Customer Obsessed. Strategy Focused. Results Oriented.

of the 2014 Gartner & 1to1 Media CRM Excellence Awards

Meetthe

customer analyticsGOLD: Hilton: By focusing on building an exceptional service culture, Hilton Worldwide empowered its employees to go above and beyond customer expectations in an effort to drive loyalty and increase revenue. ................................ 6

customer serviceGOLD: SanDisk: The technology firm’s investment in a global customer service strategy has helped capture market share. ................................................................................................................................................................... 10

integrated marketingGOLD: Syngenta Brasil: The agribusiness firm’s rich segmentation strategy and value-added loyalty program helped to increase market share. ............................................................................................................................ 15

salesforce effectivenessGOLD: HDFC Bank: The bank’s 360-degree view of its customers helps to offer the right products at the right time. .......................................................................................................................................................... 18

innovationGOLD: Portugal Telecom: By allowing customers to create and broadcast their own TV channels, Portugal Telecom fosters engagement and brand loyalty through its innovative entertainment platform, which subscribers can’t find anywhere else. ...........................................................................................................................................13

©2014 1to1 media. 1to1 media is a division of Peppers & Rogers Group. All rights protected and reserved.

CO

NT

EN

TS

SILVER: DirecTV PanAmericana: By devel-oping its single-view customer profile approach, DIRECTV PanAmericana can now pinpoint the early signs of churn as the brand works to reen-gage and transform detractors into promoters. .....7

SILVER: City of Buffalo: The City of Buffalo uses sophisticated analysis to target areas of the city that require services. ................................... 11

SILVER: Banco Espirito Santo: Robust customer data is allowing the Portuguese bank to market to individual clients with very targeted offers. ................................................................16

SILVER: Akbank: The bank is making extensive use of customer data to develop price-sensitive product offers for its customers. .......................... 19

BRONZE: T-Mobile: By blending its social sup-port strategy with its emerging live chat channel, T-Mobile’s enhanced, consistent service spans across all touchpoints to ensure quick resolutions and customer satisfaction. .....................................9

BRONZE: MedicAlert: The emergency sup-port network foundation embarked on an ambi-tious project to have a 360-degree view of customers and better focus on their needs. .....11

BRONZE: Isbank: A micro-segmentation model ensures that targeted marketing campaigns remain relevant across the bank’s channels, eliminating redundant communications to build and sustain customer loyalty. . .............................................. 17

By Cynthia Clark, Elizabeth Glagowski, Thomas Hoffman, and Anna Papachristos

Your CustomersApplaud You

...and so do we.

You make superior customer experience look easy, and

TeleTech knows the significance of that achievement. Winners,

like you, use a holistic approach that starts with strategy and

uses seamless execution to deliver an exceptional experience

for every customer, across every channel, every day.

Meetthe

Design by Lorri Cosentino

4 55

In 2004, 1to1 Media set out on a mission to reward the best thinking and results in customer

strategy. At the time, “Relationship Marketing” was fresh on the heels of the CRM revolution in

the 1990s, sweeping the business world with its promise to forever change the way enterprises

interact with their customer bases by understanding customer segments, delivering quality

service, and increasing customer satisfaction and loyalty.

1to1 Media created the program to reward the leaders and innovators who managed to get

buy-in from their executive teams to implement a customer strategy program and then saw big

returns from their tireless efforts to get them to take hold across their companies.

During these past 10 years, the industry has seen many changes: the rise of the customer,

the emergence of social CRM, the advent of experiential loyalty programs, the connected enter-

prise and customer, customer advanced tracking features, mobile messaging, Big Data, the

Cloud, and improvements in automation. Throughout these constant changes, 1to1 Media and

Gartner have continued to award the organizations that have adapted to change, implemented

innovative customer strategy programs, and have thrived as a result.

In the 2008 awards, for instance, AT&T’s John Cushman, then eSales and service vice

president at AT&T, created a vitality plan based on a survey of employees’ goals, setting career

paths and developing a timeline to orchestrate moves without negatively impacting customer

support. At the end of the process, 56 percent of the employees in the eSales and service

organization had new roles.

In 2005, Capital One COO Tom Farrell led his team in implementing a contact center system

that made the right agent available within 12 seconds. The interview process was replaced by a

database that recognizes a caller and her history with the company. The results were dramatic.

Applications for 2005 were up 10 percent; cross-sell revenue was also up 10 percent. Aban-

doned calls dropped by 42 percent and cancellation rates dropped by 60 percent.

And in 2007 Dan Thorpe, group leader and director of analytics and senior vice president at

Wachovia, led a small group of people from marketing to build a customer equity database. They

developed several econometric models to estimate marketing’s impact on the components of

customer equity, which for Wachovia includes customer acquisition, retention, and share-of-

wallet. Wachovia saw a 19 percent rise in customer equity soon after implementing the marketing

mix model.

This year the entrants to the Gartner & 1to1 Media CRM Excellence Awards program are still

reporting creative customer strategy innovations and strong results. In the pages that follow,

you will read about advanced innovations, as in the case of Portugal Telecom, which offers

personalized television channels to its cable customers, and the City of Buffalo, which with the

help of advanced analysis, is providing targeted services to various neighborhoods to improve

quality of life throughout the city.

Gartner and 1to1 Media hope these stories will inspire customer strategy innovations

and spark ideas for change within your organizations. And don’t forget to check,

www.1to1media.com on December 1, 2014 to find out how to nominate your company to

receive a 2015 Gartner & 1to1 Media CRM Excellence Award.

—Mila D’Antonio, Editor-in-Chief, 1to1 Media

Celebrating 10 Years of Customer Experience Excellence

Judges

Cynthia Clark, Former Senior Writer, 1to1 Media

Kim Collins, Research Vice President, Gartner

Mila D’Antonio, Editor-in-Chief, 1to1 Media

Rob Desisto, Vice President, Distinguished Analyst, Gartner

Penny Gillespie, Research Director, Gartner

Gareth Herschel, Research Director, Gartner

Tom Hoffman, Executive Business Editor, 1to1 Media

Michael Maoz, Vice President, Distinguished Analyst, Gartner

Anna Papachristos, Staff Writer, 1to1 Media

Ed Thompson, Vice President, Distinguished Analyst, Gartner

A panel of judges, including Gartner analysts, and 1to1 Media editors, review the nominations and selects the winners in each category of the Gartner & 1to1 Media CRM Excellence Awards. This year’s judges include:

www.1to1media.com/crmexcellence

As the leading satellite television provider for Latin America and

the Caribbean, DIRECTV PanAmericana serves nine territories,

reaching more than 17 million customers with its exclusive con-

tent, excellent customer service, and continuous deployment

of the latest entertainment technologies. Yet, while information

plays an essential role in any business, the huge increase in con-

sumer data required DIRECTV to reconsider how it analyzes,

classifies, and stores this information in an effort to continue pro-

viding the best entertainment experience possible.

