Customer Service Website Marketing Plan

Customer Service Website Marketing Plan

The intent of this marketing plan is to provide a framework for migrating customers from personal service to web-based self-service to both reduce costs while increasing the level of responsiveness and generating higher levels of loyalty from customers. Web-based self-service has proven to be a viable alternative vs. large-scale expansion of call centers, freeing up technical support and services personnel to work on more complex customer problems. Providing customers with multiple avenues to gain support over the Internet through a web-based self-service site on a 24/7 basis, regardless of their location globally, has major competitive advantages long-term.

While much third party research has been completed on the benefits of web self-service what is critical in the launch of this specific site are the functional applications that allow customers to check the status of the policies, transfer policy coverage between two or more assets being insured, managing fund allocation workflows, supporting user education programs on new services, and offering advanced customer service functionality including refunds and exchanges of policies. Taken together a framework of applications emerges that replicates the processes a call center representative would be tasked with during the day.

What needs to guide the marketing plan for the new web-based customer service site is first and foremost a solid understanding of the sites' applications and resulting customer-based workflows. Ultimately the value of this customer service site will be defined by how well the suite of online applications aligns with and supports the most critical process workflows that customers have. The need for checking the status of policies for example can take many minutes on a telephone call while online; the Policy Status application can deliver a response in seconds regardless of the time requested. This is just one example of why it is so critical for the launch plan to reflect the specific process areas - only in positioning these process areas will the launch of the web-based self-service website be successful. The many specific process areas can be defined in three strategic groups, and these include the following:

Product Information Management - These areas of the website specifically deal with the services organization overview, the breadth of insurance policy materials and the series of disclosure materials as required by regulatory bodies for customers to view at time of purchase and post-purchase.

Account Management - the most critical processes and workflows that need to be supported on a web-based self-service website, these include the Policy Status, Policy Online Ordering and Policy Order Management, Account and Payment Information, Bill Payment workflows. These are the most critical due to their integration with back-office systems. All of these applications specifically support process workflows that have intensive data requirements from other systems throughout the organization.

Post-Sales Service and Support - This is the most critical area of any web-based self-service initiative in that the most highly quantified benefits are derived from strategies in this area. Resolving disputes, customizing cross-policy offerings, and enabling product support are all critical areas of the entire applications mix that collectively comprise a web-based self-service website.

Broadly speaking these three specific areas can be defined as the sequence of attracting customers to the self-service website, selling them services, and serving them for the long-term. The ability of a self-service website to attract, sell, and serve customers is critical for its long-term growth.

In devising a website marketing plan for web-based self-service offering, the need for having applicable metrics of performance is also critical. What gets measured gets better, and this is a critical point that must pervade the evaluation and analysis of the website's marketing plan once executed. Inherent in measuring the performance of any web-based self-service website is also measuring the broader productivity gains made possible with its applications. For many web-based self-service websites this includes increasing online dispute resolution, increasing the number of online billings completed to drop the costs per transaction, and increasing the use of online customer service to drop the cost per service request. These three metrics of online dispute resolution, the proportion of online billing completed, and the reduction in telephone calls using online tools instead are the key performance indicators (KPIs) that many organizations rely on when launching web-based self-service websites and need to also be used in the broader context on these.

In summary the need for also measuring and monitoring the adoption rate of the web-based self-service website is also critical; in fact this is the most telling performance indicator there is in evaluating the effectiveness of this marketing plan. Typically adoption rates of web-based self-service websites vary between 230% and 40%, with 50% adoption being exemplary. What needs to be included in this marketing plan is a scorecard or dashboard to measure and evaluate results.

Overall Business Objectives

The primary objectives for creating a web-based self-service website are defined as first dropping the cost of transaction while at the same time increasing the availability of product information management, account management, and post-sales service and support applications on a 24/7 basis. The specific business objectives for web-based self-service website are defined as follows:

To significantly drop the costs per service transaction by migrating existing customers from call center-based representatives to self-service website, achieving a cost per call of $1.17 or less.

