Telecom HBDI Case Study

CASE STUDY
How Telecom New
Zealand Used Whole
Brain®
Thinking to
Turn Call Centers into
Customer Loyalty
Generators

Copyright © 2012 Herrmann Global, LLC All Rights Reserved • www.HerrmannSolutions.com • Page 1
c a s e s t u d y
The hub of customer loyalty
With the call centers playing such a crucial role in the overall business’s success,
the company continually works to find new and better ways to improve call center
operating efficiency and deliver better customer service.
The two are closely intertwined. Research suggests that customers whose
needs have been well met by call center operatives are better satisfied with
their experience of the company, and ultimately, cost the company less. This
applies even if the call takes longer. While average call times matter, it’s not time
on the call that counts, it’s finding the best way of closing out the customer’s
question while they are on that initial call. It is this focus on assessing call center
performance from the customer’s perspective, rather than simply measuring call
times, that Telecom New Zealand believes puts it ahead of the competition and
will keep it there.
The cost of customer call backs
Customer call backs, or subsequent calls, occur when a customer who has
dealt with one person and had their problem “resolved” then calls back to talk
further with another person. Multiplied across the organization, subsequent calls
have a major impact on call center costs and point to a potential process or
communicate breakdown.
In tracking customer call backs, New Zealand Telecom found that the root of the
problem wasn’t always readily clear. “Our people were doing all we expected
from them,” says Helen Stockdale, a project manager for the call center team.
“They were meeting their performance goals, while following scripts prepared for
them. They were reading through the checklists and achieving their KPIs, but the
feedback from customers was not what we expected.”
Often it was not a technical issue that prompted the subsequent call. From its
own research, Telecom New Zealand knew that 24 percent of subsequent calls
(representing many hundreds of thousands of calls each year) are made because
customers somehow did not feel that their emotional needs were being met.
Telecom New Zealand Limited is New
Zealand’s largest provider of Information and
Communications Technology, delivering
a range of internet, data, voice, mobile,
and fixed-line calling services throughout
Australasia. Like other telcos the world over,
Telecom New Zealand relies on call centers
to support customers, introduce them to new
offerings, and generate leads.

c a s e s t u d y
This disconnect was impacting internal morale as well. “These were people who
wanted to do well and tried really hard,” adds Jenny McGregor, another call
center project manager, “but they just weren’t making the connection with some
people.”
Lowering call backs and raising customer loyalty
To improve call center efficiency and deliver better customer service, Telecom
identified three goals for the initiative:
• lift the capability of center operatives
• reduce call back rates
• improve customer satisfaction
As an outcome related to call back volume, it targeted a customer call back
reduction of approximately 20 percent in the first year, with increased reductions
in subsequent years. Taken altogether, this would represent millions of dollars in
savings.
But with call center efficiency and customer satisfaction so closely connected,
management recognized other critical outcomes they could achieve from the
initiative. They projected that this reduction in subsequent calls would also
raise customer loyalty by approximately 28 percent. They also knew that if
they found the right solution to accomplish these critical goals, it could be
deployed throughout the company to transform the way they did business at an
organization-wide level.
As part of the planning process, Telecom focused on developing measures
to reduce the reasons customers have to call, reducing the call back rate and
reducing the overall time spent on calls. Learning to give each customer the right
amount of time would be particularly important. In all, thirteen initiatives were
identified to reduce call volume.
A Whole Brain®
solution with broader business implications
Following a model used by the international Call Center industry body, the
Contact Center Council, and based on global call center research data (see next
page), Telecom’s management team analyzed possible options, from technology
solutions to process re-engineering. They rapidly came to the conclusion that
resolving the customer’s emotional issues was a clear winner in terms of cost
implications, ease of execution, opportunity size, and overall potential. This
decision was reinforced by the findings of a study by UK insurer, Bradford and
Bingley, which found that by up-skilling agents to understand different personality
profiles, repeat calls were reduced and customer loyalty increased, without
impacting call handle times.

