BackgroundIntegration: Littlewoods had a range of existing systems including a large TeraData system and didn't want to be implementing yet another database application with all the replication and synchronisation issues that involves.
Agility: The old system made it difficult to make changes to applications, requiring a year to change and deploy applications for more significant requirements. With changing market and business conditions, it was critical that the business be able to adapt quickly to meet new challenges.
The solution
After a rigorous selection process, Littlewoods chose Chordiant Software to help it meet its changing business requirements. This relationship began toward the end of 2001 with a technical proof of concept quickly followed by a pilot project rolled out to 32 call centre agents. Littlewoods chose to be one of the early beta-adopters of the then new Chordiant 5 system based on Chordiant's new JX architecture. The Chordiant JX architecture is a highly-scaleable and high-performance J2EE and XML based architecture and was one of the first solutions in the industry to be built entirely from the ground up on completely open standards. The flexibility and integration capabilities of this new software matched Littlewoods' requirements for integrating and developing existing business processes and IT infrastructure, thereby reducing any negative impact on the IT organisation. The pilot project provided Littlewoods' call centre agents with a 'real-time' customer profile based on that customer's interaction with the company across all channels, making it possible to react to customers uniquely and informatively. The system was also able to support the agents in promoting sales by integrating the order-taking system into the marketing function. The pilot project lasted for nine months, including all the analysis, development and integration work and the results were compared to existing contact centre metrics at the conclusion of the project. The results of the pilot were as follows:
After a rigorous selection process, Littlewoods chose Chordiant Software to help it meet its changing business requirements. This relationship began toward the end of 2001 with a technical proof of concept quickly followed by a pilot project rolled out to 32 call centre agents. Littlewoods chose to be one of the early beta-adopters of the then new Chordiant 5 system based on Chordiant's new JX architecture. The Chordiant JX architecture is a highly-scaleable and high-performance J2EE and XML based architecture and was one of the first solutions in the industry to be built entirely from the ground up on completely open standards. The flexibility and integration capabilities of this new software matched Littlewoods' requirements for integrating and developing existing business processes and IT infrastructure, thereby reducing any negative impact on the IT organisation. The pilot project provided Littlewoods' call centre agents with a 'real-time' customer profile based on that customer's interaction with the company across all channels, making it possible to react to customers uniquely and informatively. The system was also able to support the agents in promoting sales by integrating the order-taking system into the marketing function. The pilot project lasted for nine months, including all the analysis, development and integration work and the results were compared to existing contact centre metrics at the conclusion of the project. The results of the pilot were as follows:
- Sales grew at a rate of three to five per cent each week against a backdrop of market decline and as a result Littlewoods gained in marketshare.Customer satisfaction improved significantly.The time for competence of contact centre agents was reduced from fourteen days to two days based on the systems capabilities to guide agents through the necessary sales process. As a result Littlewoods were able to transform agents from order-takers to sales promoters without significant retraining or re-staffing costs.Agent churn was reduced to less than twelve per cent against an industry standard of 30-40% as a result of the system being easier to use and control. Overall the pilot was seen as a considerable success and the next step is to roll out the project to a total of 310 users by October 2003 in time for the Christmas peak season, and 2,500 users during 2004. The pilot has also highlighted the need to develop certain other areas of the contact centre process such as the relevance of the sales promotion to match the customer's current order rather than simply driving current promotions. For example, a customer ordering a lawnmower should be offered a string trimmer rather than being told about the latest deals of clothing. The Chordiant system has the capability to intelligently advise on matching sales opportunities in line with current enquiries, which should exactly match this requirement. Following the sales-focused pilot, the next project implementation will focus on returned goods, quickly followed by a project focusing on service-related matters, as Littlewoods continues to adapt to meet changing market forces. Summary
The issues facing Littlewoods were driven by a combination of market forces and consequent changes in the business. Subsequently they were not looking for an IT solution, but a solution based around business processes, which would not only respond to, but drive new business development. Chordiant 5 pilot project increases sales by 3-5% per week, reduces agent competency cycle from 14 to 2 days and reduces agent churn to 12%. Chordiant provided a solution that leveraged all the benefits of the existing organisation but provided the flexibility and adaptability to meet current and future concerns. The success of the pilot project is reflected in the very real return on investment statistics quoted above, but also on the continuing development of the project and Littlewoods' recent involvement in the beta testing of the new Chordiant 5.5 suite of products to orchestrate business process management. A critical example of where Chordiant is enabling business change in Littlewoods is the fact that each sector will now be measured on improved margins and cash-flow as a result of the ability to drive revenues and reduce costs within the business, simultaneously.