To decrease the cost of online dispute resolution from over $50 per incident to below $30 per incident, this is consistent with industry standards.

To increase the number of policies sold entirely online by 10% in the next eighteen months in both commercial and consumer marketplaces..

To increase the number of cross-sell and up-sell transactions as a result of the online applications, using policy-based constraint technologies to specifically create customized quotes for customers.

To integrate phone self-service and web-based self-service to ensure synchronization of service responses across support channels.

To launch the web-based self-service website in conjunction with system-level integrations to the CRM, pricing, services, support and services expediting systems. This issue is critical for the overall success of the website; integration objectives are critical.

To successfully segment support levels, automating Level 1 completely while having Levels 2 and 3 handled by customer service representatives with additional time due to the web-based self-service website handling the majority of requests.

To increase customer satisfaction by 50% through the use of a synchronized series of support channels of which the website will be the primary contributor.

To increase first call closure rates by 50% through the use of more effective online tools and their pervasive marketing, education and refinement based on customer feedback.

To increase customer retention by 30% through the use of more effective marketing campaigns to drive existing customers to the self-service website while educating them of potential new services they can also purchase while on the site.

Establish the company as a leader in best practices in insurance processes, aligning business process excellence to the continual refinement of the applications that comprise the self-service website.

Specific Marketing Objectives

In defining the marketing objectives for the web self-service website, the adoption rate within the exiting customer base needs to be the first priority. The many marketing strategies and plans need to specifically focus on driving up the adoption rate of the web-based self-service website for all additional marketing objectives to be accomplished. The following are the marketing objectives for the web self-service website:

To position the web-based self-service website as a highly trusted and a more convenient alternative to working with call center representatives that are only available during business hours.

To launch all three specific product categories of product information management, account management and post-sales service by relying on customer testimonials and their endorsements to highlight the trustworthiness and value of these three specific application areas.

Using a synchronized set of digital media including e-mail, banner ads and pop-up ads, launch the self-service site across the entire customer base in addition to targeting those potential new customers who use the web today for completing their insurance transactions.

Using extensive public and analyst relations, introduce the web-based self-service website to both industry and financial analysts to gain greater coverage of the product introduction in both the financial community and the insurance industry press. To accomplish this, a tour of financial and industry analysts will be completed.

To create a high level of interest in all three application areas (product information management, account management, and post-sales service and support applications) for new customers by offering instant quotes from the new website and a 5% reduction in the cost of an insurance policy when purchased online.

To achieve 30% acceptance of the self-service website by focusing on bundled insurance programs and offers.

Business Situation/SWOT Analysis

Completing a SWOT analysis of creating a web-based self-service website for managing the process workflows related to attracting, selling and servicing customers online is defined within this section. Internal factors are first evaluated, followed by external factors including the cost reductions being achieved by insurance companies implementing comparable web-based initiatives for self-service.

Internal Situation

An evaluation of both performance analysis and resource availability for the development of the web-based self-service website is defined in this section. From a performance analysis perspective, costs of alternative support channels are first evaluated, followed by the key performance indicators (KPIs) typically used in financial services organizations to measure the performance of their online initiatives, most notably, websites. Following this discussion of performance analysis there is an analysis of resource availability and allocation of resources.

Performance Analysis

From a cost-per-incident analysis, the following table presents findings from Forrester Research specifically in measuring the median internal costs companies are incurring as a result of each customer service channel. The objectives of this marketing plan specifically focus on driving user adoption while at the same time making process workflows efficient enough to attain the following best practices figures from Forrester Research.

