If it's Good for the Customer, It's Good for the Business

Increasingly, successful business leaders are learning that the so-called "customer management dilemma" is not so much of a problem after all. Decisions that are beneficial to the customer experience, even if they appear risky to the business and possess upfront costs, can prove very beneficial to the bottom line.

Pavel Milec, customer experience director at telecommunications provider Telefônica O2 Slovakia, is one of those business leaders. Speaking to CMIQ contributor Stephen Blanchette, Milec shares his insights, drawing on specific examples that prove strategies with a positive impact on the customer experience can indeed benefit the greater business.

QUESTION: What does it feel like to work in a company that is becoming an international benchmark for customer experience success?

ANSWER: It’s amazing. When you walk into work and talk with people inside O2 Slovakia, you can really feel the positive energy. It makes me really proud to be a part of it.

QUESTION: So customer experience and a focus on customers is not just a strategy, it’s really a part of your culture. Is that right?

ANSWER: Yes, absolutely. There’s a very strong alignment of our people. Everyone is excited about doing what’s right for customers. And that makes it is much easier to make changes than in most other organizations.

QUESTION: And what about the apparent conflict that many still believe exists – that doing the right thing for customers is very expensive and is bad for the shareholders?

ANSWER: Time and again we have found that the opposite is true. The bolder we are in addressing customer needs – even when the business case may seem to indicate otherwise – the more successful we’ve been commercially. So, in my mind, there is no conflict at all.

QUESTION: So the traditional business case framework is flawed?

ANSWER: It’s possible. All I can say is that we’ve had amazing success with initiatives that looked negative on paper but have proved very positive for us – both in terms of their impact on customers and their commercial impact.

QUESTION:Can you give us some examples?

ANSWER: Sure. For example, contrary to standard industry practice, we don’t force our customers to sign contracts – they can leave anytime.

With our O2 Fêr ("O2 Fair") tariff, you only pay for what you use… You don’t pay for what you don’t use.

With our O2 Filip tariff, we offer our customers a "wallet" of value that they can use the way they want – for voice or data. So they don’t lose if the way they use our network changes from one month to the next.

We recently launched O2 Gurus – an expert technical team whose job it is to help customers solve technical issues.

All of these actions looked negative in the business case but have ended up being very positive for us in reality.

QUESTION: So if your business cases don’t help you decide what initiatives to put in place, how do you make decisions about what do execute?

ANSWER: When it feels right – when it’s the right thing to do for customers – then we do it. We know what our customers need and we do our best to provide it to them. And because there’s such a strong internal belief in the commercial benefits of doing the right things for customers, it’s just easy to get things done..

QUESTION: What about your role, Pavel? As the Director of Customer Experience, what are your areas of responsibility?

ANSWER: Actually, my role is part strategic and part operational… On one hand, I report directly to the CEO where I help shape our evolving customer experience strategy and am charge of measurement and reporting of our customer experience results. On the other hand, I manage our customer care centre so my team and I have a direct connection to our customers everyday.

QUESTION: Many organizations struggle with where customer experience should reside within the company. How do you feel about your dual responsibilities?

ANSWER: I think it works well. My operational role keeps me close to our customers – and that helps me understand where we should innovate to better meet customer needs.

QUESTION: So what would you say are your "secrets of success"?

ANSWER: Well, mostly, our four values have been the key drivers of our success until now… they’ve helped keep us focused and aligned strategically. Our business is strongly customer-oriented and that’s what drives us further – our customers’ satisfaction.

The first of our values is simplicity. We try to keep our business and our offering as simple as possible. The telecommunications industry is quite complex so we find customers really appreciate that. Complexity drives up costs. That’s why, for example, we only offer two tariffs.

Our second value is about creating trust in the way we conduct our business. We are fair with our customers – what they see is what they get. We are very careful to follow through on what we promise – and not over-promising in the first place. We try and behave in a very consistent manner. This helps our customers trust us.

Third of our values is being bold. Bold is about us not being afraid to do things differently…

Bold is an interesting value to choose. Many companies are content to make sure that their customer experience meets all the basics customers would expect. Why do you think it’s important for you to be bold (or different) as well?

ANSWER: From our point of view, delivering the basics isn’t enough. We need to find a way to be different as well. Otherwise, why should customers choose us?

QUESTION: Isn’t it easier for a challenger brand – like O2 in Slovakia – with relatively small market share to be bold? You have less to lose.

ANSWER: You’re absolutely right. It’s much easier for challengers to take bold actions and to strive to be different. Companies with bigger market share have more to lose so they are often more risk-averse.

QUESTION: So the values you mentioned so far are simplicity, trust and being bold… What’s the fourth one?

ANSWER: Transparency. I touched on it before. We take a transparent approach toward our customers and that translates into the products we offer them. With us, there are no hidden conditions, small print in our advertising, or tricks. What you see is what you get and pay for.

QUESTION: So how do you use these values in practice? Do they really influence the way you do business?

ANSWER: Definitely – I would say these four values serve a guide for almost every decision we make in the company. They’re a great framework for everything we do.

QUESTION: What else would you say you do that helps you be successful?

ANSWER: Every director in the company spends time with the front lines on a regular basis. I myself, spend at least a half-day with our front lines every week.

It’s a big commitment…

ANSWER: It certainly is but it’s vital because our front line staff are the people who are closest to our customers. We learn a lot from interacting with them – they keep us focused on meeting customers’ changing needs.

QUESTION: And how do you keep your front line staff motivated? It seems that many service brands struggle with high churn in both retail and in their call centers?

ANSWER: At O2, we see these individuals as one of our most important strategic resources and we don’t want to lose them. Recently, we have introduced new opportunities for them to contribute beyond their traditional roles. For example in our call centre, we have started to give our agents opportunities to grow in new ways by working on other customer-impacting projects. They’re really excited about the opportunity and the company benefits from their deep knowledge of our customers and their needs.

QUESTION: Clearly, what you’re doing is working. Your customer satisfaction scores are extremely high compared to your two competitors, Telekom Slovakia and Orange. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a large spread in results. And your market share has been growing very steadily for over 13 consecutive quarters and is now more than double what it was just three years ago – despite the fact that you are operating in a saturated market. Aren’t you nervous that your competitors are going to start to react?

ANSWER:Well, actually they already are. We’ve seen them start to copy some of actions. It means we have to keep innovating – which is exactly what we want to do. We’re glad to be the challenger in our market, pushing through innovations. It means the market is vibrant and growing.

QUESTION: Thanks a lot for your time today.

ANSWER:Thanks for the opportunity.

Call Center & Customer Management Pros: O2 knows customer experience, but it is not the only company doing it right. Get exclusive case study insights from Avon, ING Direct, Boston Scientific and Comcast at the 2012 Call Center Summit! Get details & register now!

Stephen Blanchette is the founding Principal of LeapQ, a Munich-based consultancy focused on business and brand strategic integration. He blogs regularly at LeapQ.org/blog.