A digital customer service model boosts satisfaction, delivers nearly $10 million in incremental revenue

Our Impact

As a global communications company that facilitates digital business at the organizations it serves, it only makes sense that this company should reap the full benefit of being digital itself.  

Faced with the obstacles of a recent merger and a once-in-a-generation global pandemic, this newly united and rebranded company wanted to distinguish itself on customer care and experience as their differentiator in a suddenly crowded market. That’s where West Monroe came in. Over 18 months, we partnered with the company to design and implement a digital customer service model with an end goal of establishing an infrastructure to support a future-state, subscriptions-based approach. The improvements—including greater call efficiency, enhanced customer and partner experience, employee engagement, and customer satisfaction—showcase the tangible impact of being digital. 

The Full Story 

The challenge

As it merged two organizations, our client had a unique opportunity to shape the experience it delivers for customers and employees. To transform its operations from product-centric to customer-centric, the company had to make sure both customers and customer service agents have easy access to the information and tools they need to accomplish their goals. That’s why the company chose Salesforce Service Cloud as its digital service platform.  

The company wanted to move quickly—and West Monroe was ready thanks to our extensive Salesforce Service Cloud experience and an approach designed to drive maximum value from new technology. Our team had supported the organization through other enterprise technology, customer analytics, and customer support portal projects, so executives knew we would deliver the impact they wanted—and quickly.  

An undeniably different approach

We mobilized a team of experts in experience design, Salesforce, high-tech operations, and change management who came to the table with the understanding that “being digital” isn’t just about implementing the technology. Truly being digital is about building a digital operating model that’s enabled by technology. So, our team put equal focus on the strategy and process implications of the company’s desired transformation. That’s what really set West Monroe apart from the client’s ’s previous provider and other potential partners.  

We also brought proven approaches for accelerating the digital journey by using agile, iterative processes that deliver new technology fast and then build upon its capabilities over time.  

Finally, we believe in the importance of close collaboration so that our client’s team is prepared to manage and enhance the solution over time. Working closely with the client team, we: 

• Improved case creation and escalation processes by streamlining or phasing out certain activities.  

• Imbedded KCS (Knowledge Centered Service) principles, including a customer and user-friendly knowledge base, into the case resolution processes. 

• Utilized Salesforce Service Cloud capabilities to automate or streamline tasks for assigning, escalating, troubleshooting, and initiating “ask for help” collaboration. 

• Enhanced self-service capabilities for core business functions including online renewals, product replacements/returns, and product registration. 

• Established an advanced entitlement management infrastructure, providing a scalable architecture to support a subscription-based model.    

• Integrated Salesforce Service Cloud with the existing support portal and other enterprise systems to increase visibility across all customer-facing transactions. This improved data integrity and accessibility, as well as efficiency. 

Real Results

Our work has helped the company optimize its customer service operations, using the power of Salesforce Service Cloud. Within 18 months, the changes contributed to a 0.1-point increase in customer satisfaction score – which translates to an estimated $9.35 million in incremental revenue.  

The solution also reduced annual maintenance costs for supporting the customer service platform by an estimated $1.3 million. This is the result of several improvements: 

• 5% increase in first call resolution 
• 5% reduction in overall call volume by employing self-service capabilities 
• 30-second reduction in average handle time 
• 5% decrease in agent attrition through better agent engagement and retention