How Telecom New Zealand Used Whole Brain Thinking to Turn Call Centres into Customer Loyalty Generators

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Timothy Clarke
6 years ago
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1 How Telecom New Zealand Used Whole Brain Thinking to Turn Call Centres into Customer Loyalty Generators

2 The hub of customer loyalty Telecom New Zealand Limited is New Zealand s largest provider of Information and Communications Technology, delivering a range of internet, data, voice, mobile and fixed-line calling services throughout Australasia. Like other telcos the world over, Telecom New Zealand relies on call centres to support customers, introduce them to new offerings and generate leads. With the call centres playing such a crucial role in the overall business s success, the company continually works to find new and better ways to improve call centre operating efficiency and deliver better customer service. one person and had their problem resolved then calls back to talk further with another person. Multiplied across the organisation, subsequent calls have a major impact on call centre costs and point to a potential process or communicate breakdown. In tracking customer call backs, New Zealand Telecom found that the root of the problem wasn t always readily clear. Our people were doing all we expected from them, says Helen Stockdale, a project manager for the call centre team. They were meeting their performance goals. They were following scripts prepared for them. They were reading through the checklists and achieving their KPIs. But the feedback from customers was not what we expected. Often it was not a technical issue that prompted the subsequent call. From its own research Telecom New Zealand knew that 24 percent of subsequent calls (representing many hundreds of thousands of calls each year) are made because customers somehow did not feel that their emotional needs were being met. The two are closely intertwined. Research suggests that customers whose needs have been well met by call centre operatives are better satisfied with their experience of the company and, ultimately, cost the company less. This applies even if the call takes longer: While average call times matter, it s not time on the call that counts; it s finding the best way of closing out the customer s question while they are on that initial call. And it is this focus on assessing call centre performance from the customer s perspective, rather than simply measuring call times, that Telecom New Zealand believes puts it ahead of the competition and will keep it there. The cost of customer call backs Customer call backs, or subsequent calls, occur when a customer who has dealt with 1 This disconnect was impacting internal morale as well. These were people who wanted to do well and tried really hard, adds Jenny McGregor, another call centre project manager, but they just weren t making the connection with some people. Lowering call backs and raising customer loyalty To improve call centre efficiency and deliver better customer service, Telecom identified three goals for the initiative: lift the capability of centre operatives reduce call back rates improve customer satisfaction As an outcome related to call back volume, it targeted a customer call back reduction of approximately 20 percent in the first year, with

3 increased reductions in subsequent years. Taken altogether, this would represent savings of $x million. But with call centre efficiency and customer satisfaction so closely connected, management recognized other critical outcomes they could achieve from the initiative. They projected that this reduction in subsequent calls would also raise customer loyalty by approximately 28 percent. And they knew that if they found the right solution to accomplish these critical goals, it could be deployed throughout the company to transform the way they did business at an organisation-wide level. As part of the planning process, Telecom focused on developing measures to reduce the reasons customers have to call, reducing the call back rate and reducing the overall time spent on calls. Learning to give each customer the right amount of time would be particularly important. In all, thirteen initiatives were identified to reduce call volume. A Whole Brain solution with broader business implications Following a model used by the international Call Centre industry body, the Contact Centre Council, and based on global call centre research data*, Telecom s management team analysed possible options, from technology solutions to process reengineering. They rapidly came to the conclusion that resolving the customer s emotional issues was a clear winner in terms of cost implications, ease *Source: Breaking the Issue Resolution Barrier: Shifting from First Contact Resolution to Next Issue Avoidance. Contact Centre Council, October 2007 Source: Contact Centre Council,

