Information Builders
Company: Information Builders, New York, NY
Entry Submitted By: Lewis PR
Company Description: Information Builders' award-winning combination of BI and enterprise integration software has been providing innovative solutions to more than 12,000 customers for the past 30 years. WebFOCUS is the world's most widely utilized business intelligence platform. It provides the security, scalability, and flexibility needed at every level of global extended enterprises.
Nomination Category: Customer Service Awards Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Customer Service Team of the Year
Nomination Title: Information Builders’ Premium Support Team
Tell the story about what this nominated team achieved since January 1 2010 year (up to 500 words). Focus on specific accomplishments, and relate these accomplishments to past performance or industry norms. Be sure to mention obstacles overcome, innovations or discoveries made, and outcomes:
Since January 1, 2010, Information Builders’ Premium Support Team achieved its
best customer support results to date through the following initiatives: (1)
Expanded customer surveys, which are used to proactively address customer
issues; (2) Enhanced premium support features; and (3) Customer advocacy.
Information Builders’ Premium Support Team is made up of 15 individuals that
provide support to 59 Fortune 500 customers. Led by Keyla Serrano, senior
manager, the Premium Support Team provides the highest level of support to
Information Builders’ most strategic clients, ensuring customer satisfaction and
retention.
Expanded Customer Surveys To address specific customer feedback received from
2009’s Premium surveys, the Premium Support Team implemented new procedures in
2010. The email survey process was expanded to include even more transactional
surveys and additional telephone surveys which outside vendors conducted.
Already scoring high in all areas, customer support challenged themselves and
achieved 97% overall satisfaction for premium accounts.
The surveys also measured the effectiveness of the individual Account Support
Managers (ASMs) and the effectiveness of Premium services. In 2010, the ASM's
scored a 97% satisfaction rating and 95% percent of customers would recommend
Information Builders’ Premium services – the ultimate recognition. Additionally,
this year the Premium Support Team further improved case duration by decreasing
the length of time it takes to resolve customer issues by 8.5%.
Enhanced Premium Support Features Information Builders’ Premium Support Team is
well equipped to deal with any support related issue. Each premium customer has
access to emergency, mission-critical on-site support. In the event of a
mission-critical production down situation that cannot be resolved via phone or
with Information Builders’ Remote Assistant tool, a technician will visit the
customer’s site.
Furthermore, the Premium Support Team will replicate premium customer
environments in-house for nonstandard configurations; this can involve several
platforms and operating systems, databases and 3rd party products. ASMs are able
to proactively assess issues the customer might run into during a major system
implementation and ensure success.
From Information Builders‘, the ASMs allow the field tech staff to cover new
sales opportunities because support is provided centrally by the ASMs.
To improve responsiveness and case duration, the 2010 departmental goals for
initial response, ongoing response and duration were set at more aggressive
levels. A brand new business intelligence dashboard was also developed and
implemented to help management as well as technical support representatives stay
on top of customer issues and expectations. The team exceeded most of their
goals and raised the bar again for 2011.
Customer Advocacy
There is a company-wide recognition of Information Builders’ premium customers.
One example of this is that Premium customers are Advisory Council members who
help determine the future direction of Information Builders products and
features. The Premium Support Team is the advocate for these customers and holds
weekly meetings with the product divisions and programming to bring up issues on
behalf of premium customers.
Some premium customers are able to avoid hiring additional full-time software
developers because the Premium Support Team helps the customer to create
applications using Information Builders’ software then put them into production
and then maintain the applications. The return of investment from these results
is often enough justification for the customer to renew their premium support
contract. There is also the added security of knowing that the Premium Support
Team is available 24 hours a day for hot issues or production down situations
that can result in huge savings.
In preparation for premium customer migrations and rollouts, the Premium Support
Team holds regular internal testing and planning meetings. Once the customer’s
system is in place, a Business Intelligence reporting tool is used to provide
premium customers with metrics specific to them and the support they get.
Customers are able to access online reports when they login to Information
Builders tech support website.
One new Premium customer was in the middle of a conversion from a competitor’s
products to Information Builders’ WebFOCUS and the project was already behind
schedule. Due to the work done by the ASM, who coordinated various conference
calls and lined up resources as well as assisting in some of the code and
testing. All 12 applications were converted and put into production, resulting
in a huge win for the Premium team. The ASM was able to overcome many challenges
by engaging support and professional service assistance from the product
division branch to ensure all resources were in alignment and moving forward
toward the same goal.
As a result of the Premium Support Team’s customer service, maintenance renewals
for Premium in 2010 were at 86%. The only premium contracts not renewed were due
to the economic climate and these customers switched to the basic maintenance
program. In 2010, the Premium Support Team also saw a 39% increase from 2009 in
new Premium customers. Information Builders’ premium customers are the ones that
are getting the maximum use out of our products and tools. The Premium Support
Team is the interface between programming, product management and the customers.
The customers’ feedback is the key factor in the improvement of Information
Builders’ products as well as ensuring customer success.
List hyperlinks to any online news stories, press releases, or other documents that support the claims made in the section above. IMPORTANT: Begin each link with http://, and enclose each link in square brackets; for example, [http://www.youraddress.com]:
•Information Builders empowers customers through an effective self-service Web
interface (i.e., ensuring relevant information is fully accessible via the
Internet). Constant documentation updates are uploaded to the support website –
the addition of 4,000+ new documents each year focusing on
problem solutions. For direct self-service access
http://techsupport.informationbuilders.com .
oFocal Point: http://www.informationbuilders.com/support/wf_dev_center.html
•InfoResponse Support Services connects customers to knowledgeable specialists
via the Web (online & user forums), email, or telephone for prompt,
reliable support anytime, anywhere. 100% of support is delivered directly via
company employees. For more information on Information Builders’
customer support services, visit: www.informationbuilders.com/support/index.html .
•Information Builders Customer Service Achieves Certification in Support Staff
Excellence From SSPA (now TSIA):
http://www.informationbuilders.com/cgi-shell/press/intpr/f_intpr.pl?intpr_code=04_16_08_sspa
•TSIA member: http://www.tsia.com/
•Because Information Builders customers use our solutions to tap enterprise
information (managing business in real time to gain competitive advantage,
increase performance efficiency and improve business processes), it’s critical
that our support services operate in the same “accessible information
anytime, anywhere” fashion to promote their continued success. To find detailed
case studies, please visit:
http://www.informationbuilders.com/applications/companies_list_alpha.html
•Analyst reports: http://www.informationbuilders.com/new/analyst_reports
Provide a brief (up to 100 words) biography about the leader(s) of the nominated team:
Keyla Serrano is the Senior Manager of the InfoResponse Premium Support Team,
which is made up of 12 account support managers. Since joining Information
Builders in 1993, Keyla explored different positions including Technical Support
Representative and Product Manager. Her strong customer centric outlook and
people skills brought her back to Customer Support to manage the Premium Support
team where she has spent the last nine years looking for ways to grow and enrich
the services her team provides to their strategic accounts.