ORION Marketing Group, Inc.

Must See the Official Trailer for Diabetesville, USA Long Version (8:48)

2011-06-30T22:22:00.000-07:00

See Trailer

10.1.10 A New Standard in Disease Management

2010-07-19T15:03:00.000-07:00

Click Here for Video (YouTube)

On 10.1.2010, the launch of the VirtualHealthCheck.com and MyVirtualHealthCheck.com chronic disease management platforms will set a new standard in "between visit care." The strength of the VirtualHealthCheck.com system is our comprehensive approach designed to lower medical costs among chronic disease patients. the platform accomplishes this goal by creating an environment that finally makes true integrated care possible.

Twitter Quietly Rolling out Business Center

2010-05-11T07:54:00.000-07:00

The "Twitter Business Center" has been quietly rolled out to a handful of accounts with a planned expansion to more and more business accounts. Screen shots obtained by Mashable show Twitter will allow businesses the following features:

1. Customized content on business profile page.

2. "Verified Account" badge added to profiles for enhanced credibility.

3. "Extra preferences to help you better reach your customers."

4. Add Contributors so multiple people can Tweet on the business account.

The most significant feature in this new service offering is the "Verified Account" badge allowing businesses to enhance their authenticity and get past much of the social media noise. Using the "Preferences" section allows you to quickly verify your account with Twitter proclaiming "Verified Account. Success! A verified account badge appears on your profile."

By giving businesses the ability to respond to direct messages from any of their followers obviously improves the Twitter customer service channel. This improved responsiveness will bring more businesses closer to opening up Twitter as an effective customer service and support channel. No longer will businesses have to follow their customers to respond back to them.

Whether or not Twitter can successfully monetize the business vertical remains to be seen. While all of these features are surely worth paying for, business will only really pay if Twitter can help turn "followers" into customers.

Check out our new blog dedicated to chronic disease patient care

2010-03-09T07:46:00.000-08:00

It is critical that we face rising healthcare costs with an understanding of what truly accounts for most of our nation's healthcare spending, chronic disease care. This blog from VirtualHealthCheck.com is focused on reducing healthcare costs while improving chronic patient care.

'What part of "Give us our damn data" Do You Not Understand?'

2010-01-14T11:47:00.000-08:00

'What part of "Give us our damn data" Do You Not Understand?’ is the title of a revealing blog post from the co-chairman of the Society for Participatory Medicine where he outlines key hurdles facing patients looking to take control over their medical records. Chief among the problems is the reluctance of hospitals and doctors to give up medical records in a timely manner. Unfortunately, this paternal outlook only serves to isolated the best advocate and quality control agent, the patient themselves.

Follow-up on CNN Here

Marketing After the Lost Decade

2010-01-03T19:53:00.001-08:00

As we enter 2010 one can only speculate over what marketing avenues will provide real value and improve ROI. By looking back over the last decade, however, it is clear that marketing as usual will not get the job done. The previous decade can largely be defined as lost. From the evaporation of household wealth, lost or downsized jobs and the failure of policy makers to meaningfully address issues that really matter to Americans, we are as a whole worse off than 10 years ago. Furthermore, the baby boomers are aging and living with fewer resources available than what they had anticipated. Against a back drop of exploding debts (personal and national), increase commodity prices and diminished earnings capacity, Americans are no likely to respond to traditional marketing efforts.
The marketing landscape changes often and with little notice. Whether change takes the form of new modes of communication or the government outlawing and entire form of marketing (telemarketing), the shifts that face marketers are often seismic.

Marketing after the lost decade is going to require many companies to act against their initial instincts and engage customers in an honest discussion over what really matters and a concise story that explains the real benefits of their product and/or service. Marketers also need to understand that consumers while losing many things have gained incredible power as they harness the power of social media and the Internet. Unlike the previous decade, customers will increasingly talk back and this can impact a company’s message in a serious way. United Airlines probably never imagined that by breaking a customer’s guitar they would end up as a YouTube hit with a creative negative message being seen by millions. So the question remains, how do you market to customers after the lost decade? They answer lies in honesty, integrity and vigilance.

The Google Profile Function: A Threat To Traditional Consumer Data Models

2009-12-01T13:11:00.000-08:00

With little fanfare, the company that pledged to “Do No Evil,” has launched what could possibly be the largest and most successful consumer data mining project ever. Google, the organizers of the entire world’s information, is quietly building its profile feature allowing you to add to the narrative of the online you.

