Right on schedule
Nashville-based software developer TCS Management Group has an impressive list of customers that includes American Express, British Airways, Sears, Amtrak, and Citicorp. These companies, and dozens of others, use the company's software product, the TeleCenter System, to determine in advance exactly how many people should be on duty at any given time in their reservation center, order center, or customer service center.
Using a set of advanced mathematical models, the TeleCenter software automatically considers past incoming call patterns, special seasonal factors, and upcoming promotions to develop detailed hour-by-hour forecasts of future calling patterns and staffing needs. The program then prints detailed employee work schedules.
Use of the TCS software allows companies to have the right number of people on duty at any given hour of the day or night - and thereby optimize the delivery of good service to customers with the high costs of staffing their call center.
Users forum
In a time of corporate cutbacks and economic downturn, TCS Management Group executives were not sure how many users of the TeleCenter software would pay their own way to fly to Nashville to attend the company's first-ever Users Forum, a special two-day educational event exclusively for TeleCenter System customers.
To be held at Nashville's Opryland Hotel, the forum would provide an opportunity to bring customers from around the world in contact with each other - and with the TCS Management Group staff. This kind of event which is growing more common in the software world, requires lining up special speakers, preparing a series of detailed workshops and presentations, and making myriad arrangements to house, feed, and entertain the attendees.
While the company was underwriting the costs associated with planning the meeting and preparing the presentations, customers were responsible for paying a fee to attend and for their own travel expenses. Since it was the first event of its kind undertaken by the company, there was uncertainty over how many people would actually come--and just what their concerns might be once they were present.
"Ten weeks before our scheduled meeting, we weren't sure whether we would have 40 people or 140 people coming to Nashville for our Users Forum," says Jim Gordon, CEO of TCS. "While we were relatively confident that most of our customers were happy with us and our software, we felt it was a critical time to find out for sure. If people had serious complaints or concerns, we wanted to know before they got up in a session with a hundred other customers and told them about it!
"In the past we had used our own staff to conduct satisfaction surveys among our customers, but we'd grown to a point where there wasn't time to do our own survey and do it well."
Three objectives
Instead, TCS turned to an independent research firm, Nashville-based Prince Marketing, for assistance, Gordon says. "We wanted someone who could do the work quickly as well as objectively and professionally. When Dan Prince, president of Prince Marketing, assured me his firm could design, conduct, and interpret the survey in 21 days or less, I said, 'Let's do it!'
Three objectives were set for the customer survey:
1. Update the TCS database of software customers,
2. Measure the level of satisfaction among software users and their managers,
3. Determine the likelihood of attendance at the upcoming Users Forum.
The first objective was required so that researchers would know they had reached the right person and so that TCS could keep its records up to date for mailing its quarterly newsletter, special announcements, and sending out software updates.
The second objective was important in terms of surfacing concerns that particular users might have--and also in getting an overall reading on how customers were feeling about the software, the level of support provided to them, and the company behind the software. Accomplishing this objective would assist in product and promotional planning - both critical to the fast-changing, highly competitive industry of which TCS Management is a part.
Many involved
A fact of business-to-business marketing for many companies is the reality that a number of people are involved in any major buying decision, such as choosing to automate a previously manual function with a relatively expensive software-driven system. A solid reference from one manager to another can make--or break--a pending sale. Therefore, TCS executives felt it was important not only to gauge the satisfaction level among the day-to-day users of their software, but also among the individuals managing those users. Accordingly, the research team was instructed to interview both the primary user of the software and his/her manager at each company on the list.
The third objective was ultimately the stimulus to do the project sooner rather than later. It also meant trying to reach someone at virtually every organization that was using the software, rather than using a more traditional random sample approach. TCS staff needed to know how many people to plan for, as they were required to tell l the hotel how many rooms and l meals would be needed, and l they wanted to make the event I an unqualified success.
Tight timeline
To meet the objectives - and I the tight timeline - Prince Marketing opted for a telephone survey rather than a mail survey. Using TCS Management's most current list of customers, interviewers were able to quickly reach the right individuals, easily redirecting the call in cases where the list was wrong or someone had changed responsibilities.
To keep the interview short and easy, respondents were asked to rate on a seven-point scale how easy it was to use the TeleCenter System software, how useful the reports and information provided by the system were, and how satisfied they were with the overall level of customer service they receive. In each case, comments and explanations were welcomed and noted.
Respondents were asked, "Would you recommend the TeleCenter System to a colleague?" and why or why not. They were also asked if they were aware that TCS Management Group was planning to hold a special users meeting to which they were invited, whether or not they or a representative of their company would be attending, and whether or not they would like additional information about the upcoming Users Forum.
According to TCS' Gordon, the Prince Marketing team accomplished the three objectives and provided an added advantage to the company. As the interviewers learned the people's likelihood of attending the meeting and their interest in receiving additional information, the research firm faxed particulars to company staff for immediate follow-up. "I believe this step stimulated additional participation in our forum," Gordon says.
Good reading
In all, 315 customers were surveyed, of which 161 were users and 154 were managers. The survey provided a very good reading on likely attendance levels. Based on the survey, Prince Marketing predicted that at least 115 people would attend. TCS staff were delighted that a total of 139 arrived at the meeting--from as far away as Australia
"The research results were gratifying to us in all areas," says Gordon. Company executives were pleased to hear a great deal of positive feedback, but they were most interested in looking at the relative differences between customers' perceptions of overall customer service, usefulness of information, and ease of use
"It was flattering to learn that 34% of those surveyed gave us the highest possible rating for customer service (a 7 on a 7 point scale) and to hear comments like, 'terrific service' or 'very responsive.' Still, we were very interested in suggestions for improvement, such as shorter response time and longer operating hours for our telephone support staff.
Customers often come in on Saturday, for example, when their office is quiet, and use our software to consider possible scenarios and develop new employee staffing plans. They want to be able to reach one of our people when they have a specific question about how to best do something. They don't want to have to wait until Monday, when they'll be busy with other things," Gordon says.
"These are the issues we're addressing now. We have re-deployed some of our people, expanded Saturday coverage, and instituted a beeper system to increase our responsiveness."
The company prides itself on the level of after-sale support it offers to its customers--and views these new initiatives as part of its commitment to improve the way it serves them.
Users receptive
"Ease of use" received the lowest scores relative to two other key measures of customer satisfaction, with 60% of respondents providing a ranking of 5, 6, or 7. These scores and the verbatim comments on ease of use parallel comments heard through other sources, Gordon says, and dovetail with current software development priorities. "Users were extraordinarily receptive to the enhancements and changes we introduced during our Users Forum," he says.
Eighty-four percent said they would recommend the TCS system to colleagues. No one said they would not recommend the system. The 16% who declined to answer did so primarily because they said they were new to the software or to their job. Company officials were extremely pleased with the results of this question, since it provides further that evidence the company is doing what it needs to do to satisfy its current base of customers--and that it can now use this information to attract new ones.
2+2>4
Looking back on the research, Gordon says: "This was one of the rare times when two plus two really did add up to more than four. Doing the research in the way we did, at the time we did, gave us a good indication of likely attendance, identified areas of strength and priorities for improvements, and showed our customers we care enough to listen.
"We pride ourselves on being a customer-driven, not technology-driven, company. The positive feedback created tremendous esprit de corps for the whole staff. At the same time, you can't deal with problems and concerns if you don't know about them. We were able to identify these concerns ahead of our national meeting and develop appropriate responses. All in all, the survey told us we're on the right track -and that alone justified our investment in the research."