Choreographing the Customer Experience

Issue

Getting a measurable return from major investments such as branch enhancements, change programmes, new hardware or software systems can be problematic. Changes intended to make life better for customers and staff can produce the opposite impact. Customers often have highly variable experiences when they ‘touch' the organisation - different on each branch visit and different again when dealing with contact centres. Such variable sales and services experiences impact shortterm revenue through missed sales opportunities and longer-term profitability in higher rates of customer attrition.

Solution

Many factors cause variability. Differences in skill and individual performance are obvious. But focusing solely on weak management or staff is only part of the story. Most businesses have not defined key sales or service processes in sufficient detail. Fewer still have designed them ruthlessly from the customer experience viewpoint. As with complex dance routines, each step, every action must be carefully choreographed - and then rehearsed and rehearsed again.

Setanta has developed a creative, new approach which helps financial services organisations to determine optimal customer pathways and identify precisely what customers should see, hear and experience at each point. Our innovative methodology delivers higher customer satisfaction, improved sales results and the committed, competent workforce to sustain them.

How it works

Choreographing the Customer Experience improves sales and service results by building consistent and positive customer experiences at each touch point. It involves a five-step process:

Analyse and observe the existing choreography

Map existing customer pathways

Identify barriers to customer success

Understand cultural barriers to branch performance

Agree common customer pathways that drive business results.

Improve customer pathways

Map the customer pathway, physical and virtual from end to end - from the customer perspective

Improve processes that prevent successful customer interactions

Define and document the customer experience at every touch point in precise detail

Rehearse and certify new behaviours

Define the staff and management activities that make the difference

Train staff to integrate customer needs, bank systems and successful interactions

Build team based behaviours that create fluency and confidence and break down internal branch barriers

Rehearse and certify managers and staff in a simulated environment.

Prove the process

Set challenging goals for a pilot in key branches

Measure and observe against control group

Define improvement goals for wider roll out

Sustain and reinforce

Retrofit new pathways into existing programmes

Equip and expect managers to observe and diagnose improvements to branch and customer choreography.

Monitor improvement data

How it is different

Choreographing the Customer Experience is different in several ways:

Fast. Within 2-3 weeks you can be ready to pilot an improved customer interaction process.

Certain. Setanta starts with templates and detailed checklists for the most common sales and service processes. The templates provide a starting point, our creativity and insight provide the value added.

Innovative. We use new, results-oriented methods for diagnosing existing choreography, improving related processes and training staff.

Learning transfer. Setanta consultants teach your people to use the Choreographing the Customer

Experience methodology. We work with you through the initial stages and ensure that the methods are thoroughly understood in both sales and service contexts, from front to back office.

Results

Choreographing the Customer Experience delivers what it promises - a finely tuned customer experience. Sales and service improve quickly. Choreographing the Customer Experience will become the common way to improve all sales and service processes. Results that client organisations have achieved include:

One major bank improved the cross sales ratio of profitable products per customer from 2.4 to 3.8 within 24 months

A major building society increased the number of extra products sold with each new account from 1 to 3. Each new customer was also taught to use alternative channels as part of a customer-focused transaction migration strategy