September 2021 CSIA Quarterly
Delivering top-tier customer service We talk to Neil Scales OBE about how TMR keeps Queensland moving and delivers exceptional customer service.
ICSS: 2020-2025 Webinar
Join us at the 2021 Awards
The case for XM
Registrations are now open for you to join us and celebrate customer service excellence at the 2021 Australian Service Excellence Awards
What benefits are organisations seeing by merging employee and customer experience?
Find out more
Welcome to the Spring 2021 edition of FOCUS Spring is the season of hope and new beginnings and I trust you are all looking forward to a Summer and 2022 that resembles somewhat our pre-pandemic world. The first week of October is Customer Service Week and to help you celebrate we are asking you to nominate a customer champion - with the best entry winning a CSIA Professional Membership! Judging has now concluded for the 2021 Australian Service Excellence Awards and the team at CSIA is looking forward to announcing the results during our live, online event in late October. And you’re invited – see inside about how you can join us to recognise and celebrate service excellence. In this issue of FOCUS, we hear from Neil Scales OBE, about leading one of Queensland's most prominent departments through the pandemic whilst delivering a gold class customer service including their journey to certification to the International Customer Service Standard (ICSS). Paul Smith from Citrus Group shares his thoughts on the way the recruitment of contact centre personnel has changed and continues to change. Paul also tells us his advice and lessons learnt on how to most effectively engage and manage your remote workforce.
Matthew Green from Customer Science reviews and recaps the recent Getting Your Digital Workforce Started webinar which was co-hosted by CSIA And we’re delighted to hear how Terem and IAG have collaborated to launch Attune – a next generation flexible workforce management app. Matt Porta from ServiceNow puts forward the case for merging customer and employee experience and shares the gains that organisations adopting this approach as experience management (XM) are achieving. And, of course we meet some more of our amazing members in “Members Spotlight”. Stay safe and if you are a 2021 ASEA finalist – best wishes for the results this month.
Jeremy Larkins Executive Director
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Matt Porta from ServiceNow outlines the benefits for adopting an ‘experience management’ (XM) approach.
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News in Brief
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2021 Awards
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Thank You - 2021 Australian Service Excellence Awards Judging Panel
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Delivering top-tier customer service Neil Scales OBE shares the Department of Transport and Main Roads journey to customer service excellence
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Navigating a changed industry CSIA sat down with Paul Smith from Citrus Group to learn how recruiting contact centre staff has changed.
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A-ttuned to a flexible workplace We talk with Terem CEO Scott Middleton and Attune CCO Tim Buzza about how Attune will improve workplace flexibility.
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The case for merging customer and employee experience Matt Porta from ServiceNow outlines the benefits for adopting an ‘experience management’ (XM) approach.
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Maximizing your digital workforce Matthew Green from Customer Science shares insights into starting and scaling RPA
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Member Spotlight
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News in Brief International Customer Service Week Nominate a Customer Champion Competition October 4th – October 8th is International Customer Service Week and to help you celebrate we’re inviting you to nominate a customer champion. Tell us in 250 words or less why you think your colleague, leader or even a supplier is an exceptional customer champion and you could win a complimentary CSIA Professional Membership for both your nominated champion and yourself.
FIND OUT MORE
A new look for the International Service Excellence Awards Judging is underway for the 2021 International Service Excellence awards with the judging committee currently shortlisting finalists. The ISEAs recognise service excellence across both business and professional categories and are marking their 14th year with a new look. Australian Service Excellence Awards winners will again be automatically eligible to become shortlisted as finalists for the 2021 ISEAs program. Winners will be announced in January 2022.
