Case Study

National Savings & Investments

Background

National Savings & Investments is the UK’s third largest retail savings and investment provider, with an 8 per cent market share and accounting for some £70bn of invested assets. It has more than 26 million customers who between them generate something like 60 million transactions each year via the telephone, Internet, post office and mail. In 1999, NS&I outsourced 90 per cent of its functions (operations, processing and infrastructure development) in the UK’s largest Public Private Partnership (PPP). The relationship has evolved through several stages, beyond that of client/supplier to one of co-dependent partnership.

People and processes

The outsourced call-centre and NS&I’s client management teams enjoy close relationships. Most call-centre staff are recruited from back-office roles, so new staff have a working knowledge of the business which helps to smooth the process when customers are changing channels. The Training Team assesses telephony aptitudes, customer orientation, communication and attention to detail, and an interview process focuses on business awareness, cooperation and commitment. Sales and Service Delivery Managers share personal objectives to maximize effectiveness. This approach to partnership development is summarized in Figure 17.1.

The partnership’s commitment to staff is evidenced by upper quartile employment terms, including Employee Bonus and Recognizing Excellence Schemes; Defined Benefit Pensions; and opportunities to influence working environment and processes. Training is co-ordinated and delivered in-house by a specialist team. Customer Service Representatives (CSRs) complete a 30-week modular programme covering 9 key call elements. Employee Opinion Survey outputs are analysed, and plans put in place to address improvements.

Distribution

The rapid expansion and development of NS&I’s telephony channel has been a key business aim with achieved growth as follows:

● Capacity has increased from 160 to 285 seats (120 to 250 FTEs) in the last year

● From a standing start annual telephone sales have risen over eight-fold, from £188m in 2000/2001 to £1399m in 2004/2005

● Call volumes have increased from 811 000 to 2 993 000 over the same period, all handled by a person – not by IVR (interactive voice recognition)

● Telephone and Internet sales now make up 30 per cent of all sales but, as the overall target has also increased significantly, we still receive the same value of sales from the post office.

Customer management and research

The drive for direct sales growth to support the modernization of the business was not at the expense of the loyal existing customer base. These results were achieved by a combination of building awareness of the telephone service plus building capability by making NS&I’s products available for sale by telephone rather than just by post. Overall satisfaction levels have improved from an already high 90 per cent to 93 per cent.
Market research identified key customer segments which were developed to grow sales and move lower-cost channels to market – e.g. telephony – without alienating customers whose preferred channel of choice was postal or branch (see Table 17.1).
Research and feedback tools are used to understand and anticipate customer needs, support NS&I’s strategies to exceed customer expectations, complete the channel and become best-in-class. With 51 per cent of customers matching groups High AB to C and willing to transact business by telephone or the Internet, NS&I developed its telephony mobilization initiative closely followed by the Internet. The project aims to make the customer experience one that they would wish to repeat, with further enhancements.
Building on research, NS&I will enhance its customer experience to build customer advocacy as a competitive advantage. The targets going forward are for 50 per cent of sales to be delivered by telephone and Internet. The following feedback tools are employed: focus groups and customer panels, frequently asked questions, whereby customer views are assessed for recurring themes, issues and

improvement areas, and mystery shopper surveys. Additionally, a monthly customer telephone survey is conducted by MORI in which recent service users are interviewed for comments on what they consider important, their experience, and how NS&I compares with other financial service providers.

The customer experience

Independent research is used to evaluate the customer experience (see Figure 17.2). Some headline facts are as follows:

● 97 per cent of our calls are answered within 20 seconds

● 99.5 per cent of sales calls and 98 per cent of all calls are answered first time

● Low staff churn (c. 11 per cent) ensures that call-centre staff are experienced; understand products, culture and objectives; and excel at providing customers with high-quality service

● Success in delivering brand values is measured.

EV Spreadsheet Template

One of the more common methods to compute EV parameters is through the use of a spreadsheet. The sample below contains a summary level project plan for a selected level of the WBS.

Percentage completion estimates for each activity are recorded in column “O.” The status point for EV evaluation is May as indicated by the vertical bar. AC data are recorded in rows 15 and 16. Answer the following questions using your knowledge of EV.

a. Translate these data to produce the project EV status.

b. What is the condition of the project based on these parameter values?

c. What is the estimated cost and schedule at completion?