CX Heroes Webinar Series

Five successful habits of a CX Hero

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On-Demand Webinar

Parity is a challenge in business. When competing brands can’t create true differentiation, they struggle to stand out in customers’ minds. And in the telecom business — where the products vary little — parity is commonplace. But not for AB Sappa, the Swedish telecom company. In an industry where most products are the same, AB Sappa has found a way to differentiate itself – and it’s not with product, but with service… customer service.  That’s a philosophy that is practiced company-wide and encouraged by giving all customer service representatives the power to be creative and do what’s necessary to solve problems.

The results are impressive. Since putting customer service at the heart of what they do, AB Sappa has been ranked highest in customer service among all telecom companies in Sweden — two years running. With the support of a customer-centric organization and the right tools, all the AB Sappa customer service representatives are equipped with everything necessary to make each customer experience amazing.

In this CX Heroes webinar, you will learn how AB Sappa:

  • Establishes skills that every agent should have
  • Handles difficult customers with finesse
  • Recognizes and rewards agents
  • Turns customers into brand advocates
  • Get personalization right for their customers

Celebrate the people who drive excellent customer service— and the technology that empowers them.  The CX Heroes program acknowledges the select few who have applied their skills, talents and empathy to make a real difference in people’s lives.​  The result?  Truly authentic, personal, meaningful experiences that customers recognize as special.

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Hello everyone. And welcome to our CX heroes webinar on

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five successful habits of a CX hero. We’re really excited

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today, all the way from Sweden to have Katarina Cervell

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and Jacob Dalnäs from Sappa. So, welcome to you both.

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Jacob is CX hero. So, congratulations Jacob for being named

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CX hero. We’re really excited to have you here, and

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later on, in the webinar, we’re going to have you

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tell your story of what earned you this distinction. But

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before we start off, Katarina, I’d love to have you

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tell us a little bit about Sappa. Absolutely. I’ll do

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that. Sappa is the fourth largest telecom company in Sweden,

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and we deliver TV, broadband to our customer throughout Sweden.

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And we also deliver digital care services for elderly people.

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So, they can stay at home longer and feel safe,

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and their relatives can feel safe. And our mission is

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to be the most customer- friendly company in Sweden.[crosstalk 00:01:

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25]- That sounds great. Yeah. That sounds great. Well, we’re

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really excited to have you here and excited to dive

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into what makes an effective CX hero. So, as we

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get a little deeper into the webinar here, you’re going

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to learn five ways to improve customer service and establish

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successful habits that you can use every day. You’ll be

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able to” Establish skills that every agent should have.” We’ll

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show you how to” Handle difficult customers with finesse,” how-

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to” Recognize and reward your agents,” how- to” Turn customers

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into brand advocates,” and how- to” get personalization right for

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your customers.” So, without further ado, let’s jump right into

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it. The first habit is establishing a set of skills

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that every agent should have. And as you see on this

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slide here, we have listed 10 skills that we at

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Genesys feel are really important skills. These are certainly not

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every skill, but this is a really good, basic set

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of skills that we think are important. So, as you

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have a chance to look at this Katarina from your point

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of view, which two of these skills do you think

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are the most important to providing good customer service? Or

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if you see a skill that’s not on here, is

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there something that’s missing here that you think is an important skill?

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Yeah, I would like to choose all of them, but

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I would like to keep it to a smaller[ inaudible

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00: 02: 55]. In order to reach our vision, that

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is to be the most customer- friendly company, I think

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that it’s very important that advisors like Jacob is a

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good listener to the customer and also to be assertiveness

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to the customer’s needs and also get on the same

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level as the customer. So, that’s very important, but I

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think the most important thing for us is that our

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advisors are genuine and themselves because that’s creates a relation

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with the customer and that’s very, very important for us.

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Yeah. That makes a lot of sense. That authentic bond

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with a customer that lets them know that you’re truly

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listening to them and you truly understand where they’re coming

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from. Yeah. Yeah. Jacob, what about you? You are talking

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to customers all the time. Looking at this list here,

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which two skills are most important? I think I put

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the two of them together as one actually, and it’s

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listening and attentiveness. I put this one because I think

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they go kind of hand in hand. I think it’s

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very important to listen and to also pay attention because

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then you can pick up the things that the customer

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is maybe not telling you because, in my experience, they

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don’t give their every need at once when they call

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you because they might be nervous or they have waited

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for a long time. So, it’s about reading the signals

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and just listening and paying attention to what they say.

