2016 Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards Gold Winner – Diligent Corporation
Company: Diligent Corporation, Sydney, Australia
Category: Award for Innovation in Customer Service Management, Planning & Practice > Computer Industries
Entry Title: Diligent's continued commitment to innovation to deliver customer success
In 2014, Diligent received over 62,000 incoming support calls from clients in 45 countries. 99% were immediately picked up by a support staff member, and fewer than three out of every 1,000 calls required a call back, which was received in less than seven minutes.
So what happens in 2015 when your user count sky-rockets above 110,000 and business grows to clients in more than 60 countries, including 15 in the Asia Pacific region? What happens when incoming support calls jump more than 20%, to 74,000 because of this exceptional growth?
Answer: You improve on near perfection.
In 2015, 99.39% of those 74,000 calls were immediately picked up by a support staff member, and fewer than 90 required a call back, which was received in less than five minutes. To achieve such outstanding results, Diligent has thrown out the playbook on how to run a customer support desk. For a technology company, our innovation is to remove the barriers between our clients and someone who can help; 24/7/365. That means we insist that every call is still picked up by an expert Diligent Customer Support person with no queuing, directory tree or voicemail. It also means we want our clients to be able to reach us, no matter where they are. Diligent Support is available 24/7 from every country in the Asia Pacific region and Diligent provides local or Toll-Free support in 8 countries in Asia Pacific directly.
The Diligent solution is used by over 110,000 directors, executives and administrators worldwide to simplify how board materials are produced, communicated and viewed. That means its users are some of the most successful, influential – and demanding – people on the planet. Continually improving on near perfection is critical to Diligent’s ongoing growth and a huge driver of its 99% annual client retention rate.
Whether you’re the CEO of an international conglomerate, or a director of a local charity, the need to access critical documents doesn't stop just because it’s not “local business hours.” Diligent prides itself on always being accessible to its clients and uses a “follow the sun” model, through in-house Customer Support representatives in Asia Pacific, Europe and North America to provide unlimited, 24/7/365 support to all our users. Additionally, as Diligent’s reach expands globally, so does the need to provide native language support for its users. In 2015, language support increased to nine languages including simplified Chinese.
Diligent’s Customer Success team also provides one-on-one training for every user, via in-person meetings, phone tutorials and even weekend house calls. Of the company’s 724 new clients in 2015, 92% completed the Implementation Survey. The feedback exemplifies how phenomenal Diligent’s service is, with 99% rating Diligent at least 4 out of 5.
For Diligent’s users, every minute spent trying to resolve an issue is precious time spent away from board meeting preparation. Problems need to be resolved promptly and thoroughly, and the user should never need to call again to address the same issue. Not only does Diligent resolve support calls in an average of 6.5 minutes, but less than 1% require escalation to another staff member. Diligent’s highly experienced Customer Support team members receive 80 hours of training on the Diligent Boards product and have an average of at least three years’ experience supporting Diligent clients.
This deep knowledge of the product means both a speedy yet thorough fix for every user, and a unique ability to pro-actively identify and resolve other issues a user may face. To really go above and beyond, the team also made more than 14,000 proactive calls to clients who were experiencing trouble with the product. This commitment to the highest quality, innovative customer service ensures that Diligent is able to raise the bar for service excellence year after year.
Supporting Materials:
http://diligent.com/press-releases/diligent-wins-a-tabby-award-for-diligent-boards/