Teamwork – a value worth investing in

When it comes to building a successful business, there’s no magic formula. What works for one company doesn’t necessarily work for another. But there are some common denominators.  If there’s one thing I’ve learned during the past decade, it’s that a company’s culture is created by its employees and enriched by the values that they all share. Ethics and respect are personal attributes but they can just as easily apply to any business that is heavily dependent on people. At The Listening Company, our approach to customer relationship management is based on seven core values – the central one being teamwork.  Collaboration and communication aids our desire to deliver on time and with the least possible disruption. Moreover, sharing ideas and accumulated knowledge also makes everyone’s task that bit easier and more pleasurable.  The way we performed during Cowes Week earlier this month showcased our ability to work as a team when under pressure. As such, we exceeded last year’s achievements and were crowned winners of the Sunsail 37 Class as well as becoming the first Sunsail team to win the overall Black Group title.   We had a total of eight people on the boat, some of whom had never sailed before and were completely outside their comfort zone. During such a scenario, it’s imperative that everyone works together and pulls in the same direction – quite literally in this case.  Seeing this demonstration of teamwork in practice reinforced what I’ve known for some time; that the way in which we work together is one of our greatest attributes as an organisation.  Those with the will to succeed are always likely to be first past the post but we’re only as good as the people we work with. Teamwork is a key component of any successful business. We mustn’t lose sight of that fact.   

New government takes aim at public sector

As the new coalition government sets the scene for what is likely to be a series of unprecedented spending cuts in the public sector, all government organisations will almost certainly be victims of some description.  

Public sector organisations will be thinking of ways to reduce costs and this will be subject to even more scrutiny when George Osborne reads the emergency budget on 22^nd June. Needless to say, it will be a difficult year for those in the sector and the customers they serve, as organisations struggle to maintain high standards whilst reducing costs.

Outsourcing public sector services is set to be a key consideration when ensuring organisations deliver on their targets and in helping the government reduce the deficit.

Numerous public sector organisations have already experienced the benefits of outsourcing – both in terms of cost savings and customer care. As the coalition government starts to roll out its new policies, it’s vital that they continue to use multi communication channels – be it email, phone or internet, in order to maximise flexibility, drive efficiencies, and improve customer satisfaction across the board.

The new government has already shown signs of wanting to align the quality of public sector offerings more closely to the private sector. Public organisations need to look at the most efficient and effective methods and outsourcing customer care is a tried and trusted way to achieve this.

Social media - shaping the political playing field for years to come

So it wasn’t quite the ‘digital election’ that we were all anticipating but there’s no doubting the impact social media had on the most unpredictable campaign in a generation.

More than a million adult Facebook users clicked the ‘I’ve voted’ button whilst a recent YouGov survey found that a quarter of 18-24 year olds had used social networks to comment on politics – pleasing statistics indeed. The question is - what can political parties do to build on these progressive technological trends?

The coalition is still in its infancy and one hopes they’ll take the bull by the horns and continue to use social networking sites to communicate with their constituents. Parties are comfortable broadcasting information and now it’s important that they try to connect with people on a more personal level.

Facebook, Youtube, Twitter and the like proved to be valuable hustings platforms for all the main parties and the Tories even used Myconservatives.com to publicize party messages and promote personalised poster campaigns during the build up to the General Election.

The foundations for technological progression in the electoral arena have been laid. It’s down to those in power to pick up the ball and run with it. Despite the impending referendum on electoral reform, electronic voting is still a distant possibility but who’s to say we won’t be able to vote online in the next General Election? Of course, we’d have to be mindful of security concerns and the ramifications of introducing such a system but before we get to that stage, politicians must continue to harness the flexibility and productivity of social networking tools and close the loop on communications with their constituents. It’s a long road but we’re certainly moving in the right direction.