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Certified Customer Service Leader Program CSIA invites you to join our final public training program for 2021 – the Certified Customer Service Leader (CCSL) program. This program will be facilitated in our virtual classroom with participants joining from around Australia with the focus on understanding how to apply and contribute to your organisations customer strategy and how to hire, train, coach and mentor high performing customer service teams. Book now
When: December 06, 2021 from 9.30am to 4.30pm (virtual classroom) Costs: $550 CSIA members or $660 non-members
FIND OUT MORE
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2021 Awards Join Us The 2021 Australian Service Excellence Awards will be announced live during our online event from 7.30pm on Thursday, October 28, 2021 CSIA invites you to join us as we celebrate service excellence and recognise those individuals and organisations who have delivered exceptional customer experiences. And we are delighted to announced that Michael Pope will be back in 2021 to host the Awards which will feature entertainment, special guests, prizes, and the announcements of our 2021 Service Hero's, Service Champions and Winners. The live online event will be ‘webcast’ via Zoom and registration is free - so spread the word and invite your colleagues, friends and family to join us as we acknowledge the amazing work of customer service professionals across our nation.
REGISTER
SEE FINALISTS
2021 |Official Awards Partners
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CSIA wishes to thank and acknowledge our 2021 ASEAs judging team for their commitment and expertise to recognising service excellence.
Susan Blain
Todd Gorsuch
Head of Engagement and Marketing
CEO
ANU Enterprise
THANK YOU 2021 Judging Panel
Customer Science & Doll Martin Associates
Anita Bowtell
Brett Gumbley
CEO
Director
Melbourne Business Network
Antenna
Andrew Carlton
Kim Honor
Director
Facilitator
Virtual CX
CSIA
Mei-Ling Cheong
Nadia Hudson
National Manager
Director Customer Care (Australia) and Digital Content
BT
Optus
Adam Geneave
Luke Jamieson
Chief Customer Happiness Officer
Regional Director ANZ
AirAsia
Centrical
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Wendy Kerrigan
Genevieve McLean
Aoife Roche
Curriculum Manager
Senior Manager
ARC Training
Optus
Senior Key Account Manager Assetlink
Danielle Larkins
Peter Merrett
General Manager & Lead ASEA Judge
International Keynote Speaker The House of
CSIA
Wonderful
Judith Lee
Jessica Mortimer
Manager Organisational Change
Global Customer Quality Assurance Manager
Department of Transport and Main Roads
Carmelina Senese Director Customer Experience and Engagement Department of Education
Cath Stone Executive Director Donor Services
PointsBet
Australian Red Cross Lifeblood
Marina Logozzo
Brianna Owers
Jay Wane
Change Manager
Customer Experience Manager
Client Services Coordinator
Optus
CSIA
Sabeena Parween
Richard Whybrow
National Guest Experience Manager
ICT Support Engineer
Adelaide Airport
Vicinity Centres
Moonee Valley City Council
Marisa Marconi
Natalie Peterson
Diedrie Wilson
Customer & Stakeholder Engagement Manager
Customer Service Manager
Alicia Mackay Customer Experience Manager
National Manager Business Direct Westpac
Premier Waste Management
Transdev
Kelly Marr Head of Sales Only About Children
Tom McIntyre Concierge Services Manager AMP Capital Shopping Centres
Michael Raines Senior Manager Optus
Peter Vierod Founder and Managing Partner Friendly Persuasion
Tony Rambaut Co—Founder Friendly Persuasion & UniFida Australia
Tracey Vines Head of Customer Service – Asia Pacific Wex
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Marisa Marconi National Manager Business Direct Westpac Banking Corporation
Delivering top-tier customer service
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The Department of Transport and Main Road’s (TMR) vision is to create a single integrated transport network accessible to everyone. With 3.7 million face-to-face interactions with Queenslanders each year, TMR is responsible for over 80 percent of all government counter transactions. No department has a bigger role to play in keeping Queensland moving, or in helping build for the future. That’s why it’s vital that every customer transaction is of the highest standard. Here we talk with TMR's Director-General, Mr. Neil Scales OBE, about how undergoing ICSS certification through the CSIA assisted the department in delivering consistent customer satisfaction and improved customer experiences.
Mr. Scales, with such a large number of transactions, how important is it that TMR’s interactions provide the best possible experience for customers? It’s vital that our customers' experience with our services is of a high standard. At TMR we strive to get it right for our customers first time, every time. We do this by always putting our customers, the people of Queensland, first. Our people put our customers at the centre of everything they do, and everyone understands how important our customers' needs and expectations are – and how to meet them. So we can provide the best possible transport service to Queenslanders, we work with our customers to understand their needs and expectations by conducting customer research and listening to what they have to say. This helps us ensure we are striving to deliver tailored, endto-end solutions, experiences, and outcomes to meet their needs.
