KPN is the winner of the recent WUA! orientation research focused on closing mobile phone contracts in the Netherlands (article in Dutch). The difference with Vodafone was 5 points, so many things are going well at Maanplein in The Hague. This interview is a conversation with Peter Sonke, who is responsible for online sales at KPN. About tight flows, feedback from the swimming pool, wanting to be the best, and attracting and engaging digital talent.
Congratulations, Peter Sonke! You are the winner of this research into mobile contracts. How important is it for you to be the best with KPN?
"Of course we want to win this kind of research, and we are happy with our victory. KPN has the ambition to become the best service provider in the Netherlands, and to offer the very best shopping experience. We're not quite there yet, but every day we take a step towards achieving that goal!"
You not only score high on findability, but also on the other topics of the WPS model. Your WPS score (78) is 6 points higher than number 2 Vodafone (72). What's going so well for you?
"To be honest, I don't think our competitors' flows are necessarily worse than ours. I think that besides the big difference in findability, our high brand awareness makes the difference. However, I do think that as a sector we need to change our sites from product-focused to customer-centric." Sonke really wants to add a "Discovery layer" to KPN, just like Vodafone UK, with lots of attractive and moving images. Sonke: "Our industry is very product-driven, while we should be inspiring consumers instead of bothering them with specifications of octacore processors and monitors. The challenge then becomes that the website must remain fast, and be visible within 2-3 seconds, which is quite difficult if you use a lot of video. More experience = more content = longer loading time. That's demonstrably negative for the user experience."
What is the role of customer research and customer focus in your daily work?
"We do a lot of customer research and we measure everything. But I like to distinguish between customer research that we use to incrementally improve flows on kpn.com and research that we use for development. For example, we use eyetracking to test new flows, and for every new environment we test a/b 3-4 variants, that's just standard for us. Additionally, for the incremental part we use for example the Usabilla feedback button.
"For us, NPS remains a very important part of customer feedback. For example, we have noticed that in the last mile of the sales process there is a lot you can do that can have a positive impact on NPS. By adjusting packaging, or by offering Click & Collect for example, which I consider one of the best innovations in terms of customer satisfaction. Because many people want to hold the device they buy, they want to experience it. We have 115 KPN stores where people can leave the store with a working phone, and these stores can also be used for upselling. When a customer enters the store to buy a phone, one of our people can inform them about KPN Complete. Through delivery via TNT or UPS you get a relatively cold experience in comparison."
You're in an extremely competitive market. How do you keep an eye on the competition?
"I'll reveal that we naturally also ask for a review of our competitors' websites when we conduct usability research. We want to be the best service provider in the Netherlands, so that's why we specifically look at other industries and sectors. If you look at apps for example, the banking sector is currently ahead of us. You try to improve by looking at the best elements of certain sectors.
"Every Sunday I spend two hours at the swimming pool with my children, and there I use my smartphone or tablet to look at all the sales flows I can find. Ours, but also those of our competitors. I noticed for example that Vodafone has a new flow for the Galaxy S7, they do something clever with number portability. It's just a small example, but as you can see: I learn a lot from competitors. And yes, on those Sundays my team gets a lot of emails from me, they're not always happy about that."
"We have an internal competition where teams have to go through the sales flows and if they encounter errors, they have to buy coffee for the other teams. And if they find no errors, the other team has to get coffee. I want the flows to be tight!"
What is your biggest digital challenge?
"According to Sonke, the biggest challenge in digital is not technology, agile working, or tooling – it's people. And especially: digital people. "My biggest challenge is recruiting digital talent, retaining them, and engaging them. I already know that I shouldn't offer large amounts of money, but autonomy and responsibility. Digital natives want to decide how they organize their day, but at KPN autonomy also means that 28-year-olds can be responsible for significant revenue streams."
"The role of data and its smart use also compete for a top position on Sonke's list of priorities. But he has something more to say about the role of creativity in relation to data. Sonke: "My most successful personalization campaigns are the result of creativity. Data will naturally be the main thing, but I think creativity and UX are just as important as data. People also want to continue being surprised, challenged, and sometimes overwhelmed. Personalization based on customer data AND a perfect UX tailored to the customer, I believe in that combination. If I had to create a new website now, I wouldn't spend much time equipping a data warehouse, instead I would focus on really good personalization, an extremely good UX, and content that is tailored to customer needs."
How do you view service in relation to sales? Could service ultimately become the new sales in the telecom sector?
"I largely agree with that statement. Very interesting. As mentioned, we focus very much on NPS, and we also bring that idea into retail. Furthermore, it's naturally true that good online service ultimately leads to customer satisfaction, and also to call reduction: that's why you could call good service cost-efficient, in my view. It's also true that acquisition costs in telecom are higher than retention costs, yet another very good reason for excellent customer service. Last point, and in my opinion the most interesting: I notice from the field that selling from a service environment and service idea becomes more normal. We already have relevant offers in the app, and that works incredibly well. It might sound paradoxical, but receiving a sales proposal that you weren't aware was tailored to your situation can very easily be experienced as good service."
