Self-Care is a business concept that seems inevitable. Enterprises recognize the cost savings through the offsets in call center and email volumes, improvements in business processes and implementation of next generation technologies and platforms. Also evident are the improvements in customer satisfaction, loyalty and retention, as well as the opportunity to gather information on customer behavior.

Customers are demanding more control over the one asset they have less and less of – time. They are already researching, comparing, and purchasing products and services on their terms. Now they want that power extended to service, and, with the advancements in media and technology, they believe their service providers should deliver the capabilities. The days of several layers within the VRU are waning and, as new customers enter the market, the transformation seems a foregone conclusion.

For service providers, the growing wave of change in customer behavior isn’t necessarily alarming, but encouraging. The opportunity to improve customer satisfaction, build loyalty, drive inefficiencies and costs out of the business, and capitalize on the opportunity to market and deliver additional services to customers, are worthy and tantalizing goals.

However, when you begin to look a bit more deeply at the question of Self-Care, the enormity of the effort comes into focus. Simply put, planning and implement Self-Care is a huge undertaking. It requires the alignment and coordination of functional business areas, channels, activities, and the product/service portfolio.

From our or my intimate experience, we know that implementing a “simple” change in billing, for one service, across business units (IT, Customer Care, Billing, Sales, Product and Marketing) requires a focused and disciplined approach. Failing to do so can impact revenue, increase costs, and result in a nest of issues to clean-up.

Now consider the scope of an initiative that impacts almost every aspect of the business. One must account for the activities, such as inquiries, payments, changes, fault diagnosis and collections across the breadth of channels: VRU, Web, contact center, set-top box, and, content. Overlay that onto the service portfolio: voice, broadband, video, and mobile, and the challenges multiply.

What is the best approach? Implement Self-Care into one channel for one service to prove the concept and identify potential pit-falls? That could lead to a disconnect with customers and the challenge of further integration down the line. Or perhaps a better option is to wait until customers are demanding self-service and let the competition make any early mistakes?

There is another approach. Self-Care can be implemented to deliver the near-term benefits and provide the strategic roadmap for business transformation.

In my next blog, I’ll discuss how.