Ultimately, DIRECTV aims to always surprise its customers

at every point of contact by remaining vigilant of their evolving

expectations. Thus, in 2011, DIRECTV partnered with SAS to

implement an integral business analytics solution that answers

numerous questions about the organization: Which customers

are likely to churn and what factors lead to their decision? What

are the main drivers behind customer satisfaction and how do

promoters and detractors impact the bottom line? Is the brand

upholding its promises and performing as expected across all

touchpoints? Does DIRECTV recognize employees’ efforts in

relation to customer impact and do these employees understand

how their roles influence the customer experience?

Because many of these questions had yet to be answered,

DIRECTV created an analytical roadmap that served as the foun-

dation for its Pan Regional ACE (Analytical Center of Excellence).

This program was designed to both promote the use of analytics

and to support the end-to-end analytical needs of the entire com-

pany. Though DIRECTV boasts an array of experienced, qualified

employees, the company failed to capitalize on their knowledge

by providing a platform where they could share their experiences

with one another, thereby reducing mistakes and inaccuracies.

Thus, to alleviate confusion and enable sustainable decisions,

the ACE was designed to address technology, consulting, edu-

cation, and administration within the context of the business to

analyze and reveal any shortcomings.

For instance, DIRECTV was able to identify and rectify the

average employee’s lack of information and analysis capa-

bilities. By implementing the SAS tools and training key users,

employees gained easier access to user-friendly data, achieving

enterprisewide analytics support. Said tools also enabled users

to view information from different sources and countries on one

platform, thereby providing analysts with the necessary informa-

tion to make their work more time efficient.

DIRECTV’s findings also revealed the need for contact automa-

tion, which allows the company to reduce unnecessary contacts,

such as calling valued customers during collection campaigns,

and increasing necessary contact, such as reengagement calls

to those at high risk for churn. Voice of the customer text mining

enabled the provider to dive even deeper into customer opinions,

uncovering the drivers behind satisfaction and the problems that

create detractors. DIRECTV’s underlying goal to convert detrac-

tors to promoters remains at the center of its strategy, for these

extremes can have varying impacts on the bottom line.

Detractors, overall, are 110 percent more likely to churn vol-

untarily, each costing the company $204, while promoters carry

2.5 times greater value than detractors. However, since building

out its business analytics abilities, DIRECTV saw Net Promoter

Score increase by 1.1 percent and churn improve by 0.2 percent

in 2013 alone, highlighting the solution’s success and its promise

for the future.

pated needs, and consistently recognize their most loyal guests.

To assess its success, HWW’s loyalty score allows the com-

pany to ask guests three questions that provide insight into the

main predictors of customer satisfaction and retention: overall ex-

perience with the property, likelihood to recommend the property,

and likelihood to return to the property. Similar to NPS, this three-

pronged metric aligns with overall business goals to drive loyalty,

repeat business, and revenue. If guests rate each component as

9 or 10 (promoters), the property’s loyalty score will be 1, while

ratings below 9 (detractors) result in a score of 0. Each property’s

target percentage of promoters averages 60 percent. Overall, loy-

alty scores increased an average 5.1 points between 2007 and

2012 across all 10 Hilton Worldwide brands, with the Waldorf As-

toria seeing a 15.1-point boost during that time. HWW has also

calculated that promoters spend an average of 21 percent more at

HWW brands and stay 4.6 nights longer than detractors.

DirecTV PanAmericana Enhances Analytics to Drive Conversions and NPSSILVER

7www.1to1media.com/crmexcellence

customer analytics

By focusing on building an exceptional service culture, Hilton Worldwide empowered its employees to go above and

beyond customer expectations in an effort to drive loyalty and increase revenue. —by Anna Papachristos

By developing its single-view customer profile approach, DIRECTV PanAmericana can now pinpoint the early signs of churn as the brand works to reengage and transform detractors into promoters. —by Anna Papachristos

customer analyticsGOLD

For Hilton Worldwide (HWW), comfort and loyalty go hand-in-hand.

Each of the chain’s 10 hotel and resort brands, which include more

than 4,000 total properties throughout more than 90 countries,

work to ensure every stay satisfies its customers’ expectations.

HWW’s SALT (Satisfaction and Loyalty Tracking) customer

analytics program stands as the foundation for the company’s

customer-centric culture, empowering the organization through

actionable data that enables employees across all levels to drive

satisfaction, loyalty, and revenue. However, HWW recognized that

said insights often lacked the “so what” element necessary to im-

prove customer experience.

Ultimately, HWW aims to be the first choice among its custom-

ers. But, to ensure optimal performance, the Guest Experience

team needed to restructure SALT to be brand-oriented, with an

emphasis on understanding the key drivers of satisfaction, iden-

tifying the root causes of issues, and finding opportunities for im-

provement. With more than 50,000 users across all Hilton brands

and properties, SALT has been in use for 12 years, making the pro-

gram a critical component of the chain’s overall operations. Thus,

the Guest Experience team established one single point of contact

under its umbrella to ensure the program’s loyalty performance

metrics align with the company’s objectives and drive company-

wide change through data-validated practices that are constantly

tested and measured for impact.

The core Guest Experience team consists of five members

who manage the program on a daily basis to continually drive

actionable customer analytics to all parts of the organization,

thereby providing employees with access to the information

that’s relevant to them. The Guest Experience team also brings

the “so what” behind each factor to shareholders and leaders

as it works to enlist buy-in from the top down through a regular

communication cadence for sharing new objectives, actionable

insights, and loyalty performance scores.

HWW also implemented the new HEART problem-resolution

model: Hear the Guest; Empathize with the Guest; Apologize to the

Guest; Resolve the Issue; and Thank the Guest. This five-step pro-

gram encourages all employees to reduce and resolve customer

issues on property.

According to HWW’s previous research, guests who experience

problems during their stay score 41 points lower on property loy-

alty, 38 points lower on overall service satisfaction, and 78 points

lower on NPS than those who don’t encounter any issues. Thus,

the HEART model was created to boost each employee’s likeli-

hood of meeting or exceeding customer expectations, for those

who complete all five steps of the process, as opposed to four,

increase the chance of surpassing guest expectations three-fold.

“We found that completing all five steps of HEART led to a much

higher problem resolution rate, and a higher rate of satisfaction

and loyalty,” says Kelly McManus, director of guest experience.

“Publicizing these findings with our key brand and property part-

ners helped team members internalize the model, understand its

impact, and apply it more effectively.”

