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Presenter: Kaushal Mehta, Founder & CEO

Outstanding Customer Experience

The Only Sustainable Differentiating Advantage for Online Retailers

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• The need to create a clear and sustainable differentiating advantage

• Framework to create outstanding customer experience

• Providing world class customer support: To outsource or not to outsource

Agenda

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The need to create a clear and sustainable differentiating advantage

What is your goal?

Why have a comprehensive Customer Experience strategy?

• Of the 4Ps, three – Product, Price, Place – do not offer online retailers any clear differentiating advantage

• Current differentiating advantages – lower price, newer brands, etc. will last only till the competition catches up

• The only sustainable differentiating advantage is providing a delightful customer experience as it is the best way to build trust with customers

Be around for a couple years and exit

•Focus on the USP (pricing, brand, product mix), get known for that, capitalize and exit

Build a brand that will last a decade or more

•Develop a comprehensive customer experience strategy that will provide sustainable growth, customer loyalty and profits

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Framework to create outstanding customer experience

In the absence of physical interaction, it is extremely important to design each stage of the shopping experience such that it replicates the brick and mortar experience as much as possible. In online retail, the following factors are essential to provide an outstanding customer experience -

Outstanding Customer

Experience

MetricsNet Promoter Score

CSATFTR

Customer FeedbackReviewsSurveys

Social Media

IntegrationOfflineMobile

CRM

User Friendly WebsiteWell Articulated PoliciesComprehensive Self Help

FAQs

Technology Latency

CRM & ReportingVoice Recording

Pre Sales SupportService Channels

Domain KnowledgeRight ResourcesTrust and Safety

Online Fraud PreventionAccount Compromise

Post Sales SupportMulti-channel, 24/7

Billing, Refunds, Claims

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User Friendly Website

In-person experience of brick and mortar stores cannot be replicated online, so it is critical to design a user friendly website

• Good visual appeal, ease of navigation, comprehensive product descriptions

• Comprehensive self help - well categorized FAQs and responses

• Sensible and well articulated policies for

• Payment

• Refunds

• Delivery

• Cancellations

• Returns

• Exchanges

• Reward points, if any

• Simple check out process

This will drive positive customer experience and more importantly low customer issues/complaints during shopping

Keep the online experience convenient and interesting

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Technology

• Choose technology keeping in mind long term requirements 1) Sales channels to be offered

2) Integration of customer data management across channels

• Latency is a critical factor

• Different stages of business growth will determine CRM needs

• Identify most efficient support channels to be offered

• Voice recording is important – analysis and legal

Correct investment in technology can result in higher site hits, conversions

The shopping experience should be quick and easy

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Pre Sales Support

• Decide the best channel for support – voice (helplines, click to call), chat, social media

• Provide a conspicuous link to virtual customer support

• Develop scripts for pre purchase situations of the shopping cycle

• Hire and train a customer centric team that can show empathy and help build trust

• Resolve pre purchase questions professionally

• Explain policies in great detail (without losing patience or pushing the customer to buy your product)

• Address questions on logistics in a transparent manner

• Customer interaction has to lay emphasis on several factors including

• The accuracy and tone of responses

• Empathy

• Proper use of language and grammar

• Timely response for offline (email, fax)

This is possibly the first customer interaction with your team – invest in hiring the right resources and provide in-depth training

Be where your customers are whenever they need help

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Trust and Safety

• Build a process to mitigate risk of fraudulent transactions

• Instances of online credit card fraud are rising - factor in the possibility of fraudulent sales, account takeovers for membership driven online retailers

• Fraudulent transactions will have multiple impact

• You will lose a customer for good

• Huge negative WOM, possibly on social media

• Charge backs will directly impact your bottom-line

• Dedicate a team to analyze potential fraud

• Nip it in the bud

• Build rules/policies at early stage itself, and constantly monitor online fraud, improve processes

• Investment in resources will not be a cost – it will pay off due to reduction in charge backs

Positive online experiences will help fuel your growth

Make the customer feel secure in buying online

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Post Sales Support

• Customer Support is not a cost, it is a game changer

• Understand when and where your customers need help

• Determine channels of support required – voice, email, chat, social media or a combination

• Develop scripts for all situations of shopping cycle

• This team will have the highest interaction with the customer – make sure you have the right team

• Customer centric, resolution focused

• Customer interaction has to lay emphasis on several factors including

• The accuracy and tone of responses

• Empathy

• Proper use of language and grammar

• Timely response for offline channels (email, fax)

• Invest in product training, employee development to build domain expertise

Positive customer interactions will lead to higher customer satisfaction and retention

Empower your support team to delight your customer

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Metrics

• Identify SLAs & performance metrics – TAT, AHT, quality, productivity, CSAT, FTR, NPS

• Dedicate a quality team to measure performance across channels and coach on areas of improvement

• Implement VoC measures such as NPS, CSAT, etc. to measure how effective are your customer support services

• Analyze and improve processes if required

Continuous evaluation will help your team improve customer experiences

Measure your CS team’s performance

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Customer Feedback

• Provide a feedback mechanism on site / on social media to your customers

• Design surveys / use third party surveys to obtain customer feedback

• Analyze customer feedback from surveys, social media to understand areas of improvement

• Share feedback with stakeholders – marketing, tech, operations, product teams

• Calibrate and change processes if required

• Predict customer experience through real time monitoring and analyses

Gain insights on customer issues by analyzing customer feedback

Listen to your customers

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Integration

Integrate with Stores

• Traditional retail is not dying, combining an online model with an offline presence makes most business sense

• Partner with brick and mortar stores to have your products picked up or returned there –save on operational and real estate costs while having an offline presence

• Some customers may browse for products online but prefer to buy from stores – direct them to brick and mortar partners for a referral fee

• Provide store pick-up facilities for products customers order on your website

Design a mobile version of your website with full functionality

• Incorporate mobile in your strategy

Integrate CRM, customer databases across channels

• It will empower customer support team to be better equipped and effectively respond to customer queries

Increase reach and convenience for your customers

Provide a 360 degree shopping experience

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Customer Support Operations: To outsource or not to outsource

• Do you have the bandwidth? • Do you have the expertise? • Do you have the Capex and funding?• Do you have the infrastructure to scale rapidly in terms of real estate, IT and people?• Do you understand security standards?

A Good Outsourcing Partner helps you focus on your core business

• Most successful international online retailers focus on their core business and outsource the critical customer experience function to experts that have been doing this for several years

• Good outsourcing companies work as an extension of their clients’ teams and ensure a comprehensive culture and domain expertise transfer through detailed process migration planning and systematic training

• Customized training modules ensure a comprehensive transfer of culture and product knowledge for effective migration to the outsourcing partner

• Regular VoC reports that map if the outsourcing partner is performing in accordance to the client’s corporate culture and values

• Extensive and up-to-date knowledge bases for each of their clients, which enables agents to provide knowledgeable and empathetic responses to customers

• Regularly updated scripts that reflect any change in policies, website, etc. made by the clients

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Thank you

For further information, please contact:Kaushal Mehta

Founder and CEO, Motif, Inc.

Phone: 0 98250 06955

Email: kaushal.mehta@motifinc.com

www.motifinc.com

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