Best Practices in Services Costs by Channel

Channel

Cost per Incident

Annual Growth Rate

Telephone

Web Chat

Message Boards

Knowledge Database and Website

Source: Watson, Donnelly and Shehab (2)

These best practices benchmarks must be relied on in evaluating the success of marketing programs to increase the level of activity to drive down the cost per incident online. While the costs in the above table are significant and dramatic in their variation with one another, a critical point must be kept in mind regarding systems integration to provide each of these systems a synchronized response to each customer's request. Customers, regardless of channel used, require a consistent response, and to accomplish this there needs to be tight integration across all internal systems. While not a core message of the marketing launch, the integration of these systems will lead to a much higher level of trust being generated across the entire spectrum of applications in the self-service website. Customers will expect a 360 degree view of their activity by any form of service, whether it be self-service or a person on the telephone, or even in a chat session, so the integration costs required to make the web-based self-service website work correctly will be significant.

In addition to the costs by channel shown above there is also the need to track a series of company-specific, sales, quote and policy, customer service, and bad debt and expense reduction key performance indicators as is shown in the table, Internal Key Performance Indicators. These KPIs collectively define how the web-based service strategies collectively are changing the nature of the company's business. As part of the Marketing Plan for the initial launch of the web-based self-service website, goals also need to be defined for each of the KPIs listed in the following table based on their time horizon. The KPIs that will first reflect the effectiveness of the marketing campaign include Sales, Quote and Policy, and Customer Service, mainly because the daily activity in the insurance company impacts these metrics with every transaction completed. The KPIs that are company-specific can take up to ninety days to register any significant movement, and this is the result of both financial reporting standards and the magnitude of the figures themselves in many companies.

The success of the marketing plan however needs to be evaluated in the context of Sales, Quote and Policy, and Customer Service KPIs every ninety days to gauge the effectiveness of the launch effort in significantly changing the financial performance of the company.

Internal Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Areas of Measurement

Baseline: What to Measure

Example of Benefits to insurance firms

Company-specific

Insurance costs and expenses

Use as a baseline for defining ROI

Number of policies per year

Determine quoting's impact on policies

Current policy costs

Policy Savings

Customer Data

Lifetime cost per customer; avg. deal size by customer

Sales

Policy cycle time

Policy cycle times reduction of 65% or more recorded

Cost of Sales

Days Sales Outstanding reduction from 60 to 29 days on average

Cross-sell and up-sell revenue

Increase of 33% on aggregate

Average sales price per policy

Increase from 9% to 26%

Quote and Policy

Average costs to complete policy

95% reduction in cost per policy

Special Pricing Requests for policies

Over 100% ROI on automating Special Pricing Requests

Bad or incomplete policies

Incomplete order reductions of 20%

Customer Service

Number of customer complaints

98% reduction in cost of simple requests

Revenue lost to churn

60% when cross-selling is used with quote-to-order for policies

Number of calls on policy status

Median level of 500 per week to 70

Bad Debt Expense Reduction

Reduction in bad debt expense

10% reduction at a minimum

Labor cost reductions

Decrease order re-work from 15% to 2%

Ultimately both sets of metrics, specifically the cost per transaction metric from Table 1, and all relevant metrics from Table 2, need to be included in a dashboard that is used for guiding the new website launch, evaluating its progress over the first full year of operation.

Resource Availability and Allocation

Project management of the web-based self-service initiative relies on a cross-functional team that will work through the entire New Product Development and Introduction (NPDI) process. This process includes defining the initial functional specifications of the website, then fine-tuning them through a series of meeting with Customer Advisory Councils with a representative set of customers. As part of the resource availability and allocation of personnel internally, there needs to be specific efforts made to create these advisory councils who will act as the Voice of the Customer (VoC) inputs into the website process. It is essential that each functional area of the organization also be included in this cross-functional team, and that they have the opportunity to learn through VoC programs what can be best done to meet customers' unmet needs.

The focus on resource availability and allocation also needs to specifically start with the CEO or C-level executive being an executive sponsor of the project as well. This ensures that there will be a higher level of participation and support through the organization.

External Situation

In completing a SWOT analysis, external factors also need to specifically be defined. The impact of markets, competitors, technological infrastructure, and the value chain of the industry overall play a major role in the definition of the website marketing plan, and each of those areas are described in this section of the plan.

