Customer Experience Manual1st draft

“caring for those who take care of us”

2016

COPYRIGHT ALL RIGHTS RESERVED VICTOR SERNA

Index

Section I Intro

Section II Your knowledge about doctors

Section III Doctor Sally

Section IV The medical industry

Section V Doctor Sally becoming a doctor

Section VI A day in the life of Doctor Sally

Section VII Doctor Sally’s student loans

Section VIII Doctor Sally’s loan life cycle

Section IX Doctor Sally as a GSL client

Section X Our Principles

Section XI Onboarding

Section XII Thank you-communication

Section XIII Follow up call and email for questions or concerns

Section XIV Scheduled touch points

Section XV Unscheduled touch points

Section XV I FAQ’s

Section XVII Not able to provide an answer at this time

Section XVIII 24 hour or less rule

Section XIX Accounts at Risk and call escalation

Section XX Account closing

Section XXI Metrics

Conclusion

Section I

Introduction

For GSL our most valuable currency is “Trust”, particu-larly in an environment where we might not ever see our clients face to face. In order to gain their trust we have to be a consultant to them, as they are to their pa-tients. In order to earn their business, we must go above and beyond in service and customer care. And in order to keep them we must go much further than great service, we must delight each and every person that is a potential client.

Our job as the Customer Experience experts is to enable everyone in our corporation to treat every person from lead inception through the entire client life cycle with a delightful experience.

A great place to start is by understanding critical as-pects about graduate students and practicing doctors. In this manual, we will cover di�erent issues a�ecting the lives of medical students, residents embodied in one particular doctor. We will learn how Doctor Sally’s sce-narios walk us through the Customer Experience pro-cesses and guiding principles of every possible interac-tion with us.

Customer experience takes place with any and every interaction we have with a potential client, from the CEO to the customer experi-ence team. Customer experience for an ecommerce business is em-bodied in every way we interact with the client, via social media, chat, over the phone, in person and on our site.

Section II

Your knowledge about doctors

In the section below write down any fact or piece of knowledge that you know about medical stu-dents or doctors. You may know someone in your family or friends or think of your doctor’s o�ce visits. What have you seen at their o�ces, photo-graphs of their family, a framed degree, etc. Take a few moments to deeply re�ect about their life.

Let’s review your answers and compare those to our persona in the next section.

box 1.1

Section III

Creating a buyer persona:

Doctor Sally

What is a buyer persona?Persona:“a person's perceived or evident personality, as that of a well-known o�cial, actor, or celebrity; personal image; public role. “ From dictionary.com

Through the careful examination of aggregate data and experience we are creating a buyer persona. In other words, we have created the persona of Doctor Sally be-cause she exempli�es our typical customer. She has all or most of the characteristics of our customer.

Study the diagram below and compare it to the re�ec-tion you did in box 1.1 in your previous exercise.

10% lowest 40th %’tile

middle class

a�uent

29 years old

semi luxury vehicle

$ 40,000

$ 140,000

Doctor Sally

no kids yet

�rst home

in the horizon

Doctor Sally has spent 19 years in school

5 in residence

Section IV

The Medical Industry

Now that we have a clearer picture of our persona, let us understand the medical industry. In your own words in the space provided below take a few minutes to write down some notes of what you know about the medical industry. Again, draw from your personal experience. What do you see or hear out there in the news or from articles about the medical industry?

box 1.2

According to Forbes in America’s New Healthcare Economy “the US healthcare industry is strong and growing” at $2.9 Trillion.We all have heard about Obama’s American Care Act (ACA) where 10 million uninsured people in the US were able to sign up for insurance through the open market place. This enormous overhaul of the insurance industry forced changes in the medical practice, whereas before practices focused on volume, now it has shifted to outcomes. In other words, high quality care is now the evaluating norm.

Section IV

The Medical Industry

Having such an overhaul in the insurance system caused many employers to contemplate their current insurance providers. While State sponsored programs allowed 10 million people to get insured, employer pro-vided insurance is still the backbone of healthcare.

The background on the insurance industry is important to know because it dictates how a doctor gets paid.

