The Customer
The client is a grocer and wholesaler with around 900 locations across 32 states and over $4 billion in annual sales. They recently implemented ServiceNow's Customer Service Management to support their Retail Partners and customers. The initiative's first phase targeted migrating store locations and associates into the platform to enable faster issue resolution for IT and product support. Before ServiceNow, they used a home-grown solution and several other platforms; the organization's target was to consolidate as many of those as possible to streamline its service landscape.
The Challenge
Before implementation, the client operated on a self-maintained WordPress site with connectors into Power BI to allow their Retail to interact with and view essential data related to their franchises. The site offered links to several other home-grown resources hosted on legacy systems. Account teams that supported these partners needed more interactivity and visibility along with a reduction of manual efforts to manage customer data. The organization did a great job utilizing its infrastructure, its current condition lacked the critical efficiencies needed to enable account representatives to do what they're supposed to – service their accounts.
The Solution
The solution, Customer Service Management, was crafted after understanding the Retailers Partner operations and the hierarchy within its ranks, paired with careful consideration for the roadmap ahead. The Business-to-Business data model was coupled with the Business Locations industry data model to create the cocktail for success. Franchise locations exist as External Business Locations, and the corporate-owned stores are Internal Business Locations. This approach is a catalyst for future expansion of the Customer Service Application and puts vital aspects of the Retail Partners' data back into the hands of the partner.
One such example is a registration process built to allow for partners to self-serve management of their employees, allowing for initial registration, modification, and deactivation of those users as well as their relationship to the partner's organization by allowing them to designate persona from a Clerk to a District Manager or Owner/Operator. The functionality is built to allow for client oversight and requires approvals under certain conditions to protect the partner's data and ensure configurations in other supporting systems are in place. They plan to implement the Business to Business to Consumer (B2B2C) data model, allowing Stores to provide customer service to their direct customers and further integrate their Retail Partner content into a ServiceNow Portal.
Results
The implementation of ServiceNow's Customer Service Management has provided enhanced efficiencies and capabilities. It has empowered account teams with greater interactivity, visibility, and reduced manual efforts in managing customer data. The solution has streamlined service processes, enabling faster issue resolution for IT and product support. The customer plans to further integrate its Retail Partner content into a ServiceNow Portal, extending its capabilities to provide customer service to direct customers through the Business to Business to Consumer (B2B2C) data model.
