EMBARQ: Focusing on a Complete and Simplified Customer Experience
How do you create an aggressive, innovative company when you are 107 years old? Just ask EMBARQ. The former local communications business of Sprint Nextel separated from its parent in May 2006. With $6.3 billion in revenues in 2005 as part of Sprint Nextel , it is expected to rank among the Fortune 500 in its first year as a standalone company.
EMBARQ provides an innovative lineup of voice, data, wireless and entertainment services to its customers. With the hyper-competitive market for telecommunications and broadband services, the company isn’t content with its instant status in the marketplace. “We know our customers better than anyone else. As an independent company, we now have the flexibility to completely focus on the needs of the local customer,” says Jeff Hohman, director of product management.
The EMBARQ mantra is “practical ingenuity”—innovating with products and services that fit the way customers work and play. This approach has delivered product offerings that work seamlessly together and broadband services whose increased usability reduces customer frustration and the need for technical support.
Insulating customers from technical intricacies is a challenging goal. Consumers are adopting next-generation technologies such as advanced home networking and IP-television that often far outstrip their technical acumen. One of the ways the company is delivering on that goal is by building management technology from Austin, Texas-based Motive, Inc., into their services. EMBARQ’s partnership with Motive allows the provider to develop next-generation broadband services with the confidence that they can also provide a high quality customer experience.
Seamless Integration Takes Customer Service to a New Level
For EMBARQ, innovation must go hand-in-hand with integration. The company is breaking down old technology barriers in order to offer seamless solutions that work the way customers expect.
In June, the company launched its next-generation voicemail platform, One Voicemail, which integrates wireless voice mail with the home phone. Customers can now retrieve all of their messages from one mailbox, relieving them from having to check multiple voicemail boxes. They are notified on both their mobile and home devices when they have a message and can listen to them on either. A combined bill and a single customer service number further ensure the service is cohesive.
In the same vein of innovation, the company recently launched EMBARQ™ Smart Connect™ in three markets, with more to follow. This innovative technology allows calls to move seamlessly between a business’ wireless and wireline networks―all without interrupting the call.
EMBARQ is also ensuring that the user experience is consistent across its products. Customers will have the same home page on their wireless handset that they do on their desktop. According to Hohman, “The home page will have a consistent look and feel. All the stuff that is important to you …the same stock quotes…is there on your wireless handset just like your desktop.”
Managing the Critical First Hour of Customer Life
It is clear that EMBARQ is serious about simplifying services for its customers. In addition to focusing on practical innovation, improving the customer service experience is a cornerstone of the company’s strategy. That’s why EMBARQ turned to a management solution for its high speed data and next-generation broadband services.
“Having a partner that was focused on helping us differentiate our product was critical to us. Quite frankly, to succeed today, you must align yourself with partners that are working to make your company better — and Motive demonstrated that ability from the very first meeting,” says Kim Frantz, product manager for data services.
EMBARQ just came off a record-breaking first quarter, adding 84,000 net new high-speed Internet customers, lifting total HSI subscribers to 777,000, a 41 percent increase from the first quarter of 2005. Fueling this growth spurt is an offering that allows customers to lock in a price for their high speed Internet service for as long as they subscribe. The program struck a chord with consumers tired of competitors’ low introductory pricing that quickly escalated.
“Customer retention has always been key to our business, and nowhere is this more important than in the first hour of a new customer relationship,” says Frantz. “Before, our install process could take up to an hour and a half. Today, that is unacceptable. You need to be up and running in 15 to 30 minutes and you’d better be able to do it without making a phone call to customer support.” Motive’s self-install solution helps make that process as easy and painless as possible.
That means less chance the customer will give up in frustration and shop for another solution. At this point, 97 percent of EMBARQ’s customers choose self-installation—a resounding success. “Our cancellation rates have reached a record low,” remarks Hohman.
This laser-sharp focus on the customer experience is an ongoing process. Hohman’s team and Motive routinely work together to host usability focus groups with customers. The feedback has allowed them to continually improve the process and ensure the customer has a positive experience setting up and maintaining their service.
Leveraging their Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) network, the team is rapidly moving towards a CD-less installation process. They’ve completed two trials and are targeting a fourth quarter implementation for all its modems. Besides cost reduction, the biggest benefit is that the company can make changes and updates in days rather than weeks.
Building a Sustainable Business
The continual drive to provide more technical features, value-added services and world-class 24 x 7 customer support comes with a cost. Hohman and Frantz keep a keen eye on the effects that new services have on the business. And what they found was that contact rates for EMBARQ’s new digital services were too high. “Our goal was to get our broadband customer contact rate in line with our voice products,” states Hohman. “You can’t afford to grow contact centers at the same rate you’re growing the customer base or you would never be able to support the product,” adds Frantz.
A key element in that plan was EMBARQ’s Virtual Assistant, a self-support solution based on Motive software. Virtual Assistant provides customers with the ability to complete a full diagnostic analysis of their desktop and to solve their own problems without ever having to contact technical support. A customer may have a virus on his PC, or not have things connected properly, or not have enough memory. “Without something like Virtual Assistant we would have crushed our organization because we would have been adding a (customer service representative for every ten new customers―need to change,” says Hohman. “Lots of things go into call reduction but Virtual Assistant was the most important factor.” There are many initiatives that can drive call reductions but Virtual Assistant was our number one priority.
Hohman’s team exceeded their goals. The Virtual Assistant business case projected a target of 5 percent call avoidance, while recent data suggests an excess of 10 percent call avoidance over the past 12 months, and nearly $3 million in savings.
Additionally, the Motive software drove another 2 percent of call volume to an on-line chat queue that more efficiently handles customer issues. When a customer does require assistance, the support team is better equipped to handle the call. They now have the ability to remotely access the PC, view information in real-time, and provide a solution without any customer intervention.
Record-low churn levels and increased satisfaction scores are proving that EMBARQ’s efforts are having a positive impact on customer satisfaction. Due to the success of Virtual Assistant, the company launched a campaign to increase adoption of the software client. “We realize that this is truly a win-win situation as customers get the help they need right on their PC, and we can save money and reallocate our resources to focus on supporting customers that truly need the extra assistance,” says Frantz.
Meeting the Challenge of Next Generation Services
When EMBARQ set about redefining itself after the split from Sprint Nextel, the company decided its mission was to serve the total communications needs of its customers—needs that are rapidly changing.
Home network adoption is growing exponentially. Many consumers own multiple PCs and printers and are increasingly buying non-PC Internet devices such as gaming consoles. A study by industry research firm The Diffusion Group predicted that the number of devices in the typical customer network is expected to grow five-fold over the next four years.
Hohman and his team know that more devices and complexity means new opportunities to provide innovative support services to their customers. Currently in lab trials with Motive’s Home Device Management (HDM) solution, they hope to roll out a remote device management offering sometime next year. HDM will allow EMBARQ to proactively activate, configure and support the customer premises equipment that provides the foundation for next-generation services such as advanced home networking and IP-television.
“We face many challenges as we try to capitalize on the digital home experience,” says Frantz. “Motive will be a critical part of this as they have the resources to help us succeed.” In particular, Motive’s contribution to the development of device management standards such as the DSL Forum’s TR-069 was important to EMBARQ. “Knowing that they have this expertise allows us to more aggressively adopt next-generation technologies, knowing they will be with us through every stage of the deployment.”
For EMBARQ, selling one or two services was never the goal. As Hohman points out, “We want to feel like a complete (solution) to the customer.” From integrating their services in ways that create more unified solutions for the customer, to innovating with next-generation technologies, the bottom line for EMBARQ is an improved customer experience.
