Introduction
As the product manager of profile and customer support at Sears Holdings, I launched the Member Assist Program, also known as the “Sally meets Harry” initiative, enabling customers to easily find and talk to a store associate they had met before. The program significantly improved the customer support experience and reduced the average time for a customer to reach a store associate.
The background
Each year the Sears global call center in Florida receives 6.1M calls from customers with queries only store associates at the local store can answer. 1.7M of those calls got redirected to local stores. Customer experiences were poor, at a −5 NPS score, since call center associates lack the store-specific knowledge or history of previous customer interactions.
To make matters worse, the customer who gets redirected to a local store often experiences long waits or gets cut off due to the busy nature of some departments, such as Appliances. The existing call center incentive structure further exacerbates the issue. At Sears, a big part of call center staff pay comes from sales commission, so staff are motivated to keep customers on the call and make purchases rather than redirect them to the right places. As a result, store sales associates are demoralized due to a lack of proper tools to close the sales loop.
Here is the most common customer scenario. Mary comes to a Sears store to check out appliances and narrows down to two models with the help of a store associate. To ensure the models fit the kitchen, she goes home to measure the space before her final purchase. After measuring, she calls the call center to reach the store associate she met before, to get the final pros and cons rundown and schedule delivery and installation. She prefers that associate to the call center staff because she will not need to re-explain herself, and she thinks the local associate would have the most accurate in-store inventory information.
The goal
- Improve the overall customer support experience, especially for customers who call to reach a local store or an associate they met before.
- Reduce the average redirect customer wait time from 25 minutes to 15 minutes.
The research
After seeing the low overall NPS score of customer support as the new product manager in the area, I immediately started researching the root cause. I first scheduled meetings with internal stakeholders familiar with the matter and found that the conflict between store associates and customer support staff has been a long-standing issue caused by the incentive structure. Simultaneously, I worked with the profile engineering team and customer analytics to retrieve customer support logs, complaints, and performance data. These helped me understand the pain points, formulate the performance benchmark, and focus primarily on redirect calls.
I then visited the call center in Florida and spent the whole day sitting with staff to observe their interactions with customers. I realized call center staff are often very slow in finding information, as they had to navigate among 10+ applications to support a customer. With high turnover, getting up to speed to provide exceptional customer support became extremely challenging. Most applications were not integrated for faster access, and staff had limited insight into store operations and the latest in-store inventory. Customers were frequently frustrated by the wait and the lack of expertise.
I also visited the stores to observe what happens after a store gets a call, and why it was challenging for associates to answer. At the store, I figured out that the most important sale was the sale in front of a sales associate, so the current customer was the most important to them. The associate would not answer support calls until they finished serving that customer. In addition, the phone was usually a 10 to 15 minute walk from the associate. Leaving the spot for a call that took 30 to 45 minutes reduced their potential hourly earnings and caused them to lose sales to associates who stayed. Finally, I researched competitor customer support solutions and noted their pros and cons.
The decision
After synthesizing my findings, I scheduled a design and framing session for stakeholders to align on a solution. The team agreed that my proposal of introducing the Member Assist Program could fundamentally resolve the issue with customer redirect calls, and that it was the right solution not available in the market. Most stakeholders agreed it appeared superior to other proposals, such as changing the incentive structure or building a local customer support center. The team also decided the initial test run would be limited to the ShopYourWay mobile app, a Sears member loyalty app.
Building and rolling out
Phase 0. I validated the idea through rapid prototyping and user feedback sessions with the designer on the team, and worked with the engineering manager to build the backend infrastructure. We decided to build a web app so it could easily convert and be added to the Sears webpage and mobile app later. Following the member-facing feature, I worked with the designer to create the associate-facing iPad application. On a regular basis I wrote and prioritized stories, hosted bi-monthly scrum planning, presented at bi-monthly stakeholder alignment meetings, performed UAT tests, and worked with engineers to log and fix bugs. For launch I worked with the VP of store management and the marketing team to define the beta launch, product marketing, and user acquisition plan. I also developed an in-app interactive training module to support associate onboarding.
Phase 1, in-store training. I launched test training at two stores and noted issues with both the training module and the associate application. I worked on bug fixes and feature revisions with my team and relaunched the training to 5 stores.
Phase 2, beta launch. My team and I launched the feature to the Apple Store, with five stores supported at initial launch.
Phase 3, production. I expanded the offering to 16 stores and hosted the launch event at the store on launch day. As I worked toward production, I collaborated with design and engineering to develop the Android version of the customer app and the store manager iTouch app.
What we changed after launch
- Introduced a status option for associates so they are not interrupted during a lunch break or while serving a customer.
- Changed the request text to an email conversation to lower expectations from 30 seconds to 15 minutes, reducing dissatisfaction.
- Introduced associate reporting and blocking after observing harassment messages from customers.
- Developed photo standardization and an associate profile image approval process to ensure professional presentation.
The result
After one year, the average NPS score of customers who wanted to reach store associates for support improved to 17. Participating stores achieved the 15 minute wait time SLA. Customer support redirect calls were reduced by roughly 400K in a year, directly contributing to $1.4M in annual cost savings from a 30-person call center staff reduction.
The program was featured by Reuters, PRNewswire, Rise: News, Albuquerque Journal, Chicago Tribune, and Retail Touch Points as the latest exciting innovation in the industry. The CEO presented the product during the shareholder meeting as the company innovation of the year. The following year the feature was released to the Sears website and Sears mobile app.
How it works
As a customer, from the store contact page I see a department list and the available sales associates of that department. I can request an immediate phone call or text message from the associate of my choice, and receive it within 15 minutes. If that associate happens to be busy, I hear from someone else in the same department. If no one in the department is available, a store manager steps in and makes sure I am helped within 15 minutes.