1 Farewell Contact Centres, Hello Online? Chris Hopson 30 June 2010

2 HMRC Customer base – nearly all individuals / businesses 100m calls a year call centre operation: one of largest in UK 43m unique web visitors during 09/10 87m electronic transactions during 09/10 One of Government leaders in e-channel e.g. Self Assessment online, VAT online, PAYE online From taxes to tax credits and customs duties to NMW enforcement What have we learnt?

3 1. There’s a lot of avoidable phone contact to eliminate Initial desk benchmarking exercise HMRC call classification HMRC examples –Misdirected calls account for up to 10% of calls on some lines –Customer reaction to outputs (letters, forms, returns) –Progress chasing calls accounted for 17% of all calls in 08/09 It works! Early HMRC demand management impact

HMRC call classification 4

5 2. There’s a lot of phone contact that can easily be migrated to customer self serve Basic information seeking contact Simple “rules based” enquiries Simple transactions HMRC examples

6 3. And customer self serve doesn’t have to mean online Telephony self-serve –Basic IVR messages –Transactional IVR –Artificial intelligence HMRC IVR functionality HMRC examples –Tax Credits renewals customer information –Changed benefit payment dates –Tax Credits renewals channel and time shifting 10-15% of all calls now handled by IVR Advantages of phone self serve vs online

7 4. However, looking at contact, start with the customer... Customer segmentation Always needs help (ANH) segment drivers –Literacy; low ability to manage finances; low IT access or skills; elderly; disabilities; time of distress; low English language ability ANH most likely to need human interaction Hypothesis on majority of ANH customers: –Cost to serve increases –Customer transaction cost increases –Error rate increases –Tax yield / entitlement take up impaired Without human interaction

Customer Segmentation Willing and able Needs help around life events Always needs help Rule breakers and potential rule breakers Complex and high net worth customers Criminals 8

and there are some transactions where human interaction in unavoidable... Example transaction types: –Complexity of product/process –“Rules” need flexing to match particular individual circumstance –Judgement needed –Competing claims –Where customer wants double checking reassurance HMRC examples Phone or F2F channel needed

and there are some big barriers to migrating phone contact online In addition to building new online channels and getting take up: Effective signposting Customer behaviour change needed Appetite / acceptability of more radical options to force migration Workforce reshaping consequences......so a quick, complete, rush to self serve and online doesn’t feel like the universal answer at the moment

11 7. Migrating contact online presents many fantastic opportunities... Basic information to web Simple transactions to e-channel Accessing / amending “your” record Progress chasing / tracking HMRC and other Tax Authority examples

but there are some under appreciated issues in addition to digital exclusion Back end system integration cost –Customer volumes, product complexity, age of estate Access to investment funding Short term cost of rise in phone contact levels “Build IT and they will come” doesn’t work –Customer strategy, marketing, mandation, incentivisation etc. Interdependencies Risk of fraud Capability and expertise

13 9. Moving to lower cost, lower functionality online services is the new paradigm High volume, high investment cost, high functionality services Investment funding restrictions Transactions with lower volumes: –Lower investment cost –Lower functionality Build basic capability and allow business to adapt and adopt –E Forms –Rules based technology –Viewer technology HMRC examples

Version 1 | 17/05/2010 | 14 ‘Interactive’ ‘Intelligent’ ‘Dumb’ ‘Wizard’ Current Situation Can check data validity Can calculate fields Can lock ‘not applicable’ fields Reduces errors and omissions Dynamic Presentation Web Style interface Enhanced Usability Based on Paper Version Business and Customer Demand Can be developed in-house Can be made Accessible Can be made Saveable Legible Customer Entry Types of Form Print & Fill Fill & print Fill & submit LH

15 In conclusion Huge scope to reduce volume of adviser handled phone contact: –Cut avoidable contact –Migrate to telephony self serve and online But some customers and some transactions continue to require human interaction And there are some big challenges to migrating contact online and to self serve –Investment, capability, back end system integration Do telephony self serve and low cost, low functionality e products like e-forms / viewers offer a low cost, easy to achieve, route? In transition –Smaller contact centres, but not farewell yet –More online services but not sole delivery channel