Clouded Judgement – Customers and brands caught in a communicative quandary

With the volcanic ash crisis continuing to cause chaos for airlines, travel companies have been bending over backwards to deal with the backlog of passengers stranded in destinations all over the world. An event of this magnitude serves to underline the importance of embracing multi-channel communication.

With customers suspended in a swirl of uncertainty, it’s vital that they’re able to access news, notifications and updates across a range of outlets. If you’re stuck in the airport for days on end, it’s often more convenient and much cheaper to look for a wireless connection and log on to the internet or turn your phone on to receive a text message rather than waiting for hours on end to receive a good enough signal to make a phone call, racking up a whopping bill in the process.

Many consumers are systematically programmed to seek quick resolutions during interactions with brands. They’ll purchase a product or complete a transaction and move on, but surely they’re missing a trick. This initial correspondence should initiate a chain of communications and the onus is on brands to make timely interventions.

According to recent estimates from the International Air Transport Association, costs of the disruption to the global airline industry have spiralled to an astonishing £1.1bn. No one could have predicted or prevented the unprecedented events of last week but brands and travel companies could have minimized the damage and alleviated some of the pressure.

Customers are no longer allied to a particular method of communication so it’s vital that travel companies and airlines are able to interact simultaneously across email, phone and internet.

With the crisis rumbling on, there’s been a knock on affect for phone companies who’ve seen a huge swell in calls from customers desperate to find out information. Swift, seamless communication and first-rate customer service is imperative to appease angry consumers who’ve spent lots of money on travel.

The more options available, the easier it is to pinpoint a method that suits the needs of the individual. The volcanic ash crisis has cast a cloud over the efficiency and reliability of customer service at airlines, travel companies and phone providers. When the dust settles and the skies clear, we can only hope that brands and customers heed the warnings, vary their communicative streams and broaden their horizons.

Mind the age gap – Multi-channel communication influences all generations

The growing influence of the internet has led to a sea change in consumer spending habits in recent years. At least that’s the theory. What with comparison websites all the rage and social media platforms continuing to play an increasingly prominent role in our lives, we’re now more likely to go online to research and purchase certain products. But does age have an influence on the way we interact with brands?

With the rise of multi-channel communication in mind, we recently decided to do some digging at The Listening Company, targeting three age groups, comprising of people between 16 and 55 years old across the organisation, to see if technology really has altered the way we source information and splash the cash.

We asked more than 600 people how they research and buy a large range of products and services, from current accounts and entertainment subscriptions, to holidays, clothes, cars and white goods.

Email, phone and internet – which constitute the three pillars of the epi framework – figured prominently and accounted for the bulk of our responses in the 16 – 30 year old age group when it came to researching and buying products. More than 70% use epi when researching entertainment and transport and 67% for insurance. 61% use epi when purchasing insurance and 56% for telecoms.

Generally, 31 – 44 year olds use epi more than their younger counterparts. More than 75% use epi to research savings, utilities and holidays. 63% use epi when buying telecoms and 59% for personal technology.

Unsurprisingly, social networking was the overwhelming winner when the 16 – 30’s were asked what they primarily used internet on their mobiles for, with 59% selecting this response. Social networking again topped the primary use of mobile internet (34%) with emailing and receiving live updates of news and sports events not far behind.

For the 45 and overs, epi proved popular when buying utilities (81%) and white goods (60%). Face-to-face meetings was a more prominent method of communication than for the younger generations when researching current accounts, investments and cars and company websites are the key to informing brand choices for this generation.

The results showed that the advancement of email, phone and the internet has triggered a transformation in consumer behaviour with customers now more comfortable serving themselves online.

The need for a strong multi-channel experience has never been more important and the technology now exists to solve any online conundrum. Let’s just hope brands realize the importance of these technological advancements and use them to their advantage.

Brands must use social media streams to engage with their customers

Latest figures from Hitwise revealed that Facebook was recently the most-visited website in the US for a single week. This is a first for the social networking site and the record-breaking number of direct visits saw it outshine the most popular search engine in the world: Google.