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And then you can find many more needs than the

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one recent, that they are calling you. And after that,

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it’s resourcefulness that I took because when you listen and

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you find all the things that the customer needs, then

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you also need to be creative to solve the issue.

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Because many times it’s might not be our services that

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is the best solution for the customer. It might be

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something else. So, you will have to be creative and

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see in what way you can help the customer. And

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I also want to agree with Katarina on being on

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the same level as the customer is important like you

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speak the same language. And so you kind of have

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to be like a chameleon. You have to adapt to

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who you talk to and speak their language. So they understand

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you and that you feel a special connection with them.

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And of course, it has to be genuine also. I

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think you can tell very clearly when someone is reading

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from a script or they have been trained to say

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certain things. So, it needs to come from the heart too.

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That makes lot of sense. It sounds from hearing you

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talk, an important part of it is not only listening

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to what they say but picking up cues on understanding

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what they’re not saying and trying to fill in the

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blanks for other things that they might need to. Is

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that right? Yeah, absolutely. And we hire personalities like Jacob

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here, so… That’s great. Well, I think that’s really good

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advice here. So moving on to habit number two. One

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thing that I think anyone who works in customer service

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has dealt with is handling difficult customers. And handling difficult

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customers with finesse and treating them well is a real

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skill in and of itself. 95% of customers tell others

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about a bad experience. So, a customer that has a

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bad experiences is likely to complain about it. So, it

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makes it all the more important to be able to

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deal with the customer who might not be in the

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greatest mood or might not be in the greatest situation

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and try to get them to a good spot. So,

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Katarina, how does Sappa, as an organization, how do you

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train advisers to deal with frustrated customers, and what’s your

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overall philosophy on helping customers who might be frustrated or

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in a bad place? First of all, we work with

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a professional coach. We worked with Jessica for several years. And

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she comes to our office every third week, not now,

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but now we do these digital, but she comes to

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the office every third week, and she trains and develops

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our advisors. And there’s a really good relationship between this

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coach and our advisors. And it’s a lot about listening

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to the customer and getting the customer to understand that

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we have a common goal with this conversation we’re going

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in the same direction. So, we need to be on

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the same side. So, we work a lot with that.

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And then it’s very interesting because there is a customer

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survey in Sweden, that’s called Swedish… Quality Index. Yeah. Quality Index. Thank

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you. And we are the only company in telecom business

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that has a positive effect on with contact with the

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customers. So, for often when they call us, they could

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have a problem, or they can ask question, but although

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frustrated, they are very happy after they’ve been talking to

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us. And we are the only companies that has that. So,

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our advisors are very good at talking and listening and

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understanding and get on the same level, the same page

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as the customer. So, we train a lot, and they

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are helping each other also. Yep, that’s great. And Jacob, how

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about you? You are on the front lines everyday dealing

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with customers. I’m sure you’ve had your fair share of

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experiences with customers that are not the happiest. Absolutely. What

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do you find that works best? I think mostly you

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have to make the customer just understand that you are

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on the same side. And here in this situation is

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probably the most important out of any situation to speak

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the same language as the customer. If he calls in

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and he’s pissed off at Sappa, then I will be

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pissed off at Sappa too. And if he’s pissed off

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with my colleague, I will also be pissed off with

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my colleague. And I will agree with him, and we

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will speak the same language. Of course, I won’t throw

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anyone under the bus, not the company or my colleagues,

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but I think it’s important to show the customers that

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we are not getting defensive when things are going wrong.

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We accept that things can go wrong, and we take

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responsibility in those situations. So, usually an angry customer, I

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usually try to take as a challenge. And the challenge

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is that before the customer hangs up, we are going

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to be on the same page, even if he didn’t

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get as he wanted or I didn’t get as I

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wanted, then we can still be on the same page

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and understand each other. And as soon as they start

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to realize that I am the solution to their problem, they

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usually start to bring their guard down, and they have

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a different attitude. So, it’s just a matter of bringing

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their guard down and being on their side. So you really need

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to be able to demonstrate some empathy and show them

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that you not only understand logically what their problem is

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but that you feel for them. Right. Yeah. You are understanding

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where they’re coming from emotionally. Yep. Yeah. That’s great. Well,

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that’s[crosstalk certainly[crosstalk 00:11: 20]… That was something that our customer was

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asking for. When Sappa was started, I wanted a warm and

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friendly supplier, and that’s really what this guy started giving our customers.