An example of how we connect with our customers, and something I am very proud of, is TMR's online customer research community, Michelle Hillman Transport Talk. With more than 6000 members, Transport Talk is a digital engagement platform Divisional Manager that enables us to connect with Queenslanders Customer Care Yarra across the state and work withValley them Water to discuss and explore transport related issues to inform and shape the future of transport in Queensland. We also place high importance on learning and development at TMR; I am passionate about lifelong learning. If we stay curious, learning and growth positively impacts us individually and as an organisation. It also directly impacts what we deliver for the people of Queensland. What was it that originally motivated the department to seek ICSS certification?
How does the department consistently provide such gold-standard service?
To be the best in customer experience and service, we needed to be assessed independently against the highest of industry standards. This is what the CSIA does, with the ICSS.
It's because we care about our customers and believe they deserve the best possible service. This belief is driven by the passion of our people in delivering exceptional customer experiences for Queenslanders. This doesn’t happen by accident though. We put the work in, not only internally, but also with our customers.
ICSS certification is not only important within TMR, it's an important indicator that demonstrates to Queenslanders that TMR is committed to putting them at the centre of everything we do. It shows we are a mature, award winning, customer-centric organisation. Being assessed against the ICSS showcases,
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celebrates, and provides improvement opportunities that have enabled and supported TMR to set the standard across Queensland Government. What was the process like, completing ICSS certification through CSIA? It was excellent – very straight forward and we felt supported by the CSIA throughout the entire process. At TMR, our most recent ICSS assessment was from 16-18 March 2021. I wanted the department to demonstrate and showcase the diversity of our customers and the customer focused programs of work across the department, so the assessment took place across four TMR locations which included Hervey Bay, Maryborough, Carseldine, and Brisbane City.
Marisa Marconi We have a lot to be proud of. Being Nationalagainst Manager benchmarked the ICSS and undergoing Direct regularBusiness certification activities enables us to Westpac Banking Corporation reflect and celebrate who we are and what we're delivering. It allows us to take stock, reflect, listen, and improve. For me and my Executive Leadership Team, our ICSS assessments are humbling and incredibly rewarding. The CSIA Customer Service Leader of the Year for 2020 was TMR’s Janet Born. How important is it to have customer service champions such as Janet leading your teams? At TMR, our people are our greatest asset and the reason why we can provide such highquality services and experiences to our customers. Attracting and retaining team members such as Janet is always my goal. Janet understands the responsibility of leading by example, and she continues to focus on customer service excellence, as do all of my teams. I am very fortunate to have exceptional people who work for me, and who make a positive difference for our customers.
CSIA’s certification reports consistently award TMR with top level results; how rewarding is this? Extremely rewarding and a well-deserved accolade for the staff. I am very proud that TMR is in the upper echelon of organisations accredited against the ICSS. In TMR it's paramount that we strive to excel. I'm so pleased that the CSIA has and continues to recognise and formally acknowledge that my department is an organisation that puts Queenslanders first. Anything further to add? For many of us, reflecting on 2020 and 2021 brings a range of images and thoughts to the fore, some quite challenging and others perhaps, even life changing. ‘Unprecedented’ has been the catch-cry and whilst this is true in so many ways, as events unfolded a new 'business as unusual' emerged – a norm which is now enduring. The pandemic has tried and tested us all here at TMR, in ways that have brought out the best in our resolute commitment to serve the wonderfully diverse communities of Queensland and forged our connection as a OneTMR family – a family with more than 9000 dedicated individuals. The staff continually inspire me with their grit and determination, which is both dignified and respectful.
“It is an honour to continue to walk with them on this journey.”
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ABOUT TMR The Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) moves and connects people, places, goods and services safely, efficiently and effectively across Queensland. They plan, manage and deliver Queensland's integrated transport environment to achieve sustainable transport solutions for road, rail, air and sea. TMR has been certified with the CSIA since February 2017 and have been regular finalists in the Australian Service Excellence Awards.
