Reflection –  Visualization and Customer Experience

Challenge

I have worked for several years leading a global B2B1 Customer Experience department and my  challenge was to improve SME2 Customer satisfaction with the telecommunication services we  were providing. Our SME Customer satisfaction was much lower than that of our Corporate  customers and we were loosing market share. Through previous research analysis, we found out  that the main pain point for our SME customers was the excessive time that our technical  support was taking to solve their systems breakdowns. When looking at our internal KPIs3, you  could see that we were fulfilling all our SLAs4, so our challenge was to convince main decision  makers, within the organization, to set new SLAs that would fit our customers expectations. This  was not an easy task, as it involved investing and decreasing margins in the short run.

Selection

To tackle this challenge we decided to use the Visualization tool, as this is a good tool to make a  problem tangible and concrete. We thought this tool was the best one to ensure all people  involved understood our customer expectations. We had tried it before with reports and other  internal presentations of data, but without convincing of the urgency of the issue.

Application

In order to be able to applicate the Visualization tool, we decided to generate visual content that  we could share with main decision makers. We organized a two weeks workshop to meet and  interview our main types of SME customers, so that we could better understand their current  reality. We  picked up 15 SME customers, representing close to 80% of all SME different  subsectors in the country. The sample included many kinds of business models, from bar owners  to online service providers. We took pictures of them and recorded videos, making sure they  expressed the importance and impact in their business of early fast technical support. All of  them stated that early resolution of technical problems was vital for the survival of their  businesses.

We gathered all our Company decision makers in a room with one of its walls covered with the  pictures of the customers we interviewed, including below the main messages they came up  with. After all people in the room had reviewed the wall, we projected sketches of the three  most shocking videos. For example, having bandwidth/video properly working on the day of the  Champions league match was key for a barman’s monthly revenues, so if the break happened  on Friday and the match was on Saturday, he needed assistance in less than 12 hours. At that

1 B2B: Business to Business  2 SME: Small and Medium Enterprises  3 KPIs: Key Performance Indicators  4 SLAs: Service Level Agreements

moment we were offering more than 48 hours response at weekends for our SME customers,  while our Corporate Customers could benefit from 6 hours repair response.

It was clear for all attendees to the Visualization meeting that we could do it better if we aligned  everybody’s goals, including our customers’ view. So, at the end of that meeting main decision  makers agreed to reduce reparation time for SMEs to 12 hours and to launch a project to adjust  all our internal processes to achieve this goal.

Insight

By applying the Visualization tool, we reached a common understanding about our SME  customer priorities that hadn’t been possible before. My experience is that images and  testimonies clearly work much better than figures or reports when concerning customer  experience issues. The misunderstandings or prejudices disappear when is the customer itself  who explains his/her expectations, and all stakeholders are willing to work together to reach a  common goal. I did not call it Visualization tool before, but now I can tell I have used it  successfully and I am passionate about it!

Approach

Next time, I will include main figures, summarizing the impact of the issue I want to address.  Even though theses figures are in the reports, I think highlighting the big numbers also help to  understand the urgency of the problem in the meeting (we had 40% of detractors among our  clients and a fast decreasing market share at that time).

Nowadays, we use Visualization much more often, and not only at the beginning of the design  thinking process, but all over the transformation plans we launch. We use it at the exploration  phase, as in this reflection; at the ideation and prototyping processes, working with Value  Stream Maps to reinvent or simplify processes for our customers; and at the piloting phase,  before scaling, to make sure that the solution fit our customers and our Company understands  its impact. From my point of view, Visualization is clearly one the most powerful communication  and negotiation tools we can use!

By Lidia Palma. Madrid, 11/26/2018


Reflection – Visualization and Customer Experience Challenge I have worked for several years leading a global B2B1 Customer Experience department and my challenge was to improve SME2 Customer satisfaction with the telecommunication services we were providing . Our SME Customer satisfaction was much lower than that of our Corporate customers and we were loosing market share . Through previous research analysis , we found out that the main pain point for our SME customers was the excessive time that our technical support was taking to solve their systems breakdowns . When looking at our internal KPIs3 , you could see that we were fulfilling all our SLAs4 , so our challenge was to convince main decision makers , within the organization , to set new SLAs that would fit our customers expectations . This was not an easy task , as it involved investing and decreasing margins in the short run . Selection To tackle this challenge we decided to use the Visualization tool , as this is a good tool to make a problem tangible and concrete . We thought this tool was the best one to ensure all people involved understood our customer expectations . We had tried it before with reports and other internal presentations of data , but without convincing of the urgency of the issue . Application In order to be able to applicate the Visualization tool , we decided to generate visual content that we could share with main decision makers . We organized a two weeks workshop to meet and interview our main types of SME customers , so that we could better understand their current reality . We picked up 15 SME customers , representing close to 80 % of all SME different subsectors in the country . The sample included many kinds of business models , from bar owners to online service providers . We took pictures of them and recorded videos , making sure they expressed the importance and impact in their business of early fast technical support . All of them stated that early resolution of technical problems was vital for the survival of their businesses . We gathered all our Company decision makers in a room with one of its walls covered with the pictures of the customers we interviewed , including below the main messages they came up with . After all people in the room had reviewed the wall , we projected sketches of the three most shocking videos . For example , having bandwidth / video properly working on the day of the Champions league match was key for a barman ’s monthly revenues , so if the break happened on Friday and the match was on Saturday , he needed assistance in less than 12 hours . At that 1 B2B : Business to Business 2 SME : Small and Medium Enterprises 3 KPIs : Key Performance Indicators 4 SLAs : Service Level Agreements moment we were offering more than 48 hours response at weekends for our SME customers , while our Corporate Customers could benefit from 6 hours repair response . It was clear for all attendees to the Visualization meeting that we could do it better if we aligned everybody ’s goals , including our customers ’ view . So , at the end of that meeting main decision makers agreed to reduce reparation time for SMEs to 12 hours and to launch a project to adjust all our internal processes to achieve this goal . Insight By applying the Visualization tool , we reached a common understanding about our SME customer priorities that had n’t been possible before . My experience is that images and testimonies clearly work much better than figures or reports when concerning customer experience issues . The misunderstandings or prejudices disappear when is the customer itself who explains his / her expectations , and all stakeholders are willing to work together to reach a common goal . I did not call it Visualization tool before , but now I can tell I have used it successfully and I am passionate about it ! Approach Next time , I will include main figures , summarizing the impact of the issue I want to address . Even though theses figures are in the reports , I think highlighting the big numbers also help to understand the urgency of the problem in the meeting ( we had 40 % of detractors among our clients and a fast decreasing market share at that time ) . Nowadays , we use Visualization much more often , and not only at the beginning of the design thinking process , but all over the transformation plans we launch . We use it at the exploration phase , as in this reflection ; at the ideation and prototyping processes , working with Value Stream Maps to reinvent or simplify processes for our customers ; and at the piloting phase , before scaling , to make sure that the solution fit our customers and our Company understands its impact . From my point of view , Visualization is clearly one the most powerful communication and negotiation tools we can use ! By Lidia Palma . Madrid , 11/26/2018