If every person who has ever “Googled” themselves were to sign-up, Google Profile would be the largest consumer database on earth. The main page for Google Profile sign-up asks the user “What do people see when they find you online?” and then inspires them to “control how you appear in Google by creating a personal profile...” This simple marketing message is brilliant. The mere thought of controlling some part of the online you is enough to create a massive consumer database. This Google consumer database will be far superior given the source of the data itself will assure accuracy and relevancy. Google as the source has the potential to dramatically alter the consumer information landscape by evolving into an organic database. Beyond relevancy, Google’s data seems to go much deeper in understanding consumers and provides many more answers for the questions most marketers are asking.

The traditional model of consumer data starts with generally a few sources of raw data that result from your credit score, the phone bill, financial services, your mail box and other assorted consumer events. A few major aggregators of this data dominate direct marketing, research/analytics and risk management engagements and make lots of money doing it. For Google, redefining the consumer data landscape is too big of an opportunity to ignore. For those few companies who dominate the consumer data market place the prospect of Google generated consumer data that offers a better alternative for direct marketing and consumer analytics enterprises should be a terrifying proposition.

Are Your Ready for the New Multi--Channel World?

2009-11-16T09:12:00.000-08:00

The recent explosion of communications technologies have unwittingly conditioned consumers to become increasingly less comfortable with reaching or being reached via a single contact channel. The significant evolution in how we communicate is requiring companies to re assess their customer interaction strategies and adopt a multi-channel approach allowing customer a true “channel of choice.” Unfortunately, very few companies have made the investments necessary to redefine their customer relationship management (CRM) systems. Instead, they continue to silo their operations into neat channels designed to serve a customer that has been literally forced to use the phone.

The problem with the current CRM status quo is that consumers are not forced into a single communications channel for any other part of their lives. Instead, the new consumer uses an array of technologies to meet their needs. From text messaging to tweets, the new consumer is living in a multi-channel world and is becoming increasing frustrated with companies only offering the single channel past. A recent study by The Nielson Company demonstrated the speed at which alternate communications are growing. According to Nielson, people are spending three times the amount of time (17%) on social media sites just since last year.

While this growth obviously requires that advertisers sit up and take notice, it should also serve as a clear warning to those tasked with servicing these customers. The fact is the current one channel models are not sufficient in meeting customers’ expectations. If the future consumer is using Facebook , Skype and E-mail to interact with friends and family, they are going to expect the same channels to exist when calling about their credit card balance or high speed internet connection. By failing to offer these choices, companies are risking alienating and therefore losing the opportunity to sell the customer on new services or products. Simply put, a customer who prefers e-mail is less likely to respond in a positive manner to any up selling that occurs after they have been forced to sit in your call queue. By meeting their demands from the start, the multi-channel agent will have a much greater opportunity to sell and convert the customer.

To meet the demands of the new consumer, it is critical that the new contact center strategy be based on the simply idea that the consumer should be able to reach you via the channel that is most convenient and comfortable. A fully integrated approach would provide company CRM agents the ability to leverage multiple integrated channels such as live web chat, text messaging, e-mail, inbound phone, outbound phone and social media. The transition for the traditional contact center model to the new world of the multi-channel agent will require corporation to redefine the role and skill set of the contact center agent. Gone will be the days of the tightly scripted environment where the agent makes few decisions, replaced with a multi-channel specialist with power to engage a customer using an array of communication methods.

Building the infrastructure required and investing in the new multi-channel agent will separate the leading marketers from those living in the past. Unfortunately, for those companies nostalgic for a simpler time of clear contact silos, the consumer is impatient and the opportunity to reach them is closing fast.

The Path To Reduce US Patients Admissions by 5.5 Million

2009-11-02T08:23:00.000-08:00

In July of 2003 the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) implemented a home Telehealth program, Care Coordination/Home Telehealth (CCHT) with the goal of providing in-home care for veterans with chronic conditions. Since the inception of CCHT, over 43,000 patients have been enrolled in the program. Though the use of messaging/monitoring devices, video and videophones, CCHT was able to reduce hospital admission by 19.74% while reducing bed days of care by 25.31%.