ABOUT ICSS CSIA uses the International Customer Service Standard (ICSS) as the assessment framework for organisations undertaking certification. ICSS provides both a recognisable benchmark and a ‘how-to’ approach to implementation of best practice customer service management. The ICSS enables an organisation to understand how well their strategy, structure, systems, people and processes are contributing to customer Michelle Hillman success and overall organisation performance. The standard applies equally across all industries including government and not-for-profit. Divisional Manager Customer Care Yarra Valley Water
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Navigating a changed industry
With more than 35 years working in recruitment, joint managing director at Citrus Group Paul Smith has a wealth of experience and expertise in the industry. Here, we talk with him about the evolution of recruitment and how best to navigate the management of remote and home-based workers.
How would you describe the Australian recruitment industry as it stands today, in the wake of the pandemic? Prior to the pandemic, the industry was buoyant, and you always see a lot of recruitment companies come and go. However, with the pandemic it has been necessary for agencies to either adapt and change the way they operate or go out of business. The industry has changed significantly; it has become a lot more difficult to find talent. The call centre sector has always had access to travellers and overseas students and, now they are no longer available, this has left a large gap. With every downside though, there is usually an upside and we are very fortunate that, in a lot of areas, the call centre industry has grown during the pandemic. More traffic on the phone and internet has seen an increase in call volumes and demand for people, whether working from home or onsite, and we have certainly seen a significant demand for our services.
How has the industry changed since you set up Citrus Group in 2013? One of the biggest changes I have seen is the number of recruitment agencies specialising in niche markets and focusing on delivering higher quality customer service. The advances in technology have also had an enormous impact on the recruitment industry, from candidate databases, assessment and psychometric tools to better select and manage candidate performance. Today, customers want more than just a recruitment service; they want insights and understanding of the best practices to hire and retain good employees.
wasn’t for our dedicated and committed team. Without a strong, dedicated and passionate team, our business would not have survived. Instead we have learned how to adapt to change so that we are better managing our business in these extreme and challenging times. Our team is passionate about what they do and continually provide our customers with a range of value-added services, including surveys, industry insights, reports and consulting services. To be the best and true leaders, it’s not just about placing people in jobs, it’s about providing a range of additional services.
How can the recruitment industry adapt to a changing environment?
As a market leader, how does Citrus reward and engage their people to deliver the best outcomes for customers?
In the current challenging environment, the key is to be able to access candidates on demand. The recruitment industry needs to be able to use its experience, expertise, and technologies to be able to provide a service to its customers when and where required. The pandemic has forced many employees, including call centre staff, to work from home which presents challenges both for them and their employers.
At Citrus Group, a major contributor to our ongoing success has been managing and retaining long-term employees. Happy and engaged employees create happy and longterm customers and we make sure that all our people, from reception to senior consultants, are rewarded and recognised for their hard work. The result is passionately engaged, happy and long-term employees.
What are some of the ways businesses can manage call centre staff who are working remotely?
Citrus has been a major sponsor of the ASEA awards from 2019. Why is it important to recognise the achievements of those working in customer-facing businesses?
Some of the key points that we have learned during the pandemic: • • •
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Legalities – Make sure you review your employment contracts to include provisions around your staff working from home; Workplace Health and Safety – Ensure staff have the right working environment, setup and technology; Recruitment – Your processes need to be structured to recruit home-based workers and all interview questions and assessments need to be customised for employees working from home; Training – It is imperative to provide structured online training and support to home-based workers. The more training and support the better; Management – Managing home workers requires a more proactive and supportive structured approach; Wellbeing – This is critical when managing home-based workers. You need to have a structured program to continually manage and assess their wellbeing.
What makes Citrus Group market leaders? Our people make us market leaders in what we do. We could not and would not be the best if it
We understand only too well that working in a customer-facing environment is not easy and can be challenging. The ASEA awards provide those working in this industry the opportunity to be recognised and celebrate their achievements.