To increase guest loyalty and likelihood to return, HWW ap-

plied collected insights to establish three goals for brand leads.

First, employees were tasked with reducing the number of prob-

lems and increase the number of problem-free stays because 26

percent of all customers encounter issues. Second, employees

must work to increase the problem reporting rate, for 69 percent

of all issues remain unresolved because customers neglect to

bring these problems to light. Last, employees need to boost

the number of resolutions that exceed guest expectations be-

cause only 25 percent currently agree that the resolution met or

surpassed the desired outcome. In response, HWW enacted the

“Make It Right” program, which encourages employees to take

ownership of reported problems and do everything in their power

to satisfy the guest, proactively look for ways to meet unantici-

Hilton Worldwide Puts Loyalty at the Heart of Its Service Strategy

Advertising Campaign from Hilton Hotels & Resorts Showcases Global Guest Experiences

Advertising Campaign

BUSINESS BOOST

Hilton Worldwide’s “Loyalty Score” metric saw an average increase of 5.1 points between 2007 and 2012 across all 10 brands, while the Waldorf Astoria received an unprecedented 15.1-point boost.

BUSINESS BOOSTIn 2013, DIRECTV PanAmericana’s new business analytics solution saw NPS increase by 1.1 percent and churn improve by 0.2 percent.

© 2014 H

ilton Hotels &

Resorts

6 #GartnerCRM

pinterest.com/1to1media

www.youtube.com/1to1Videos

www.facebook.com/1to1media

@1to1media

linkedin.com/company/1to1-media

go.1to1media.com/google+

9

customer analytics

Loyalty and trust are often the result of an open, honest relationship that allows room for growth. Yet, while that might sound like the recipe for success in the personal realm, these elements weigh heavily on the longevity of brand relationships, as well.

In March 2013, T-Mobile launched its “un-carrier” initiative, which was designed to free cus-tomers from the standard obligations of the wireless industry by eliminating yearly contracts and early termination fees. Thus, in doing so, customer loyalty became an even more critical focus, as the nationwide brand sought to offer world-class customer service across all touchpoints.

“By freeing our customers from contracts, we have given them the option to walk away from our service at any time, for any reason,” says Jen Palmer, director of knowledge management and social media service. “If we don’t provide the service our customers want, expect, and deserve, they can leave us. So it’s our responsibility to consistently earn our customers’ loyalty by resolving their issues and providing the best experience in our services, our offers, and across all customer interactions, whether it’s in store, over the phone, on social media, or through online chat.”

Just as T-Mobile chose to change, the wireless carrier also recognized a shift in consumer behavior, as more customers took to the Web to find information and request service. However, the company’s social success outpaced its live chat options, thereby leading to its latest analytic inno-vation. T-Mobile chose to apply the customer service lessons learned in social, such as communicating effectively and solving problems through text-only conversation, directly to chat. By redirecting its internal focus to examine and align with consumer behavior, T-Mobile planned to opti-mize the company’s holistic online engagement program through its data-driven, analytical approach to understanding customer interactions. Thus, the brand moved to develop the right partnerships, processes, and tools to execute this endeavor efficiently, ultimately bringing the chan-nels together, aligning resources, and providing a better, more consistent customer experience across channels.

By partnering with TouchCommerce, T-Mobile created a systematic, repeatable approach to benchmarking the quality of customer chat experiences and monitoring real-time chat volumes, enabling the carrier to efficiently staff agents and reallocate resources as demand dictates. The core objective of this partnership aimed to provide enhanced customer analytics and reporting, enabling T-Mobile to seamlessly gauge whether the right customer service agents are involved and if representatives are properly empowered to do their job. T-Mobile also wanted to determine why customers were contacting the company and evaluate their experience with the chat team in an effort to understand consumer behavior and empower service agents with the insights neces-sary to be more available and responsive to online inquiries.

T-Mobile adopted a new internal motto—listen, engage, and resolve—while the social support team adopted its newfound responsibilities, as the brand believed it would be beneficial to blend best practices from social to improve chat. The carrier then focused on two central metrics to quantify its understanding of the customer experience and apply said data to measure perfor-mance and make decisions.

While the myVOC score represents insights from customer surveys, the GRE score evaluates courtesy, concern, and resolution based upon internal chat transcripts. Each metric provides T-Mobile with a more holistic view of the customer experience, allowing the company to identify opportunities for improvement. As a result of T-Mobile’s live chat advancements, myVOC scores increased by 0.2, while GRE internal quality measurement scores jumped +0.1. In return, the average customer wait time decreased by two minutes, average handle time decreased by 150 seconds, and resolution rates grew by 6 percent.

T-Mobile Embraces Online Customer Care to Strengthen LoyaltyBRONZE

By blending its social support strategy with its emerging live chat channel, T-Mobile’s enhanced, consistent service spans across all touchpoints to ensure quick resolutions and customer satisfaction. —by Anna Papachristos

www.1to1media.com/crmexcellence

BUSINESS BOOSTBy working to augment efficiency, T-Mobile was able to decrease the average service response wait time by two minutes and average handle time by 150 seconds, improving resolution rates by 6 percent.

Connect1to1 media

with

11www.1to1media.com/crmexcellence

SILVER

BRONZE

customer service

Today’s customers demand flexibility and unless organizations deliver on this need, they run the risk of becoming irrelevant. This was a reality that MedicAlert Foundation knew it needed to address in order to improve its customer service.

The foundation, which was established in 1956, had some chal-lenges when it came to connecting with its customers. Karen Lamoree, the company’s COO, explains that sepa-rate databases meant the customer service team didn’t have a 360-degree view of customers, making it difficult to provide effective service.

Recognizing the need to change, in 2012 MedicAlert embarked on a two-pronged CRM initia-tive aimed at obtaining a holistic view of customers and increasing flexibility in its offerings. “Without a 360-degree view, we could not distinguish our customers between varying levels of service,” Lamoree notes.

Further, the foundation wanted to collect additional medical data about its members to better help them during an emergency, integrate its telephone system with its CRM, collaborate with new business partners to leverage new programs and services, and

quickly train new customer service reps. Following the changes of the CRM initiative, MedicAlert

Foundation staff have detailed information about individual custom-ers, allowing customer service representatives to access a complete customer profile—including health information, which marketing materials or communications they received, and their previous

order history—while talking to that customer. Armed with more robust customer profiles, the

foundation has started to segment communica-tion efforts among its customer base, for example according to age, location, or medical condition. Further, customer feedback identified the need to provide a lower price point for some customers, and the new CRM platform has allowed MedicAlert

Foundation to launch new membership services with varying lev-els of customer support.

It is clear that a better CRM system has led to an improved cus-tomer experience, with MedicAlert Foundation achieving a Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 62 percent in 2013, the first year it started tracking this metric.