Section V

Becoming a Doctor

Now that we have formed a deeper idea of the medical �eld, we can start to better identify with Doctor Sally. However our objective is not to just identify with her, our objective is to create a memorable experience every time she thinks of or deals with GSL. In order to do that, we have delve deeper into her daily life. Before we go into a typical work day for Doctor Sally let us explore how she got to become a doctor and what it took her to do that.In the space below write down your take on how long it takes a person like Sally to become a doctor.

box 1.3

Section V

Becoming a Doctor

Every time we think of the e�ort that it takes to become a doctor our admiration only grows for the medical pro-fession. To make it even more palpable, let us explore the di�erent types of doctors that take care of us.Here are two small infographics that depict how long it takes for each profession, what grad school may cost and what their income post graduation/certi�cation may look like.

www.bestmedicaldegrees.com

www.fool.com

Section VI

A day in the life of Doctor Sally

What does her day look like and what types of things go through her mind during any given day.

In the space below write down your notions of what goes on with Doctor Sally during the day.

box 1.4

Doctor Sally typically has a very busy work day, some-times her days could be longer de-pending on their chosen specialty.

8:00

night issues

new patients

board round with night doctor

arrive

ward round

9:30 - 1:00

meet with family members and patients

prescriptions and discharges2:00

3:30

9:00

5:30head home

Section VI

A day in the life of Doctor Sally

Seeing patients, monitoring them, diagnosing and pre-scribing is only part of Doctor Sally’s day, let us think about the following issues that every doctor has to think about. Some of these areas may be for employed doctors and some for independent practice doctors. Nonetheless it gives us a better idea of how to approach and tailor our conversations with them and always be mindful of their time.Here are a few of the most present challenges doctors face on a consistent basis.

HIPPA

MU-2

ICD-10

audits

certi�cationsadmin burdens

collections

rising costs

patients

IT & software

Section VII

Doctor Sally’s student loans

Now that we have a small window into the life of Doctor Sally, let us understand the role we play in her life. The �rst question we must ask is how present are her stu-dent loans in her life?If you answered they are very present you are correct! In the next few sections we want to get a feel for what implications graduate student loans have in Doctor Sally’s �nancial life.

In the box below write down what you know about stu-dent loans or if you have done some research write down what you know about graduate and or medical student loans.

box 1.5

Section VII

Doctor Sally’s student loans

While becoming a doctor has a profound investment much deeper than simply student loans, mostly due to the cost of opportunity given up during med school, we are going to focus speci�cally on Doctor Sally’s student loans. Just keep in mind that the cost of opportunity equates to the years that Doctor Sally invested in her education. Sometimes giving up as much as 12 years of potential income could amount to hundreds of thou-sands of dollars.

Cornell Chronicle CU

Section VIII

1

1

Doctor Sally’s student loans

life cycle

At this stage we can �nally say we have gained aware-ness of our buyer persona; in other words we are better equipped to begin a full understanding of Doctor Sally’s life. In the next few sections we are going to cover Doctor Sally’s graduate student loan lifecycle with GSL. Once Doctor Sally has decided we are the best option for her graduate student loans to be housed here or re�nanced with us, we will look at di�erent scenarios of the di�erent touchpoints that we expect to have with her. We will walk her through any of inbound channels like onboarding, social media, chat, online forms and/or phone conversations.

In the following window write down your interpretation of Doctor Sally’s loan lifecycle. On the bar write down the possible touch points during that lifecycle.

box 1.6

Section VIII

Doctor Sally’s student loans

life cycle

Here are the scheduled touch points for most of our clients. Keep in mind that some may di�er depending on every particular situation. This is simply a guideline for Doctor Sally.

How does this guideline compare to yours in the pre-vious page?

onboarding

welcome email

2 weeks

6 weeks

6 months

12 months

scheduled touch pointsyear 1

Section IX

Doctor Sally as a GSL client

From the previous section we gather that a loan with us may last many years. Our goal is for that loan to stay with GSL for its entire life. We are all aware that there are many companies out there vying to re�nance Doctor Sally’s student loans.

In the window below write down why you think Doctor Sally decided to keep her student loans with us.

box 1.7

Now let us think of your own shopping experiences. Think of your best shopping experience and one of your worst shopping experiences. Typically, people think of more negative experiences than positive experiences. Creating a remarkable experience is not easy, creating a memorable experience is di�cult and creating a posi-tive personalized delightful experience is exclusive to a handful of companies worldwide. GSL is one of those

Section IX

Doctor Sally as a GSL client

select few and you have been handpicked to deliver this world class service in every interaction we hold with our clients. From a smile over the phone to well written email messages, our brand is behind the scenes and at your service so that our clients feel welcome, pampered and happy.