Social networking sites witnessed huge growth in 2009 and there’s certainly no reason to suggest that their popularity is starting to wane. With Twitter reaching its fourth birthday in March, recent stats indicate that there are up to 50 million tweets per day – a staggering figure.

This research is evidence of an ongoing shift in US consumer behavior with more customers using social media sites than ever before. These sites harness the age-old power of word-of-mouth recommendation and are clearly potent marketing tools. If nothing else, they certainly demand a higher level of consumer engagement than conventional advertisements.

Unhappy customers who experience problems when conducting transactions online are starting to share these experiences on social media sites with 13% posting complaints in 2009 compared with 8% in 2008 according to findings of a Tealeaf survey of online customer behaviour. This is another timely reminder that businesses need to focus on the online customer experience and give it as much credence as offline activities.

There’s no hiding the fact that the US is more savvy than the UK in social media terms but consumers are continuing to turn to these websites with increasingly regularity.

Social media is a two way street and brands must use social networking sites to engage with their customers as well as broadcasting important information. They must utilize sites like Twitter and Facebook and tap into the human element in order to better understand the behaviours and spending habits of their consumers. Only then can they start to move forward.

Local governments must embrace the epi ethos if they are to progress

I was interested to read the results of the recent ‘Better Connected' survey conducted by Soctim Insight, which assessed the quality of local authority websites.

The recession has put pressure on public sector budgets and this is likely to only become more extreme with additional cost cuts looming. In these challenging times, when councils are trying more than ever to provide a high standard of service to their citizens, they need to come up with more innovative means of communication. It is a shame therefore that this report suggests that the quality of their websites has suffered. If they are to ride the storm, they must adapt to technological shifts in the marketplace and implement self service functions and proactive communication that eradicates some of the more expensive service channels.

To do this they need to:

Consider the most effective channels of self-service

Understand their demographic profile sufficiently to know which channels are most effective and what are the major needs 

Understand the cause of communication so they can proactively reduce the amount of communication needed

Understand the nature of calls and the processes needed to resolve them most effectively 

By adopting this approach they can improve the quality of the service while also reducing the cost to serve. The Listening Company helps use its knowledge of these methodologies to achieve this combined objective.

There is sometimes a perception that cost reduction can only be achieved through poorer service, but when it comes to customer service, this is just not the case. Indeed, citizens often tend to favour more cost effective channels such as web, mobile portal, sms and email. It is often the combination of all these channels that produces the most effective service at lower cost. For example, most calls can be concluded with an sms or when people find it more difficult to access self serve facilities one can provide a web chat support team.

Mobile phones are ubiquitous and would be particularly effective at serving more deprived communities who still might not have access to broadband. The combination of mobile portals and SMS can be used to proactively provide assistance in many areas　such as appointments while also allowing councils to vary their communicative streams and tailor their messages to the disparate strands of their target audience.

The Soctim report estimates that every face-to-face encounter costs £8.23 while a phone call costs £3.21 and a web visit just 39p. The key is to make the web visit effective so that it does not just increase the number of calls and visits. Commercial brands have long since recognised the financial benefits of integrating communication channels. The evolution of the epiCentre (email, phone, and internet) platform has enabled clients at The Listening Company to communicate with their customers using a range of cost effective avenues with savvy internet mediums such as webchat becoming increasingly prominent.

Local government have a great opportunity to follow suit and enhance their relationship with their citizens while also keeping the chancellor happy!

Getting high-fliers into social enterprise

I was interested to read Jane Dudman’s interview with Tom Rippin, Chief Executive of On Purpose, in the Guardian Online recently, (http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2010/mar/03/tom-rippin-on-purpose). On Purpose is a social enterprise initiative that offers one-year leadership programmes for business leaders looking to get more involved in giving back to the community.

The interview got me thinking about the importance of encouraging businesses to become involved in social enterprise. Corporates can no longer afford to just pay lip service to social responsibility – it now needs to become a fundamental part of every organisations’ ethos.

