The 2015 CRM Service Awards: Service Elite
With competition increasing everywhere you look, and myriad options promising to meet your changing business needs, determining how to best unlock your business' success is harder than ever. The recipients of this year's Service Elite awards have combined solid strategies, clearly defined goals, and the successful deployment of the tools to meet them to achieve success in the form of increased donations and sales, greater volunteer retention, and more efficient customer service.
Volunteers tasked with soliciting phone donations at a Canadian charity were frustrated in their cold calling efforts and their inability to form a connection with potential donors. The agency struggled to retain volunteers, and those who did stay were not raising much money. Following the implementation of an omnichannel engagement platform that connected CRM data with past interactions and provided donor profiles to volunteers to help prep them for calls, the agency reported a 30 percent increase in volunteer retention and a 70 percent increase in pledges.
Deploying a platform for customer service in the cloud enabled retail giant Kohl's "to reduce costs while delivering a compelling customer experience." Employees were trained to handle contacts across any channel, and the company was able to reduce service-agent hours at third-party organizations and outsourcing partners while increasing service levels by 18 percent.
An outdated customer contact system at Michigan's Office of Child Support was thwarting needy families in their attempts to access services. Callers left voice mails that went unanswered for weeks or had to reach out repeatedly before speaking to someone who could help them. By implementing a customer experience platform that integrates self-service applications and caseworker-assisted transactions with a natural language interface, the agency was able to connect all callers to a live person on the first attempt, reduce call volume, and increase caseworker productivity. Most important, families struggling to make ends meet were getting help doing it with minimal frustration.
Congratulations to our Elite winners, who've shown that achieving an impressive ROI is not just about increased revenues, but about pleasing the people they serve as well.