The results of the VHA’s CCHT program is impressive not only in its proven reduction of in hospital care but also in its ability to reach traditional underserved veterans demographic such as those who live in rural areas. The size of this program also provides a great insight into the power of using enhanced communication technologies (TelWebMed) to improve care and reduce cost within the general healthcare population. CCHT also proved that TelWebMed processes are effective at monitoring and treating chronic conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, heart failure, obstructive pulmonary disease, posttraumatic stress disorder and depression.

The VHA success in executing the VHA Care Coordination plan provides a model that can be applied to all hospitals. In 2007, there were about 37 million admissions in all US Registered Hospitals , If hospitals could reduce their admission by even 15% hospitals could lower overall hospital admissions by 5.5 million patients. Costs savings would even be greater with a more technological advanced approach that leverages a multi-channel approach using the phone, text messaging, web video, Internet, live chat and e-mail.

To Read the Fulle CCHT Report From The VHA Click Here
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1 Registered hospitals are hospitals that meet the American Hospital Association’s (AHA) for registration as a hospital facility.

The Power of Sales: Notes from the SATAI Conference, San Antonio, Texas

2009-10-28T10:27:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending the STARs 2009 Technology Innovation Conference sponsored by SATAI, where venture capital and entrepreneurs come together for a mutual exchange of ideas with the goal enterprise formation. Simply put, how to build companies that will endure and create jobs in South Texas. While the conference was interesting on many levels, it became increasingly clear that the skill that matters most of all is the power to sell.

Jake Wengroff, Global Director of Corporate Communications for Frost & Sullivan provided a valuable break-out session on “Twitter or Not – The Business Case for Social Media,” where he challenged companies to task their sales force to become a social media force by embracing these technologies instead trying to control them. Instead of containing the message, Wengroff offered sage advice to companies imploring them to keep their message genuine, organic and authentic. This seismic shift in corporate communications requires honesty and a long-term view, but as Wengroff explained also has the potential or significant long-term pay-off. Wengroff provided a clear vision of the power of social media to enhance the brand, expand the network and improve customer insights and relations. Most importantly, however, “Twitter or Not” provided entrepreneurs a look into the power of social media to help drive sales.

The power of sales was also clearly seen at the end of the day during the elevator pitch contest. While many of the contestants had interesting business ideas that solved for real-world problems, it was the salesman of the bunch that took home the prize. His demeanor was cool and confident as he worked the room for a mere 90 seconds. Compare the winner’s pitch to the scientist who probably had the best technology at the event and we had the classic case of style over substance.

While sales was not the focus of the event, it became increasing clear through out the event that it is critical skill of any entrepreneur looking to compete in and increasingly competitive business environment.

Michael Seringer
VP Operations

More Information About the SATAI Conference click here

More Information on SATAI click here

Learn How to Close the Feedback Loop Within the Pharmaceutical Sales Process.

2009-10-06T14:59:00.000-07:00

Best-in-class Pharmaceutical sales efforts prevent opportunities from slipping through the cracks inherent in field sales organizations. Unfortunately, most pharmaceutical organizations lack the infrastructure necessary to track, share and build on all customer-facing interactions. ORION’s years of experience on providing quality interactions for Fortune 500 sales organizations has built the foundation for the PharmaSalesBuilder’s, SaaS(software as a service), application.

PharmaSalesBuilder.com brings the largely divergent parts of the pharmaceutical sales organization together using a series of portals and sales force automation platforms that ensure better communication, provides accountability and maximizes sales efficiencies. From the first customer interaction, to the point of sale, PharmaSalesBuilder focuses on bringing together multiple channels allowing field sales real-time prospect information, sales call/outcome tracking, complete management visibility and management controls within a secure and intuitive interface. Now the call center, field sales and management are all working within a context of shared information where interactions can be built upon instead of getting lost in complex organizational structures.

- Integrate multiple channels within one sales platform

- Management dashboard provides real-time insight into the sales complex

- Improved prospect interactions and customer service

- Ensure communication and successful prospect follow-up

- Secure user authentication, https: encryption and redundancy

- Based on CCHIT Certification guidelines

- Cost-effective SaaS Model

- Complete Support and Training

- Provide prospects Channel of Choice

- Bring the Call Center, Sales Force and Management together

- Improve sales conversion

Come See Us at PharmaForce 2009

2009-09-28T08:57:00.000-07:00

Understand why physicians will see sales representatives from companies that sponsor disease management programs.

Developing a value added program is the key to physician access.

