You do everything you can to make your customers’ experiences simple, seamless, and satisfying — but no business is perfect. How your operation deals with those inevitable (and hopefully rare) support issues can make all the difference when it comes to CX.
How you present the customer experience sets the stage for their entire relationship with your company. Chances are people will not stick around if they can’t connect or relate. Keeping it simple means making successful strategies easy to execute while also understanding that each experience is not intended for everyone. Make sure to include elements that help others visualize what is being said.
We relate with others around us through similar experiences we encounter in our everyday lives. This helps us build a foundation with understanding that shapes the way we see and think.
Salesforce continually shares experiences that connect and relate with many of us out there. The ability to connect with others is such a powerful tool that when used correctly will not only make others listen but take action.
This is the story of how a leading international consumer brand (we’ll call them “Brand” for privacy’s sake) streamlined their support operations to deliver personalized, targeted service, and boosted customer satisfaction with Mambo Merge.
How it Began
Sitting in a cubicle at a home office (also known as the “Work From Home” scenario which has become part of our norm, due to COVID-19 and the pandemic) one of our sales reps was finalizing paperwork to send out to one of his clients in order to secure the next opportunity. While staring at the screen long enough to space out for a second, he realizes his phone is ringing unexpectedly. Still thinking about the paperwork he needs to wrap up in order to close out the deal, he answers. The Brand greets the Rep and begins asking questions one after the other.
They are specific and focus primarily on validating findings from sources within the AppExchange and website. What type of documents is Mambo Merge able to generate? How many documents can be generated and in what formats? How are custom fields and objects handled? just to name a few. Once all the questions were answered The Brand thanked the Rep for his time and hung up. Rep pauses for a moment, after the call, to think about what just happened. Realizing that The Brand was vetting for different solutions, for specific departments, printing labels across various fulfillment centers around the globe.
A few days pass and The Brand calls back in. Rep picks up and quickly identifies the voice. He decides to listen some more (thinking out loud, “let’s see where this goes”). Rep knows this individual is sharp, tech savvy and knew what he needed (from the previous conversation). What the Rep came to realize next was that The Brand was part of a large-scale multi-billion dollar international company. They actually sit above over 100 sub-brands, all of whom have support needs that need to be actionable from a central hub, in Salesforce. Not only that, but these support issues pop up across a host of mediums — emails, phone calls, social media, even physically mailed letters! As the opportunity presented itself, almost seeming too good to be true, The Brand continued asking more questions and the Rep was able to deliver the answers. From this point onwards it was clear what came next. Setting up a meeting to introduce developers and additional personnel to build up a proposal with a demo.
Motivated, our Rep went to work. He connects with his developers and reviews the requirements needed to create the demo for The Brand. First he needs to showcase a large volume of calls saved within the case object. Allowing various representatives the ability to offer coupons and other products based on a case-by-case scenario. From there the cases would be batched and forwarded to Salesforce with the option to batch and forward to fulfillment centers across the world. Each fulfillment center would only receive batches based on regions they served. Each batch would be logically organized with instructions, product listings, labels and letters for processing. Final dispositions would be automatically updated within Salesforce.
Turning Point
With developers and admins assigned, along with the clear requirements at hand the demo development began by creating a “Build Out” to answer the following: How is each document supposed to look like and what will it be used for? What object page is each document going to be generated from? What data is going to be pulled within Salesforce and what is the document going to look like in its final form? Next up are the components needed to generate each document which includes buttons, drop down lists or automatic generation based on actions taken within Salesforce. Lastly, each document and component would be tested to ensure functionality each and every time it is generated. The built-in API allows developers to tell Mambo Merge what to do after a document is generated, which is essential to complete part of the requirements.
Once the demo was ready, our Rep reached out to give The Brand some good news. Being pleased and impressed with the consistent follow-ups and assertiveness at each step of the process. The fact that the demo was completed ahead of schedule showed promise that both sides were in sync to reach a conclusion. The opportunity was ready to close as a win as soon as the demo was given the green light. The stage was set and both sides finally got to meet face to face, even if that was done through a virtual conference. The Rep introduced everyone while the developers showcased the requirements given by The Brand within the Demo. It was even recorded to give those who did not attend the opportunity to give feedback afterwards.
Everyone was impressed with the demonstration and, as questions began to arise, more and more conversation took place between both sides. The Brand requested adjustments while seeing their requirements come to life within the demo, and developers asked for more clarification about certain features they were not able to implement. Even though all requirements were not showcased within the demo, the delivery and accomplishments achieved within the short period of time, along with the constant communication, established the turning point which created trust and won the opportunity. Working out the details and delivering the solution comes next which can bring its own set of new obstacles..
Challenges
Due to the limited resources available at the time of the demo, some of the features from The Brand requirements were still under the Mambo Merge product roadmap. With these features already in the queue, developers had to allocate additional time to wrap things up, move them to production and go live. Additional functionality was developed in order to complete all the requirements. As this caused a delay in the completion time, The Brand was more than happy to wait. The impression made by the team earned them the ability to allocate more time.
All hands on deck were put into motion with developers and admins leading the charge. Each helping each other create solutions for problems faced head on. Not only did that accelerate the implementation process, it also established the ability for Mambo Merge to be deployed to meet their roadmap. Functionality was then expanded with The Brand leading the way by presenting new use-cases and our admins and developers providing the solution.
The End Result
The next demo was vetted in conjunction with several consulting partners The Brand worked along side which showcased batch processing for multiple cases with specific criteria. Product groupings with instruction sheets, guides and introductions to each fulfillment center. Accommodated Avery formats for labels, letters and envelopes by country. Updated case object upon completion, included a variety of logos and used data loader to populate templates. All dynamically generated on a case-by-case basis, triggered by the appropriate combination of sub-brand, product, quantity, issue, location, and more.
Now no matter where, when, or with what specific-product a customer had an issue, their ticket could be addressed, responded to, and an appropriate rectification taken (most commonly a product-and-quantity-specific coupon) could be dynamically generated and printed along with an addressed mailing envelope, customer service letter, and any additional documentation — all batched and ready to mail at the relevant fulfillment center. From just a single button inside Salesforce, thanks to Mambo Merge.
Mambo Merge was also able to expand this functionality, which is now offered to all of its customers, Github repositories were created and additional documentation was uploaded to the site sharing the growth and improvements created by this experience.
If you have ideas for additional functionality you’d like to see roll out in the future, or want some help configuring and customizing your Salesforce org to make your users’ happier and more effective, drop us a line! We’re here to help.
Until next time. We’ll see you in the cloud.