Have you ever thought how our country ranks in the world in customer experience care?

www.totalcustomer.orgUSA rank is 15

Section IX

Doctor Sally as a GSL client

Now that we have a rough idea of how we rank as a nation let dig a little deeper to see what are the out-comes of better customer experience care.

www.totalcustomer.org

Section XBefore we dive into Doctor Sally’s loan with GSL we will cover one of the most important sections of this manual; our driving principles. These principles are the foundation of why Doctors like Doctor Sally decide to re�nance their loans with us and keep those loans with us for the life of the loans.

Our Principles

Listen 80 speak 20

Be simple & succinct

Provide world class award winning service every time, internally and externally

Educate as if you are a consultant

If you do not know the answer say it but �nd it out. Most importantly get back to client promptly.

Never stop learning

Display and practice empathy to others

Communicate clearly

Our driving principles

Section X

Once Doctor Sally has agreed to re�nance her loans with us and all her questions regarding account open-ing have been positively resolved by our sales team, we will onboard Doctor Sally.While it is imperative to be thorough, it is also impor-tant to know that Doctor Sally has already employed quite a bit of time in her decision to move her loans with GSL.Ideally we would receive a warm hand out but in some cases we will have to contact the client back. The second most ideal situation would be to have the sales agent schedule a time that is convenient for Doctor Sally and the Customer Experience team. The third most ideal situation is to call Doctor Sally during the hours that the sales agent noted are the most conve-nient for Doctor Sally and begin the process of on-boarding.

Onboarding is the automated process that gathers Doctor Sally’s personal information as well as her loan portal once funding has taken place.

Hubspot video on account set up, onboarding a client.

Onboarding

Section XDuring your conversation with Doctor Sally you will have some speci�c information to input and other infor-mation to con�rm. Doctor Sally already has entered some information but it is always recommended to go over it once again during the onboarding process.

Always keep your conversation light, professional and whenever appropriate, smile. Remember to thank Doctor Sally often for the information she is providing you and whenever appropriate paraphrase her requests. Typically you will paraphrase after each section of the onboarding process.

For example: Thank you for that information Doctor. Let me make sure I have taken proper notes. It looks like you have selected auto debit from your bank every 3rd of the month. Is that correct? Wait for her answer and move on to the next section.

The onboarding process has four sections: • Personal information • Loan information • Contract • Agreements • Bank debit account set up

At the end of the last section make sure to walk Doctor Sally through her online portal. She may log on via our website or app. She may also call our 800 number if she has questions or whenever she needs live help. We will always get back to her in a very timely manner.Once she logs into her account there are a number of resources that she may reference at her discretion.

Onboarding

Section XClosing your conversation.At the closing of your conversation make sure you com-municate to Doctor Sally that you will follow up in a couple weeks to make sure everything is work out smoothly with her account.Your closing may sound something like this: “Doctor Sally, thank you so much for investing so much time with me today setting up your account. (allow her time to reply)____ .

I want to make sure that everything is going to work out well for you and your account, so I want to see if it would be ok with you for me to schedule a very brief follow up call in about two weeks. I will send you a quick invite in two days. All you have to do is accept it or change the date and time. The call should only last about 5 minutes.”

Onboarding

Section XII

Section XIII

Shortly after onboarding, Doctor Sally will receive an email extending our gratitude for her time during this process. She will also receive a unique code that will allow her to claim a $200.00 cash bonus each time she refers a friend to us.

With our sincere gratitute!

Hubspot is designed to simplify your life as a Customer Experience expert. The system is programmed to schedule a follow up call for you exactly two weeks after onboarding. There are a number of key elements that you will have to take down from your follow up with Doctor Sally.

Thank you email

Follow up call for Q’s and concerns

Section XIVDepending on the type of loan and di�erent metrics Hubspot has scheduled di�erent touch points for each client. Doctor Sally’s will be 2 weeks, 6 weeks, 6 months and 12 months. Every time she refers another fellow to us and we close on their loan, she will receive emails more frequently.In the window below write down some instances when you think GSL should schedule a touch point with Doctor Sally.

box 1.8

So far we have covered the initial and 2 week touch point. Our next touch point will be an email. It is sched-uled to be delivered on week 6. Let us explore what the email will cover:Your �rst payment was a success!Account featuresNew o�ersReferralsPull statements in pdf and other documents

Scheduled touch points

Section XVIn every business there will be clients that need to get in touch with us. What a great opportunity to talk to our very busy clients!Some unscheduled touch points may be that Doctor Sally will switch some of her personal information. Per-haps she is moving and her debit bank information may also needs to be updated.In the window below write down some instances that may prompt Doctor Sally to get in contact with us at an unscheduled time.

