Quality or continuous improvement often takes the lead in rapid prototyping of solutions to be tested, with the VOC / Insights department assisting in developing both process and outcome measures.
Each action plan aimed at a particular POP should have process metrics, outcome metrics, and ownership by a single executive responsible for implementation.
The benefit of action plans associated with specific POPs is that their occurrence and complaints can be easily counted, making progress or lack of progress explicit. Results are much harder to fudge.
Communication by executives to internal and external audiences, both formally at multiple levels and informally through Town Halls, and in a manner that elicits their interest and absorption of the material, is critical.
When issue actions are communicated in those forums, everyone knows management supports the effort, and management has publicly committed to addressing the issue.
Almost all leading companies use storytelling as a mechanism to humanize the data for internal audiences such as product, plant, and operations employees, like contact center agents and supervisors, as well as back-office and IT staff.
TRACKING RESULTS AND ALIGNING INCENTIVES
Once action plans are executed, each issue or global strategy should have quarterly or monthly tracking of process metrics.
Executives should be kept apprised of each initiative and there should be frequent involvement, recognition, and feedback to frontline employees and selected customers.
A global scorecard of issues raised by the VOC process versus issues mitigated or completely resolved is the ultimate tracking mechanism.
SIX COMMON BLIND SPOTS THAT QUIETLY UNDERMINE VOC ROI
Even among strong performers, several weaknesses, in the absence of key parameters and practices, continue to limit VOC impact:
1. Knowledge of the percentage of customers acquired via positive WOM / M Without this parameter, it is hard to prove that great service and delight are truly delivering a robust payoff.
2. A global issue classification scheme across all parts of the company Without a consistent classification scheme, problem data are diluted, fragmented, or“ lost,” leading to weaker business cases.
3. A simple channel— such as an email box— for frontline employees to report preventable issues to a rootcause analyst, with monthly feedback on what was done Without such a channel, CSRs simply fix each problem and move on without flagging emerging or perennial issues missed by the VOC or quality management( QM) processes.
4. An agreed-upon long-term value of a loyal customer Without this parameter, it is hard to develop an accepted business case for the revenue impact of problems and customer delight.
YOU MAY BE DEPRESSED BY THE RESPONSES, BUT AT LEAST THEN YOU KNOW AND CAN MAKE IMPROVEMENTS.
5. Asking quality, operations, and product managers how they use VOC reports If the VOC“ customers” are never asked whether they are getting value— including recent examples of impact— the VOC process will continue producing unactionable output.
VOC report recipients should be asked,“ What did you do with the last VOC report I sent you?” Answers may include“ scanned it,”“ read it but took no action,” or“ took action on at least one item,” ideally with a specific example of action and impact.
You may be depressed by the responses, but at least then you know and can make improvements. If you don’ t ask, your VOC impact may be wishful thinking. For when action is taken, those stories provide strong support for investment in VOC. But if no action is taken, barriers can be identified and mitigated.
6. Not overtly asking, at least yearly,“ How many of the issues identified by the VOC process have been fixed and what has been the revenue contribution of preventing those issues?” If there is no attempt to quantify the issues affected by VOC, much of the effort and resources invested may be wasted.
FIVE LOW-COST MOVES TO ENHANCE VOC IMPACT
• Quantify the number of customers affected by an issue, scaling up by using a multiplier; use 10:1 as a conservative estimate if real data is not available.
• Educate senior executives on the tip-of-the-iceberg multiplier, WOM / M customer acquisition, and the amplified impact of transparency and problem prevention.
• Provide a simple channel for employees to report weird or preventable contacts and to contribute marketing and product development ideas from the front line.
20 CONTACT CENTER PIPELINE