About Citrus Group Citrus Group is a market leader in the employment industry. It was established in 2013 to address an ongoing need for quality contact centre personnel and has a wealth of expertise in the recruitment, on-boarding, training and retention of contact centre staff.
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Attune-d to a flexible workplace IAG, Australia’s largest general insurer, has partnered with Terem Technologies in a joint venture to commercialise the flexible workforce tech solution, Attune. Here we talk with Terem CEO Scott Middleton and Attune CCO Tim Buzza about the venture and how it will improve workplace flexibility.
Workplace planning, rostering and managing shift bidding as well as last-minute changes are massive challenges for contact centre operations. Not only can they cause major headaches for organisational managers who need to keep the centre running as seamlessly as possible, but also for contact centre consultants and other employees who often have to juggle shift changes and experience a loss of control over their working hours. But, thanks to a recent joint venture between Australia’s largest general insurer IAG and Terem Technologies, a ground-breaking flexible workforce management app will soon be widely available to call centres on a global scale. Attune, previously known as ‘Switch’, has been used by IAG since 2019 in its contact centres across Australia. These centres assist NRMA Insurance and CGU customers.
“I’ve personally been brought to tears with some of the success stories from staff” Scott Middleton, CEO Terem Attune has been used by more than 300 IAG contact centre consultants and has enabled more than 30,000 shift changes. In 2020 Attune helped deliver a 9% increase in employee wellbeing scores, a 23% decrease in absenteeism and a 30% decrease in attrition. Attune CCO and former IAG Workplace Innovation team member Tim Buzza, says Attune gives contact centre employees the
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flexibility they need to fit work into their life while also giving customers the right level of service and the business the outcomes it needs.
“Attune has enabled people to look after sick family members, manage home schooling and just get some time out when they’ve unexpectedly needed it.”
“Attune uses algorithms and a digital marketplace to manage supply and demand for different work shifts, automating the process,” Tim says.
Kathryn, an IAG contact centre staff member and an early user of Attune says: “I managed to accrue FlexCoins from earlier shift swaps and I was able to attend my son’s and daughter’s sports carnival.”
Through the recently announced joint venture, Attune will commercialise the workplace flexibility software to enable workplaces, such as contact centres or retail stores, to provide a new level of flexibility to staff. “This empowers contact centre employees to make changes to their rosters and work hours online without seeking manager approval,” Tim says. “This flexibility helps Attune’s customers become an employer of choice – like IAG – and win in the ever fiercer war for talent.” Tim says before implementing Attune, the process of changing shifts in IAG call centres was manual and often involved several conversations, which was time consuming and labour intensive. “In today’s world with the demands of workfrom-home and a tight labour market, businesses need to provide flexibility and an environment that their people love,” he says. “Attune offers employees the ability to earn ‘Flexcoins’ by opting to move to a shift that the business needs to be filled. Once they have enough coins, they can then use these to make shift changes when they need to. “If the employee has enough coins in their wallet, the shift change is automatically and instantly approved. Attune introduces a radically better way for agents to manage their own schedules.” Scott Middleton says Terem was attracted to Attune because it went beyond solving business problems. .“It provided solid financial metrics and literally changed the lives of staff that used it,” Scott says. “So much so that I’ve personally been brought to tears with some of the success stories from staff.
Another IAG staff member was absent for 30% of her shifts because of her daughter's rare form of epilepsy. Using Attune, she rarely misses a shift and she’s able to care for her daughter. Tim says Attune has provided a 10-times increase in flexibility to contact centre employees, and provides businesses with a clear return on investment by reducing absenteeism, attrition and inefficiencies in shift change approval processes. “We have observed that a traditionally managed 350-person contact centre will make between 200-300 shift changes per month,” he says. “The same workforce with Attune will make more than 2600 changes each month.” Together, IAG and Terem believe the unique challenges of the pandemic and the increased demand for flexible work options across almost every industry, make it the right time to commercialise Attune. “In this new work-from-home world, true flexibility, in the form Attune offers, is now a necessity to attract the best people. We want to bring about change for contact centres around the world,” Scott says.
About Attune A flexible workplace app, Attune has been used by IAG since 2019 in its contact centres in Australia to offer consultants greater flexibility and control.