box 1.9

Unscheduled touch points

Section XVIThe Frequently Asked Questions is a living document that is helpful both to Doctor Sally and to us as an orga-nization. Becoming an expert in answering the most frequently asked questions makes you a valuable asset to our clients. Make sure you visit this document often as we integrate some additions or remove others as we evolve.In the window below write a couple questions that you think would be on this list.

box 1.10

FAQ’s

Section XVIIStaying true to the nature of our principles it is impera-tive to act with integrity and respect to our clients. When you are asked a question for something that you do not have a clear answer for make sure that you com-municate just that to Doctor Sally. If it a question that you cannot readily �nd an answer to, make sure to take a note on it, then bring it to your supervisor so that you can get an appropriate answer for Doctor Sally. Don’t feel embarrassed or forced to give an answer. There are regulations that we have to abide by and possible pen-alties that might be imposed on GSL and representa-tives. If you are uncomfortable in any given situation that has the potential to fall into a grey area get your manager involved.Doctor Sally will understand your honesty and will wait for the appropriate answer when you have formulated it, found it or gotten it from your supervisor.

In the window below write down an instance where you or someone you know stumbled to give you a straight answer.

box 1.11

Not able to pro-vide an answer

at this time

Section XVIIIIt is mind boggling the speed at which business moves in today’s world. It was only in 2007 that the �rst iphone was released, and it is hard to remember what it looked like.With the ubiquity of internet in our daily lives, whether is in our computer or mobile device, we can �nd out an answer to almost any question instantly. Doctor Sally is also used to getting things done quickly. We are too! Going along with our principles we must get back to Doctor Sally promptly. This means within 24 hours. Whether she called and left you a message, sent you an email or tapped our shoulder in any of our social media venues, we must get back to her fast. For our bene�t most of our touchpoints are automated and scheduled. However you must be observant in case something slips through. The responsibility of a delightful experi-ence lies on our shoulders.

In the window below list a couple instances where the 24 hour rule would not apply

box 1.12

24 hr rule

Section XIX

Every business has something that is called fallout; in other words there are accounts that will close. Hopefully the bulk of the accounts that we close are those that have reached maturity. For every other account that is at risk of closing, we have to make every e�ort to �nd out the “root cause”, document it, report it, and most of all make every possible attempt to settle the client and have them reconsider.Make sure that you are looking at the notes history and any red �ag that another agent may have written on her history.In some cases, for the accounts that you may not be able to save even after your best attempt, it is better to pass them to your supervisor or the account preservation team (attrition prevention team). They have better train-ing in preventing account closings and the tools neces-sary to prevent accounts from walking.On a side note, our systems are programmed to detect some red �ags, and because we are very proactive in monitoring these reports, someone is probably already working on preventing these accounts from closing.

In the window on the left below write down some instances where you might get a customer that calls to close their account. On the window to the right write down what your answer would be.

box 1.13

Accounts at risk and escalation

Section XX

Unfortunately there will be some accounts that will close regardless of our e�orts to save it. We have ensured with processes like this one to have the great majority close naturally until they mature.However, realistically, there are accounts that will close previous to maturity. There are some forces that are beyond our control, like a doctor wanting to pay o� her loan because she won the lottery.In the window below list a few scenarios where a cus-tomer calls in to close her account.

box 1.14

It is important to note that sometimes the customer may display some unpleasant behavior. Always remain calm and objective and assure the client that you will �nd an acceptable answer to her concern.

Account closing

Section XXIIn another individualized training, and depending on your job assignment, we will cover individual metrics. For the purpose of this manual we want to introduce you to metrics as a tool that will help you in your journey in the Customer Experience role.As you might have found out by now, we like and enjoy measuring everything. It may seem to some like micro managing, but is quite the opposite. We use metrics for several reasons, but the two most important ones are that metrics tell us a lot about the customer, and in turn we �nd solutions to better serve people like Doctor Sally.Conversely, your interactions with clients like Doctor Sally are logged and carefully analyzed.In the box below write down �ve reasons that we analyze customer interactions.

box 1.15

Metrics

Conclusion

In this booklet, there is very valuable information that every agent in Customer Experience must be familiar with before having contact with Doctor Sally.It provides us with a general background of the industry and outside forces that surround the medical practice. It also sheds some light into the daily lives of medical doc-tors and the role that their student loans play in their �nances. And �nally, it tells us how Doctor Sally becomes our client and the tools that allow us to carefully and ten-derly walk her through so that we assist her in achieving her goals of student loan repayment. In that process, we will help her save money and provide the world class Customer Experience to which she is entitled.

Thank you!