Self-service operations can, if done right, dramatically decrease costs to the CSP, as shown in Figure 1. But, of course, a poor web self-service experience can not only result in a poor customer experience, but also spawn an additional customer service representative (CSR) call.
Self-service operations for SMBs are spanning the full range of customer interactions, from product selection, sales, through ongoing operations.
Self-service capabilities in electronic billing and analysis can be a tremendous money saver for the CSP and a boon to the SMB.
Self-Service Product Sales
CBeyond is a managed service provider aimed at SMBs. It serves thirteen markets in the US, providing a VoIP platform and services including wireline and mobile telephony, internet access, e-mail, security, VPNs, secure backups, etc.
Self-Service Product Selection
CSPs such as AT&T, with its award-winning Small Business InSite and the Small Business Mobile Application Recommender Tool (SMART) are leading the way in the area of product selection self-service. The AT&T InSite web site provides education via articles, on-line courses, and free webinars on how to use technology for business growth, while the SMART tool allows an SMB to create a list of recommended products from AT&T, based on the SMB’s industry, characterization of their mobile workers and devices of interest, and the functions that they would like to perform. Then, with a click on one of the several business solutions presented, an SMB can be connected to an AT&T small business sales representative. Other, more prosaic tasks (such as determining the products available in an area, costs, and available resellers) are also supported.
CBeyond found that its customers, which average seven users each, required a lot of personalized service and direct contact. Training their customers on their web self-service portal by sending out a CSR to the customers’ locations the first month of service, they are able to run a nearly 100% self-service operation after that, including ordering, changes, rearrangements, and billing. Of course, CSRs are always available, but seldom used.
Ongoing Self-Service Operations
On an ongoing basis, self-service capabilities in electronic billing and analysis can be a tremendous money saver for the CSP and a boon to the SMB. Of course, on-line billing for SMBs, just like for consumers, saves the printing, stuffing, mailing – and that all-important stamp, while electronic remittance saves the cost of manually
Pipeline
Publishing, Volume 6, Issue 9