Find out more
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The case for merging customer and employee experience
Matt Porta from ServiceNow outlines how organisations adopting an ‘experience management’ (XM) approach are seeing gains in both employee engagement and customer loyalty
When organisations think about improving customer service, they normally start with their customers experience. Some businesses are now taking a different approach. New research suggests that combining a focus on employee experience (EX) alongside customer experience (CX), will deliver long-term improvements to customer service and satisfaction. Merging the two approaches is known as ‘experience management’ (XM). The best part? When companies get it right, it creates a virtuous circle. Happier employees deliver better service, and customer satisfaction increases. As customers’ experience improves, morale and job satisfaction among employees also increases. Setup for success One of the best places to start is giving your employees the tools they need to succeed. Equipping customer service teams with the right systems is essential to making work more
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Experience leaders see bigger returns.
Michelle Hillman Divisional Manager Customer Care Yarra Valley Water
engaging and rewarding. For many, this means eliminating admin tasks that take up too much of their time, effort and energy. Research by Deloitte Access Economics found that on average, Australian workers spend roughly one day per week on routine admin tasks. It’s perhaps no surprise that 35 per cent feel frustrated by work. This has a significant knock-on impact on employee engagement. And as Deloitte’s research makes clear: low employee engagement leads to poor customer satisfaction and lower sales. It’s not all doom and gloom, however. The same research found that decreasing the time employees spend on routine tasks by just one hour per week would increase
employee engagement and boost profitability. Nowhere is this more apparent than in customer service, where front-line agents can be disconnected from middle and backoffice operations, meaning they have to spend valuable time chasing for updates and actions to resolve customer requests. Instant impact Taking action can deliver significant results. Take Kiwibank. Using ServiceNow’s Now Platform, it overhauled its customer service management for loan applications, creating new workflows that connected teams and departments to more quickly serve
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customers. By connecting multiple processes and systems, it eliminated the need for manual tasks like finding information, updating multiple records, or contacting different teams to track or request actions. Creating a digital, dynamic service led to immediate benefits. Customer response times reduced by 75 per cent from four days on average to one. Applications needing rework decreased by 83 per cent. Unsurprisingly, customer satisfaction increased. Employee satisfaction also significantly increased, as teams were freed from routine admin and could instead focus on high-value work. Kiwibank is not alone. Many companies are finding that as they convert more manual processes into digital ones, customer experience (CX) and employee experience (EX) depend on one another to succeed. When they do, the benefits are substantial: companies defined as leaders in overall digital experience enjoy greater market share, lower capital costs, and other advantages, according to a global survey by ESI ThoughtLab and ServiceNow. With the help of new digital tools, merging an organisation’s CX and EX efforts can help raise employee performance and increase customer loyalty, according to recent studies. The combination also forces more data sharing between teams—something many companies do poorly. Companies that made experience a top priority from the C-suite to the front lines, according to McKinsey research, saw gains of up to 20% in both customer satisfaction and employee engagement. Their customer service costs also fell by as much as 20%. Harnessing XM Digital technology and supporting expertise are needed to make the transition from specialised EX and CX teams into a combined XM practice. Data sharing between CX and EX teams is a critical strategy in merging the two practices. Customer service managers have an advantage in the move to XM. Employees on the front lines are usually the first to notice issues that arise with customers, while customers who interact with engaged
About ServiceNow ServiceNow (NYSE: NOW) is the fastest-growing enterprise cloud software company in the world above $1 billion. Founded in 2004 with the goal of making work easier for people, ServiceNow is making the world of work, work better for people. Our cloud-based platform and solutions deliver digital workflows that create great experiences and unlock productivity for more than 6,200 enterprise customers worldwide, including approximately 80% of the Fortune 500. For more information, visit www.servicenow.com.
employees generally have better overall experiences with a brand. Many will already understand the power of keeping teams energised and engaged to get the best results. If we empower employees with data and insights it helps them address potential problems quickly. The key is having the right platform in place that makes data accessible, and lets work flow between teams and systems.