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And you, Katarina. I’d love to hear you talk about that

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just a little bit more. Sappa has a really great reputation for being

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able to deliver customer service. Isn’t that right? Yeah, that’s

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right. We have been two years in a row, we

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have had the first place in the survey, like I

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told you before. And the customer thinks that we are

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really doing what we are saying in our corporate values.

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We are being friendly to the customers. We are listening.

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We are being the worker. We go the extra mile

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for the customers. So, we’re really doing what we are

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saying in our values and our culture. We’re really living

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the culture internally, and the customer can feel it all

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the way. So, that’s nice. We actually have a good

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quotation from our CEO because he tells us on a

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regular basis to always think no corporate bullshit. And it’s

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just funny to hear something like that from your CEO.

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It shows the difference in the values. Yeah. And I think customers

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can tell that difference too. And your reputation, I think,

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is known in Sweden as an organization that cares about

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customer service. And this leads us… I think it’s a

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really great segue into the third habit, which is making

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sure that you recognize and reward agents for doing a

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good job. The CX heroes program is all about recognizing

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advisors and agents who go above and beyond to provide

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great service. And Jacob… Jacob, excuse me, congratulations on being

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named CX hero. We at Genesys are really excited to

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have you as a CX hero. And I think Sappa’s

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reputation for great customer service was part of what led

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to the story that led to you becoming a CX

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hero. I would love to have you tell us your

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story that got you this honor. Yeah. Of course. We

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are always encouraged to help our customers as much as

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we can, even if they don’t call and have a problem

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with our services, we always try to help them. And

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this time it was a customer that called, and I

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asked her to just normal, and he sounded a little

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shooked on the phone. And he was explaining to me

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that he was too scared to go out on his

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balcony here. He really needed help because he had find

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a wasp nest on a balcony, and he didn’t want

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to go out. So, I didn’t think… I thought it

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was a little bit strange that he called, but we

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are always encouraged to help them either way. And so,

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I was thinking what I would do myself in this

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situation. And I am very scared of wasps, so I

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could really feel his emotions. Sappa is not a pest

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control company at all. No, actually we’re not. But he

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had found our phone number outside where he lives because

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we handled the TV. So when he found our number

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and, but he had called us before. So, the first

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thing I said to him was that” We are your

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TV supplier, just so And he said,” Yeah. Yeah, I

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know. But you always answer, and I just panicked. So,

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I called you.” So, then I just said,” Of course,

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of course, we will help you.” He counts on our

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help. We will give it to him. So, I started

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to look in on the internet for exterminator in this

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area, and I called the exterminator just to see if

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they are open and see if they could handle this

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type of business. And I called up the customer, and

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I transferred him to the exterminator so he could speak

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to them directly. And I don’t know what happened after

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that, but I hope they helped him out. I love

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that story. And what a great example, Jacob, of you

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having the sense of empathy to understand and really feel

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what the customer is going through and to take action.

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So, not only that but the fact that you have

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contributed to a culture overall where Sappa has the reputation

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of that customer knew to call you because Sappa always

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answers and always helps to solve his problems, which I

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think speaks both individually to your work and also to

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the culture that Sappa has created. So, Katarina, I’d like

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to ask you what does Sappa do to create this

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culture and to help reward your advisors for delivering great

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service? Oh, we do a lot of things. As I

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told you before, we have this individual training very good for the customers,

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and also for the advisors, it’s make them grow. Then

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we also encourage them to see possibilities inside the company.

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And we have a lot of advisors working in my

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IT sector or economy. So find new opportunities in the

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company. Then we also have something called Sappa awards. So,

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once a year, you have the chance to nominate your

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colleagues to Sappa awards. And there are different prices that

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you can win, like being the Sappa ambassador. Jacob is

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an example of being a Sappa ambassador you’re going outside the

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box. You help someone, and you deliver every day, every

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hour when you are work. So, we have a lot

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of things that we’ll do, and we even have the

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co- worker all the week and lots things that we

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do. That’s great. So, Jacob, I have to ask you,

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is that the most unusual call that you’ve ever received

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or have you had calls that were even more unusual?

