It’s been over two years since we relaunched the Proactive Solutions practice—a global initiative that empowers frontline employees to actively propose solutions to improve the customer experience—within our operations in TTEC. While not new, we breathed new life into the process in 2019 as part of the Culture CX kick-off. We equipped our frontline employees with the training, skills, and tools to proactively make recommendations on how to solve for customer pain points and improve customer experience using their deep domain expertise and insights.
Since then, we have rolled out the empowered customer advocacy training for thousands of employees, awarded close to 5,000 badges, and saved over $59 million for our clients. And we’ve only just begun!
What is Proactive Solutions?
Proactive Solutions is a global practice we developed to ensure we are always looking out for our clients on a regular basis. Frontline employees such as customer support associates are often the first to notice when something isn’t working; customers are frequently calling about the same issue, or a procedural step leads to slow response times and low customer satisfaction.
Historically, though, frontline employees lacked the means—and incentive—to share their ideas and observations for improving the customer experience and increasing savings for the client. Proactive Solutions is TTEC’s answer to this problem. Two years ago, we evolved the program with new strategies and processes to lead the way in improving customer experiences.
What motivates employees to apply Proactive Solutions to their work?
Our employees have embraced the Proactive Solutions process as they see the impacts these changes have on customers. In addition, we have built a rewards system that includes both monetary and non-monetary ways to recognize our contributors, which is facilitated in a gamification platform. Our global head of operations also recognizes the top Proactive Solutions team every quarter.
What are the results we’ve seen so far?
In 2020, close to 300 Proactive Solutions were presented, a majority of which were accepted by clients. Approximately $32 million in potential cost savings for clients and $55 million in potential revenue growth were identified that year. This year, we have presented 187 Proactive Solutions with an 88% acceptance rate. Approximately $26 million in potential cost savings and $3 million in potential revenue growth were identified.
Some of the best Proactive Solutions that were rolled out include:
- A recommended redesign of the client’s training curriculum using AI-enabled tools such as RealPlay Sandbox (a responsive frontend and database that enables systems practice) and RealPlay BOT (an AI-powered engine that provides asynchronous practice, consistent feedback and personalized coaching) to train more employees faster and more effectively.
- Intelligent desktop monitoring and automation for healthcare clients which increased visibility into agent behavior such as process steps taken, applications used, and time spent on contact types, and led to a lift in agent performance.
- Website enhancements to one of biggest retail providers that removed friction from various customer touch points.
- A strategic approach to sales via a Salesforce CRM upgrade that enriched a healthcare client’s sales motion and met revenue targets.
- AI-powered coaching and diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI) training that allowed employees to practice conversations about sensitive social topics with an AI, improving the scale and effectiveness of the training.
What’s next for Proactive Solutions?
Proactive Solutions has enabled clients to unlock the insights and expertise of frontline employees. We will continue to enhance the program by bringing in grassroots ideas and leading from the front to help our clients deliver an exceptional customer experience and drive greater success. In a digital-first world, we will also look for ways to help our clients leverage digital solutions in a more meaningful and seamless way, whether it’s from the point of sale or doing renewals. Finally, we will help our employees continue evolving their skills and provide thought leadership to our clients—par for the course for a customer-obsessed company!