Matt Porter Director, Customer Experience Solution Consulting ServiceNow
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Michelle Hillman Divisional Manager Customer Care Yarra Valley Water
Maximizing your digital workforce Webinar Report
This month, CSIA was delighted to co-host an informative webinar with Customer Science where we explored how organisations are successfully deploying their digital workforces. Matthew Green shares the key takeaways from this session.
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It is no secret that here in Australia and New Zealand we are a little bit behind the likes of USA and Europe in terms of digital strategy and automation. The recent pandemic has given all the industries a big boost on the digital journey and enhanced the speed at which companies have adopted a Digital & Cloud-first approach across the globe. As a result, the leaders in digital workforce technologies have been swiftly moving their entire offerings to be cloud-based. Digital workers in the cloud simplifies the infrastructure, improves scalability, and lowers the total cost of ownership all while making getting started easier than ever. The rise of the digital workforce has now been through the hype cycle, the benefits are proven and are as real now as they were 10 years ago. The digital workforce is fast becoming a victim of its own success now with so many software vendors and partners Marisa Marconi including some that over promise and under deliver… Simply thinking National Managerabout getting started can seem risky and daunting, so what are the Business Direct key thingsBanking you should consider when getting Westpac Corporation started?
Mission Have a clear objective if you want to improve your customer journey and lower costs, then build your success factors and prioritisation around that.
Prototype Small Identify a relatively simple process that is seen as valuable, visible & painful (or annoying). These processes exist across most businesses but are not always front of mind. Some example processes are: • • • • •
change of contact details reconciliations payments email requests Onboarding
These can be a great starting point delivering ROI within weeks.
Partners The marketplace is filled with Vendors and Consultants that are actively playing in this market having completed little if any training and having no real world experience. To illustrate this point, just under 70% of the clients I have worked with in Australia so far have been burnt by prior promises that weren’t delivered against. And in my past European life I lost count of the clients that we helped after they had poor experiences at the hands of self-proclaimed ‘Experts’. If you are going to partner, pick well! This WILL mean the difference between achieving your goals or not.
Scale Quickly Once you have proven the ROI, don’t lose momentum, start to identify your pipeline and roadmap, and start thinking about how to operationalise.
Expedite Understanding Never assume that understanding is truly there, as in many occasions many people never truly ‘get it’ until after they have seen it running in their own business on their own process. This is when the mental block vanishes and ideas for things that could be done by digital workers start to come thick and fast. There are many ways to expedite understanding with the impact being a better pipeline in a shorter time span.
Next Steps Want to learn more to consider your next steps toward a digital workforce? Review the “Event Recap” and hear how Hunter Water started their RPA journey or even follow the link and watch the full webinar.
Matthew Green Director of Intelligent Automation Customer Science
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In our latest webinar Customer Science and Customer Service Institute of Australia (CSIA) were joined by business leaders from Hunter Water and Automation Anywhere to breakdown their experiences in developing and implementing Robotic Automation Processes in their businesses.
EVENT RECAP
Our guest speaker Doug Lucas from Hunter Water, along with case studies from Anglicare, Community Options Australia & Australian Government each showcase how small-medium businesses and fortune 500 companies alike are transforming and adopting a digital workforce whilst also providing a unique perspective in their market sectors. Here’s a quick review of the insights shared by Doug Lucas at Hunter Water, around how engaging a digital workforce has changed the roadmap for their organisation. From the inception of identifying what routine and repetitive processes could be automated, to delivering the solution, RPA for Hunter Water has been all about fulfilling a need for the broader strategy business, building trust and confidence in the technology, and having the right partner to implement quickly. Listening to their people as they developed processes, and ensuring all aspects work company-wide, has been a key to the success of this RPA technology moving forward . Doug shared that RPA has formed part of a larger road map for activities, where they want to build capability within the business. Building assets to solve problems for the community has moved their customer experience into a new era. Allowing the company to focus on roles that support building relationships with their customers and community. What rang true in this conversation was “start small and keep it simple!” As an organisation Hunter Water started with 2 processes, automating their liquid trade waste docketing system and streamlining updates from their website with customer contact details into their billing system. Over the last 3-4 years they have actively gone about building & updating digital capability, upgrading website functions & any processes that can engage electronic automation hence removing backend dissidence for their people. When a business can improve accuracy, reallocate people into more important activities within the business, future proof with a solid and reliable human and digital workforce flow, measure efficiency gains and improve turnaround times for customers, you know that you’re moving in a positive and thriving direction.