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I think probably the most in terms of what I

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needed to do in terms of helping him, it’s probably

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the most outside of my comfort zone. But since we

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always encourage people to help the customer, no matter what,

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we have some of these calls pretty regularly where we

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go outside of our comfort zones to help them. We

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had even customers who calls from a rival company, they

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have a TV box from other company, and then we

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help them with their box because they could never get

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ahold of customer service. So, there’s many situations like this,

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which just makes it very fun. So yeah, this was

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probably the most strange. That’s a great one. We also

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have customer sending us picture on how the cable goes

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in their apartment. So, they follow the cable and send

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the picture all the way. And that’s very interesting because

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a lot of pages with just photos of the cables.

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That does sound unusual. Yeah. Yeah. Well sort of following

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along the same topic here, the fourth habit is turning

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customers into brand advocates. As I think both of you

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just talked about great customer service and customer experiences create

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brand loyalty. So, what sort of strategies, Jacob, as an

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advisor dealing with customers every day, what sort of strategies

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do you use to nurture that relationship? To build those

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relationships with customers. To make them into more loyal customers

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and to deliver them the service that they need? Yeah. The

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thing is that I am in my role as a

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customer service agent, I am a hundred percent comfortable, and

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it’s because I get encouraged to be genuine with the

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customers. They don’t give me any scripts or anything. I

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have a free hand to talk how I want and

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to help the customer in what way I want. And

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it makes me comfortable in my role. And I think

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this is something that customers can tell and it makes

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a more comfortable situation for them too, because they feel

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like they can be equally genuine towards me. And they

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can talk to me just how they want. If they

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get angry, they can scream at me, and I will

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still treat them with respect. And even if they come

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in with a negative attitude and wants to complain, they

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still can make their voice heard. I will understand them.

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And I will say that I will send their thoughts

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to the right person and just to show them that

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no matter what, I will take their opinions serious and

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I will listen to what they have to say. And

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we also encourage our customers to speak up when they

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have opinions of us, whether if it’s positive or negative

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because every month, we do a customer survey where they

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can just tell us what they think about us. And

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then we have an option where we ask them if

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it’s okay that we contact them in terms of the

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survey they filled in. So, right then, we have many

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people who experienced problems, but maybe they were too scared

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to call, or they didn’t have time. And they make

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their voice heard, and we make an effort to contact

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them and make our relationship better with them. And I

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think that makes them feel respected and listened to very

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much. That’s great. Katarina, we’d love to hear your thoughts

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on this too because obviously Sappa has created a culture

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where nurturing customer relationships is important. What are your thoughts

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on this? As I said many times, our strategy is

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to deliver the most customer friendly services and to do

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that we take our calls in one minute and that’s

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something that our customers love. And we also answer in person, so we don’t have a… what do

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you call it? Button? Yeah, we don’t measure how long

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we talk to the customers Yes, no,[inaudible. no[inaudible 00:23:13]. Oh yeah. Many

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customer services. When a customer calls, they have to press

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one to get to one of departments, or they have

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to press two to get to another department. We don’t

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have anything like this when they call, they come directly to

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us, and can speak to us and we won’t transfer

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them to some other place. We answer on every question.

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And that’s very unique for a company in this business

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and then we also, like Jacob said, we don’t measure

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the length of the conversation that the advisor has with

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the customer. So, it’s a very good opportunity to create

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a relation with the customer. And that makes the customer

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feels unique and taken care of. And then we’ll also

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do a fun thing. We write handwritten congratulations to all

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our customers that are turning 30, 40, 50 up to a

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hundred year. And when they turn 100, they get a

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special card and a little bit special treated. So, that’s

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something unique that we do. But we also are very…

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it’s very important to create the relation with the customer

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because that makes the customer absolutely feel unique. Absolutely. I

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love that. And I think that’s a really great segue

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again, into our fifth habit, which is personalization. You talked

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about sort of recognizing birthdays for customers. So, the fifth

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habit here is getting personalization right for your customers. Just

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highlighting the statistic here.” 79% of customers feel like a

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generic customer rather than a unique individual when they call

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in for customer service.” I think what that shows us

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is that customers want personalization to be able to simplify

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the interactions that they have with businesses. And they’re beginning

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to be introduced to new levels of personalization. So, when

