1. Outstanding Customer Experience
The Only Sustainable Differentiating Advantage for Online Retailers
Presenter: Kaushal Mehta, Founder & CEO
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2. Agenda
• The need to create a clear and sustainable differentiating advantage
• Framework to create outstanding customer experience
• Providing world class customer support: To outsource or not to outsource
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3. The need to create a clear and sustainable differentiating advantage
What is your goal?
• Focus on the USP (pricing, brand, product mix), get
Be around for a known for that, capitalize and exit
couple years and exit
Build a brand that will • Develop a comprehensivesustainableexperience
strategy that will provide
customer
growth,
last a decade or more customer loyalty and profits
Why have a comprehensive Customer Experience strategy?
• Of the 4Ps, three – Product, Price, Place – do not offer online retailers any clear differentiating
advantage
• Current differentiating advantages – lower price, newer brands, etc. will last only till the competition
catches up
• The only sustainable differentiating advantage is providing a delightful customer experience as it is the
best way to build trust with customers
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4. Framework to create outstanding customer experience
In the absence of physical interaction, it is extremely important to design each stage of the shopping
experience such that it replicates the brick and mortar experience as much as possible. In online retail,
the following factors are essential to provide an outstanding customer experience -
User Friendly
Website
Well Articulated Policies
Integration Comprehensive Self Help Technology
Offline FAQs Latency
Mobile CRM & Reporting
CRM Voice Recording
Customer Feedback Pre Sales Support
Outstanding Service Channels
Reviews
Customer Domain Knowledge
Surveys
Experience Right Resources
Social Media
Metrics
Trust and Safety
Net Promoter Score
Online Fraud Prevention
CSAT
Account Compromise
FTR Post Sales Support
Multi-channel, 24/7
Billing, Refunds, Claims
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5. Keep the online experience convenient and interesting
User Friendly Website
In-person experience of brick and mortar stores cannot be replicated online, so it is critical to design a
user friendly website
• Good visual appeal, ease of navigation, comprehensive product descriptions
• Comprehensive self help - well categorized FAQs and responses
• Sensible and well articulated policies for
• Payment
• Refunds
• Delivery
• Cancellations
• Returns
• Exchanges
• Reward points, if any
• Simple check out process
 This will drive positive customer experience and more importantly low customer
issues/complaints during shopping
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6. The shopping experience should be quick and easy
Technology
• Choose technology keeping in mind long term requirements
1) Sales channels to be offered
2) Integration of customer data management across channels
• Latency is a critical factor
• Different stages of business growth will determine CRM needs
• Identify most efficient support channels to be offered
• Voice recording is important – analysis and legal
 Correct investment in technology can result in higher site hits, conversions
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7. Be where your customers are whenever they need help
Pre Sales Support
• Decide the best channel for support – voice (helplines, click to call), chat, social media
• Provide a conspicuous link to virtual customer support
• Develop scripts for pre purchase situations of the shopping cycle
• Hire and train a customer centric team that can show empathy and help build trust
• Resolve pre purchase questions professionally
• Explain policies in great detail (without losing patience or pushing the customer to buy your product)
• Address questions on logistics in a transparent manner
• Customer interaction has to lay emphasis on several factors including
• The accuracy and tone of responses
• Empathy
• Proper use of language and grammar
• Timely response for offline (email, fax)
 This is possibly the first customer interaction with your team – invest in hiring the right
resources and provide in-depth training
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8. Make the customer feel secure in buying online
Trust and Safety
• Build a process to mitigate risk of fraudulent transactions
• Instances of online credit card fraud are rising - factor in the possibility of fraudulent sales, account
takeovers for membership driven online retailers
• Fraudulent transactions will have multiple impact
• You will lose a customer for good
• Huge negative WOM, possibly on social media
• Charge backs will directly impact your bottom-line
• Dedicate a team to analyze potential fraud
• Nip it in the bud
• Build rules/policies at early stage itself, and constantly monitor online fraud, improve processes
• Investment in resources will not be a cost – it will pay off due to reduction in charge backs
 Positive online experiences will help fuel your growth
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9. Empower your support team to delight your customer
Post Sales Support
• Customer Support is not a cost, it is a game changer
• Understand when and where your customers need help
• Determine channels of support required – voice, email, chat, social media or a combination
• Develop scripts for all situations of shopping cycle
• This team will have the highest interaction with the customer – make sure you have the right team
• Customer centric, resolution focused
• Customer interaction has to lay emphasis on several factors including
• The accuracy and tone of responses
• Empathy
• Proper use of language and grammar
• Timely response for offline channels (email, fax)
• Invest in product training, employee development to build domain expertise
 Positive customer interactions will lead to higher customer satisfaction and retention
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10. Measure your CS team’s performance
Metrics
• Identify SLAs & performance metrics – TAT, AHT, quality, productivity, CSAT, FTR, NPS
• Dedicate a quality team to measure performance across channels and coach on areas of
improvement
• Implement VoC measures such as NPS, CSAT, etc. to measure how effective are your customer
support services
• Analyze and improve processes if required
 Continuous evaluation will help your team improve customer experiences
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11. Listen to your customers
Customer Feedback
• Provide a feedback mechanism on site / on social media to your customers
• Design surveys / use third party surveys to obtain customer feedback
• Analyze customer feedback from surveys, social media to understand areas of improvement
• Share feedback with stakeholders – marketing, tech, operations, product teams
• Calibrate and change processes if required
• Predict customer experience through real time monitoring and analyses
 Gain insights on customer issues by analyzing customer feedback
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12. Provide a 360 degree shopping experience
Integration
Integrate with Stores
• Traditional retail is not dying, combining an online model with an offline presence makes most business
sense
• Partner with brick and mortar stores to have your products picked up or returned there –save on operational
and real estate costs while having an offline presence
• Some customers may browse for products online but prefer to buy from stores – direct them to brick and
mortar partners for a referral fee
• Provide store pick-up facilities for products customers order on your website
Design a mobile version of your website with full functionality
• Incorporate mobile in your strategy
Integrate CRM, customer databases across channels
• It will empower customer support team to be better equipped and effectively respond to customer queries
 Increase reach and convenience for your customers
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13. Customer Support Operations: To outsource or not to outsource
• Do you have the bandwidth?
• Do you have the expertise?
• Do you have the Capex and funding?
• Do you have the infrastructure to scale rapidly in terms of real estate, IT and people?
• Do you understand security standards?
A Good Outsourcing Partner helps you focus on your core business
• Most successful international online retailers focus on their core business and outsource the critical
customer experience function to experts that have been doing this for several years
• Good outsourcing companies work as an extension of their clients’ teams and ensure a
comprehensive culture and domain expertise transfer through detailed process migration planning
and systematic training
• Customized training modules ensure a comprehensive transfer of culture and product knowledge for effective
migration to the outsourcing partner
• Regular VoC reports that map if the outsourcing partner is performing in accordance to the client’s corporate
culture and values
• Extensive and up-to-date knowledge bases for each of their clients, which enables agents to provide
knowledgeable and empathetic responses to customers
• Regularly updated scripts that reflect any change in policies, website, etc. made by the clients
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14. Thank you
For further information, please contact:
Kaushal Mehta
Founder and CEO, Motif, Inc.
Phone: 0 98250 06955
Email: kaushal.mehta@motifinc.com
www.motifinc.com
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