MedicAlert Foundation’s CRM Revolution Improves Service The emergency support network foundation embarked on an ambitious project to have a 360-degree view of customers and better focus on their needs. —by Cynthia Clark

Managing a company is tough, but managing a city requires just as great a commitment, especially when talking about a large city with a population of about 270,000 people.

The City of Buffalo was facing serious social and economic challenges in the past decade including mass unemployment and increased crime and drug activity. This led to a greater need for resources to address a multitude of issues that went beyond just fixing a pothole but also dealt with education, unemployment, and healthcare, amidst severe budget constraints.

Recognizing the need to identify the areas of greatest need, the city decided to leverage Big Data to pinpoint the neighborhoods that required most assistance and target services. The intention was to improve the quality of life of city residents while making the most of scarce resources. Oswaldo Mestre, director of Buffalo’s Division of Citizen Services notes that the plan was to embark on an interagency collaborative approach that would allow different departments to work together during clean sweeps to address mul-tiple issues in one location. “We wanted to tackle problems in a more holistic way,” he notes.

Although these clean sweeps had been underway for several years, there was no data-based reason for the areas targeted. Many different agencies were collecting their own data, including Buffalo’s 311 Call and Resolution Center, which receives more than 300,000 verbal complaints from residents every year that are

imputed in the KANA LAGAN system. But data was siloed, and the first step, which kicked off in 2010, was to quickly identify neighbor-hoods requiring the services.

Working with the IT department, Mestre created maps that pull data from different departments and give an at-a-glance view of

problem areas. Mestre notes that the maps can quickly identify areas where poverty, crime, and 311 calls overlap indicating the need for special attention. “We are more nimble at being able to pinpoint areas of need and organize outreach,” he notes.

Mestre notes that new issues were also identified, for example a particular area needed better access to dentists that led to partnership with a dental school to offer the needed services.

Better data is allowing the City of Buffalo to acquire new partners, a number which grew by more than 400 percent since the organizers can reach out to partners whose services are required. This was due to the ability to better pinpoint challenged communities and actively seek out organizations that could address the problems.

Further, the removal of debris, street repairs, tree pruning, and demolition referrals also went up, indicating that better data is increasing the impact and focusing efforts in areas that need it. Other successes include an increase of 79 percent in the number of squatters found and offered services in vacant homes, an increase of 135 percent in referrals for weatherization, and an 86 percent increase in applications for the Mayor’s literacy program.

Buffalo’s Data-Driven Clean Sweeps The City of Buffalo uses sophisticated analysis to target areas of the city that require services. —by Cynthia Clark

Sales successes are important achievements for organizations. But

savvy business leaders understand that unless their winning sales strat-

egies are accompanied by first-class customer service, the success will

be short-lived. These leaders, like Urvashi Sheth, senior director for

global customer support at SanDisk Corporation, have made it their

mission to ensure their brands excel at customer service.

In order to make the most of the booming global flash memory based

storage market, SanDisk’s leadership decided to embark on a four-

pronged strategy between 2011 and 2013 geared toward providing

extremely high quality, quick, and efficient pre- and post-sales services.

The first step was to improve integration across previously fragmented

customer service channels to deliver a personalized and seamless expe-

rience across all channels, including the Web, social media, mobile, the

contact center, and on the field.

Cognizant that one-size-fits-all customer service is no longer suf-

ficient, next SanDisk wanted to invest in support systems that cater to

the diverse cultural needs of a global customer base. SanDisk’s busi-

ness leaders were cognizant of the need to customize processes to

suit diverse local and regional requirements. For example, in India and

China it was normal for customers to wait up to 20 days for a war-

ranty replacement since SanDisk has limited depots. The organization

addressed this problem by opening new depots that helped it trans-

form the warranty replacement process and allow customers to get

served on the same day in the same city.

The third goal was to manage rising service costs, and this included

leveraging technologies that are most popular in a particular region.

In India and China, SanDisk started providing return merchandize

authorization and warranty replacement numbers via SMS, allowing

customers to show the SMS at the counter to get their replacement.

More than 500 such texts are sent everyday and SanDisk has expanded

the use of SMS to keep customers informed of the status of a mailed

or couriered replacement. Apart from providing a good experience, this

strategy has helped SanDisk reduce customer service costs since the

cost to send an SMS is 95 percent less than a phone or chat con-

tact as it takes less time. SMS is also being used for authentication

purposes, allowing SanDisk to closely monitor its inventory and avoid

business issues, like gray market or product duplication that may lead

to brand erosion. Sheth explains that customers can text the unique

16-digit product code and be automatically informed whether the item

is authentic, allowing them to return it if there’s a problem.

Sales were not the only increase SanDisk was experiencing. The

cost of success was additional customer support requests, also due

to more complex products. While business leaders wanted to manage

costs, they also wanted to ensure they continued to deliver excellent

customer service. This required automating parts of the service opera-

tions. Sheth explains that although a knowledgebase existed, it was very

basic. “We redesigned it and focused on being media-rich,” she says.

Last year SanDisk added an assistance feature that guides customers in

the use of more complex products. Further, the knowledgebase, which

is available in 13 languages, was integrated with online forums and

communities, helping customers make informed decisions before buy-

ing products. Sheth notes that the use of both the knowledgebase and

forums has increased by about 17 percent since 2011.

The final step in the strategy revolved around taking advantage of

social media and e-commerce channels. SanDisk wanted to tap into

the growing popularity of new digital and social media channels by

extending its customer service delivery to areas where customers were

located. This includes interacting with customers on social channels,

like Facebook and Twitter, and being active on technical communities

and forums where the company responds to queries and engages in

conversations with customers. “We want to respond to customers and

let them know we’re listening to them and ready to help,” Sheth says.

Collecting data from across different channels and tracking customer

communications is allowing SanDisk to proactively help customers by

identifying and monitoring trends, for example the top drivers of calls to

the contact center and leveraging online forum conversations to identify

what customers like and dislike about products.

Overall, the whole strategy has led to an improvement in customer

satisfaction for call center services of up to 97 percent, up from 91

percent in 2011 while reducing the customer service budget by 7 per-

cent. The improvements have also helped SanDisk’s retail business unit

increase market share in the United States by 5 percent year over year.

The company has gained market share in both India and China.

Executing such a revolutionary strategy required commitment from

more than one department, and Sheth sought the support of the entire

organization by creating awareness about the project through corpo-

rate-wide events to promote the importance of a customer-centric

culture. During Retail Demo Day in 2013 the customer service and prod-

uct marketing teams demonstrated all of SanDisk’s products and their

accompanying support services. Other initiatives included a Customer

Awareness Day to educate employees on SanDisk customers and a

customer appreciation day where various customers, including one of

the SanDisk Forum gurus, were recognized for their contributions.

