Culture changes that unlocked a drastic NPS point boost for BT

Shanna Pedersen, Head of Customer Experience, Corporate at BT provides an inside look at the road the telecoms provider took to sculpt and implement their bespoke customer-led culture.

At BT, delivering a differentiated customer experience is our key strategic focus. However, how does a business ensure that it creates the right customer-centric culture, one where the strategic focus can inform decision-making at every level of the organization and truly bring it to life?

Customer centric

In BT’s corporate division, we look after businesses ranging from 100 to 4,000 employees and have been fanatical about our focus on the customer. Consistent messaging from the top-down and investment in customer
experience resource has ignited a market-leading cultural transformation, leading to an NPS improvement of 24 points over the last 12 months. We have transformed the way we do business, achieved predominantly by creating a culture, which celebrates brilliant customer experience.
However, how did we do this?

Firstly, we recognized our frontline sales teams needed ‘skin in the game’ and included CX in their pay plan. We recruited, trained and coached the best sales talent, ensuring that our teams knew that we recognized sales as
a true profession. This led to a 92% increase in customers scoring ‘high satisfaction’ with our account managers and a 37% increase in customers reporting that BT adds value to their business.

We built a volunteer program called ‘Tiger Teams’ where our people are able to take part in projects focused on improving things for our customers. In return, they receive exposure to senior leadership and great networking
opportunities. In fact, 35% of our people have put up their hand to be part of this flagship program and have 5% higher engagement scores.

We’ve also focused our key programs, our so-called ‘Big Bets’, around our customers, supporting them through their order journey, removing complexity and improving communication. This has led to a 53% overall
increase in customers who were delighted with their order delivery. This also meant that our people were part of and could see the very real improvements delivered, leading to a 4% overall improvement in engagement scores.

We pulled this all together using the very best systems and processes. Working with Accenture, we identified best-inmarket approaches, invested in the Medallia platform and integrated with our CRM platform, Salesforce. This delivered accountability, transparency and standardization across all stakeholders involved in delivering to our customers, ensuring everyone was aligned and understood the part they had to play.

We now have a culture where ‘closing the loop’ is just as important as ‘closing a sale’, with a recognition that they are inextricably linked.