Case Study

Pearson sees contact

rate increase 225%
with Textel
Pearson is working tirelessly to stay ahead of the shifts in
education trends. During a multinational survey, Pearson found
more than half of respondents said they needed to further their
education because their job status changed, and they urgently
needed to build digital skills for the new economy.

The problem is, 67% of learners believe that From Voice First Strategy to SMS
educational institutions are less effective The Recruitment Services team was
at using tech than other industries-and committed to digital evolution. Its core
learners want that to change. Jacen Bridges, function is to help interested learners find
Pearson’s Director of Business Technology the right educational institution and connect
Integration, along with his team are laser- them with an enrollment advisor. Jacen’s
focused on helping their business tech stack team was already involved in other major
evolve to stay one step ahead of these tech changes for the department — last
trends by connecting learners with the right December, they implemented Salesforce and
educators as efficiently as possible. NICE inContact to help them better engage

Diagram 1
At a Glance
Pearson’s Former Voice First Process for RFIs

Student requests information from Industry

school site, provides name, email, Education Services
phone #, program of interest.
Location
United States
Employees
CRM creates Contact Center Two more One last After 30 days 22,500 in 70 countries
lead. Passes software calls calls after chance contact is
information to student multiple day 15 call. disqualified. Vision
Contact Center. times for 15 days. Enable a direct relationship with millions
of lifelong learners and to link education
Results to the way people aspire to live and work
“The Voice First Process used multiple call attempts, which potentially left learners feeling every day.
overwhelmed. In addition, the system was inefficient and resulted in successful contacts
around 12% of the time. Finally, the spam registry misidentified our calls. It wasn’t meeting
the needs of our learners.” - Jacen Bridges, Director of Business Technology Integration
*Contact rate: Percent of learners that answer a
call and then connect with an enrollment advisor.
learners. However, they quickly found issues “We decided we weren’t going to just dip “From our research we knew
in how Pearson traditionally contacted our toes in texting, so to speak,” recounts
learners who requested information. Jacen. “Above all, we had to respond to the
that 98% of people will open
way learners wanted to be contacted. So we a text message and 90% of
“There was a mismatch that ran counter to
our priority to help learners. Some of the
dove in with Textel and completely switched people will respond in an hour.”
to the new process.” This meant Pearson
processes and systems we had in place
needed Textel to commit to a lightning speed the learner to the next available advisor, who
were inefficient and could detract learners
implementation window. They had only remains the learner’s contact going forward.
from their educational journey,” said Jacen.
60 days to implement the new SMS-first
With low contact rates, student feedback Pearson’s staff love the new process. “We
workflow so Pearson could roll it out for all
that contacts were too frequent, and a goal even posted video on our corporate site with
the major universities they support across
to create value in every interaction, Jacen’s our advisors saying this is the best thing that
the United States.
team realized they needed to refocus their ever happened to them,” said Jacen. “Our
approach. “It was an intense time,” recalls Mike Mixon, advisors are the best guidance counselors
Co-founder and CMO at Textel. “We scoped around, so they were thrilled to work with so
“We wanted to prove that less is more,”
out the implementation and roadmap within the many qualified and engaged learners. They
Jacen explained. “Our new strategy was to
first 2-3 weeks and deployed it 30 days after.” also loved that the process put the learners
meet learners where they want to be met by
implementing a very minimal but effective “The whole process was incredible,” Jacen front and center. It enabled conversations
program.” said. “But, I was anxious. I remember on the learner’s terms - advisors spoke to
sitting up at night worrying that our results learners when the learners wanted to speak
Jacen determined it was time they with them. Advisors also loved how quickly
wouldn’t live up to our expectations.”
implemented an SMS-first strategy. they could find out if someone wasn’t
Dramatic Results interested in moving forward rather than
Diving in with Textel + NICE inContact
leaving several voicemails.”
Jacen’s team has seen astounding results
To simplify their employees’ workflows,
since going live with Textel. “We reduced our Jacen heard similar praise from learners.
whatever texting solution Pearson
contact attempts by two-thirds,” said Jacen. They wanted to advance their lives through
implemented had to integrate with their
“But our ability to support learners improved education, but the outdated, voice-first
current tech stack. When NICE inContact
as contact rates skyrocketed by over 200%!” way Pearson used to reach out was not
demoed Textel’s texting platform, Jacen
(See diagram 2) connecting with them. Now, students are
liked how it integrated seamlessly within
amazed they can communicate the way
inContact MAX’s chat features. Textel’s To better connect learners to enrollment
they prefer via text. They also like the
ability to enable existing toll-free and local advisors, Textel automated the process of
convenience. For example, Jacen noted
numbers to receive and respond to SMS qualifying learners prior to contact with an
that healthcare students, like nurses in the
or MMS texts was great. Most importantly, enrollment advisor. Students are asked four
nursing program, don’t have time for a call,
to save time for the learner, it could send qualifying questions, and their responses
but they can easily text.
outbound texts and qualify learners before are automatically stored in Salesforce. From
connecting them to an enrollment advisor. there, the system determines when to send
The Road Ahead
Jacen aspires to deliver even more efficiency.
Diagram 2
Recruitment Services advisors are currently
Pearson’s New RFI Process with Textel only managing 1:1 text conversations. Soon
they will pivot to omnichannel sessions
Student requests information from school where they can manage simultaneous text
site, provides name, email, phone #, conversations.
program of interest.
Other departments have taken notice of how
amazingly effective the SMS-first strategy is
and are engaging Jacen’s team to see how
CRM creates lead. Contact Center Asks four qualifying Qualified students they could use Textel more broadly.
Passes information software texts questions via text. pass to enrollment
to Contact Center. within minutes Ex. GPA? advisor. Jacen concluded, “Textel absolutely aligns
of RFI.* with Pearson’s global vision to leverage
technology to reach learners and help them
Follow up schedule advance their lives. It’s helping us evolve
2nd Message 3rd Message Final Message Contact today to meet learners where they are at.”
2 business days 7 business days 14 business days Disqualified