SanDisk’s Winning Customer Service FocusThe technology firm’s investment in a global customer service strategy has helped capture market share. —by Cynthia Clark

customer serviceGOLD

10 #GartnerCRM

BUSINESS BOOST: Improved customer experience and NPS

BUSINESS BOOSTData improves the effectiveness of community outreach.

BUSINESS BOOSTA customer-centric service

strategy is leading to improved customer satisfaction and an

increase in sales.

13www.1to1media.com/crmexcellence

innovationGOLD

Though television may traditionally be considered one-sided, tech-

nology continues to alter our perceptions of even the most common

mediums. For Portugal Telecom (PT) customers, television has be-

come the brand’s primary differentiator, as the introduction of MEO

Kanal, its personalized broadcast platform, allows clients to build

and broadcast their own TV channel, which they can easily share

with friends and family, or all MEO customers.

“Breaking through technological barriers, with support from the

MEO infrastructure of PT’s television, each client can now have his

or her own TV channel—a capability that, until now, was only ac-

cessible to large corporate producers and distributors,” says Celso

Martinho, director of technology. “The thinking behind the develop-

ment of this service was to give a TV channel to each customer and

bring them a new way of TV viewing.”

During the development and design process, the PT team fo-

cused on the consumer’s need for simplicity, thereby basing its ap-

proach upon client expectations. Thus, after countless focus groups

and several internal beta versions in collaboration with SAPO, MEO

Kanal launched in February 2012, with the intent to boost customer

acquisition, retention, and loyalty. By putting content creation in the

clients’ hands, PT sought to reinvent the television experience while

creating brand awareness. To increase word-of-mouth, PT even en-

couraged employees throughout the organization to use the service

and share their channels with family and friends by launching an in-

ternal challenge that urged the staff to record unforgettable moments

during their summer vacations. The best channels were then reward-

ed based upon the total number of views and overall creativity.

PT also created numerous demo channels, featuring high qual-

ity videos from popular sportsmen, comedians, and musicians, to

demonstrate the appeal of this innovation, along with the quality

and attractiveness of the service. These demos served as inspira-

tion for thousands of new public channels from local musicians,

entertainers, and sports teams looking to highlight their talents, as

well as local TV channels and newspapers looking to migrate to

video. Even churches and political candidates have embraced MEO

Kanal, for they recognize that having this direct channel allows

them to reach new audiences that were previously inaccessible.

However, roughly half of all MEO Kanal channels are private, as

families and friends can share videos and photos with one another.

Creators need only establish their PINs to maintain security and

ensure their content remains private. Enabling clients to share such

content quickly and easily with whomever they choose augments

the TV viewing experience, while incorporating some social flavor.

“This service has changed the way the television is used and this

is one of its major breakthroughs,” Martinho adds. “MEO Kanal is

the closest thing we have to social media on TV, but keeping the

experience of standard TV channel visualization.”

The development and project management teams continuously

work together, enabling their motivated workforce to maintain the

service’s high quality standard, while managing the brand’s road-

map, resource allocation, and customer care process. By using

daily and weekly dashboards, the management team remains up

to date on audience trends, the number of channels created and

hours of video uploaded, the number of unique viewers, churn rate,

and all other relevant KPIs. New features, such as the clients’ desire

to broadcast live events, are often the result of both customer sug-

gestion and constant analysis of service usage, for the company’s

roadmap revolves around what PT’s growing audience and chan-

nel creators value most. Big Data analysis also allows PT to deliver

customized content to customers based on the millions of interac-

tions collected, processed, and analyzed, as the company works to

align its offerings with clients’ interests.

Overall, those clients who post their content on the MEO Kanal

platform are more loyal than regular customers of the MEO IPTV

service standalone, which supports PT’s ultimate goal to boost

both loyalty and retention. PT’s MEO Kanal channel creators and

viewers have a lower churn rate (-2 percent) than MEO clients who

have never used the service, resulting in improved customer sat-

isfaction and engagement. Client behavior upholds this trend, for

the daily time spent using PT’s TV app averages two hours 25 min-

utes—almost half the time an average person spends watching TV

in Portugal. Upon MEO Kanal’s first anniversary, PT also dispersed

a customer satisfaction survey to approximate Net Promoter Score

results, culminating in an average 4.5/5. Today, MEO Kanal boasts

more than 40,000 channels and 75,000 hours of content, and con-

tinues to grow daily.

Portugal Telecom Gives Customers Content ControlBy allowing customers to create and broadcast their own TV channels, Portugal Telecom fosters engagement and brand loyalty through its innovative entertainment platform, which subscribers can’t find anywhere else. —by Anna Papachristos

BUSINESS BOOSTSince its launch in 2012, MEO Kanal has grown to more than 40,000 user-created channels, generating more than 75,000 hours of content and occupying nearly half of the average customer’s daily content consumption.

15www.1to1media.com/crmexcellence

integrated marketingGOLD

Innovation sometimes happens where you least expect it. Most

people equate innovation with new tools and apps at high-tech

companies or start-ups. Traditional companies in traditional

industries are not typically thought of as innovators. No one told

that to Syngenta Brasil, an agribusiness firm that provides farmers

with seeds and crop protection. The company innovated around

its customer experience and loyalty programs to reposition itself

as a trusted advisor to customers.

The agriculture industry was traditionally dominated by prod-

ucts and price. Competition in the Brazilian marketplace consisted

mostly of generic product companies competing on price and

big market players competing on products. Syngenta saw an

opportunity to move away from the price wars and product com-

moditization to differentiate itself with customer centricity and

aggregate services directly linked to its customers’ business to

the company’s product line.

The company segmented its clients into groups according to

potential use of products, customer profile, and access channel.

It identified about 35 percent of customers as having the most

potential future value. These clients could be treated in a custom-

ized way if Syngenta could create viable and suitable programs

to reach them. Those customers were divided further into two

groups—one-to-one (OTO) and Focalização (Focused).

“It is fundamental for us, without a doubt, to properly segment

customers and to customize services according to the specific

needs of each customer group,” says Aguinaldo Pavan, the direc-

tor in charge of the program. “When the actions are customized

according to the profile and needs of each customer segment,

certainly we are more effective in the relationship and create more

value to everyone involved.”

The OTO segment is made up of approximately 600 large grow-

ers with high purchase potential. Syngenta reaches these clients

through its own sales force. Another 6,000 clients are classified as

Focused, chosen because they were the highest potential growers

from each of Syngenta’s top distributors.

The new look of loyaltyThere are many ways Syngenta interacts with these important

customer groups—through topical discussion forums, local

networking events, product and farming seminars, etc. But the

company was awarded the Gold Integrated Marketing award due

in large part to how it re-imagined its loyalty program.