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they call in or chat in or text in to

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customers, they’re beginning to see ways that they can experience

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personalization and in a whole new way. And they’re starting

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to expect that more and more from every organization. And

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a lot of those tools are making jobs for employees

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much better, being able to match agents and advisors to

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customers and situations that are more matched to their skills

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and availability, which allows agents and advisors to feel more

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successful. And to be able to handle situations with confidence,

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because they know they’re matched with customers that they’re going

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to be able to help more clearly because their skills

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are suited to it. So, I think there’s a lot

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of really exciting things happening in this field. This is

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something that Genesys is really passionate about, and I know

364
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personalization is really important for Sappa. Jacob, talk a little

365
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bit about making that experience feel personal for customers and

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why it’s important when you’re talking with customers to make

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it feel personal for them. Yeah. I think it goes

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back to the strengths of a customer service worker that

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we talked about earlier, like being a good listener, for

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example, is something I think is very important for making

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the customer feel a unique because if you are a

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good listener and you are attentive and can pick up

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many details, then later on in the call, when you

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present your solution or the problem, you can present a

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more broad solution that fits more of the customer’s needs,

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even things that maybe he or she didn’t express to

377
00:27:00,210 –> 00:27:05,050
you at first. And I think that’s makes them feel

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listened to it makes them feel like I’m not just

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sitting here and let them information come in here and

380
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out here, I take it in. I listened to it,

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and I tried to present my solution according to what

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needs she has. And also, I think it’s like we

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talked about to speak the same language as the customer.

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If I’m talking to someone who is a little bit

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older, I usually speak slower and more clear so they

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can understand me. I might even use some old school

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words. If I’m talking to someone younger, I talk a

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little bit faster. Maybe use some slang words here and

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there. And then I think this makes them feel more

390
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comfortable and it also makes them feel respected, I think.

391
00:27:57,480 –> 00:28:01,180
That’s really great advice. I think that makes a lot

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of sense and shows real connectivity. Katarina, why is it

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important for Sappa to create those personalized experiences for customers?

394
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You talked a little bit before about things like sending

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birthday greetings that’s obviously a core part of your culture.

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Why is that something that’s important? It’s important to Sappa because that’s the kind

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of company we would like to be when Sappa was

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started. Like, I told you, asking the customers what kind

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of supplier they wanted. And this was a place on

400
00:28:39,330 –> 00:28:42,340
the market that was free to be a warm and

401
00:28:42,340 –> 00:28:47,250
friendly company and give the best customer service. So, that’s

402
00:28:47,250 –> 00:28:50,530
very important for us that the customer really feels that

403
00:28:50,530 –> 00:28:54,620
we are not just treating them like customers, but they

404
00:28:54,620 –> 00:28:58,890
are our friends and, we are interested in them when

405
00:28:58,890 –> 00:29:01,420
we talk to them, we are not just interested in

406
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solving the problem and the conversation. Like you heard Jacob

407
00:29:09,220 –> 00:29:13,360
asking before,” What team do you cheer for?” That’s something

408
00:29:13,360 –> 00:29:16,970
that I often hear when our advisors talks to the

409
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customer.” What football team do you cheer for?” And,” What

410
00:29:22,190 –> 00:29:23,930
is the name of your dog?” If you hear a

411
00:29:23,930 –> 00:29:27,760
dog barking. So, they are really interested in the company

412
00:29:27,760 –> 00:29:31,540
and that creates a good feeling for the customer. Absolutely.

413
00:29:32,260 –> 00:29:36,450
And it’s also make the job much more fun, I

414
00:29:36,450 –> 00:29:39,960
think[inaudible 00:29: 36]. Yeah. Absolutely. It makes it much more

415
00:29:39,960 –> 00:29:44,750
fun than you get more and comfortable yourself. And you feel

416
00:29:44,750 –> 00:29:47,610
like you are not forced to be at work. I

417
00:29:47,610 –> 00:29:52,520
can be myself. And the biggest receipt that we get

418
00:29:53,060 –> 00:29:58,010
from our customer is because we mentioned the survey that

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we were voted the best customer service two years straight

420
00:30:02,170 –> 00:30:05,490
at the Swedish Quality Index. And this is actually the

421
00:30:05,520 –> 00:30:10,610
biggest customer service in Sweden. So, it’s the customers themselves