Learn why physicians believe that disease management is the future of their practice.

Learn how to change the sales model to a physician appointment model.

Learn why Pharma has an important role to play in reducing healthcare costs.

PharmaForce 2009

Strategic B2B Data Mining…The Key To Real Prospect Building

2009-09-15T08:30:00.000-07:00

As business-to-business engagements become increasing specialized, it is obvious that the traditional sources of data are insufficient in developing successful targeted marketing campaigns. After years of experiencing the many problems associated with business marketing lists at the front lines of the prospect interaction, ORION Marketing Group, Inc. has developed, “Prospector,” lead origination system that applies a new way to originate accurate and relevant business prospect data.

The traditional method relies almost exclusively on large repositories of often inaccurate and irrelevant business executive data. This faulty data while technically correct and accurate is simply not useful in most marketing campaigns. A large network appliance client experienced this problem first hand while trying to engage corporate networking buyers. The list, while economical on the front-end, was inefficient in generating new business. Many of the prospects had no influence in corporate networking purchases. Extensive analysis of the traditional list demonstrated that a large amount of data was represented incorrectly. The hundreds of insurance agents representing the same companies demonstrated that the data lacked any real relevance to the client’s campaign and was full of filler data.

The ORION Marketing Group, Inc. “Prospector” database is unique in the industry as the data does not originate from Dunn & Bradstreet but instead from a custom search methodology that incorporates social media, extensive analyst research, outbound phone calls, industry trade publications, event rosters and many other resources. Furthermore, instead of simple database queries on millions of records, ORION builds lists that are specific to your marketing campaigns. The result of this innovative process may yield less data on the front-end, but assures data relevancy. Relevant data improves the results that really matter as the message becomes highly targeted. This focus on quality prospect data, sourced in a timely manner, assures that marketing dollars are no longer wasted. Furthermore, unlike the traditional data and list market, the data is not leased, but rather becomes part of your companies customer prospecting database that grows and continues to yield results overtime.

Industry Focus Areas:
Financial
Healthcare
Telecommunications
Internet
Software
Retail
Non-profit
Cable/Sat TV
Technology
Energy/Utilities
Advertising/Marketing
Business Services
Manufacturing
Insurance
Government (State, Local, Federal)
Transportation
Publishing
Entertainment
Hotel Lodging
Education
Legal

Join The Revolution? Social Media Revolution Fact or Fiction

2009-08-25T13:00:00.000-07:00

This well executed research presentation unleashes a litany of facts demonstrating the incredible speed in which social media has gained users. The video opens with the questions: "Is social media a fad?" or "the biggest shift since the industrial revolution?" Whether or not the presentation answers this question is largely dependent upon how you interpret the many "facts" that were presented. The good news is the folks at Socialnomics have posted all sources on their blog.

Fixing the Mortgage Mess

2009-08-17T12:41:00.001-07:00

Only 9%, of the potential 2.7 million homeowners who are 2 months past due on their mortgage, are enrolled in a loan modification program. Of the 235,000 enrolled homeowners, 55% re-default within six months! While this problem continues to drag on the national economy the opportunity to assess and solve for the mortgage crisis hinges on a customer facing strategy focusing on each homeowner’s personal economy. The fact that most mortgage servicers are failing to provide the resources necessary to engage in a customer facing strategy has only made a bad problem worse.

At the foundation of the crisis is the complete lack of customer facing strategies designed to enter a meaningful dialogue with each troubled borrower. Given mortgage servicers are loath to enter a conversation with the customer about real solvency for their personal mortgage crisis, very few people are getting the help they need to stay in their homes. The leading mortgage servicers are doing the country a disservice while taking taxpayer money by failing to address the real issues: extending mortgage terms, consolidating debt and lowering principal balances. At the very least, mortgage servicers should engage the borrower in a personal financial conversation designed to improver their ability to make payments, on time and over time. Unfortunately, most lenders are waiting until accounts are well past due to engage the borrower, many of whom are too far behind to make the necessary changes required to improver their personal economy.

Servicers are currently not willing to engage in serious loan modifications partly because the incentive structure set by the government ($1,000 per modification) does not make sense given the servicers largely bloated cost structure. Furthermore, contracts between the servicers and the owners of the debt do not provide any carrots to improve the overall health of the loan portfolio. In fact, many contracts penalize servicers if the terms of the loans are modified in any meaningful way. This failure by the large services has also been compounded by the tight access to credit preventing debt consolidation plans that would reduce monthly debt payments. In the past, a borrower paying a high rate on interest on personal loans and credit cards could often reduce their debt to income ratio by getting a less punitive rate somewhere else. Today, there is simply no somewhere else.

