Shared Ownership Transforms Customer Satisfaction Results
The Challenge
The Customer Call Center of a large pharmaceutical company faced outsourcing. Their customer satisfaction was dropping below a 6 out of 10 and customers were clearly unhappy. Management had provided tools and training, but employees found the tools complicated and confusing. Both groups blamed each other as well as sales for selling things that couldn’t be supported. Everyone was working hard to improve service, but it wasn’t enough to turn the situation around.
One of the unique aspects of the B STATE Approach is the ability to measure and correlate three types of results: Deliverables, Collective Habits, and Relationships.
In just 6 months…
- Customer satisfaction scores were consistently measured at over 8.0 of 10 in all metrics – best of all regions. Consistently being over 8.0 had proven to create loyal customers and increase revenue from 500,000 to 1 million dollars per year
- Rated at 8.6 of 10 for “Getting to The Right Person”
- 61% of the Collective Habits of Execution improved dramatically
- Employee surveys reported that 50-80% of the employees saw improvements in the way their teams and other teams engaged with each other and with their customers
- Consistently received good reviews and accolades from the sales team
- The Customer Call Center became so successful that the company eventually spun it off into its own independent business
- The Leadership Team Members immediately took ownership for the whole call center, rather than just their own departments
- Leaders and Customer Service Reps stopped blaming each other, and started identifying and solving problems together instead
- Resentment of sales people dropped almost overnight due to the new level of partnering
- Collaboration between individual departments as well as the call center and the sales group rose immediately
- If something went wrong, the leadership team, sales, and customer service reps got together and solved the problem rather than blaming each other
Situation
Originally, we were called in to provide customer service training directly to employees to increase their customer service mindset, awareness, and level of accountability.
Key to Success
After meeting with the head of the call center, we created a B State Strategy Execution Roadmap that pointed toward a different path to success. Rather than start by providing training to employees, we started by working with leadership to create shared ownership of a new Future Picture of Success.
B STATE Approach
1) Implemented our Breakthrough Leadership Team System with the Leadership Team
The system emphasized a common Future Picture of Success and a mindset change from departmental to cross-functional ownership and accountability for a new set of Collective Habits of Execution.
The team created a Proactive Team Recovery Agreement in which each team member shared accountability for surfacing breakdowns directly with each other and holding each other accountable for the new habits. With this level of alignment and accountability, they were ready for step 2.
2) Delivered B STATE Meaningful Employee Engagement Sessions for the Employees
Rather than training, this was a working session that presented the Future Picture of Success and a new leadership mindset of shared-ownership and accountability. The employees were then engaged in making the shift at their own levels, providing input for both the priorities for improvement and the solutions. They were also invited to provide specific feedback for what managers could do differently to support success.
The Call Center Director presented the introduction and attended the conclusion of each session to hear the team members’ ideas for improvement. This was a key factor for conveying the critical nature of the challenge as well as leadership’s commitment to a significant change at their level to achieve the results.