We looked at an
interview conducted earlier this year with Chain Stone Age and Jerry Campbell, a speaker of the Customer Experience Strategies (CXS) Summit. Mr. Campbell talks about how 7-Eleven took immediate measures to uplift its customer support operations in response to the pandemic. 7-Eleven marks the largest retailer chain in the world, with
36,000 stores across 15 countries and regions. With already exceptional customer experience, Jerry explains how 7-Eleven takes further steps towards modernizing it.
One step in accelerating its CX, Jerry notes deploying the ServiceNow customer service management (CSM) platform. This platform allowed the brand to launch its mobile app, which offered immediate customer support response through multiple channels. Furthermore, the app served a simplified and “easy-to-access” support for customers and allowed easier operations for employees. Initially, customer service teams were operating manually and couldn’t keep up with the increasing demands during the lockdown.
The Issue
Jerry states, “Two agents from our call center had to go through 1,300 separate pieces of information a day and try to distinguish what was customer feedback or a request for help—it was like trying to find ping pong balls in a box that was 90% golf balls.”
After determining what category each piece of information belonged to, the customer service teams couldn’t prioritize them or immediately respond to them due to the influx of requests. Ultimately, this led to undiagnosed concerns, a lack of records, and inefficient reporting.
The Solution
Jerry found the opportunity to implement a better strategy. 7-Eleven needed a seamless, unified solution that could combine both internal customer-friendly employees and external customers. By integrating these systems, service will improve across the entire business.
An example of how this works, Jerry explains, “Having a Slurpee machine out of order or a gas pump down in a location requires servicing and repairs to meet the customer’s need. A franchisee can report down equipment and get the item serviced before it affects the customer journey. Likewise, a customer can report down equipment and create the servicing/repair of the equipment. The integration of ServiceNow modules ultimately aided in the evaluation of this customer experience solution.”
Results
After a six-week implementation period, 7-Eleven saw immediate results. Case volume decreased by 93%, resolution rates pushed a high 205%, and response rates were 1,860% faster. 7-Eleven was able to focus on data points and actionable insights to other parts of the business.
The push for a better customer experience does not end here. Jerry notes that ServiceNow opened up many doors for the brand and continue to do so. Their next step is to build a self-servicing channel before diving into AI for chat or text messaging. As you can see, the opportunities are endless and will continue to grow for CX. Jerry made an impact on the brand, meeting customers where they are when they want, and how they want it. As part of the CXS Summit, Jerry Campbell is a leader we should watch for to gain ultimate learnings from his experiences. Learn more about the summit here,
https://www.customerexperiencecanada.com/.