4 of execution, opportunity size and overall potential. This decision was reinforced by the findings of a study by UK insurer, Bradford and Bingley, which found that by up-skilling agents to understand different personality profiles, repeat calls were reduced and customer loyalty increased without impacting call handle times. As a result, the adoption of Whole Brain Thinking had much broader implications for Telecom. We can embed Whole Brain Thinking into our business in business planning, performance measurement, training, coaching, agent materials and problem solving, says Sue. That will ensure the long-term sustainability of our investment. From this perspective, Herrmann International s Whole Brain Model was identified as the ideal solution. It would start by helping call centre operatives understand their own and others thinking styles. They would learn how thinking preferences impact needs and expectations as well as the most effective ways of communicating with people based on their thinking styles. As a result, it would give them the skills to tailor interactions to better meet each customer s emotional needs. Telecom understood the full potential of Whole Brain Thinking as a business transformation solution. Our approach to using the Whole Brain Model and the HBDI [Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument, the assessment instrument at the heart of Whole Brain Thinking] has been, from the outset, much broader than merely finding a tool for improving call centre operator performance, says Project Sponsor, Sue Atkins, a certified Herrmann Practitioner. Sue described the Whole Brain Model to her colleagues as a learning and development tool centred around accelerating the quality of thinking and communications to improve business performance. This aligns perfectly with the outcomes we want to drive through this initiative, she says. Moreover, Telecom recognised that through Herrmann International s network it would have access to global experience, thought leadership and extensive tools and materials which would assist in shaping its ongoing management programmes and initiatives. 3 Using Whole Brain Thinking to find common ground The scene was set for an innovative approach to helping call centre operatives better understand their customers emotional needs. Lindsey Marshall, Sales and Marketing Manager for Herrmann International Asia, was tasked with facilitating training to address the fundamental disconnect between those who contact a call centre and those who work there. Because the thinking preferences of callers are often diametrically opposed to the preferences of those answering the call (who are typically more technically inclined and analytical in their approach than the callers themselves), Lindsey worked with the operatives to help them use Whole Brain Thinking to cross that divide. Under Lindsey s guidance Telecom staff were trained to identify people s thinking preferences over the phone through their choice of language and sentence structure and the tonality they use.

5 The training we developed represented a new application of the Whole Brain Model, says Lindsey. Because call centre operatives can t see the people they are speaking with, auditory and linguistic cues take on far greater importance. And often you get but a single clue as to how the caller prefers to think and be spoken to. If you are not prepared you may miss it. Prior to the introduction of a Whole Brain approach, staff paid less attention to the caller s language use and tonality and more to a canned script. Learning to listen more acutely and apply Whole Brain Thinking would allow the operatives to provide better responses that aligned more with the customer s emotional needs and thinking styles rather than just a pre-determined answer in a script. Herrmann International also examined and analysed transcripts of successful and less successful calls using the Herrmann Whole Brain Text Profiler. From this data, they were able to determine that successful calls tended to be those in which the operative shared at least one thinking preference with the caller. It quickly became clear that it wasn t necessary to achieve complete congruence between caller and operative: rather establishing common linguistic ground through a shared preference was all that it took. Building on this initial research Lindsey and his team developed a Whole Brain tonal checklist, designed specifically for use in Telecom s call centres, and a set of resource materials to help train call centre staff to modulate their own voice and expressions in response to what they hear from the customer. Rapid rollout Once the basic tools had been created Telecom worked on a rapid rollout plan, initially in its primary outbound call centre. From there, the programme was transferred across to other Telecom call centres, including 123 (residential 4 and mobile support), Broadband Support, New and Move, and Complex Technical Support. Telecom applied Herrmann International s Whole Brian transformation approach to increase the rollout s effectiveness: Stage I was to train Telecom s internal facilitators in Whole Brain methodology through Herrmann s standard 4-day Certification programme. A customised 5 th day was added to teach Telecom facilitators how to facilitate the new auditory and linguistic model. Stage II was to engage internal business leaders to champion the change. Leaders attended a workshop to learn how the Whole Brain Model applies to group dynamics and their leadership. Stage III involved educating the team leaders about how Whole Brain Thinking can drive team performance and build morale. It included helping them understand their individual thinking preferences and use the Whole Brain Model to improve communications. This also included planning sessions for how to up-skill their own teams. Stage IV introduced front-line staff to the Whole Brain Model. The aim was to energise them by helping them learn more about themselves and discover ways of enriching their conversations with customers. This was accomplished using the Whole Brain Tonal Checklist and learning to modify their language to better match that of their customers. Stage V is ongoing. Coaching and reinforcement of the Whole Brain programme throughout Telecom continues to ensure Whole Brain Thinking is an integral part of the way the company does business.

