Challenge

In an effort to increase customer satisfaction and reduce costs, service providers are deploying and encouraging the adoption of online self-care technology in three key areas:

• Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment (EBPP)
• Customer Care and Service
• Customer Acquisition and Sales

Online bill presentment is the customer’s gateway into the wider range of self-care capabilities. A fundamentally sound online service platform is now table stakes for service providers, but superior sites lead to increased adoption rates and customer satisfaction.

A major international communications service provider was pursuing a consumer online billing initiative to enhance electronic bill presentment and payment and customer self-care. Their primary objective was to increase online billing adoption from their current level of 5% to 30% or more in five years, which they believed would deliver substantial cost savings with the added economic benefit of retention and potential up-sell opportunities.

The goal was an ambitious one and the service provider needed expert assistance to create an online strategy and a superb online billing experience that would help make that adoption goal a reality. The client called on a leading systems integrator and TMNG Global for help.

TMNG Global Solution

The client’s objective was to build the online billing experience of its consumer segment to standards equal to or greater than those of peer companies. Thus, benchmarking sites of other service providers and other leading companies was a critical aspect of this endeavour.

The importance of a proven benchmarking methodology cannot be overstated, even to the best performing companies. Too often, companies base their assessments of performance on how close they come to meeting the goals set forth in the original plan, with little understanding of competitive offerings and industry best practices. Extending internal goals to comparative analysis through benchmarking with peer companies serves to ensure an even more rigorous commitment to performance excellence.

TMNG Global has developed a customizable approach to developing an online billing strategy that involves focused research and analysis including benchmarking, industry best practices, customer requirements and a thorough understanding of client business goals that translates good practices into real-world success.

• In the benchmarking analysis, competitive and industry-leading sites are evaluated by relevant features, form and function, acknowledging the difference between consumer and business needs
• Interviews with key telecom and non-telecom carriers are conducted to determine the effectiveness of the benchmarking results as well as to assess best practices throughout the industry
• Highly focused primary research is used to get at the unique requirements of the client’s customer base on a segment by segment basis. The most appropriate research method – surveys, focus groups, interviews – is selected based upon the market segment and research objectives
• Customer requirements arising from the benchmarking, best practices and market research are then cross-referenced by customer priority, implementation and business risk in order to drive user interface and prototype development
• Finally, a business case is developed with input from internal stakeholders that measures the impact of the online service strategy, justifies the investment, provides performance metrics, and promotes the initiative.

Project Overview

The goals of this project were to develop an online billing direction and consumer market-segmented design; increase customer retention and loyalty, market and benchmarking research; and to design the supporting technical architecture— all within an abbreviated four month timeframe. Also within this timeframe, the team was expected to design the initial ‘soft launch’ of the online billing presence. The objective of the soft launch was to reinvigorate the online billing presence, create awareness and measure response, in order to gain insight and prepare for the major public relaunch three months later.

The approach, developed by both companies in concert with the client’s Billing Directorate, called for four core project streams to address the scope of work required. These streams included:

1. Market & Competitive Research
2. User Interface Needs Analysis and UI Proof of Concept
3. Architectural and System Review
4. Architecture Roadmap

This approach integrated market and customer research as well as website benchmarking with user interface design, architectural development, and deployment planning activities. The new environment for online billing would then best reflect user and market requirements and technical excellence, in a well-integrated package. All streams reported into the Program of Work Office, which integrated and monitored each activity and schedule of initiatives to be deployed.

Marketing and Competitive Research

The Marketing and Competitive Research work stream designed and conducted primary consumer research and interfaced directly with the technology team to develop and test a prototype for the new EBPP interface; testing with a number of key internal stakeholders to ensure buy-in and commitment to the solution, and with consumer customers to ensure the prototype design met the requirements identified. This work stream’s project plan was organized in four phases as shown below:

The marketing stream progressed through several phases of primary qualitative and secondary research focusing on the user experience, customer requirements and the underlying drivers of customer online behavior. This research was designed to include employees and targeted consumer segments made of users, former users and non-users of the current online billing site.

This stream fed the technical development of every aspect of design from the user interface to the standards to be met on depth and ease of use. The market research also fed directly into the technical design of the prototype, ensuring sufficient technical progress so that the surge of new adopters will experience a fully tested, robust and well-functioning offering.

Secondary Market Research

This initial research involved gathering and synthesizing competitive best practices, existing client market research, and customer profile data. The synthesis of this material -- along with input from the other streams -- led to formulation of the hypotheses to be tested in the focus groups.

