BPO E-MAIL RESPONSE MANAGEMENT: Bundled, It Works So Well

An e-mail response management (ERM) system simplifies, streamlines, and
speeds up communication with the clients. It is the centralized system to route,
track, and respond to high volumes of customer e-mail and Web-form submissions.
It helps the mail administrator to manage the mail server from a single
workstation, check the health status of mailboxes, monitor various queues, set
thresholds and alarms, take appropriate action in case of any problem, take
backups, and restore mail boxes.

Customer satisfaction is the strategic goal for all organizations involved in
the delivery of customer service. The administrator in a BPO set-up would be
completely lost without an ERM in place. Its qualitative gains can be summed up
as follows.

• It distributes and tracks messages sent to generic e-mail inboxes such as
  sales@, support@, and info@ and directs them to the right person in the
  organization who can address the issues in the most effective and
  time-efficient manner.
• It easily accesses the entire e-mail history of any customer inquiry, thus
  giving the employees access to accurate information that results in more
  personalized service for customers.
• It improves customer satisfaction with faster responses and turnaround
  times and delights customers by significantly decreasing their waiting time
  and providing them with almost instantaneous feedback.
• It gives the management insights into customer trends and employee
  performance by generating statistical reports on the productivity of
  individual staff members as well as entire departments.

TECHNOLOGY OPTIONS

E-mail response management systems function in a client-server environment
wherein agents are installed on the mail server that interacts with the
enterprise management system (EMS). It also helps in server monitoring and
management. The EMS can be configured to receive traps from mail agents and take
appropriate action as defined by the mail administrator.

With the basic principle being the same for all products, the differentiator
lies mostly in the features being offered.



Sophisticated tools have heuristic intelligence capabilities, to auto respond to
standard queries and processes with minimal agent intervention.

Categorization is the most distinctive feature that makes a tool superior.
Most ERM systems are currently based on either statistical-mathematical
techniques or pattern-based procedures. Using the statistical approach, a system
learns the statistical characteristics of different categories through an
analysis of sample texts where the relative frequencies of words play a key
role. In the pattern matching categories, searching by keywords is much more
relevant.

Some ERM tools also come equipped with language recognition methods, making
them the more superior. Such tools help in forwarding a query, even in a blended
environment, to the right agent. That is, even if the query comes on an IVR, the
tool is able to handle the call and pass it to the correct agent.

Most ERM tools usually come as part of a larger CRM package. This is what the
vendors are also pushing today, partly because it is on the higher end and
partly because it ensures higher agent efficiency. Therefore, depending on the
workload, an agent can double up answering mails or taking calls.

Blended environments are helpful in providing better customer care, as the
agent is able to access the entire history of customer interaction irrespective
of the medium.

BUYING TIPS

Market Information

The CRM sector in India is nascent but fast growing. Sectors such as
banking, financial services, insurance, travel and hospitality, BPOs, and call
centers are adopting integrated CRM solutions rather than point solutions for
interacting with the end customer.

The growth in the ERM market has been propelled by the need
to have multi-channel communication with the customer and the increasing use of
the Net as a delivery medium. As IP-based contact centers become increasingly
popular, ERM solutions will see corresponding growth rates.

ERM solutions have mostly been sold as a bundled solution
with CRM packages. This is not only more cost-effective but also increases work
efficiency because agents can work in a blended environment.

For a vendor like Cisco, who offers the entire suite of
contact-center solutions, the ERM cost per agent is very cost-effective. Little
wonder, standalone ERM solutions are few in the market.

According to Frost & Sullivan, the market stood at $1.2
million during 2002 and is expected to register a CAGR of 43.4 percent during
2002—09.

Talisma is a leading player in the ERM solutions space. Its
positioning is that of a niche player offering the entire suite of eCRM
applications. It has gained a substantial market share because of its
proactiveness and competitive pricing. Some notable clients for Talisma during
2003 were Aviva, Daksh, and Prudential ICICI Asset Management Co. In the BPO
scenario, Talisma won customers like Ford Business Centre and Scope.

Avaya, eGain, Kana, and Firepond are some of the other
players who have a strong presence in the Indian market. Buoyed by its strong
presence in the call-center market Avaya has consolidated its position as an
integrated solutions provider, while eGain and Kana have entered the market on
the strength of their international customer base.

Depending on the customization and technology required for
individual business requirements, the per-agent price of ERM can range between
$555—2000.

Case Study: Citibank NA

Web-driven Customer Support Shows 100 percent RoI in One Year

Offering a choice of phone, e-mail, live chat, and Web forms is a great
differentiator in a highly competitive market for one of the largest banks in
India.

l The Customer:
Citibank NA counts close to 2.5 million customers in their retail banking
division alone. This number

of customers fosters an enormous volume of inquiries covering the gamut of
offered products. Until recently, Citibank handled all customer inquiries
through traditional mail and telephone.

The Challenge: Immediate need for online service
channels. Citibank India processed millions of pieces of paper mail every month
for years, responding via telephone or traditional paper mail. In October 2000,
the bank management decided to offer electronic customer support to handle
rising volumes and meet customer demand for online services.

l The Solution:
Talisma was deployed in just five days, including staff training, to provide a
convenient channel of communication for the large number of customers with
access to the Internet. Citibank also diverted more and more customers, who
typically contacted the bank via telephone and letter, to using e-mail: a
support media far less expensive and more efficient than telephones.

Citibank also has 20 customer care reps (CCRs) using chat to
offer customers realtime collaboration to resolve issues and conduct banking
business. CCRs quickly learnt the WebDesk interface to navigate screens and
resolve inquiries and despite a 4000 percent (e-mail volume shot from 700 to
30,000 pieces in one month) increase in inquiry volume, no additional CCRs were
added. The CCRs used categorization of all incoming e-mail, a powerful feature
helping to speed response and analyze customer needs.

The Results

• Full deployment and training in five days

• Twenty chat users handle inquiries from 2.5 million
  customers

• Web forms expedite 50% of incoming mail

• Hundred percent return on investment, within one year

Why You Need an ERM System

According to the Harvard Business Review, a company in the United States can
expect to churn half of its customer base

every five years. Significantly, the Yankee Group reports that two-thirds of
this turnover is the direct result of poor customer service.

It follows then that retaining your valued customers means
providing them with unsurpassed, personalized service they simply can’t get
from your competition. This emphasis on customer loyalty and retention becomes
even more compelling when you consider the fact that it can cost up to ten times
more to attract and secure a new customer than it does to keep one you already
have.

Today, meeting customer expectations for personalized service
means accommodating individual preferences for multimedia contact options.

An effective e-mail response management (ERM) system is a
critical component of this multimedia approach to customer contact. According to
the Pelorus Group, 42 percent of top-ranked Web sites either took longer than
five days to respond to

customer e-mail or never responded at all. Addressing this critical challenge
can create both opportunity and competitive differentiation for a business
committed to optimizing its e-mail response strategy.

A basic ERM system must analyze incoming messages, route
messages to agents, send automatic responses when appropriate, supply response
tools, and track messages accurately.

However, turning e-mail response management into a competitive
advantage for your business requires more. Specifically, your ERM system must:

• Ensure timely and relevant responses to customers

• Provide an extensible platform that integrates with other
  customer-support and service applications

• Streamline your support organization and processes

• Scale with your needs

Source: Cisco Whitepaper