422
00:30:10,640 –> 00:30:16,290
that give rates on everything from a service to technology,

423
00:30:16,290 –> 00:30:20,690
to how you are as a brand. They vote on

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00:30:20,690 –> 00:30:24,290
everything. And it’s a very big thing. So, it’s the

425
00:30:24,290 –> 00:30:28,210
customer’s own words that we are the best in customer

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service and two years straight. That’s great. And boy, that’s

427
00:30:32,490 –> 00:30:37,040
the best endorsement you can get. And I loved hearing

428
00:30:37,040 –> 00:30:42,770
both of you talk about, not only does this make

429
00:30:42,770 –> 00:30:46,220
the customers feel more comfortable. So not only is personalization

430
00:30:46,220 –> 00:30:49,270
important to make them feel comfortable. But Jacob, hearing you

431
00:30:49,270 –> 00:30:51,900
talk about the fact that it makes you enjoy your

432
00:30:51,960 –> 00:30:54,600
job more. Right? You feel like you are able to

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00:30:54,600 –> 00:30:59,330
be yourself. It speaks to the strong, strong benefits of

434
00:30:59,830 –> 00:31:05,980
being able to connect with customers in that way.[crosstalk And it’s really great[crosstalk 00:31:

435
00:31:05,980 –> 00:31:11,440
05]- Looking at how we working, we always make it

436
00:31:11,440 –> 00:31:15,070
like a team. It’s very important to have a team

437
00:31:15,070 –> 00:31:18,840
feeling in the company. So, it’s not me, myself, or

438
00:31:18,840 –> 00:31:23,440
I. It’s the team that’s important. And that’s also a

439
00:31:23,440 –> 00:31:26,910
way to make it feel good for the customer. You

440
00:31:26,910 –> 00:31:31,540
always have someone to ask, or that could help you

441
00:31:31,540 –> 00:31:35,440
if you have a problem with the customer or the

442
00:31:35,440 –> 00:31:39,240
customer’s problem, you always have someone to support you. Yeah.

443
00:31:39,240 –> 00:31:46,650
Everyone is willing to help. Yeah.[crosstalk 00:31: 43]- That’s fantastic. Yeah. That’s great.

444
00:31:47,360 –> 00:31:51,380
Well, it’s been so great, Katarina and Jacob, getting your thoughts

445
00:31:51,380 –> 00:31:55,110
on the importance of delivering great customer service and great

446
00:31:55,110 –> 00:32:00,060
customer experience. Just going through our summary here, kind of

447
00:32:00,320 –> 00:32:03,330
the key points here, making sure you hire the right

448
00:32:03,330 –> 00:32:05,530
type of people for your business and provide them with

449
00:32:05,530 –> 00:32:10,340
the proper training. customer service can be tough, and it’s

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important to reward your agents and advisors. And it’s important

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that customer experience and customer service work together to create

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brand loyalty. And we just talked about the fact that

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using personalization to improve customer experiences is key. It’s not

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just about delivering more ads. But it’s about really connecting

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and making those customers feel comfortable and making employees feel

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more rewarded in their jobs and leading to more customer

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loyalty, which is really, really important. So, if you have

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listened to this and you’re inspired as someone who is

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in customer service, and you’ve got a story that you

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want to share, or if you work with someone that

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you believe is worthy of being nominated as a CX hero,

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we encourage you to nominate, be part of the program,

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be recognized as CX hero just as Jacob was. So, I

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want to thank everybody for joining us. Here’s our details

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right here. You can reach out via our website or

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give us a call or contact Jill. Hundley@ genesys. com,

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and she can get your nomination in. But Jacob and

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Katarina, I want to say thank you so much for

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joining us on this webinar. I think your thoughts were really

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great to get, and I think inspiring to me and hopefully inspiring

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to everybody that listened. So, thank you both so much

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for joining. Thank you. Thank you very much. We had a very good time. Yeah. It

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was fun. Absolutely. It was a lot of fun. Thank

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you so much and thanks everybody for listening. Thank you. Bye.

Meet the Speakers

Katarina cervell webinar image

Katarina Cervell
Kultur Coach
AB Sappa, Sweden

Jacob dalnas webinar image

Jacob Dalnäs
Sales Representative
AB Sappa, Sweden

John munyan webinar image

John Munyan
Vice President, Brand Messaging
Genesys