in this issue

SSPA Programs & Events

Call for Speakers: Application Deadline
Jan 12 | 2007 SSPA Best Practices Conference: Optimizing Support to Deliver Exceptional Customer Value, May 6 – 8 in San Diego.

Service Research & Innovation (SRI) Initiative | IBM Research and Oracle have joined forces with the SSPA and TPSA to increase the amount of focused research and development for technology service innovation.

Wharton Program
Feb. 19 – 23 | Register Today: Technology Support Services Management Program.

Enable Your Partners | Learn More About SSPA’s New Program Focused on Service Delivery Partner Performance and Profitability.

2006 Services Leadership Conference | Conference Round Up: Breakout Session Presentations, STAR Award Winners, More…

Certification | J.D. Power and Associates and the SSPA Announce Two Levels of Certification—Total Support Quality and High Customer Support Satisfaction

On-Demand Webcasts | Beyond Training – Changing Behavior to Achieve Service Excellence; How to Select the Right Knowledge Base; The Support Automation Advantage, More…

SSPA’s Interactive Program Calendar | Custom Views & Subscriptions, Updated Daily...

SSPA Training and Certification | Reduce Call Times, Achieve Higher Resolution Rates, Decrease Call Escalations and More…

Sponsored White Papers | “Creating a Great Customer Self-Service Experience”, More...

SSPA Recognized Innovators:  Fall 2006
A Member Choice Topic
By John Ragsdale, VP of Research, SSPA
Innovation is a boardroom-level topic these days, with companies looking for an advantage that will enable them to leapfrog the competition. The service and support industry has a long history of innovation, quickly leveraging new tools and channels to deliver stellar support by non-traditional means. As 2006 draws to a close, I’d like to bring your attention to some SSPA technology and consulting partners who are delivering innovative solutions.
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Support Evolution: From Distributed to Consolidated to Personalized
By Denise Cox, Vice President, Technical Support, Network Appliance
Not all customers have the same expectations and needs of support. By focusing on the evolution of support at Network Appliance—from Distributed, through Consolidated, to Personalized Support—this SSPA News article will help you begin to identify the types of customers in your install base and plan what type of support is best for each
customer type.
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Creating Superior Customer Service Capabilities to Boost Customer Loyalty and Spur High Performance
By Brett Anderson, Managing Director, Communications & High Tech Industry Service & Support, Accenture
Many companies face increasing pressures across the service management spectrum. In fact, recent Accenture market studies clearly show that service management has a major impact on customers’ decisions to stay with or switch products or services providers. This SSPA News article describes how customer service is critical to developing and maintaining the branded customer experience, which, in turn, is a fundamental contributor to strong customer loyalty and higher lifetime customer value.
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Creating an Honest ROI Analysis
By Francoise Tourniaire, Founder and Principal, FT Works
An ROI analysis is pretty much a requirement for justifying any large purchase, as well as a wonderful discipline to evaluate any important initiative. Unfortunately, a large degree of “creativity” seems to reign in ROI analyses, to the point that many people instinctively distrust ROI numbers. It’s a sad situation, especially since it’s not difficult to create an honest ROI analysis that does not stretch reality and can be used not just as a justification tool, but also to assess the success of the program in the long term. This article
explains how.
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Managing Metrics to Delight Your Customers
By Marlene Bessette, Vice President, Strategy and Customer Loyalty, Xerox Corporation
In this article for the SSPA News, Xerox’s Marlene Bessette explains why managing the right metrics is essential to drive customer loyalty and ensure revenue growth. Which metrics are most closely associated to the customer’s tendency to recommend and repurchase from your company? How do you assemble these metrics into an overall “customer experience dashboard” that’s integrated into your executive management process? This article answers these questions and more.
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