Here at The Listening Company, we pride ourselves on giving back and encouraging all of our staff to get involved with the local community.

Since bringing our Sales Director, former England Rugby star and London Wasps Captain Lawrence Dallaglio, onboard two years ago, our staff have learnt that one of  the tricks to success and a winning mentality is a focus on engagement with the people around you, and in turn looking to take inspiration from your day to day actions and accomplishments.  And we are increasingly living this philosophy internally. 

We are currently backing Lawrence in his bid to raise £1 million for charity, by sponsoring his 2,800km bike ride across Europe. As well as sponsoring the event, 20 members of our staff have joined him at various stages on the 24 day long ‘Cycle Slam’ grand tour. All proceeds raised are set to go directly to Sport Relief and the Dallaglio Foundation.  This comes off the back of the launch of The Listening Company’s Decade Trust last year, a charitable foundation dedicated to helping local charities. 

Converging technology for the modern day voter

It’s hard to escape all the hype surrounding the upcoming General Election with tension surrounding the outcome. Whether the electorate plump for Gordon or David, it’s interesting to witness the different methods of engagement that are being considered at both the campaign and voting stages.

I’m amazed by the fact that so many people see fit to vote for reality television shows that have such limited impact on our lives. The most recent X-Factor final received 10 million votes and if a singing contest can court so much attention it’s such a shame that our very own political system can’t raise enough interest to get more than 61% of people to vote in a General Election.

Over the last decade, the Contact Centre Industry has instigated major changes in the way brands communicate with customers and changed their expectations of how brands communicate with them.

In the lead up to the election, the electorate want information to be available across a number of channels and politicians need to be able to personalise their campaign material according to personal needs. Whether it’s Email, Phone or Internet, I think the electorate should be able to choose how they interact and gather the information they require.

The upshot is that to engage more people, the way politicians communicate with the electorate has to evolve.  Greater dialogue and more channels of communication will provide much needed insight and will encourage more people to get involved and have a say in the running of their country.  

One example is The Barack Obama Presidential campaign which used Email, Phone and Internet to communicate with the electorate and build support. In particular, Obama was renowned for his use of the Internet to rally supporters and communicate his policies.  Obama repeatedly used social websites to build relationships with supporters and communicate with potential supporters whilst encouraging the electorate to discuss their opinions about policies and issues they supported. All of Obama’s policies were made available online and he used email and SMS to send updates to subscribers of his political party - a truly modern day politician.

This is where the Listening Company’s epiCentre would prove invaluable to the Political System. Here at The Listening Company, we believe that everyone is different and that each and every person should be treated as the exception they are. epiCentre was created to support this belief and provides a single view of each individual. All communications, be they Email, Phone or Internet are consolidated into one record, allowing you to communicate with them according to their individual needs and preferences.

So whether you email a question, participate in a webchat with an advisor or call with a query, your communications are organised into a single customer/ electorate journey.  The insight this could provide to the political parties would be invaluable and would make a huge impact on the voting public.

Call Britannia, an interesting new initiative

I was interested to read that SimplySwitch founder Karen Darby has launched ‘Call Britannia,’ a call centre business aiming to create 10,000 jobs for the unemployed. It is hard to escape the media coverage surrounding the rise of unemployment amongst young people and the fact that an increasing number of graduates are turning to call centres for employment as a result of the recession.

With a total of six sites across the UK including Newcastle and Glasgow, which are both areas with growing unemployment, we are continuing to create jobs for people from a variety of different backgrounds and have the skills to make excellent customer service agents.

Customer service goes social

It’s hard to ignore the boom in popularity of social networks – whether it’s Twitter, Facebook or blogs – it seems that social media now needs to form a core element to any customer service strategy. And for good reason. 

At its heart, social network-based customer service interactions drive increased intimacy between company and customer. Consumers now have the ability and means to use social networking sites to broadcast their frustrations’ at the short comings of brands - or indeed praise excellent customer service experiences - to a wider audience than ever before. It’s word of mouth operating with immediate and exponential reach. 

