Customer Technical Support Strategic Implementation

Our client, an exec with a large telecommunications provider, asked us for help. We completed an evaluation and discovered a perfect storm. Growth due to new technology plus new products from many different vendors demanded a revamped customer support system.

We quickly recommended a solution and preempted a customer service disaster. These efforts also resulted in a 5.8% operational cost reduction.

Needless to say, our client trusted and valued our opinion. So much so, she asked for our advice on other important matters such as the “How does this look?” dress quandary. We had a solution for that as well.

Those efforts resulted in an awesome black dress.

Executive Summary

Andrew Reise Consulting assisted a large U.S. wireless telecommunications provider to reshape a critical area of their customer experience. The program focused on the organization’s need to provide technical support in a manner which scaled to the exponentially increasing customer demand.

The scope of the program included strategic modifications to the support model, development of a new associate education program, overhaul of employee selection tools, and rollout of new customer support tools. During implementation, the program team supported other initiatives within the organization to develop other customer-facing support tools, which included over-the-air and online solutions.

These efforts resulted in an operational cost reduction within the Customer Care organization of 5.8%.

Business Challenge

Even though customers purchase their devices and receive support from wireless carriers, the customer is often interacting with many different companies to provide them with the holistic experience. Equipment manufacturers provide the devices, software providers allow for the programs and applications, and a host of other vendors enable wireless connectivity.

These multiple interactions have created an environment where product innovation is rampant and the complexity of customer devices is increasing exponentially. The industry now faces soaring customer demand with wireless carriers taking on insurmountable costs. Customer revenue is a shared marketplace. Despite all of this, the carrier still owns the customer relationship, and therefore the costs. Some companies are being forced to help customers in ways which are outside of the traditional support model.

How Andrew Reise Helped

We used our Strategy Development Framework to facilitate the strategy creation with a cross-functional team, who developed key recommendations and activities within the company. Stakeholders from across the company were involved and understood the strategic plan.

1. Identify the Problem

Andrew Reise consultants were the first to notify executives about the emerging issue well in advance so the company had time to make operational adjustments. Due to customer demand, the company required more sophisticated devices to handle the associated time and call volume.

2. Develop the Strategic Plan

In conjunction with the client, Andrew Reise used our Strategy Development Framework to facilitate the strategy creation with a cross-functional team, who developed key recommendations and activities within the company. Stakeholders from across the company were involved and understood the strategic plan. Key activities included:

Validated Brand Promise
Collected Customer Feedback / Perspective
Mapped the Customer Lifecycle
Documented the Current Processes
Conducted Capability Maturity Assessment
Identified Initiatives & Strategic Themes
Developed Businesses Cases
Created a Strategic Roadmap

3. Business Challenge

One of the hallmarks of Andrew Reise consultants is our implementation services. We worked along side the client to deliver the strategic recommendations. With the support of client sponsorship and resources, we operated in the following roles: