A Framework for Service Excellence
April 30 – May 2, 2012 in Tucson, AZ
Service Excellence Definition:
- Maximize customer realized value/success through the use of our products and services
- Easy and seamless service integrated into the context of use.
- Continuous improvement of the whole customer experience.
Executive Summit discussions targeted topics related to the transformative work of Consortium member organizations to deliver Service Excellence. Several members shared their experiences with the participants. Here are some highlights of their stories.
Cisco’s Approach to Transformation – Ana Pinczuk (Cisco)
Taking a journey to redefine the service model – where a collaboration business model replaces the escalation model – is becoming a common leadership opportunity. It requires time to establish the vision and direction, as well as changes to the capacity planning and the way measures are done. As you embark on this journey, you might have to stop doing something temporarily if it is preventing forward momentum. You may have to make the difficult choice to halt a project that has been underway yet isn’t making progress. Put it on the shelf with promises to return to it later when the time is right.
“Moving from an escalation model to a collaboration model changes everything.” – Greg Oxton
Customer Experience and Lifecycle Model – Jennifer MacIntosh (Yahoo!)
Jennifer MacIntosh at Yahoo! described how they are working to better understand the customer experience and lifecyle in order to provide the right service to the right users. After surveying a wide swath of Yahoo! customers, they are able to use this knowledge to build more personalized experiences depending on the issue type the customer is reporting and the segment they belong to.
“Don’t try to be everything for everyone. We need to service the customers appropriately with the resources we have.” -Unknown
Customer Touch Point Model and Value Erosion – Nitin Badjatia (Oracle)
Nitin’s infinity-loop customer touchpoint model offers the opportunity to think about the customer experience from many different vantage points. The delivery of service excellence extends beyond the support organization and requires that often-siloed organizations collaborate. Understanding the entire customer experience identifies these opportunities and helps drive the necessary conversations.
“We all have to think about this more strategically because we can’t wait for it to break.” -David Kay
“The value of support can’t be measured in support.” -Greg Oxton
Customer Readiness for Adoption of New Support Services – Brian Bombard (Oracle)
The Proactive Support Center at Oracle, focusing on awareness, education and application, is working to increase the adoption of proactive services. They have found that collaboration with other organizations such as field services to be valuable.
Because Oracle footprints are so vast, offerings are not consistent from one product family to another, and points of customer contact are so varied, determining which services are appropriate for which customers remains a challenge. Ensuring value is created through the understanding and use of those services is also a challenge.
It is important to keep in mind that taking up additional services has associated investments for the customers in time and change management. It isn’t about the tools, but changing how the engineers supporting the system are using what is available to them.
“Services are co-created between vendor and customer.” -Greg Oxton
Upcoming Program Team Meeting
During the Executive Summit, there was a great deal of energy around the topic of the role support resources can play outside of that organization. We have organized a Program Team Meeting in September to explore this topic. Specific details and agenda to follow; keep checking here!