prying eyes by implementing many layers of security. We have stuff that exists outside of the regular network that only certain folks are
able to get into, he said. Leach also suggested encrypting all
sensitive data to keep it from being compromised. In environments like Leachs, which need to comply with the health
care privacy law commonly known as HIPAA, or the Health
Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, access is based
on need, and decisions are made on a need-to-know basis.

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For example, folks in claims need to see claim information but not necessarily case information, he said.
Leach also had some advice for those who want to thwart
rogue employees that steal customer data. Do most of the
permissions handling and authentication through Active
Directory or a similar access management tool, he said.
While his tip is specific to SQL Server, most database systems have user management applications to add or purge
users quickly and simply. That way, for example, when
an employee leaves, you can immediately cut their access
before theyre even out the door. Its one-stop shopping to
make sure the cutting of their permissions happens on all
levels.
No stranger to user permissions himself, Roche agreed
that making sure only the right people have access to customer data is good policy. But hes also an advocate of training employees to properly handle sensitive data.
Today, mishandling is probably the biggest risk to data,
he said. n
LENA J. WEINER is the site editor of SearchCRM.com. Previously, she
was associate site editor of SearchOracle.com and SearchSQLServer.com.
Before joining TechTarget, Weiner worked in the call center of a large
package tour dealer. Email her at lweiner@techtarget.com and follow her
on Twitter: @LenaJW_TT.
BRENT LEARY is co-founder and partner of CRM Essentials LLC, an
Atlanta-based CRM advisory firm covering tools and strategies for
improving business relationships. In 2009, he co-wrote Barack 2.0: Social
Media Lessons for Small Business. Email him at brent.leary@gmail.com.

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To Pump Up Data Volume, Connect Customer Channels

is a SearchCRM.com e-publication.
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