Markets

The primary customer segments targeted include those customers with residential and auto insurance policies, in addition to small business insurance policies. These policies form the bulk of all business for the company, yet have a high level of support needed during renewals of new car policies, and when homes are either bought, sold or refinanced. The high levels of support these segments need and the relatively thin gross contribution margins are one of the primary market drivers for creating a web-based self-service website.

Segmentation of the customer base also illustrates the need for creating more automated approaches to delivering service. With the majority of the smaller policies and their relative churn, the need for creating a high level of efficiency and a very low cost per transaction support strategy is also critical. While at the high end of the customer base, the top 10% of customers have personal support available to them due to the need for completing more complex, more expensive transactions that require face time with senior customer service representatives.

Competitors

Insurance companies rapidly adopted multichannel-based service and support, and over 50% have an integrated call center and web-based self-service strategy in place. For nearly every company however there is a lack of integration across systems, making this the major weaknesses of the majority of the industry. Insurance companies beginning with Integrated Voice Response eventually integrate Web-based self-service into their service architectures. Figure 1, Industry Competitive Service Topology, illustrates the typical competitive approach to defining self-service in the context of the strategic plan of service overall. The competitive weakness of the industry is in synchronizing and working with multi-channel access that reflects the activity across all other areas of the strategic footprint shown in the following Figure. Notice also that self-service encompasses multiple channels for the majority of competitors as well, making the need for systems integration, emphasized earlier in this plan, and process workflow expertise to be combined for best practices in web self-service to be achieved.

Technological Infrastructure

As has been discussed throughout this marketing plan, the critical value of the web-based self-service website needs to be promoting and supporting, then illustrating very high levels of trust and accuracy in all customer interactions. To accomplish this, it is critical for there to be a strong level of integration across all systems for trust to be earned, and customers to get the same response regardless of which support channel is queried from. The technological infrastructure of the self-service website needs to be designed to specifically support a high level of integration. Figure 2, Web Self-Service Infrastructure illustrates the layered approach that is necessary for ensuring a high level of integration across all system components. Notice the heavy use of XML for data conversion, staging and distribution. This is the critical technology necessary for integration to occur.

Value Chain

The insurance industry value chain is one of the most complex in any services-related business. The heavy reliance of multi-channel support in addition to many often isolated databases and systems make the automating of the value chain one of the more challenging aspects of making the a web-based self-service application work correctly. The implications of the insurance industry value chain as shown in Figure 3 for the marketing plan for the self-service website underscore the need for close cross-functional communication between product design and development, Marketing, Underwriting, Distribution, Sales, Policy Administration, Asset & Liability Management, and Claims Liability and Management. As has been mentioned in previous sections of this plan, the ability to span the processes of attracting, selling and servicing insurance customers is critical for the growth of any firm in this industry.

Summary: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats (SWOT) Analysis

In evaluating the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of using automated self-service channels, specifically web-based approaches to customer service, the following SWOT Analysis becomes clear:

Strengths

Significant cost reductions on a per transaction basis are achievable which can drop SG&a expenses significantly over a yearly period.

24/7 availability of service and support leading to higher levels of customer satisfaction.

Lower levels of turnover with customer service employees as they have the opportunity to work on more challenging problems.

Weaknesses

Lack of personalized support may alienate customers who may previously have had many interactions with support staff.

The costs of continually maintaining a highly complex web-based self-service website can be unpredictable and also required a high degree of technology expertise to keep it up and running.

Costs of system integration can be unpredictable and often very high which translates into a higher total cost of ownership for the system and its maintenance.

High costs of educating users and driving up the usage rate, which typically hovers in the 20% to 40% range for web-based self-service systems.

Opportunities

Significant increases in up-sell and cross-sell are available in web-based self-service websites and systems, with ranges being 30% or more common across this and other industries.

