A Sound Investment

TD Waterhouse moves toward more customized customer service SINCE LAUNCHING its Web site in 1997, TD Waterhouse’s online community has grown to the point where the majority of their customers do their business online – be it trading, banking or other such transactions. Yet many customers were still picking up the telephone to get assistance for questions that could just as easily – and more cost-effectively – be answered online.

“We needed a virtual customer service agent,” says Brian Stimpfl, first vice president for the New York-based global online financial services firm.

Last March, the company went live with Ask Jeeves’ question-and-answer technology, analysis and support, which was already being utilized by TD competitors Datek and E*Trade. Like TD Waterhouse’s dashBar, which lets customers create a personalized stock ticker, Ask Jeeves is another way the site’s customer service content is becoming more customized for users.

Previously the site (www.tdwaterhouse.com) offered customers the chance to ask questions via e-mail, and used those answers to help develop frequently asked questions. Now customers can click on customer service on the home page and access Ask TD Waterhouse. They type in questions in simple language and get answers to their questions, as well as to related questions. The question is compared against the site’s knowledge base and indexed Web content to find precise, related matches.

For example, ask how TD Waterhouse can help you evaluate your retirement savings needs and up pop answers to queries like: “Where can I learn about retirement planning?” “Where can I learn basic information about traditional IRAs?” and so on. Click on the Ask button and you’re guided to your answer. Recently, the top three questions asked were: “What does TD charge for stock orders?” “How do I learn about fees and commissions for a TD account?” and “What investment information is offered by TD online?” Customers can ask a broad range of brokerage, mutual fund, banking and consumer financial product questions. And if a question is asked that can’t be culled from Ask TD’s knowledge base (customized with the help of information from previous questions), Ask Jeeves’ popularity technology kicks in, directing the user to the most popular answers determined by previous site visitors.

Getting relevant information is not easy in cyberspace. According to Ask Jeeves, about 70% of Web sites respond to customer questions with the wrong information on the first try, leading to customer dissatisfaction, abandoned transactions, broken relationships and lost revenue. Increasingly, too, consumers will be turning to the Web to answer their questions. Forrester Research projects that in 2002, 87% of consumers will use the Web to answer questions.

With just eight months of production under its belt, it’s a little early yet to tally up quantifiable results for Ask TD. But the potential is tremendous in terms of customer intelligence gathering. “We give TD a monthly report, telling them what kinds of questions were being asked, what was asked more frequently, among other information,” says Jessica Hoffman, director of corporate communications for Ask Jeeves. “It’s a real way to track customers’ preferences and needs.”

Say there were a lot of questions about how to pay bills online – whether it could be done in one transaction or whether TD Waterhouse offered a reminder service to alert customers when to pay certain bills. Those kinds of questions can help steer the company. “We can look at what’s being asked or what’s not covered and then decide whether we need to alter the site’s content to serve customers,” says Stimpfl. “The process helps shape the direction of our content.”

Already, the monthly reports have revealed that TD’s customers are making many inquires about wireless investing. TD, which offers wireless investing, responded by beefing up information on its site regarding the subject. Another business plus: Consumer inquiries can spark ideas for new product or service areas.

Though the goal of the program was not cost-cutting, TD – which has 170 branches in the United States – is grappling with how to measure the savings it might be realizing. “We’re able to cut costs on 800 numbers, reduce the flow of calls to customer service lines, and need fewer bodies answering e-mail from the site,” says Stimpfl.

With 4.4 million customers worldwide, TD may see a hefty return on investment. Forrester reports that it costs a company an average of $33 to answer a call and almost $10 to answer an e-mail.

So what do customers think of Ask TD? While the company hasn’t done any surveys yet, the informal anecdotal skinny from customers and customer service agents has been positive.

Given that TD’s customers are typically self-directed investors looking to manage their own money, self-service likely has much appeal. At least Ask TD is a big leap in the right direction. “Previous to Ask Jeeves, we had no search functionality on our site. You had to hunt and peck,” admits Stimpfl. “Our goal was to create a tiered level of service. Customers would first use Ask TD. If they didn’t feel their question was answered there, they would e-mail us. And the last choice,” he adds, “should be that they pick up the phone.”

Ask TD is just the first step in enhancing the online customer experience. The monthly reports provide a jumping off point for ideas on ways to tinker with the system, and TD is considering implementing other Ask Jeeves programs, offering options such as tailored recommendations and real-time text-based instant messaging between customer service reps and customers.