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Improving Customer Experience:An Enterprise-wide approach at the CTA

Ken G KabiraKGKabira@TrueWorksBranding.com

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Value =Experience

Price

Customer Value Equation2

Price will eventually go up Must continuously improve customer experience

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Customer Experience Payoff

+6.7%

-7.7%

14.4 pt.gap

TopQuartile

BottomQuartile

Difference in percentage of customers who are loyal compared with industry averageQuartiles based on customer experience scores compared to average

• Customer experience correlates with loyal behavior:Willingness to buy more Reluctance to switch Likelihood to recommend

• Improving customer experience improves the bottom line At a large hotel chain, the revenue impact of 10 pt improvement was $311 million

Willingness to buy more

+8.2%

-7.6%

15.8 pt.gap

TopQuartile

BottomQuartile

Reluctance to switch

+8.4%

-8.2%

16.6 pt.gap

TopQuartile

BottomQuartile

Likelihood to recommend

Source: Forrester Research, 2009

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• How the brand comes across

Brand Personality

• What customers perceive to be the principles and ideals that guide the thoughts and actions of the brand

Brand Value

• The emotional benefit(s): How brand makes its customers feel

• The principal reason why the brand is chosen or preferred

Brand Reward

EmotionalDimensions

• Proprietary symbols which should not be violated and which should be applied consistently in all settings

Brand Icon

FunctionalDimensions

• Relevant, tangible, and verifiable characteristics associated with the brand --described in ways that the organization can say it is doing a good or a better job of the features

Brand Features

• The functional benefit the organization provides through its Brand Features.

Brand Benefit

Brand Story GuideA tool to define customer experience

MissionThe fundamental reason why the organization exists

Foundation

Dimensionalize both the functional and emotional aspects of customer experience

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Case StudyChicago Transit Authority

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CTA’s language for customer experience

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Customer importance v. satisfaction

Fast and on-time

Easy to use

Convenient location

Safe and clean

Affordable for everyday use

Comfortable ride

Courteous and helpful

•The more important the feature, the less satisfied our customers are

Source: 2006 Customer Experience Survey, 2001 Rider/Non-rider Survey

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New vision

To Become the favorite way for the people of Chicagoland to get around

Attitudinally Loyal“Transit Supporters”

(23.5%)

Behavior Loyal“Transit Hostage”

26.0%

True Loyal“Transit Lover”

22.6%

Competitor Loyal“Transit Averse”

27.9%

Attitude Loyal“Transit Supporter”

23.5%Fr

eque

ncy

of ri

ders

hip

High

Low

Attitude towards transitLikeDislike

By 2014:• 1 out of 4 residents (25%) will be

Transit Lovers• Transit Lovers + Transit Supporters

will exceed 50%• Less than 1 out of 4 residents (25%)

will be Transit Averse

Source: Travel behavior and attitude survey, 2001

Behavior & Attitude Loyalty

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Putting customer experience into tangible action

People

Product

Place

Price

Promotion

• Affordable for everyday use• Efficient cost and resource management• Maximize revenue-generating assets

• Safe and clean• Comfortable ride

• Easy to use• Convenient locations

• Consistent and relevant delivery of CTA’s brand

• Fast and on-time

• Courteous and helpful

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Making It Happen 2009Become the favorite way for the people of Chicagoland to get around

What We Must Do How We Will Measure Customers Say

People:•Courteous and helpful

• Increase front-line customer courtesy• Deepen employee engagement• Define “Right person is in the right job”

• Customer complaints and surveys• Courtesy audit score • Employee commitment Score• % of employees who feel they are in the

right job

“The CTA people are always helpful and they treat me like a person that matters to them.”

Product:•Fast and on-time

• Reduce big gaps and bunching on bus• Upgrade signal system• Reduce slow zones• Improve predictability of rail run times

• % of big gaps and no. of service disruptions per 100,000 customers

• No. of delays caused by signal defect• % of slow zone mileage• Customers per slow zone mile• Run times and wait times

“CTA is always on time. I know I’ll get to my destination as I expect.”

Place:•Safe and clean•Comfortable ride•Easy to use•Convenient location

• Upgrade high ridership rail facilities • Attract more concessions and build out TOD• Reduce deep clean interval• Improve track conditions• Improve customer information feed forward:

digital boards• Improve simplicity of signage• Launch next-generation fare media• Reduce crime on the system• Reduce customer injuries and property damage

• No. of stations rated excellent experience• Concession vacancy rate • Cleanliness scores • Days between deep cleans• TOD metric • Power and Way metric • No. of crimes reported on CTA properties• No. of customer injuries and incidents of 3d

party property damage

“CTA stops are at convenient places. Riding the CTA is always pleasant and hassle free. I know I’ll be safe because I can’t remember the last time it had an incident.”

Price:•Affordable for everyday use•Efficient cost and resource management•Maximize revenue generating assets

• Bus and rail lean operations• Reduce cost of support services • Reduce cost of materials and supplies while

maintaining existing service levels • Increase non-farebox revenue• Increase route revenue productivity • Increase return on funds invested• Change funding formula• Increase state and federal funds

• Cost per average service hour• Revenue per average service hour • Return on assets• Variance budget to actual• Inventory turns• Overhead as % of total cost• Return on financial investments• Total non-farebox revenue• Revenue per rider

“CTA is great for everyday use because it’s something I can afford and it’s good value for the money.”

Promotion:•Consistent and relevant delivery of CTA’s brand

• Expand availability and reliability of Bus Tracker• Improve web-based customer interaction• Deliver CTA information to mobile/cell devices• Improve communication to LEP communities

• Bus Tracker/AVAS Defect• Customer satisfaction with website/Bus

Tracker• No. of web hits• No. of Bus Tracker users

“CTA is always open and honest. They let me know what I need to know when I need to know.”

Mission: We deliver quality, affordable transit services that link people, jobs and communities.

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As a result we want to be able to call ourselves:

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