Results

4 Text
attempts
39% Average
Contact
2x Increase from RFI to
Enrollment Process
Students happy
about text
See what Textel’s texting platform
for contact centers can do for you.
Rate** (avg 7 days) option

*If after business hours, text will **Contact rate: Percent of learners that respond to Visit textel.net for more information or
deploy the next day. text and then connect with an enrollment advisor. call/text us at 844-483-9835.

Copyright © 2020 Textel. All rights reserved.

 Case Study

Sono Bello Increases

Show Rates and
$1.5M In Monthly
Revenue with Textel
Patient experience is at the center of the Sono Bello brand.
As an industry leader in cosmetic surgery, with 60+ locations
across the United States, Sono Bello invests considerable
resources into ensuring its prospects and patients receive the
very best care, customer service, and treatment throughout
the patient journey.

A core part of the patient jouney is With limited staff and time slots for patient
appointment scheduling. Prospective consultation, each missed consultation was
patients need to schedule consultations, a lost opportunity to help someone in need
while existing patients need to schedule (or of treatment. “Because our model is based
At a Glance
reschedule) their physician appointments on appointments, it’s critical to be able to
and surgeries. In the past, the Sono Bello get communication back and forth easily,” Industry
team relied on phone calls and emails for says Tim Surowiecki, Chief Marketing Officer Cosmetic surgery specialists
patient appointment reminders, schedule at Sono Bello. “Unfortunately, our patients
Location
confirmations, and to manage any changes weren’t picking up the phone or returning
United States
or cancellations. calls.”
Organization
Lack of privacy and discretion were an 60+ locations across the United States
Constant No-Shows
issue. “Cosmetic surgery is a sensitive
Sono Bello struggled with low open 100+ Contact Center Agents
topic. Customers don’t want to say their
rates, click-throughs, and contact rates. age, weight, and body mass index out loud. 125+ board-certified plast surgeons
No-show rates were unacceptably high. They’re in meetings with coworkers. They’re Challenge
out to lunch with friends. They want a more Addressing low contact rates and slow
“Because our model is based on discrete way to provide this information. agent response
appointments, it’s critical to be Text messages are perfect for that.” Solution
able to get communication back Overburdened agents trying to manage Texting enabled across customer service and
marketing for more flexible patient experience
and forth easily. Unfortunately, appointment requests, updates, reschedules,
and cancellations created a poor patient Results
our patients weren’t picking up experience. Email and phone calls were too - 9% increase in show rate
the phone or returning calls.” slow for the 100+ agent team. - 500 monthly shows
- $1.5M new incremental month
- $250K monthly revenue through text
re-engagement campaigns
The Textel Approach Many Sono Bello patients begin their journey of what it’s going to be like working with
by filling out a web form to get further Sono Bello. When they do have an issue or a
• Business texting enabled across all
information or schedule a consultation. question, our agents can handle it all quickly
Sono Bello locations.
From there, the Sono Bello marketing team and via text, personally, underscoring our
• Ability for customers to ask questions, automatically initiates personalized text- commitment to a really good experience for
reschedule, cancel and follow up via SMS. based drip campaigns that patients can a patient.”
• Text-based marketing campaigns for new respond to via text.
O’Brien echoes this sentiment with a nod
prospects. “It just provides a level of user flexibility we toward the partnership-like relationship
• More efficient, asynchronous experience didn’t have before,” says Tim Surowiecki. “It’s Sono Bello has developed with Textel.
for customer service agents. an overall better user experience and puts
“Delivering this kind of experience isn’t
our patients in a better mood when they
To improve contact rates, Sono Bello enlisted possible unless your vendors and technology
actually show up to the appointment.”
Textel business texting services across its partners act like partners. We always get
entire patient experience. It was a service a response from the Textel team when
More Patients & More Revenue
that patients had been waiting for. “The we bring questions or concerns about the
Since deploying Textel, Sono Bello drastically patient experience to the table. If we’ve
minute we enabled text messages at each
reduced its automated phone calls to needed to dial things back or turn up our
of our locations,” says Eric O’Brien, VP of
prospects and customers. “Folks who go text volume, the flexibility to do so is there.”
Technology at Sono Bello. “We started
through the texting process have a higher
getting inbound texts before even telling
show rate and close rate,” says Surowiecki.
people about this option. As it turns out, our
demographic is texting all the time.”
“Our contact rates have never been higher.” Better Care and
Today, customers receive appointment
Sono Bello launched a same-day, text
confirmation program. “We always had email
More Revenue Streams
confirmations by text, and they can text back
reminders a couple of days out. But we
to confirm, reschedule, or cancel. Alongside