The vacuum created during the credit crisis has made a significant population of borrowers subject to deceptive marketing practices by companies promising to lower debt and keep people in their homes. This has spawned many discussions in Washington on creating even more regulatory scrutiny and hurdles. For example, The FTC has announced public forums on proposed amendments to the Telemarketing Sales Rule that would specifically address “debt relief.” These rules have been proposed to “seek to combat deceptive and abusive telemarketing of debt relief services that purportedly can reduce consumer credit card debt and other unsecured debt.” Unfortunately, whatever machinations come out of the FTC generally will carry unattended consequences that may prevent ethical firms from reaching out to troubled homeowners. Policies designed to protect the many may further compound the problem from limiting access.

Evaluating The Experience By NEXIDIA

2009-08-17T06:52:00.000-07:00

From Call Center Times: “The Evolution of FCR – Evaluating the Experience, Not Just the Call”- NEXIDIA - While most contact centers rely on quality monitoring and data from telephony and CRM systems to measure first call resolution, these approaches usually don’t explain WHY customers call back. However, your customers DO. In this webcast you will learn how you can use advanced speech analytics tools to gain rapid insight into WHY customers call back for targeted improvement. You’ll discover new and innovative ways of thinking about FCR. For More Information

Market Research Within Limited Budget

2009-08-14T14:43:00.001-07:00

With market research budgets experiencing cuts across business verticals it is important to focus on efforts that will yield results at a low cost. The following article by Bonnie W. Eisenfeld in "Quirk's" is a good primer to so effective approaches. Article Found Here

Improve The ROI on Physician Marketing

2009-08-13T14:22:00.000-07:00

Times such as these require the sales force to reach more physicians with fewer personnel, PharmaSalesBuilder creates a new sales model that:

· Increases Reach
· Enriches the Physician Detail
· Increases Sales Productivity and Job Satisfaction
· Enhances the Relationship with the Physician
· Provides Disease Management Capabilities for the Physician

PharmaSalesBuilder delivers all these benefits while reducing SG&A expense.

This new physician sales solution combines an interactive Internet presence with a physician support center to provide physicians with a convenient effective way to acquire product information and communicate with the company. Because it is an interactive solution, physicians get what they want when they want it. It changes the outdated physician sales model to an appointment model where the support center generates physician appointments based on physician needs. Successful physician marketing in the future will be centered on developing patient outcomes, increasing compliance and building patient loyalty programs. PharmaSalesBuilder is the cornerstone for this new approach.

PharmaSalesBuilder improves the sales representative’s job quality by allowing sales representatives to spend more time managing their sales territory and less time sitting in waiting rooms. It significantly enriches the quality of the sales detail because the sales rep comes to the office with an appointment.

This interactive sales model has been proven in other industries. Advances in the Internet and high-speed physician Web access makes it the perfect time to pursue this activity. In 5 years all successful pharmaceutical companies will utilize this technology.

Author: Joe Seringer, President ORION Marketing Group, Inc. (210) 694-4114 or see PharmaSalesBuilder.com

Beyond Customer Service…Using Chat To Drive Sales In the Financial Industry

2009-07-24T08:53:00.000-07:00

Online chat has been proven an effective customer service channel. Now the challenge presented to companies employing a real-time, chat technology is how to leverage chat into an effective sale vehicle that adds to the bottom line. To meet this goal, companies must first recognize that the online chat offers a unique opportunity to meet customer needs and create loyalty while compelling the sale. ORION Marketing Group, Inc. as developed a best-in-class approach that has had proven success with one of the largest banks in the United States. By employing this process, ORION has effectively increased online application volume while providing invaluable visibility into the customer relationship.

Before the deployment of the online chat, many online applications were dropped mid-process with many a click never being converted at all. While the web site offered a rich amount of relevant information, nothing compelled the customer to complete an application. Furthermore, many of the applications which customers started ended only in incomplete applications confined to an expanding database of lost opportunity.

Defining A Sale In A Customer Service Environment

What started as an idea to provide customers with general support for application problems began and continues to this day to evolve into a highly targeted sales channel. From the start, Orion’s existing sales culture provided the project with a clear direction and the tools to get the job done.