Reduction in operating costs and total costs of service are also possible given the dramatic reduction in salaried worker expenses to respond to each and every customer inquiry.

Major reductions in the costs of educating customers as all learning materials can be made available online.

Reduction in new transaction costs for new policies and policy re-assignments as all these transactions can be completed online.

Significant opportunity to sell globally based on the availability of multiple languages for the website, and its ability to be available on a 24/7 basis.

Threats

Heavily reliant on the reliability of the Internet and the use of technologies that are not 100% reliable. There will be downtimes and the company needs to have backup plans to have the website hosted from alternate locations.

Hacking of the site and theft of policy information is a major threat that also needs to be specifically dealt with high levels of investment in security measures.

Competitive threats of comparable websites being created, leapfrogging the existing functionality of the planned web-based self-service website.

Lack of adoption in the customer base could also lead to this entire project being a failure, making it more difficult for the company to initiate Internet-based programs in the future.

Costs of development could become much higher than forecast, leading to significant delays in development, and if outsourced, development offshore could lead to significant reductions in timeliness and accuracy of the data presented.

Marketing Problems and Opportunities

The following are the specific marketing problems and opportunities as they relate to the web-based self-service website and overall initiative.

Marketing Problems

Establishing trust and making this attribute a permanent part of the overall unique value proposition for the web-based self-service website specifically and the broader electronic initiatives overall. To accomplish this, the company must stress integration between systems to attain the level of transparent performance between systems with is critical in winning customers' trust.

A cohesive strategy is specifically needed to drive adoption of the website across all segments of users; this change management initiative is critical to the success not only of the new launch process but also the website's long-term value.

Awareness of the company having a website initiative in place that is aligned with customers' needs including the ability to respond fast and accurately to unmet needs they also may have.

The lack of Voice of the Customer (VoC) research the company has and the need for creating a Customer Advisory Council to gain these insights, which are critical for the development of the website and broader initiatives.

Cohesive messaging around multi-channel services efforts, specifically focusing on the ability to tie together all forms of service and make them all deliver a consistent and identical set of responses to customer inquiries.

Support for the many types of insurance policies and the ability for customers to gain discounts for having more than one policy with the company.

Marketing Opportunities

Establishing best practices in all channels of self-service delivered electronically including but not limited to IVR, chat, web-based self-service, message boards, and automated e-mail responses as well. This would include the development of best practices in the integration of these channels as well, which would lead to industry awards, recognition, more trust and ultimately more customers.

Co-branding the website with Microsoft, Oracle, or SAP as a technology provider to both offset some of the costs but also gain greater exposure throughout the technology industry for best practices.

Significant opportunity to increase use of all web-based self-service channels through the development of tools and techniques and online tutorials to drive up the adoption of all automated tools globally.

Developing a series of informative sessions to be held in various branches showing both agents and customers how easy the system is to use overall and further going after the goal of a high level of user adoption. Change management will be the most major marketing challenge of the entire website launch and continual growth.

Identification of Target Market/Market Segments

The key target markets and market segments that the marketing launch will focus on are first the consumer auto policies, by far the largest percentage of all policies written, followed by motorcycle and residential. As the company's main focus has been in auto and motorcycle, these two segments' needs and process workflows will be the first to be captured in the Customer Advisory Councils mentioned earlier, and will also be the first to be test marketed with the new website. The motorcycle segment will also have a series of Advisory Council, specifically focusing on off-road, touring, and commuting segments, all of which have different insurance needs given their use of motorcycles. The emerging segment of residential insurance will also be specifically targeted first with the creation of Customer Advisory Councils, and second with a series of process workflows in the context of the website that align with their specific needs. Support for this specific segments' transaction needs will also be a central focal point of the product introduction.

Marketing Action Plans

Presented in this section are the key strategies and marketing actions by functional area. The synchronization of all these factors is critical in the development of an effective launch plan; none of these plan areas will be effective only executed on their own; they need to be implemented in conjunction with one another.

