Engaged employees lead to happy customers shows a new report from Orange Silicon Valley

SAN FRANCISCO, March 5, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- A new report from Orange Silicon Valley entitled "Who Cares? Transforming the Connection with Customers" shows that companies need to change the way they view customer and employee engagement, retention, and promotion. The report explores the changing digital landscape and how companies can foster valuable relationships with their customers, by providing employees with the tools and resources necessary to generate more positive experiences.

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• A generation of Digital Natives find rewarding experiences from on-demand, real-time, consumerized IT companies like Airbnb and Uber. Empowered users' expectations are now set by social media platforms, pushing expected response time to minutes and hours. Digital Transformation and HR teams across the country are recalibrating to meet this shift in employee engagement.
• The number one frustration from customers is having to move between channels. A Forrester study shows 89 percent of customers identify that repeating their information is problematic. Online self-service is making room for Live Chat, which is fast-becoming the preferred tool for replacing voice calls.
• Improving customer experience is at an all-time high in terms of prioritization. An Opus Research survey shows 45 percent of executives expect budgets to increase by more than 10 percent in 2015. The same survey shows almost 60 percent of organizations implementing customer experience initiatives on a cross-departmental basis. Everybody cares.
• Customers and agents need to adapt to the behaviors of Millennials. The digital expertise of a new generation to handle routine issues means that when the phone rings, it's usually a complex problem. Hiring for this environment is a strategic priority – 60 percent of call center operators are expanding their operations this year.

"The idea behind the Who Cares? report is show that employee engagement directly relates to the care and service customers receive, which in turn, relates to a company's bottom line," says Bruno Mettling, Deputy CEO in charge of Human Resources at Orange. "Increased executive attention has led to a wave of customer service initiatives, put in place by companies, like Orange, to meet the digital demands of a new generation of consumers and the employees who care for them."

Organizations are responding to changing service trends by leveraging new technologies such as the use of Big Data and multi-channel touchpoints like artificial intelligence and natural language processing, to best address the needs of their customers.

"The challenge many call center managers face is how to save the customers' time, after years of trying to save the agents' time," notes Mark Plakias, Orange Silicon Valley's lead researcher for the report. "Data scientists, talent managers, and contact center executives are now collaborating on how to deliver the best experiences through new technology -- and they need employees with new skillsets to make it happen."

The release of this report takes place as Orange Silicon Valley hosts an evening event around this very topic, with speakers from Lyft, Intel, Genesys, Everwise, and the Great Place to Work Institute, as well as a talk by Bruno Mettling. To register, please visit http://bit.ly/whocaresevent.

A copy of "Who Cares? Transforming the Connection with Customers" can be downloaded at WhoCaresReport.com.

about OrangeOrange is one of the world's leading telecommunications operators with sales of 39 billion euros in 2014 and 156,000 employees worldwide at 31 December 2014, including 99 400 employees in France. Present in 29 countries, the Group has a total customer base of 244 million customers worldwide at 31 December 2014, including 185 million mobile customers and 16 million fixed broadband customers. Orange is also a leading provider of global IT and telecommunication services to multinational companies, under the brand Orange Business Services.

Orange is listed on the NYSE Euronext Paris (symbol ORA) and on the New York Stock Exchange (symbol ORAN).For more information on the internet and on your mobile: www.orange.com, www.orange-business.com, livetv.orange.com or to follow us on Twitter: @orange, @orangegrouppr, @orangebusiness.

Orange and any other Orange product or service names included in this material are trade marks of Orange Brand Services Limited.

Press contacts: Ken Yeung: [email protected] / +1 4152431564 Michael Celiceo: [email protected] / +1 4153706943

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SOURCE Orange Silicon Valley