After project launch, however, it became readily evident that the definition of what constituted an online chat sale would be increasingly difficult to define. Complicating this matter was that fact that the chat platform was unable to accurately report sales. While the chat platform provided a high level of visibility into the customer service experience, very little sales feedback could be accurately obtained.

ORION met this challenge by combing software development with a comprehensive quality control process. The quality control guidelines were developed to only factor in “compelled” sales. Each sale transcript was reviewed against these guidelines to assure the accuracy of the conversion rate and fairness of the agent compensation plan.

Sales Focused Chat Strategies

Orion Marketing Group, Inc. successfully developed best-in-class chat strategies that resulted in higher sales volume by effectively leveraging our 10 years of experience in the outbound sales market. ORION built on this foundation by surveying companies employing chat technology both inside and outside the financial industry. This strategy created a shorter learning curve and redefined many of the preconceived notions of what previously constituted a good chat.

By adapting a standard customer interaction model, ORION’s successful chat sales strategy started by having agents clearly identify the customer personality that was being displayed. Unlike a traditional sales channel where the customer is solely focused on your business, the chat channel is inherently more competitive. Often times, customers would be chatting with an ORION agent while researching our client’s competitors. Obviously, chat becomes a natural outlet for the “Commander In Chief” personalities. Given this reality ORION had to provide value quickly. The innovative Customer Assistance Tool software developed by ORION allowed chat agents to provide complete loan information. Furthermore, the tool allowed for payment, term and other information that only enhanced agent credibility though out the chat. This credibility remains a key ingredient to any successful sales strategy. With the customer assistance tool, agents rate quotes transformed vague chats into targeted and information rich responses that allowed our agents to regain control and compel the sale. The result of this sales process is a 15% conversion rate. It is important to note that this conversion number only includes customers who completed the application during the specific chat session. The overall conversion rate over a 7-day period was an astonishing 50%. In other words, the 50% conversion includes customers who had initiated a chat and then applied during the 7-day period. This is in recognition that many of the buying decisions that were compelled by chat are made after the chat occurs.

By creating a valuable experience for the customer, ORION chat agents built strong relationships with customers. This created a positive environment where the customer became increasingly accepting of a prompted phone call where the chat agent could continue the sales process. Conversion rates of customers who were converted to a phone call are consistently at or above 75%. Clearly, the strategy of leveraging an effective chat to a personal phone call is a proven sales winner. Furthermore, the successful integration of the outbound phone call into the chat environment allowed for customer call backs. Customer’s who required more time to make the buying decision could be set-up in the chat call back system and a time and number that was most convenient to the customer. The successful implementation of the chat call back system assured that every sales opportunity was met. The conversion rate of chat call backs remains high and provides the customer with a responsive and quality experience.

The greatest sale hurdle facing online chat is the deeply rooted customer service mindset that fails to compel the sale. After an extensive survey of the chat industry across many industries it became increasingly evident that sale opportunities were missed because agents simple refused to ask for the sale.

Setting Individual and Team Goals

With the chat sales strategy in place, ORION began to develop training modules and agent level reporting to assure that agents were always informed of their performance ranking. The reporting provided agents with a clear understanding of their chat conversion, phone acceptance rate and phone conversion among many other statistics. These statistics were generated using ORION customer system tool and were validated by 100% sale transcript quality reviews. To support the individual and team goals the compensation plan was closely linked to performance. The clear goals setting created a significant 20% sales lift as the overall sales conversion grew.

Goal setting has also been linked to the ORION continued learning program designed to meet the needs of the specialized chat environment. Exercises that improve multi-tasking skills have been combined with information that assures complete product knowledge. Every week, the ORION chat team meets as a group and reviews chat best practices while exploring new sales strategies. ORION recognizes that training is often times at the individual level and management is committed to providing each agent the tools and information they need to succeed.

Overview
ORION’s successful implementation of our client’s online chat channel as resulted in significant gains in the overall application and funding rate. Our commitment to make the most out of every customer contact assures the bank that nothing is slipping through the net. With online chat directly contributing thousands of applications each month, it has been cited as a key factor to meeting the client’s volume goals. Chat has accomplished that while maintaining a very high customer satisfaction rating. Furthermore, online chat unlike other customer relationship channels, has created a valuable, front-line visibility into the customer sales experience. This direct from the customer feedback has provided insights that have been effectively leveraged to improve other lines of business. Most importantly, however, ORION helped transform a customer service expense line item into a profitable sales channel.