Primary Market Research: Website Benchmarking and Interviews - Global Best Practices

The marketing stream evaluated selected telecom and non-telecom websites and conducted in-depth interviews with marketing executives in the U.S. and elsewhere. The analysis included sites in the telecom, financial services and energy industries and focused on the challenges and successes in motivating customers to utilize online billing services.

This project was designed to discover:

• The current state of online billing
  • Penetration rates
  • Offerings
  • Ease of use
  • Inducements to the customers to use such services
    
• What is the mindset of the local consumer customer in response to these services?
  • What has worked and what has not?
    
• What appears to be the likely evolution of online billing for non-telco companies?

Our research identified many best practices and key concepts by which companies facilitate online billing, but here was our view of the best ones:

Primary Market Research – Employee and Consumer Customer Focus Groups

Both the employee and customer focus group research evaluated the perceptions of the client’s current site and identified customer drivers that would encourage customer adoption and continued usage of online billing. The research was designed to ascertain:

• The characteristics of current online site leading to low adoption rate
• The characteristics of segments that will drive adoption and ongoing usage of both billing and payment functions
• The offers, bundles and product improvements that will appeal to the market segments selected for focus group participation
• The key messages/imagery and offers that will appeal to the various segments tested.

The TMNG Global team managed the primary research initiatives, which included focus groups with user and non-user employees as well as three targeted customer segments: Youth, Small Office/Home Office (SOHO) and Pioneers. We developed the research plans, screeners and discussion guides and worked closely with the research vendor regarding recruitment, physical facilities, and moderation requirements. We monitored the focus groups closely and, in some cases, stepped in to personally conduct the sessions.

Employee users, former users and non-user focus groups were conducted first in order to validate and test the concepts, hypotheses, usage drivers and to “dry run” discussion guides. Perhaps more importantly, these focus groups were designed to gain critical employee buy-in to the user interface re-design.

We structured the 12 customer focus groups to obtain key behavioral drivers and user-interface preferences across a variety of demographic and usage segments. Surprisingly, many demographic segments had similar opinions on the form, functionality and features of an online billing site. However, we noted several overarching themes which validated our preliminary hypotheses and definitions of each segment:

Usability Testing

Customer requirements arising from the benchmarking, best practices and market research were then cross-referenced by customer priority and implementation/business risk in order to drive user interface and prototype development. In total, more than 4,000 separate requirements were identified and prioritized.

The marketing team worked closely with the technology team to design the prototype to demonstrate sufficient technical progress so that the surge of new adopters will experience a fully tested, robust and well-functioning offering that also provided the potential short term improvements identified early in the project.

The usability testing plan called for observational research of 18 – 24 customers, representing the different segments, interacting with the prototype. We observed, measured click counts and documented the tests in a standardized way. The objective was to determine if the user 1) was successful in navigating the site, 2) enjoyed the experience, and 3) had any further suggestions for site enhancements.

Online Billing Marketing Program

In preparation for both the soft and major launches, our team developed the messaging and actionable plan for the target market of internal users and targeted market segments. The team applied an inductive approach toward identifying market offers that would feed an overall marketing program initiative using the research findings:

• International and Domestic Best Practices Benchmarking,
• Interviews With Industry Leaders,
• User, Non and Ex-user Focus Groups,
• Usability Test Results

The development of the marketing program factored in the client’s dual business objectives of cost reduction and revenue generation, as well as the identified customer needs and motivators, and what is required to move into the early majority stage of the online billing adoption curve.

Business Case Development

With input from the research, our technology partner and internal stakeholders, the marketing team developed a comprehensive business case that measured the impact of the online service strategy, justified the investment, provided performance metrics, and internally promoted the initiative.

Benefits to the Client

These results and recommendations generated by the marketing stream were formally presented to client executive management and communicated widely within the client community, receiving unanimous support and approval. The willingness of the client to undertake such a detailed analysis of its online performance was a bold move. On the other hand, our experience demonstrated the wisdom of such an effort, since it served not only to identify weak spots in the current site and determined a path to improved performance, but enhanced the firm’s standing with customers.

The client expressed its approbation of the method employed for the project, results obtained and voiced their determination to move forward with full implementation of all of the priority one recommendations from the research. TMNG Global was able to confirm the full implementation of all of the team’s recommendations when it was invited back to undertake a similar project for the client’s business customers just four months later.