More importantly however, is the trust associated with these sites. We recently undertook research that indicated consumers are increasingly turning to their peers, friends and families for product and service recommendations because they often do not ‘trust’ corporate communications. Social media then provides consumers with a personal recommendation from a trusted party. 

As people start to bypass traditional customer service routes in favour of digital platforms then, brands are faced with both more challenges and more opportunity than ever before. However, there still seems to be confusion amongst brands about what social networking services mean for them and how, if at all, they should factor in their communication strategy with customers.

On a basic level, there is the reactive approach. If, for example, a customer complains to the world at large about poor service, the company being complained about should reach out to that customer to try to solve the issue. Social media is all about individual thoughts and opinions, and the people participating in this digital forum want acknowledgement that they are being heard – even if the issue can’t necessarily be solved. 

Beyond that however, there are also opportunities to identify and engage current or potential brand advocates proactively.  Through Twitter or Facebook, brands have the ability to identify who is unhappy with competitors’ customer service and target them with an alternatively.  There is still no substitute for having your customer service enquiry dealt with by a dedicated representative who can provide immediate resolution – regardless of the channel.

Companies that choose to simply ignore this trend will in many ways relegate themselves to the outdated camp. Whether brands want to embrace the latest social networking phenomenon or not, it is clear that consumers are placing these customer touch points close to their hearts.  

Finding career satisfaction in unlikely places

I was interested to read Jack Grimston’s article in the Times Online recently about the rise of graduates turning to call centres for employment during the recession (‘Press 3 for Graduate Jobs’). In it, he touches on something that we’ve been seeing increasingly over the past year – that the fear of joblessness has led growing numbers of university leavers to enter careers not traditionally regarded as suitable for those with a degree.

A little bit of enthusiasm goes a long way

Enthusiasm and inspiration are key driving forces when it comes to motivation within a business. Lawrence Dallaglio, our Director of Motivation, recently presented a “Motivation Masterclass” to our agents. He reveals the tricks to a winning mentality:

“In order to succeed and excel within a business, motivation is key. Not only must you challenge yourself, but you must challenge your colleagues and the people around you. In many ways, if you want to be number one you have to train and work as if you are number two i.e. always chasing the number one position.

Hard work is vital in your quest for success but to be the best you must aim for the top. The people around you should, in turn, look to take inspiration from your day to day actions and accomplishments.

One option to monitor your progression is to buddy or partner up with a member of your team. Discussing your goals and key objectives can work wonders and is an excellent way to gain feedback and move forward with your targets. But remember to tie this in with working individually as well as collectively, taking advantage of opportunities as they arise around you.

Are supermarket brands better placed to occupy the financial services sector than banking brands?

To tweet or not to tweet?........

……..That is the question. But what’s the answer? The Twitter phenomenon is everywhere; news, TV, blogs and even on the radio, everyone is talking about it. 

But there still seems to be confusion amongst brands about what it means for them and how, if at all, it should factor in their communication strategy with customers.  Whether brands want to embrace what has become the latest social networking phenomenon or not, it is clear that consumers have placed Twitter close to their hearts.  Many are turning to the site to vent their frustrations at the short comings of brands at an alarming rate. 

This alone shows that organisations must treat Twitter in the same way they would any other customer touch point.  And this includes not only monitoring what its being said, but actually listening to consumers and acting on their feedback.  Take Pepsi.  Following criticism of their latest advertising campaign on Pepsi on Twitter, Pepsi replied directly to those angry consumers and confirmed they were removing the offending work. 

A great example of how a brand can interact with customers, ensuring they remain brand advocates.   Whatever your view, Twitter has proved itself (some might say with the help of Stephen Fry) to be a fantastic communication tool.  For brands it is another customer touch point that must feed into the overall strategy for brands.  Those that ignore it will do so at their peril.