Syngenta created loyalty programs to reach each customer

group—Aliado OTO (OTO Ally) and Programa Mais Valor (More

Value). The company partnered with Peppers & Rogers Group

Brazil to align people, processes, and systems across marketing,

sales, products, financial, legal, IT, and other Syngenta business

units to develop the program. Syngenta also employed tools from

Microsoft Dynamics, SAP, Salesforce.com, and IBM.

Clients accrue points when they purchase products, which

can be redeemed for rewards. But these rewards are not the

typical branded apparel, sporting event tickets, or future pur-

chase discounts found in most point programs. Syngenta’s

loyalty rewards catapult beyond the typical vendor relationship

to offer real value-added services for customers. It offers edu-

cational and training programs, technica consulting assistance,

management and governance programs, technical, networking,

and educational trips, and specialized services. “Our biggest

surprise was the possibility to identify, through a closer rela-

tionship, that customers sometimes have needs which are

completely out of our core business activities, but that are fun-

damental to our customers’ business,” Pavan says. “So, we

needed to find a way to serve them.”

For OTO Ally members, Syngenta created face-to-face interac-

tion forums to capture and better understand the needs, business

trends, and even personal wishes of business owners, pertaining

to their role as entrepreneurs and family business owners.

In the More Value program, services are chosen based on their

wider geographical availability, since Focused customers are

scattered in a larger number of different regions. For instance,

local professors and other experts choose information sessions

and networking events. These services can be obtained for fewer

points because these clients have a lower purchase potential.

Syngenta Redefines What a Loyalty Program Looks LikeThe agribusiness firm’s rich segmentation strategy and value-added loyalty program helped to increase market share. —by Elizabeth Glagowski

BUSINESS BOOSTNearly 35 percent of each loyalty program membership redeemed loyalty service rewards, while 100 percent of clients said they would recommend the services to friends and redeem their points for the same services again.

17www.1to1media.com/crmexcellence

integrated marketing integrated marketing

Today’s customers are interacting with organizations over mul-

tiple channels and expect a seamless experience across each

touchpoint. However, brands are often challenged with con-

necting traditionally siloed channels to create an omnichannel

experience.

Banco Espirito Santo was facing such a challenge. Until 2010,

the Lisbon-based bank had five scattered CRM systems, making it

impossible for the 643 branches to have a clear single view of cus-

tomers’ interaction histories. As João

Manaças, the bank’s CRM manager,

explains, there was no link between the

channels, including the branches, con-

tact center, and Internet banking.

Further, increases in self-serve

options mean that less people go to

branches for their banking needs. “There were fewer opportunities

to speak with them,” Manaças explains. The bank recognized the

need to proactively reach out to customers with relevant offers.

However, the scattered systems meant that the bank was

unable to tailor campaigns to individuals. “We didn’t have

good information about previous interactions with customers,”

Manaças says. This led to poor marketing results since there

was no continuity or coordination when it came to campaigns,

making it impossible to introduce timely outreaches, for exam-

ple if a customer withdrew a large amount of money indicating

he might be changing banks.

This reality led to high inefficiency and poor performance across

the organization. For example, leads were regarded as low quality

and Manaças says it was estimated that only 50 percent of these

customers were being contacted by commercial staff since they

didn’t trust the information they were getting. Conversion rates

were as low as 3 percent.

Customer satisfaction was suffering and Banco Espirito

Santo was fourth among the top five Portuguese banks.

Recognizing the need for change, in 2009 business leaders

decided to invest in a fully integrated marketing and CRM sys-

tem that would help improve customer satisfaction and boost

conversion rates while improving brand presence and engaging

commercial staff. “We started from scratch,” Manaças says.

After talking to the IT department, the bank purchased Oracle’s

Siebel and scrapped the previous systems, except SAS, which

it kept using for analytics purposes.

Manaças notes that all conversations with a customer, across

all channels, are inputted in the new CRM system, creating a

360-degree view of individual clients and allowing the bank to

market directly to their needs. With information shared across the

organization, clients don’t have to repeat information if they speak

to a new person. Further, a client will not be proposed a product

that he’d already declined.

More robust data means that bank staff has a higher trust in

leads. “There’s more confidence in information,” Manaças notes.

As a result, outbound contacts to CRM leads have gone up from

less than half to 85 percent. Further, while in 2010 only up to 50

percent of leads were being contacted by branch staff, this went

up to almost 90 percent in 2013.

Better customer information allows the bank to make more

tailored offers. In fact, 15 percent of customers are proposed a

next-best offer and the relevance of these campaigns means that

conversion rates are in the 35 percent range.

An added bonus was that the marketing team can spend more

time on analysis and development rather than execution, which

was previously taking up 75 percent of their time. Campaigns are

also set up more efficiently and are up and running within a couple

of weeks, tested, and quickly rolled out to all branches.

The bank also introduced a real-time decision engine on its

Internet banking portal, allowing it to present the right offers to

each customer based on historical data from similar customers.

Click-through rates are three times higher than a control group.

Part of the strategy was to invest in a marketing automation

engine, which is now allowing the bank to orchestrate multi-

channel campaigns. Manaças notes that if a customer responds

to an Internet campaign, starts the buying process but doesn’t

make the purchase, he will receive a call from the branch, asking

whether he needs help completing the purchase, leading to high

conversion rates.

The new system has gone over well with customers, with an

email survey the day after a branch contact showing that 89

percent of customers rank their interaction as highly satisfac-

tory. More importantly, the bank has seen positive sales results,

and specific products marketed in a campaign have seen a suc-

cess rate from less than 3 percent in 2010 to more than 13

percent last year.

Finally, the new system has helped Banco Espirito Santo

weather the economic storm. Manaças explains that at a time

when it was impossible for banks to get outside funding, the bank

was able to fund its activity from deposits.

“All services are tightly linked to Syngenta’s client business

needs,” Pavan says. “From the start, service offerings were

designed with business value in mind, never considering personal

gifts or prizes with personal appeal.”

Education is a key facet of both programs, but they are

approached differently, depending on the customer group.

Focused clients receive access to courses in financial manage-

ment, business management, and technical advancement. OTO

clients, meanwhile, can choose courses in family business suc-

cession, MBA-level management, and their family members can

take classes too.

“We created the ‘Academia de Líderes’ (Leaders Academy), a

post-graduate management course for our customers’ sons and

daughters, to make farmers’ succession plans easier for everyone

involved,” Pavan says. “Unarguably, this has been one of the pro-

grams that was most recognized by our customers.”