Rackspace Delivers Best-in-Class B2B Live Chat Implementation Within Innovative Client Team Structure

2009-07-22T08:39:00.000-07:00

When your company’s mantra is “fanatical support” you have a lot to live up to. Rackspace Hosting succeeds in meeting this ideal by providing one of the best B2B live chat implementations regardless of vertical. Unlike most chat implementations, it is clear that Rackspace understands that chat is a sales channel and treats it as such.

The first indication that Rackspace has it right occurs soon after you hit the http://www.rackspace.com/ site. Where must companies simply include a “click to chat” link, Rackspace quickly initiates a proactive chat with the customer. Instead of a proactive pop-up that offers the chat experience, Rackspace offers a proactive agent chat immediately to the prospect. Within 5 seconds a new visitor is welcomed with an inviting message that focuses the prospect on a distinct product offering. The speed and aggressive nature of the proactive invite stands in stark contrast to many large chat implementations reviewed for this study.

The majority of chat implementations studied limited the use of proactive invites. Instead, traditional B2B chat efforts choose an approach that focuses on key elements of site visitor behavior. Specifically, most chat strategies require a prospect to spend several minutes in a static state before a proactive invite is launched. Most also require certain pre-determined triggers to be hit such as errors within online applications or point of sale transactions.

A close examination of Rackspace’s chat strategy compared to other B2B chat implementations demonstrates that it has a clear lead in developing this channel. Rackspace has developed a reputation of pushing the envelope when it comes to testing aggressive chat strategies. Currently, Rackspace is using LivePerson’s “Timpani” application, which provides significant flexibility in designing a proactive chat invite. According to Liverperson, “Rackspace is really pushing the bounds of what we thought what would be acceptable to site visitors.” Liveperson is not recommending such an aggressive chat strategy to clients but is watching the LivePerson implementation closely.

After careful analysis, it is clear the B2B context allows and demands a more aggressive chat strategy. It is based on the recognition that what really matters is sorting out the real decision makers from all the other site visitors. Rackspace has demonstrated that a prospect researching managed hosting solutions is looking at multiple vendors and is interested in getting information quickly. By proactively welcoming the prospect to the web site, Rackspace has the opportunity to take a prospect needs assessment and market to them accordingly. High value prospects are quickly brought into a multi-channel sales environment, as a follow-up conversation is scheduled with a Rackspace sales representative. In fact, most Rackspace sales representatives pre-empt the scheduled call with an introductory call where the prospect is asked if there are any specific issues where more detailed information is required before the scheduled call.

Rackspace lives and breathes the following customer service ethic: Responsiveness, Ownership, Resourcefulness, Expertise, and Transparency. The immediacy of the chat experience combined with the ease with which Rackspace shares prospect information among the project teams creates a potent sales force that has resulted in higher website sales conversion. Rackspace recognizes that potential customers are assessing each interaction with Rackspace to determine their potential as an effective partner. From the point of first customer contact Rackspace has clearly developed a best-in-class sales and support CRM effort.

Rackspace Best-In-Class Highlights:
- Project team model achieves the goals outlined in the Rackspace “fanatical” support ethic. The team model also allows Rackspace to price their product at a premium vs. other hosting solutions. Many customers interviewed expressed the benefit of having a team backing them up. A feature they were willing to pay a premium to receive. "With serious implementations you are not going to get yourself fired by using Rackspace," Rackspace client.
- Muli-channel marketing effort focused on generating leads through web advertising and Google Adwords. Search engine marketing efforts promote live chat.
Rackspace has proven live web chat improves web site sales conversion rates. The sales pipeline saw a dramatic increase in lead volume after live chat was launched. Live web chat has become a proven B2B sales channel at Rackspace.
- “Fanatical” Support has created a marketing buzz and a loyal customer base.
- Rackspace is investing in programs that will help facilitate a community of “fanatical rackers.” Hosting educational events at San Antonio headquarters allows customers to become further vested in Rackspace. Rackspace is exploring ways to extend the “fanatical” team model via virtual office. Connecting project team members with enhanced VOIP and web-based sales force automation applications. Further building customer loyalty while maintaining pricing premium.