Aardvark

enterprises
Memo October 3, 2012 Gina Varcone, Vice President for Professional Services Kristal Pfeiffer, Senior Technical Writing Manager Marcy Brooks, Assistant Technical Writing Manager Subject: Recommendation Report for Customer Software Solutions Purpose Attached is the proposal report, Customer Software Issues Aardvark: Finding Solutions. The purpose of this proposal is to request authorization to revise the company website and develop a new training program. Executive Summary Presently, there is a high rate of customer software issues that are not easily resolved. This results in unsatisfied customers and unhappy employees, negative word-of mouth advertising that decreases sales, wasted money due to high-volume help desk calls, ineffective tools, and longer employee hours. Higher overhead costs mean: less profit for shareholders, limited or no management bonuses, longer employee hours and lower quality-of life. On September 10, 2012, Gina Varcone, Vice President for Professional Services at Aardvark, requested that the Technical Writing Department conduct a study about customer software issues and possible solutions. In our research, we concluded the following problems: Customers do not have a clear understanding of the software. 62.5% of customer software issues are not resolved. 42.1% of the resolved issues are not in a timely manner. Customers do not feel we provide adequate software training or support. The Aardvark website does not provide user-friendly navigation. Date: To: From:

We researched successful, online-based software providers and established the following criteria: Customer support information must be easily accessible with immediate response with an immediate response. Customer support must provide personal interaction that solves issues quickly and prompts immediate feedback. Well-educated staff equipped with product knowledge in order to demonstrate the software to new customers and solve support problems efficiently. Satisfy customers to provide positive feedback and increase online presence.

Aardvark enterprises
Customer Software Issues Aardvark: Finding Solutions
Prepared for: Gina Varcone, Vice President of Professional Services Aardvark Enterprises Prepared by: Kristal Pfeiffer, Senior Technical Writing Manager Marcy Brooks, Assistant Technical Writing Manager Aardvark Enterprises

October 5, 2012

Methods and Results We considered staff recommendations, surveyed customers, and analyzed top-rated company feedback to identify customer preferences and needs for customer support satisfaction. We collected the data, categorized the criteria, and charted the results:

Categorized Criteria Calculated by Research Results for Providing Customer Software Support
16% 4% 45% Accessible Support Customer Service 35% Staff Product Knowledge Company Professionalism

The chart illustrates the following: 45% of the research reported that Accessible Support is the most important factor for proving customer software support satisfaction. 35% of the research reported that Customer Service is the most important factor for providing customer software support satisfaction. 16% of the research reported that Staff Product Knowledge is the most important factor for providing customer software solutions. 4% of the research reported that Company Image and Presence is the most important factor for providing customer

Once we identified basic criteria categories, we conducted additional research to compose the criteria breakdown for each category and identify possible solutions. Our research included detailed customer surveys pertaining to the general criteria and preferred methods for solutions, anonymous staff questionnaires, company reports documenting customer software issues, recorded help- desk phone conversations, and analysis of successful online companies. We then tallied the results for solutions to consider based on our research, staff suggestions, and customer preferences.

Reccommended Solutions for Customer Software Solutions

100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Upgraded Website Training Program Tweets Blog Facebook

We then combined or results for specific criteria and recommended solutions to create a decision-making matrix. This method identifies solutions that meet the most criteria for necessary and desired customer software solutions.
Decision Matrix for Customer Service Solutions
Custo mer So ftware Suppo rt Criteria Breakdo wn
Cat. Weight (1-100%)

Recommended Solutions for Customer Software Support

Upgraded W ebsite T raining Program T weets Blog Fac ebook

Rating (1-5)

Score

Rating (1-5)

Score

Rating (1-5)

Score

Rating (1-5)

Score

Rating (1-5)

Score

Customer Support Accessibility Easy-to-find Contact Information Support Available Immediately Support Available 24 Hours a Day User-Friendly Support System Customer Service Satisfaction Personal Interaction Prompts Immediate Feedback Problem Resolution Staff Education New Staff Training Program Technology and Communication Classes Prompts Immediate Feedback Company Image/ Presence Company Reputation and Image Customer Feedback Credibility Community Contribution

45% 10 15 10 10 30% 10 10 10 15% 8 5 7 15% 3 8 2 2

5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 3

50 75 50 50 50 50 50 40 25 35 15 40 10 6
99.30%

5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 3 3 3 2

50

75 50 50 50 50 50 40 25 35 9 24 6 4
92.20%

5 5 5 5 4 5 4 2 5 5 4 4 2 2

50 75 50 50 40 50 40 16 25 35 12 32 4 4
87.90%

3 1 5 2 2 0 0 0 5 5 4 4 3 5

30 15 50 20 20 0 0 0 25 35 12 32 6 10
46.40%

1 1 1 3 2 1 1 1 4 4 2 5 4 5

10 15 10 30 40 0 0 8 20 28 6 40 8 10
41.00%

Pe rc e nta g e o f Crite ria Me t b y R e c o mme nd e d So lutio n

Each category of Customer Software Support Breakdown is assigned with a category weight percentage (out of 100%) to represent their level of importance based on our research. For example, feedback reports that Customer Support Accessibility is ranked most important by 45% of the research, while Customer Service Satisfaction is listed as most important by 30% of the results. These categories are then broken down by specific criteria to add up to their category weight. The specific criteria weight reflects the importance of the specific criteria for each category. For example, 10% report that Easy-to-find Contact Information is most important when it comes to Customer Service Accessibility, while 15% indicate that Support Available Immediately is most important. The ratings for criterion are based on a 1 to 5 scale, 1 as least important and 5 as the most important. To calculate the score, multiply the weight times the rating. Easy-to-find Contact Information, for instance, has a weight of 10% that is multiplied by its rating of 5 to equal 50%. Matrix conclusions indicate the following: An upgraded website scores 99.3% of the criteria rated by importance, the new staff training program scores 92.2% of criteria importance, Twitter scores a 87.9% of criteria importance, Blog scores 46.4% of importance, and Facebook scores a 41% of criteria importance. Proposed Program Based on the results, we recommend the following tasks: 1. Upgrade the company website with obvious support contact information. On our current website, only several officer names are listed as contacts, with no specifics support directions. Although telephone help support is the preferred method, links would be added to the webpage to provide a professional image and presence, customer support accessibility, user-friendly navigation, community interaction, and marketing. 2. Develop a new training program for company staff. Employees will attend periodic Technical and Professional Communication classes to keep them updated on technology and to resolve customer issues effectively. Program Budget Cost Employee Labor Software Education Total Hours 300 Rate Loaded Rate$100 $1500 $20,000 Total $30,000 $1500 $20,000 $55,000

Experience Kristal Pfeiffer, Senior Technical Writing Manager, East Carolina University, Masters in Technical and Professional Communication Marcy Brooks, Assistant Technical Writing Manager, Memphis University, Bachelor of Science in Communications.

References

Consumer Based Reports, Accessed October 2, 2012. <Http Consumer reports> Happy Customers, Accessed September 20, 2012, <Http. Ghels.com> Top-rated Companies, Accessed October 1, 2012. <Httpratings.com.>