6 Better results through better thinking Commenting on the initiative Brian Wilkinson, Director of Operations for Bradford and Bingley, notes, In the past all customers received the same amount of time from us, leaving some feeling rushed while others [felt] short changed. Now we provide the right amount of time for each caller <- CTS Rollout -> <- N&M Rollout - <- OCC Rollout -> > <- SE Rollout -> <-BBHD Rollout-> <- Faults Rollout -> Jul-08 Aug-08 Sep-08 Oct-08 Nov-08 AWT (Seconds) Dec-08 Jan-09 Feb-09 Mar-09 Answer M esag e Serv ice Bro ad b and Help Desk BusinesServ ice Centre Co mp lext echnical Sup p o rt Dealer Sup p o rt E thnic F aults Hig h Value/Premium M asco nsumer N ew & M o v e N &M R o llo ut BBHD Rollout Resolv e Rollout CTS Rollout SE Rollout OCC Rollout While the programme is still in its infancy its impact has been felt almost immediately, with postcall survey results trending up, dramatically in some cases. Post Call Survey Comparison of results October 08 to April October 2008 April Broadband Help Desk SE Business CIC Complex Technical Support Ethnic Faults Mass Consumer New & Move 1.0% 1.6% -3.0% 11.1% p p q p 2.9% p 1.2% p 2.1% p -0.4% n Increase Stable Decrease The Complex Technical Support team is beginning to achieve customer satisfaction scores of 4 out of 4. And some of the 123 teams saw their scores increase within a few weeks of undertaking the programme. 5

7 OCC 500 HBDI Rollout mid Feb 60% 450 Sales and Dials % 12.59% 23.92% 39.86% 30.20% 23.90% 47.71% 36.37% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% Sales Conversion and Number of Dials per DMC % Jul-08 Aug-08 Sep-08 Oct-08 Nov-08 Dec-08 Jan-09 Feb-09 Mar-09 Number of Dials (000's) Sales Units Sold (00's) Number of Dials per DMC Sales Conversion Rate 0% Introducing the programme into the Outbound Call Centre (OCC) required significant changes to be made in how staff introduced calls and in the overall call script. These changes have paid huge dividends in terms of dials-to-callscompleted and improved sales results. While the numbers confirm the success of the initiative, additional benefit is more difficult to quantify, but real and valuable nonetheless. Introducing the Whole Brain Model and the HBDI started a journey of personal growth for our people and has been hugely beneficial for overall engagement with the company, says Sue Atkins. It has created better conversations between team leaders and agents and has provided a common language to help us challenge the way we do things. Moreover it has created greater consciousness of communication styles, and as a result, our communications and conversations are now far more meaningful and effective. and that s what will continue to fuel customer loyalty. Whole Brain Thinking equips our people to tailor their language and tonality to complement the customers preferred way of processing information, Sue explains. It helps our people to better understand the customer s emotional state and to respond appropriately, thereby reducing the opportunity for talking at cross purposes. The future Now the programme is under way, the pace has picked up. Telecom has rolled out the Whole Brain programme to all of its frontline customer service people as a foundation for creating service differentiation and is now talking with Herrmann International about moving the programme into international call centres based offshore. From the customer s perspective, Telecom New Zealand is now meeting them on their terms, 6

8 Clients The Herrmann International clients, for whom better thinking has become integral to their business culture, include: Air France Alcoa American Express AXA Bank of America Barclays BMW Boeing Cintas Cirque du Soleil Cisco Coca-Cola GE Harrahs Home Shopping Network Hugo Boss IBM Johnson & Johnson Limited Brands Microsoft MIT Procter and Gamble Purdue Pharma PWC Regus Shell Oil Target US Navy Weyerhaeuser Corporation Wharton School of Business The Originators of Whole Brain Technology and the Creators of the Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument (HBDI) 794 Buffalo Creek Road. Lake Lure, NC Phone: or hbdi Fax:

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