Consulting Firm Enters Telecommunications Market to Help Improve Service Levels, Customer Retention

Measure-X, a Phoenix-based firm that specializes in helping companies improve their customer service, is rolling out its expertise to the burgeoning telecommunications industry. "Telephone companies and other telecommunications firms that are expanding their revenues with wireless and Internet-related services face stiff competition that they must come to grips with," says David Saxby, president of Measure-X. "Their customer retention is declining as major players invade their market. They must become more customer service and sales oriented to keep their existing clients from defecting to the competition."

PHOENIX, Ariz. - Measure-X, a Phoenix-based firm that specializes in helping companies improve their customer service, is rolling out its expertise to the burgeoning telecommunications industry.

"Telephone companies and other telecommunications firms that are expanding their revenues with wireless and Internet-related services face stiff competition that they must come to grips with," says David Saxby, president of Measure-X. "Their customer retention is declining as major players invade their market. They must become more customer service and sales oriented to keep their existing clients from defecting to the competition."

Measure-X helps improve customer service in four ways - initial measurement of service levels, employee training, employee recognition and ongoing measurement as a follow-up to determine if desired service levels are reached and maintained.

Measure-X gives its clients the ability to see their customer service through a customer's eyes. Through customer-service evaluations, or mystery shops, calls are
placed to customer service representatives to see how well a customer's needs are met. Measure-X also surveys existing customers to determine why they do or do not return to conduct more business. "We measure the customer's point of view, from their first impression down to the appreciation they receive," Saxby says.

The initial measurement phase identifies areas in need of improvement. Then Measure-X customizes a training program for reps to help them improve their performance. "These are hands-on workshops with a learning system designed for adults to increase their retention and immediately apply the processes and skills they are taught," Saxby says. "We can cover such areas as conflict resolution, understanding customer needs, how to make stronger first impressions, how to sell additional services and how to become an over-the-phone consultant to customers."

Employee recognition programs reinforce improved performance and higher levels of service, Saxby says. "Telecommunications companies spend millions of dollars on technology to automate their systems and become more efficient, but it's their employees who interact with customers and sell the services," Saxby notes. "For employees to buy into the idea of improved customer service and sales, they must know what's in it for them."

Measure-X employs such techniques as sending personalized letters home to the family or spouse to let them know what a great job the employee is doing, personalized certificates of achievement, public recognition through display of plaques and personal awards sent directly to the employee.

In the last phase, Measure-X conducts ongoing measurement of customer service levels to determine if its actions have had an impact.

"If you don't measure it, you can't manage it," Saxby says. "If telecommunications companies are to bolster customer retention and compete with new players in their market, they must look at new ways of measuring their success. What about the human touch? What about customer experience? We measure the things that are most important, and our feedback helps managers focus on those areas most in need of improvement. With training and incentives in place to motivate reps to modify behavior patterns, customer retention will go up and so will sales."

Saxby has 20 years of business experience, first as president of The Saxby Group, a Phoenix consulting firm that specialized in customer service and sales, and then as president of Measure-X. Prior to forming The Saxby Group, Saxby was vice president of marketing and training for ServiceCheck, a national research company. He also has experience in the insurance, real estate and banking industries.

For more information on Measure-X, call 888-644-5499 or visit its Web site at www.measure-x.com.
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