Product/Service - the service is clearly the integration of multiple channels of self-service that will be made available through the web-based self-service website, and requires messaging that stresses trust as the critical branding value of the site itself. Pursuing trust as the most critical branding attribute must be first and foremost what is strived for in all service-related communications.

Price - the insurance industry standard for web self-service is no charge. In fact the company cannot charge for this; there is a precedent already set for not charging for telephone support.

Integrated Marketing Communications

At the crux of the marketing launch for this website, the coordination of online, offline and customer retention plans are critical. The intent of this section is to provide the strategies required for attaining the marketing objectives of this launch.

Online and offline

The following are the key strategies for the online and offline marketing communications part of the product launch.

Development of a series of banner ads and pop-ups ads on the company's existing website offering customers the opportunity to log in and manage their policies, payments, and service options online anytime they want. This opt-in approach needs to also stress to convenience and also the potential cost savings if the company decides to reduce policy prices as a result of the savings from having web-based self-service initiatives in place.

Extensive use of Google AdWords to drive prospects looking for policies from Google to the website. AdWords is a very powerful marketing tool and needs to be the majority of spending on the product launch.

Microsite explaining the benefits of managing insurance online. There also needs to be a small, informational site that explains the benefits of using web-based self-service websites and online channels for customers who have never used the Internet before.

E-mail blasts and opt-in electronic newsletters are also critical. The need for continually staying in touch with customers and prospects is essential for growing the sales pipeline and increasing policy sales.

Collateral and brochures explaining the new site. These need to be part of the overall plan, integrated into both online and offline strategies. Each of these documents needs to be PDFs that can quickly be delivered over the Internet.

Direct mail campaign to existing customers and prospects. Developing a series of mailings specifically focusing on driving up awareness and trial of the new website is also a critical aspect of the new website launch.

Developing launch events that bring the website alive for as many customers as possible. The launch of the site needs to also be anchored in an event to drive up the awareness and develop some excitement about the launch itself.

Heavy use of spot television to establish the new self-service website as a competitive advantage.

Customer Acquisition and Retention Plans as appropriate based on objectives

The focus on acquiring customers and retaining them must begin with a series of strategies to drive up the adoption of the site. Called change management, this must pervade both internally as well as external to the company. The following areas of distribution/fulfillment, quality and customer service are defined in the context of customer acquisition and retention plans.

Distribution/Fulfillment

Developing a series of benchmarks specifically for showing the median time taken to complete a transaction needs to be shown often to provide customers with a benchmark to set their expectations. The critical requirement of defining expectations must happen early in the customer acquisition and retention process.

Defining multiple sources of alerts, or quick notes from the website is also critical as this underscores responsiveness and support. This is very critical for long-term customer retention and the growth of customer bases, as alerts have been shown to increase the use of sites over relying on telephone calls alone.

Developing a series of customer feedback forums and the invitation to heavy users of the online services to be part of the online Customer Advisory Council.

Quality and Customer Service

Defining benchmarks for performance and publicly sharing them is critical for creating trust and staying true to the branding of being trustworthy to customers and prospects alike.

Developing a series of rewards for those key members of the web-based self-service website and initiatives for exemplary work and performance. This is necessary for the culture of the company to change, reflecting a higher level of focus on quality of service above all.

Technological Infrastructure and Data Requirements

The underlying infrastructure of the web-based self-service website and online initiatives is very process-centric, focusing on streamlining existing manual processes that take an undue amount of time and effort to accomplish tasks for customers. In keeping with the process-centric view of creating a web-based self-service website, Figure 4 shows the overall process workflow and how the essential integrations to other systems and processes make the entire web and online initiative work together.

The hierarchy of system relationships is shown in Figure 5. The critical nature of integration is shown in this graphic, where policies and claims need to be included in the overall protocol stack for this entire system architecture.

Testing Plans

The intent of this section is to define the plan for testing critical marketing and program variables and for testing the usability of the site overall.