c a s e s t u d y
From this perspective, Herrmann International’s Whole Brain®
Model was
identified as the ideal solution. It would start by helping call center operatives
understand their own and others’ thinking styles. They would learn how thinking
preferences impact needs and expectations as well as the most effective ways
of communicating with people based on their thinking styles. As a result, it
would give them the skills to tailor interactions to better meet each customer’s
emotional needs.
Telecom understood the full potential of Whole Brain®
Thinking as a business
transformation solution.
“Our approach to using the Whole Brain®
Model and the HBDI®
Assessment
[Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument®
, the assessment instrument at the heart
of Whole Brain®
Thinking] has been, from the outset, much broader than merely
finding a tool for improving call center operator performance,” says Project
Sponsor, Sue Atkins, a certified Herrmann Practitioner.
*Source: Breaking the Issue Resolution Barrier: Shifting from First Contact Resolution to Next Issue Avoidance. Contact
Center Council, October 2007

c a s e s t u d y
Sue described the Whole Brain®
Model to her colleagues as a learning and
development tool centered around accelerating the quality of thinking and
communications to improve business performance. “This aligns perfectly with the
outcomes we want to drive through this initiative,” she says.
Moreover, Telecom recognized that through Herrmann International’s network, it
would have access to global experience, thought leadership, and extensive tools
and materials which would assist in shaping its ongoing management programs
and initiatives.
As a result, the adoption of Whole Brain®
Thinking had much broader implications
for Telecom. “We can embed Whole Brain®
Thinking into our business – in
business planning, performance measurement, training, coaching, agent
materials, and problem solving,” says Sue. “That will ensure the long-term
sustainability of our investment.”
Using Whole Brain®
Thinking to find common ground
The scene was set for an innovative approach to helping call center operatives
better understand their customers’ emotional needs.
Lindsey Marshall, Sales and Marketing Manager for Herrmann International
Asia, was tasked with facilitating training to address the fundamental disconnect
between those who contact a call center and those who work there. Because the
thinking preferences of callers are often diametrically opposed to the preferences
of those answering the call (who are typically more technically inclined and
analytical in their approach than the callers themselves), Lindsey worked with the
operatives to help them use Whole Brain®
Thinking to cross that divide.
Under Lindsey’s guidance, Telecom staff were trained to identify people’s thinking
preferences over the phone, through their choice of language and sentence
structure and the tonality they use.
“The training we developed represented a new application of the Whole Brain®
Model,” says Lindsey. “Because call center operatives can’t see the people they
are speaking with, auditory and linguistic cues take on far greater importance.
Often you get but a single clue as to how the caller prefers to think and be
spoken to. If you are not prepared, you may miss it.”
Prior to the introduction of a Whole Brain®
Thinking approach, staff paid less
attention to the caller’s language use and tonality and more to a canned script.
Learning to listen more acutely and apply Whole Brain®
Thinking would allow
the operatives to provide better responses that aligned more with the customer’s
emotional needs and thinking styles, rather than just a pre-determined answer in
a script.
The Whole Brain®
Model

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Herrmann International also examined and analyzed transcripts of successful
and less successful calls using the Herrmann Whole Brain®
Thinking Text Profiler.
From this data, they were able to determine that successful calls tended to be
those in which the operative shared at least one thinking preference with the
caller. It quickly became clear that it wasn’t necessary to achieve complete
congruence between caller and operative: rather establishing common ‘linguistic’
ground through a shared preference was all that it took.
Building on this initial research, Lindsey and his team developed a Whole Brain®
Thinking tonal checklist, designed specifically for use in Telecom’s call centers,
and a set of resource materials to help train call center staff to modulate their
own voice and expressions in response to what they hear from the customer.
Rapid rollout
Once the basic tools had been created, Telecom worked on a rapid rollout plan,
initially in its primary outbound call center. From there, the programs was transferred
across to other Telecom call centers, including 123 (residential and mobile support),
Broadband Support, New and Move, and Complex Technical Support.
Telecom applied Herrmann International’s Whole Brian®
transformation approach
to increase the rollout’s effectiveness:
Stage I was to train Telecom’s internal facilitators in Whole Brain®
Thinking
methodology through Herrmann’s standard 4-day Certification program. A
customized 5th
day was added to teach Telecom facilitators how to facilitate
the new auditory and linguistic model.
Stage II was to engage internal business leaders to champion the change.
Leaders attended a workshop to learn how the Whole Brain®
Model applies
to group dynamics and their leadership.
Stage III involved educating the team leaders about how Whole Brain®
Thinking can drive team performance and build morale. It included helping
them understand their individual thinking preferences and use the Whole
Brain®
Model to improve communication. This also included planning
sessions for how to up-skill their own teams.
Stage IV introduced front-line staff to the Whole Brain®
Model. The aim
was to energize them by helping them learn more about themselves and
discover ways of enriching their conversations with customers. This was
accomplished using the Whole Brain®
Thinking Tonal Checklist and learning
to modify their language to better match that of their customers.