9%
felt like a simple day-of reminder would be
other contact channels, customer service
helpful for patients,” says O’Brien.
agents now text one-to-one with customers.
Everyone in the contact center sees text Show rates increased dramatically 9%,
responses from patients. “Nothing falls leading to 500 more “shows” a month and
through the cracks, and responsiveness is a $1.5M increase in monthly incremental
really great. We have two or three people revenue. Textel-enabled re-engagement Increase in
available that can respond quickly. If we had campaigns sent from the CRM are
left them a voicemail, we might have never generating $250K in incremental revenue show rate
heard back from them at all. It’s a game- per month.

500
changer,” says O’Brien. Texting is providing a better customer
experience in the contact center, too. “When
“Our contact rates have never customers text in, one of our staff members
been higher.” gets on it immediately,” says O’Brien. “Rather
than taking one call at a time, we’ve got
“Our call center agents can have four or five
texts going at any given time, versus being
agents handling a lot more case volume, Monthly shows
sometimes multiple tickets at once, thanks
on the phone, you can really only do one
to the ease and asynchronicity of text
thing. The asynchronicity of text messaging
messaging.”
means patients can cancel, reschedule, or

$1.5M
ask questions whenever they want, including “That’s the tangible outcome,” says
off-hours.” They also set up automatic Surowiecki. “What it really means is a much
responses that direct post-operative patients better patient experience. When a patient
to call 911for emergencies. can quickly and conveniently confirm or
reschedule their first consultation by text,
Textel enables Sono Bello to bring additional
that’s an excellent first impression to make
value through SMS marketing initiatives. New incremental
monthly revenue

See what Textel’s texting platform

for contact centers can do for you.
Visit textel.net for more information or
$250K
Monthly revenue through
call/text us at 844-483-9835. marketing text campaigns

Copyright © 2020 Textel. All rights reserved.

 Case Study

Valvoline Increases
Coupon Send Rate
by 76% with Textel’s
MMS Picture Texting
Valvoline is a premium automotive brand known for its
exceptional service. To maintain this high standard of service
across the company’s more than 1200+ locations across the
United States, Joseph Patrick, Support Center Administrator,
and his team decided to offer Virtual Call Control to new and
existing franchisees.

