Lumen & Qualtrics revamp customer experience, boost NPS by 17 pts

Lumen has collaborated with Qualtrics to revamp its customer and employee experience programmes.

Utilising the Qualtrics XM for Customer Experience suite and Qualtrics AI, the new platform offers Lumen real-time insights by aggregating feedback from over two dozen sources, including social media and call centre transcripts.

This innovation aims to provide a more personalised communication experience for customers. For example, call-centre agents can access a Customer Health Score that updates daily, reflecting real-time operational metrics. "Real-time data signals mean that our people can meet the moment and engage customers with empathy," explained Kristina Nissen, Senior Vice President, Strategic Pursuits and Mid-Market at Lumen Technologies. "Our new customer health scores powered by Qualtrics provide our people with a more comprehensive understanding of how to help each customer as an individual and which actions they can take to make the biggest impact on their experience."

The improved system has already had a notable impact on customer satisfaction. Lumen reported a 17-point year-over-year increase in its Net Promoter Score (NPS), demonstrating significant progress in customer loyalty. The real-time insights from Qualtrics allow Lumen to merge experiential data with operational metrics, thus better understanding the types of experiences that most influence customer satisfaction.

Qualtrics' capabilities extend beyond just customer insights. The platform employs advanced AI and natural language processing to dissect unstructured feedback from multiple sources such as online forums, review sites, and social media platforms. "Unstructured data represents close to 90% of the data generated today and Qualtrics AI enables organisations to extract rich information that paints a comprehensive view of customers' experiences and pain points," noted Manisha Powar, Chief Product Officer of Qualtrics XM for Customer Experience. "Armed with this information, organisations can identify and prioritise the improvements that will have the most significant effect on customers' emotions – boosting loyalty and profits."

Lumen also leveraged Qualtrics to establish a strong connection between Employee Experience (EX) and customer outcomes. The company discovered that when its frontline service technicians feel appreciated for their exceptional service, they are nine times more likely to resolve customer issues in a single visit. Acting on this insight, Lumen has increased its internal recognition and promotion of excellent customer service. This has resulted in operational cost savings and enhanced workforce loyalty and engagement.

"You cannot drive exceptional customer experience, without unlocking the employee experience," said Nissen. "For us, focusing on both experiences and empowering our employees is unlocking growth, profitability and increased customer loyalty."

Lumen's partnership with Qualtrics exemplifies how integrating advanced analytics and real-time data can improve not just customer satisfaction but also operational efficiency and employee engagement. With these enhanced capabilities, Lumen is poised to deliver a more tailored and empathetic customer service experience, thus driving continued growth and loyalty.