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Stage V is ongoing. Coaching and reinforcement of the Whole Brain®
Thinking program throughout Telecom, continues to ensure Whole Brain®
Thinking is an integral part of the way the company does business.
Better results through better thinking
Commenting on the initiative Brian Wilkinson, Director of Operations for Bradford
and Bingley, notes, “In the past, all customers received the same amount of time
from us, leaving some feeling rushed, while others [felt] short changed. Now we
provide the ‘right’ amount of time for each caller.”
 Increase
 Stable
 Decrease

2.9%
Inc/Decr Inc/Decr
1.2%

Inc/Decr
-0.4%

Post Call Survey
Comparison of results October 08 to April 09
Inc/Decr
1.0%
Inc/Decr
1.6% -3.0%
Inc/Decr

2.1%
Inc/DecrInc/Decr
11.1%
   
3.66
3.63
3.75
3.60
3.63
3.49
3.56
3.71
3.70
3.68
3.64
4.00
3.74
3.53
3.63
3.70
3.00
3.05
3.10
3.15
3.20
3.25
3.30
3.35
3.40
3.45
3.50
3.55
3.60
3.65
3.70
3.75
3.80
3.85
3.90
3.95
4.00
Broadband Help Desk SE Business CIC Complex Technical
Support
Ethnic Faults Mass Consumer New & Move
October 2008
April 2009

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While the program is still in its infancy, its impact has been felt almost
immediately, with post-call survey results trending up, dramatically in some
cases.
The Complex Technical Support team is beginning to achieve customer
satisfaction scores of 4 out of 4. Some of the 123 teams saw their scores
increase within a few weeks of undertaking the program.
Introducing the program into the Outbound Call Center (OCC) required significant
changes to be made in how staff introduced calls and in the overall call script.
These changes have paid huge dividends in terms of dials-to-calls-completed
and improved sales results.
While the numbers confirm the success of the initiative, additional benefit is more
difficult to quantify, but real and valuable nonetheless.
“Introducing the Whole Brain®
Model and the HBDI®
Profile started a journey
of personal growth for our people and has been hugely beneficial for overall
engagement with the company,” says Sue Atkins. “It has created better
conversations between team leaders and agents and has provided a common
language to help us challenge the way we do things. Moreover, it has
created greater consciousness of communication styles, and as a result, our
communication and conversations are now far more meaningful and effective.”
From the customer’s perspective, Telecom New Zealand is now meeting them on
their terms, and that’s what will continue to fuel customer loyalty.
OCC
4.58 3.99 3.76 4.30 4.54 4.33 4.83 4.49 4.46
17.13%
5.38%
12.59%
23.92%
39.86%
30.20%
23.90%
47.71%
36.37%
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
500
Jul-08 Aug-08 Sep-08 Oct-08 Nov-08 Dec-08 Jan-09 Feb-09 Mar-09
SalesandDials
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
SalesConversionandNumberofDialsperDMC
Number of Dials (000's) Sales Units Sold (00's) Number of Dials per DMC Sales Conversion Rate
HBDI Rollout mid Feb

c a s e s t u d y
“Whole Brain®
Thinking equips our people to tailor their language and tonality
to complement the customer’s preferred way of processing information,” Sue
explains. “It helps our people to better understand the customer’s emotional state
and to respond appropriately, thereby reducing the opportunity for talking at cross
purposes.”
The future
Now that the program is under way, the pace has picked up. Telecom has rolled
out the Whole Brain®
Thinking program to all of its frontline customer service
people as a foundation for creating service differentiation, and is now talking with
Herrmann International about moving the program into international call centers
based offshore.

The Originators of Whole Brain®
Technology and the Creators of the Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument®
(HBDI®
)
794 Buffalo Creek Road, Lake Lure, NC, 28746. Phone: 1-828-625-9153 or 1-800-432-4234 Fax: 1-828-625-1402
www.HerrmannSolutions.com 09 12
better results through better thinking
Clients
Herrmann International clients, for whom better thinking has become integral to their business culture,
include:
Altera
American Express
AT&T
BlackRock
Blue Cross Blue Shield
Bunnell Idea Group
Caesar’s
Christiana Care Health Systems
Cintas
Coca-Cola
Global Novations
IBM
Johnson & Johnson
Kraft
Limited Brands
Lockheed Martin
Macy’s
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Hospital
Microsoft
MIT
Mitsubishi
NASA
Nav Canada
Novartis
Novo Nordisk
Pella Corporation
Perfetti Van Melle
Purdue Pharma
Queen’s University
Rogers Communications
Sobeys
Thomson Reuters
Ultimate Software
Wharton
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Thinking - HBDI®
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Thinking
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Telecom HBDI Case Study

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