Syngenta tracks the program’s success by measuring indi-

vidual share-of-customer—the total amount sold to the client,

divided by the client’s financial potential. An increase in share-

of-customer is at the same time a loyalty indicator (repeat and

increasing purchases), a satisfaction indicator (the client ‘votes’

with real purchases). and a financial indicator (sales performed

by the distributor and by Syngenta), Pavan explains.

In 2013, 33 percent of OTO loyalty members redeemed $US1.8

million worth of services. And 100 percent of clients said they

would recommend the services to friends and they would redeem

their points for the same services again. Similarly, 30 percent of

Focused members redeemed services.

Syngenta aims to reach a 35 percent share of customer for its

Focused member base. It’s well on its way, already having reached

28 percent. For OTO customers, the goal is to reach 36 percent

share of customer. At 34 percent, it has nearly reached goal.

“I am sure that we are in the right path, but we still have much

to develop,” Pavan says. “Improving the communication process

and enhancing various actions so they bring more value to cus-

tomers of different segments are the next steps.”

Pavan’s advice to others is to take customer centricity out

of sales and marketing and into the entire company. “A per-

fect internal alignment is fundamental, even before starting the

development of the relationship programs,” Pavan says. recom-

mendation is making sure that you can deliver what you have

promised to the customers.”

While Isbank may be Turkey’s first truly national bank, its lead-

ing position and achievements in the sector stem from its

customer-centric marketing strategy. But, as today’s custom-

ers become more demanding and empowered, Isbank must

constantly seek better ways to adapt in order to establish and

maintain valuable, enduring customer relationships, build effi-

ciency throughout its operational process, and create positive

customer impact.

Thus, Isbank moved to organize its operations around cus-

tomer-value based segmentation and micro-segmentation,

actively using analytical models, such as lifetime value and cus-

tomer churn, to embrace predictive analytics and data mining.

“The shift to a customer-centric organization was built upon

customer-value based segmentation...and granted us the abil-

ity to differentiate our customer service levels within each of

our channels, particularly in the call center and branches,” says

Murat Kaya Besiroglu, customer insight manager.

Much like many companies across industries, Isbank’s primary

goal focuses upon pinpointing the appropriate analytics and data

in order to make difficult decisions about targeting the right cus-

tomers with the right offers in the right channels at the right time

while staying within budget. By taking customer preferences and

contact policies into account, however, Isbank has established a

marketing optimization plan that aims to increase customer satis-

faction by limiting communications in an effort to reduce fatigue.

Isbank’s Customer-Centric Transformation program, on the

other hand, was created to introduce the 360-degree view of the

customer, including all relevant data, such as product and chan-

nel usage, customer value, risk, and demographics, and making

customer interaction histories accessible for all employees using

Isbank’s new Sales and Service Platform courtesy of SAS.

These insights then flow across branch, Internet banking,

call center, ATM, IVR, SMS, and email channels, organizing

campaigns and enhancing the customer experience through inte-

grated multichannel campaigns. For instance, when customers

respond to offers displayed on one of the various delivery chan-

nels, such as ATM or Internet, the promotional item will no longer

be displayed on other channels, for the company’s real-time

offering system enables the team to generate sales or discounts

on ATMs and Internet branch and dispense them according to

how well the given customers match certain criteria.

Overall, when Isbank’s optimization initiative went into effect

June 2013, the integrated multichannel campaign management

system conducted 601 SMS and email campaigns, 11 ATM and

Internet branch campaigns, 34 branch campaigns—141 million

customer interactions total. The hard response rates for branch

campaigns also increased by 6.6 percent compared to 2012

Q3, while the profits generated from branch campaigns and the

annual profit of products sales jumped to 23.5 percent as com-

pared to 2012 Q3.

Banco Espirito Santo Focuses on Personalized MarketingRobust customer data is allowing the Portuguese bank to market to individual clients with very targeted offers.—by Cynthia Clark

Isbank’s Segmentation Strategy Boosts SatisfactionA micro-segmentation model ensures that targeted marketing campaigns remain relevant across the bank’s channels, eliminating redundant communications to build and sustain customer loyalty. —by Anna Papachristos

16 #GartnerCRM

BUSINESS BOOST: Since implementing its optimization initiative in June 2013, Isbank has conducted 601 SMS and email campaigns, 11 ATM and Internet branch campaigns, and 34 branch campaigns—141 million customer interactions in all—boosting annual profits by 23.5 percent compared to Q3 2012.

BUSINESS BOOSTBreaking data silos allows for more personalized communications.

SILVER

BRONZE

19www.1to1media.com/crmexcellence18 #GartnerCRM

Akbank is one of the largest banks in Turkey, with nearly 1,000 branches and more than $51 billion (USD) in deposits. To help distinguish itself in the highly competitive Turkish banking market, Akbank has endeavored on becoming more customer focused in all aspects of its operations, including its products, services, com-munications, and the channel experiences it offers.

Akbank’s customer-centric approach also extends to how it prices its products. The bank is utilizing a next-generation CRM system it deployed in 2010 along with pricing analytics and other tools to provide more precise offers to its customers based on a combination of factors: customer needs, price sensitivity, and product and channel propensities.

Before the project was launched in the second quarter of 2012, the operational and analytical capabilities of Akbank’s sales force had matured to a level where it had obtained a single view of its customers and their portfolios across a full range of channels. However, the manual and unstructured approach the bank had historically used to price products such as deposits and loans, “was diagnosed to be a main problem in the sales force’s daily routine,” says Attila Bayrak, senior vice president of CRM at Akbank. That’s because previous efforts to price products was time-consuming and didn’t focus on unique customer needs.

Akbank launched an initiative in mid 2012 to rebuild pricing pro-cesses with the aid of pricing analytics. Customer-centric pricing models were developed using SAS’ Enterprise Miner data mining tool and the SAS Enterprise Guide analytics tool. Customer-centric pricing user interfaces were designed using Java and integrated into the workstations used by the bank’s sales people. The project team took an iterative approach and started with deposit pricing.

Prior to this stage of the initiative, Akbank struggled with a few challenges regarding deposit pricing at its branches. For starters, the bank lacked a well-defined pricing methodology to calculate and create offers for customers quickly and effec-tively. Sales people spent too much time waiting for approval from headquarters. Delays in interest rate offers to customers impacted customer satisfaction.

Know thy customerAkbank recognized that its sales force needed to be keenly aware of its customers’ needs and expectations. Prior to these efforts, Akbank’s sales people would negotiate with customers on prices for its deposit products and then reach out to headquarters for final

approval. However, salespeople lacked deep insights into each customer’s needs and expectations. The project team addressed these challenges, in part, by empowering salespeople to negotiate offers with customers under a more simplified set of processes along with the use of analytics to craft more precise price offers.

