Hands-up who saw Dragons Den on BBC2 this week?
Whether you're in the telecoms industry or run a contact centre, the pitch that really caught your attention will have been the nuisance-call blocker, TrueCall.
The plug-in gadget sits between your phone handset and the wall-socket, intercepting calls as they come in with an automated reply, much like an answering machine. When the person has identified themself by leaving a message, your phone rings and announces the caller... who can be rejected at the touch of a button and placed on your personal "black list" of unwanted callers.
"Hang-up now and don't call here again!" says the polite TrueCall machine.
Hmm... I thought. Now there's an idea for a network service, if only BT and other service providers would open-up their networks to such innovation. Rather than pay a heady £80 for the device, the service could be provided at a few pounds extra per month.
It's a great example of a simple but value-added service that really hits the mark. Good luck to Steve Smith (the inventor) and come on BT - get your skates on!
Friday 17 July 2009
Telco-what-now-dot-com
I was recently invited to take part in a round-table discussion on the state of the telecom industry, and where it goes next.
The basic situation is that "bundling" of minutes and text-messages into contract deals has reached a point where profit margins simply can't be squeezed any more. Competing on price is no longer an option, so the obvious answer is "more innovation".
The equally obvious problem, though, is that ripping-out and replacing a decades-old telecom network with a new one - one that will enable the level of service innovation required - is a particularly expensive business. Consider that new services account for just five-percent of total revenue, and the business-case to invest in service innovation starts to look improbable.
I listened while the debate continued on the subject of how to increase the high-margin five-percent of services, to compensate for losses in core-business areas, and what the next "killer application" might be to drive-up revenues and increase profits. Think "Sinclair C5".
Then I suggested that, rather than concentrate on the five-percent, we should perhaps focus on the ninety-five percent of revenue that comes from the established, staple and proven services of voice and messaging.
Let's take the voice-call, and let's make it better...
By focussing on the things that truly matter to all of our customers, whether that be our core product or the way that we provide service, we can make a big impact with relatively minor changes. The need to compete on price alone will diminish, and customer loyalty will increase, creating a bedrock for sustainable business growth.
Innovation doesn't need to be complex, expensive or high-risk.
What Skype did right...
Like Amazon.com and other highly succesful companies in recent memory, Skype got two things right. Firstly, the value proposition was unquestionable, but secondly they made the service easy to use. Skype made the ubiquitous voice-call easier, and that actually counts for a lot.
Think about when you pick-up a traditional phone. You typically have absolutely no idea whether the person you're calling is home, and whether you realise it or not, that "unknown" creates a degree of anxiety. Then you have to remember and punch-in a pretty long string of digits.
Using Skype I can see whether the person I want to call is available even before I "pick up" the phone, and I don't even need to dial a number - I just click a button. Simple.
Bonus features like "broadband voice" and playful jingles don't add to much in isolation, but they value-add the overall experience and suddenly the "old" way of calling looks pretty mundane.
Skype took a simple voice-call, and they made it better.
What we can all do right...
Think about the experience your customers have when they phone you. If you have a busy contact centre then it's pretty likely that you'll have an IVR system to help route or queue inbound calls.
Now it may be effective from a bean-counting perspective, but what do your customers think? Is the experience adding value and making it easier for them to do business with you? Nine times out of ten, quite the opposite will be true.
"First the call was answered by a dumb IVR (why I have to go through that I have no idea, it's for their benefit and not mine) and then I had to sit in a queue for half an hour when they knew I would be calling. Finally, I play ping-poing through departments until I find out that - surprise surprise - Mark isn't in the office today. Time to switch supplier..."
Let's think about how we could simplify that process, and make it better.
"There was no IVR to go through, the phone just rang and I was connected to Mark. It may have been just luck that I was put straight through to Mark, or maybe they knew that Mark was looking after me? Either way, it was certainly a good experience - much better than the last company I used!"
If only all of our calls were like that!
By adding "intelligence" to the way that we route calls, by connecting the IVR to our CRM platform and using a combination of business-rules and customer opt-in preferences, caller frustration can largely be taken away.
In this day and age, it's a capability that telecom service providers can and should be providing to contact centres as a value-added network service, perhaps for an extra penny per minute. I call it 0800+ and it works because it "keeps it simple" for the end-customer.
Keep it simple, and do it.
The basic situation is that "bundling" of minutes and text-messages into contract deals has reached a point where profit margins simply can't be squeezed any more. Competing on price is no longer an option, so the obvious answer is "more innovation".
The equally obvious problem, though, is that ripping-out and replacing a decades-old telecom network with a new one - one that will enable the level of service innovation required - is a particularly expensive business. Consider that new services account for just five-percent of total revenue, and the business-case to invest in service innovation starts to look improbable.
I listened while the debate continued on the subject of how to increase the high-margin five-percent of services, to compensate for losses in core-business areas, and what the next "killer application" might be to drive-up revenues and increase profits. Think "Sinclair C5".
Then I suggested that, rather than concentrate on the five-percent, we should perhaps focus on the ninety-five percent of revenue that comes from the established, staple and proven services of voice and messaging.
Let's take the voice-call, and let's make it better...
By focussing on the things that truly matter to all of our customers, whether that be our core product or the way that we provide service, we can make a big impact with relatively minor changes. The need to compete on price alone will diminish, and customer loyalty will increase, creating a bedrock for sustainable business growth.
Innovation doesn't need to be complex, expensive or high-risk.
What Skype did right...
Like Amazon.com and other highly succesful companies in recent memory, Skype got two things right. Firstly, the value proposition was unquestionable, but secondly they made the service easy to use. Skype made the ubiquitous voice-call easier, and that actually counts for a lot.
Think about when you pick-up a traditional phone. You typically have absolutely no idea whether the person you're calling is home, and whether you realise it or not, that "unknown" creates a degree of anxiety. Then you have to remember and punch-in a pretty long string of digits.
Using Skype I can see whether the person I want to call is available even before I "pick up" the phone, and I don't even need to dial a number - I just click a button. Simple.
Bonus features like "broadband voice" and playful jingles don't add to much in isolation, but they value-add the overall experience and suddenly the "old" way of calling looks pretty mundane.
Skype took a simple voice-call, and they made it better.
What we can all do right...
Think about the experience your customers have when they phone you. If you have a busy contact centre then it's pretty likely that you'll have an IVR system to help route or queue inbound calls.
Now it may be effective from a bean-counting perspective, but what do your customers think? Is the experience adding value and making it easier for them to do business with you? Nine times out of ten, quite the opposite will be true.
"First the call was answered by a dumb IVR (why I have to go through that I have no idea, it's for their benefit and not mine) and then I had to sit in a queue for half an hour when they knew I would be calling. Finally, I play ping-poing through departments until I find out that - surprise surprise - Mark isn't in the office today. Time to switch supplier..."
Let's think about how we could simplify that process, and make it better.
"There was no IVR to go through, the phone just rang and I was connected to Mark. It may have been just luck that I was put straight through to Mark, or maybe they knew that Mark was looking after me? Either way, it was certainly a good experience - much better than the last company I used!"
If only all of our calls were like that!
By adding "intelligence" to the way that we route calls, by connecting the IVR to our CRM platform and using a combination of business-rules and customer opt-in preferences, caller frustration can largely be taken away.
In this day and age, it's a capability that telecom service providers can and should be providing to contact centres as a value-added network service, perhaps for an extra penny per minute. I call it 0800+ and it works because it "keeps it simple" for the end-customer.
Keep it simple, and do it.
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