CRM Delivers for FedEx

FedEx knows that customers absolutely, positively want fast service. "Customers want to see FedEx as a flat organization--for example, they don't want to be transferred when they call," says Scot Struminger, vice president of IT. "While I do believe there's money to be saved [by using CRM], what I'm focusing on is customer churn and the flat organization." To keep the organization flat FedEx is using a three-prong approach to service: precall intelligence (general customer information); interaction history; and integration (e.g., customer information integrated with package tracking). The $26 billion company uses Amdocs CRM in its more than 45 call centers globally to support this strategy--and to help its 4,000-plus CSRs answer more than 470,000 calls per day as effectively as possible. In addition, FedEx is moving CRM horizontally, so now such areas as billing, claims, and package trace can more easily share information. "We believe that's so powerful, because the best team wins and we're integrating our team so we'll win," Struminger says, adding, "We have to be a horizontal organization, because that's how customers see us." Canada, Europe, Latin America, and the United States are all on a central platform to create a common experience among the contact centers, case management, and international sales; Asia has its own platform. This setup gives the business maximum flexibility, Struminger says: "This is extremely valuable in case you didn't think of everything." Another strategy FedEx is using to keep its organization both horizontal and flat is closed-loop case management. "When someone calls in, what they want most is someone to take ownership of that issue," Struminger says. "It's extremely important that when customers have an issue we can give agents the information they need to react." That's why, according to Struminger, FedEx is finding Amdocs CRM such a valuable tool. "You need to give that tool to someone who can make a difference in the customer experience," he says. And agents have made an impact on the customer experience. According to Struminger, customer satisfaction and agent productivity is increasing year over year, inbound calls have dropped by about 89,000 per day, transferred calls are rare, new-hire training has been reduced by 50 percent. "As we use the [Amdocs CRM] application and take out internal acronyms and replace them with a language that agents and customers can understand, the application becomes easier to use," Struminger says. Additionally, the agent attrition rate has improved 20 percent. "We're empowering reps with this platform. There's job satisfaction in solving customer problems." Related articles: Executives' Guide to Call Center Excellence: Best Practices--FedEx: An Overnight Success Story