The use of analytics and the new pricing processes have enabled Akbank’s sales team to personalize and craft price offers on time deposit accounts (aka certificate of deposit) to its custom-ers based on a number of factors. These include price sensitivity, the deposit amount, and the number of renewals of the time deposit account (CDs).

“With the new analytics and processes, the granularity of price differentiation is expanded and relatively higher interest rates are offered to customers residing at high-competition locations, newcomers, first-ever deposit account holders, and loyal customers,” Bayrak says. Loyalty plays an important role in price differentiation, he adds.

Each of Akbank’s customers (deposit and non-deposit) receives a price sensitivity and loyalty score monthly based on their segment, demographics, product usage, transactions, and propensities. Key performance indicators (KPIs) established included average cost per deposit, total deposit amount, deposit loyalty, and customer profitability.

Akbank’s customer-centric approach to product pricing has generated multiple business benefits. With the increase in cus-tomer loyalty the bank has experienced along with a decrease in the time it now takes to open a deposit, the average cost per deposit has decreased. In addition, total deposits increased significantly in 2013 compared to 2012. Meanwhile, customer profitability and the cross-sell ratios of deposit customers both rose substantially while customer satisfaction has also improved.

Says Bayrak, “Creating better customer-centric processes and pricing strategies improves customer satisfaction and loyalty while achieving profitable sales to the customer base.”

core systems, back-office systems, and third-party credit bureau

systems. Customers can use DAP to apply for asset and liabil-

ity products using straight through processing capabilities. This

provides customers with faster turnaround times while decreasing

sales costs for HDFC, says Kesh.

HDFC’s customer-centric sales strategies have led to impres-

sive business results. Close to 2.2 million leads (across deposit,

loans, investment, and convenience products) are generated each

month with high monthly conversion rates. In addition, the bank’s

customer-led sales efforts have enabled it to become India’s mar-

ket leader in personal loans, auto loans, and credit cards. Kesh

adds that the bank’s leadership, the strength of its employees,

governance processes, product offerings, and service orientation

also contributed greatly to the bank’s achievements.

Akbank Designs Customer-Centric Product Pricing The bank is making use of customer data to develop price-sensitive product offers for its customers. —by Tom Hoffman

salesforce effectivenessGOLD

Since its inception in 1994, HDFC Bank has always been a front-

runner in the Indian banking space and is currently the largest bank

in the nation by market capitalization. But in order to truly differ-

entiate itself in the market and to fend off competitors who were

aggressively marketing retail loans and other products, organiza-

tional leaders for HDFC saw an opportunity to distinguish itself over

the long term through customer experience.

To help accomplish these goals, the bank needed to develop

a 360-degree view of its customers. In its early days, the bank

invested in a data warehouse which enabled the bank to integrate

customer data from across different systems. However, there was

no single platform that offered front-line decision makers a consoli-

dated view of the customer’s entire relationship with the bank.

“We needed a system which could easily integrate customer data

and relevant information on customer behavior from all these sys-

tems and present to the front line staff in a manner which enables

a comprehensive dialogue with customers to fulfill all their banking

needs,” says Ratan Kesh, head, premier banking, current A/c, retail

trade & Fx at HDFC Bank who serves as the bank’s “change agent.”

Under an initiative called ‘One Bank’, HDFC Bank leaders not

only wanted to deploy a comprehensive CRM system, they also

sought to integrate the bank’s 20-plus legacy systems under a sin-

gle application. The system also needed to simultaneously offer the

ability to handle large volumes of data on 30 million plus customers

and 65 million product holdings and handle more than 50,000 users

securely and with varied visibility depending on the user’s role.

One of the top goals of the One Bank program was to be able

to manage the end-to-end sales process across departments for

all products on a single platform. In the past, multiple systems and

processes were used for sales fulfillment. This created challenges

for the bank’s relationship managers to view the status of customer

accounts along with where customers stood in the sales lifecycle.

Moreover, each business line had its own disparate system which

created challenges in creating a unified view of all sales and services

processes. Without a single system to access all of this informa-

tion, relationship managers were unable to obtain real-time status

of customer account and other information which led to customer

angst, says Kesh. It also made it difficult for relationship managers

and other bank employees to obtain insights about what customers

need, the full suite of products they own, or their behaviors which

could be used to shape cross-sell and upsell decisions.

Responding to customer needsUnlike other banks, HDFC didn’t want to buy growth at the expense

of profitability. To help preserve profitability, the bank embarked on

a two-pronged strategy. First, Kesh and other bank officials sought

to raise the bar on its internal processes even though the bank’s

processes were already best-in -class.

A Lean Sigma team made up of employees with Lean and Six

Sigma skills was used to bring best practices from various parts

of the bank and integrate those into the ‘One Bank’ initiative. Also,

because the Lean Sigma team works independently from all busi-

ness functions within the bank and reports to the CIO, the team has

a neutral stance and has been able to resolve any functional conflicts

by taking a ‘One Bank’ view. Some of the areas of improvement that

the Lean Sigma team helped with included moving from multiple

systems to a single, one-stop solution for customer relationship

management along with easy access to customer information and

offers for cross-sell/upsell.

Second, Kesh and his team wanted to make use of the bank’s

CRMnext cloud-based CRM platform and other technologies to

obtain a unified view of customers by collating and using data from

a variety of sources, including mobile and web.

The CRMnext platform has enabled the bank to make personal-

ized offers to customers across the various touchpoints, including

branches, interactions with relationship managers, call centers,

ATMs, email, etc. Personalized next-best product offers are crafted

based on each customer’s product portfolio and the next prod-

uct they’re most likely to purchase based on their current lifecycle

status. The identified products are then further ranked in order of

preference and are included as part of an account planning tool

which is used by relationship managers to have meaningful engage-

ments with customers. “This has been one of the key success

factors for improving lead generation and conversion,” Kesh says.

Meanwhile, the increasing use of smartphones and tablets by

customers has also provided HDFC the opportunity to offer self-

service options. To seize on these opportunities, HDFC launched a

‘Digital Application Platform’ (DAP) as an extension of its CRMnext

platform. DAP is a web-based front-end system that’s available

on all mobile platforms, offering real-time integration to HDFC’s

HDFC: ‘One Bank’ Focused on Customer NeedsThe bank’s 360-degree view of its customers helps to offer the right products at the right time. —by Tom Hoffman

BUSINESS BOOSTClose to 2.2 million leads (across deposit, loans, investment, and convenience products) are generated each month with high conversion rates month-to-month and rising.

BUSINESS BOOSTTotal deposits increased significantly in 2013 compared to 2012. Meanwhile, customer profitability and the cross-sell ratios of deposit customers both rose substantially.

SILVER

salesforce effectiveness

For more information on the 2014 program, go to

www.1to1media.com/CRMexcellence