Hunter Water’s Key Tips •
Start small, build value, commit to building confidence with the techn ology so that the people in your organisation see it as a friend to support the business.
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Know your processes, work with skilled subject matter experts like the team at Customer Science and understand your endto-end processes.
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Work with the talented people in your business to get a real time 360-degree view, drive this technology from within the business & fill the need.
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RPA is not a set and forget process, be agile and allow the technology to grow and transform your digital workforce in line with your company’s evolution.
WATCH WEBINAR
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CSIA Member What was your first role in customer service? My first role in Customer Service commenced at Southern Medical Clinic 11 years ago.
Marisa Marconi National Manager Business Direct Antonia J. Benjanmin-Mohais Westpac Banking Corporation
Marketing and Customer Service Manager Southern Medical Clinic Limited
What advice would you give to a person starting in their customer service career? he advice I will give to a person starting their customer service career is: After 11 + years in the delivery of Customer Service, I will say that Customer Service sells an organization more than Marketing and Sales. Customer Service is critical and pivotal to the life of an organization. Customer Service is not limited to the way one assist persons in their daily activities but is also reflected in one’s Body Language, Communication Skills and Behavioral Traits. Customer Service is an embodiment of oneself. As such, if one does not possess innate customer service skills and a passion for same, the organization can struggle in the delivery of effective and efficient customer service. What is the best thing about working in customer service? The best thing about working in customer service apart from meeting a diversity of people, is the “priceless feeling” from rendering assistance to others.
What was your first role in customer service? Working directly with customers in our family business. What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given? Our words have the power to create. They can build up or break things down. Think about this when deciding what to say or write.
Adam Bury Team Manager IT Service Operations Linda Madera Townsville City Council
Senior Coordinator Customer Service Moonee Valley City Council
What is your proudest achievement in customer service? Creating a space where my team feels supported, connected and inspired to do a great job with our customers. I am pumped when I hear them say that they love their job, their team and enjoy coming to work. What advice would you give to a person starting in their customer service career? Do your best, and don’t be afraid to make mistakes. You will do better once you know how….and sometimes you only find out how… as things happen . What is the best thing about working in customer service? Being empowered to make a difference that adds value in some way…. big or small
MARCH 2021
Spotlight What was your first role in customer service? It was looking after clients during and after the process of getting a home loan in a brokerage business with my then husband What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given? That I can help many businesses to make their existing customers feel valued and so be loyal to those businesses What is your proudest achievement in customer service? Setting up a business where real human to human contact is valued and knowing that what we do in ‘Keeping Clients’ really does help people – both the clients and the business owners. What advice would you give to a person starting in their customer service career? To be grateful every day that you get the chance to help people! What is the best thing about working in customer service? People – in my case – real human contact – it is the spice of life!
Tracey Dean Director Keeping Clients
What was your first role in customer service? I started my journey in customer service at the tender age of 17 in a Travel Agency in France where I had the satisfaction to make customers’ dream of adventure come true. What is your proudest achievement in customer service? Recently I was tasked to recruit a new team of 20 customer service professionals and design the strategy to get them operational within 2 months for the opening of a brand-new venue. The journey with these team members was very rewarding. I drew great satisfaction from the recognition the team enjoyed from the business. They were offered praise and positive guest feedback reinforced the fact that they are indeed dedicated to outstanding customer service delivery. What advice would you give to a person starting in their customer service career? Gain a thorough understanding of customer’s expectations versus what you can deliver within your chosen industry. Research best practice in service delivery and get inspired by examples of customer service excellence.
Valerie Ebert VIP Service Manager Crown Sydney (Crown Resorts Ltd)
23
Level 2 383 George Street Sydney NSW 2000
t 1300 912 700 e info@csia.com.au w csia.com.au