Leveraging its NICE inContact solution, A Promising Coupon Program

the company used Virtual Call Control and Using their customer information, agents can
streamlined IVR to direct its more than do more than answer questions and help
4.5 million estimated annual customer customers get what they need. Valvoline’s At a Glance
interactions from its nationwide Valvoline 230+ Contact Center Agents also save
Instant Oil Change locations to a central customers money by sending them coupons Industry
contact center. based on their service needs, automobile Premium automotive lubricants and
“If the customer chooses to speak to type, and more­—coupons immediately services brand
somebody,” says Joseph, “they’re routed to redeemable when they bring their vehicle in Location
the next available agent, who can answer for service. United States
any of the customer’s questions about that The coupon program provides value directly Organization
specific store. We know exactly which store to customers and is a terrific source of 1200+ locations across the United States
they’re calling based on the phone number incremental revenue for Valvoline. However, 230+ Contact Center Agents currently
that is set up in NICE inContact.” agents could only opt customers in for 100% work from home
email coupons using an integrated coupon
4.5+ million contact center contacts per
“After selecting Textel as our page pop. Using only email delivery, send
year (200k/month)
rates were just 17%, with redemption rates
business texting vendor, we Challenge
hovering at 8%.
worked with their deployment Improve coupon redemption rates to drive
“We were emailing all our discounts to more contact center revenue.
team to review the current customers. Getting email addresses over the
Solution
program, a proposed project phone left a lot of room for agent error and
Meeting customer demand for texted coupons
plan, and built a tailored bouncebacks, which hurt our redemption
with an integrated, one-click SMS option
rate:’ Joseph and his team saw potential for
solution we could roll out fast.” improvement, which is when they began Results
considering text messaging. - 76% increase in coupon send rate
- 20+ second decrease in AHT
- 90+% swing to SMS vs. email coupons
- 8% increase in coupon redemption rate
- 10-second decrease in queue time
The Textel Approach coupons by text message in the same page
pop flow they’re already familiar with.”
Impressive and
• Business texting enabled for all Valvoline
contact center interactions The text is a dynamically created coupon Unexpected Results
that pulls in available customer data which
• Ability for agents to text tailored MMS agents send directly to the customer’s cell

76%
picture coupons phone on record.
• Texting option integrated into familiar
“page pop” experience for fast sending Better Than Ever
Valvoline launched their text messaging
While coupon redemption rates were strong,
solution in just four weeks. With just a
a shift in customer demand created an
couple of clicks, agents are texting location-
opportunity for improvement. “Using the
specific picture coupons tailored based on
Increase in coupon
NICE inContact Analytics Pro solution;’ says
customers’ profiles. The results are both send rate
Patrick, “we analyzed our call transcripts and
impressive and unexpected.
saw an opportunity to send out coupons to

20sec.
our customers via SMS text instead of just “We launched fast and saw our first positive
email.” Data revealed large clusters around ROI on the project cost in just two weeks
customer phrases like “can you text it to me” from the launch date.” Since launching MMS
or “text me my coupon”, indicating a demand picture coupons powered by Textel, agent
for texting options. adoption has been tremendous too with a
Patrick and the Valvoline team tapped NICE
90% swing to SMS versus email. Decrease in Average
inContact for help. They recommended Valvoline customers are choosing text Handle Time (AHT)
Textel since it provided a quick, easy, and coupons when given a chance. Since
trusted text messaging experience for its deploying Textel SMS, coupon send rate has

90+%
discount coupon program. “After selecting increased 76%, while coupon redemption
Textel as our business texting vendor, we has also increased at Valvoline Instant Oil
worked with their deployment team to Change stores.
review the current program, a proposed The integrated SMS capability led to some
project plan, and built a tailored solution additional and unexpected outcomes in the
we could roll out fast. We had to make sure
we developed a solution that was easy for
Valvoline contact center. Average handle Agent adoption swing to
time (AHT) decreased by 20 seconds since
our contact agents to use with little or no deploying SMS coupons, accompanied by a SMS vs. Email
onboarding needed.” 10-second decrease in queue time. Patrick
adds, “When you’re answering 200,000 calls

10sec.
“At the end of the day, it’s a month, a twenty-second improvement in
about making each contact AHT is very significant:’
center interaction better.” “At the end of the day,” says Patrick,
“it’s about making each contact center
Patrick’s team leveraged the existing page interaction better. It’s clear that the text
pop agents were using to send coupons option for discount coupons meets a Decrease in queue time
by email to include a new option for MMS majority customer preference for SMS.
text messaging in the drop-down menu. That business texting has improved agent
“We also prepopulate the customer’s phone efficiency and service level only further
number so our agents don’t have to waste enhances our customer experience.”
time typing it in. Now, they can send picture

See what Textel’s texting platform

for contact centers can do for you.
Visit textel.net for more information or
call/text us at 844-483-9835.

Copyright © 2020 Textel. All rights reserved.