BSG began by challenging the accepted way of developing strategy, which was not unique to this client and is followed by almost all organisations and involves significant research, analysis and solutioning within the business.  BSG recommended changing this inside-out approach to an outside-in approach, focused on understanding the needs of real customers, with that data then supplemented by feedback from internal stakeholders.

BSG commenced the project by meeting business unit leaders within the organisation, to gain an understanding of their perception of the high-level problems, opportunities and customer service experience outcomes in order to frame the engagement approach.  Internal and external sources of information were utilised to develop a comprehensive set of facts to better understand the current customer service experience.  Most importantly, the team conducted in-depth interviews with more than 60 insurance and investment industry customers in several regions across South Africa, which included customers of the client as well as customers of the client’s competitors.  As a fourth perspective, customer sentiment analysis (using social media and internal data) and an assessment of the underlying information delivery mechanisms throughout the enterprise, provided a business analytics view of the current state.

The information gathered through the outside-in and inside-out approached was assessed to define the true customer needs for servicing, and through that a desired customer service experience strategy was created.  A pragmatic set of initiatives and an execution roadmap were developed to achieve this desired customer service experience.

BSG’s advanced analytics knowledge ensured that the future strategy focused on leveraging customer analytics and self-learning systems, to deliver a proactive and personalised customer service experience, which is what all customers desire.

Being based in the client environment allowed the BSG team to design a practical strategy that made sense to the client and also ensured regular collaboration with client stakeholders, resulting in the co-development of the strategy and ensured buy-in throughout the project, providing real value to the client.