NJ TRANSIT Boosts Response Capacity by 500 Percent, Streamlines Customer Service with Salesforce and Force.com

"Force.com has completely changed how we do business—for the better. Now we are limited only by our imagination."


Challenge
  • To increase the productivity and effectiveness of its customer service operations, NJ TRANSIT, New Jersey's public transportation corporation, needed to replace its existing customer system
  • As a company whose mission includes dedication to customer needs, it was important to capture all customer interactions and track the organization's operational responses
  • A limited number of employees had access to the existing customer information system, which did not track all the required information
  • The agency wanted to allow all employees responsible for Customer Service and Support to access the new solution and enable its riders to directly enter information
  • Because NJ TRANSIT operates 24/7 and requires a 360-degree view of customer information, the organization narrowed its focus to always-available, low-maintenance software-as-a-service solutions

Solution
  • NJ TRANSIT selected Salesforce for service and support because of its minimal IT requirements, powerful customization capabilities, and anytime, anywhere access.
  • The new system was rolled out to more than 150 customer service employees and, through Salesforce email and linkage to the NJ TRANSIT Web site, to more than 3,000 potential employees and three-state ridership over a five-month period
  • To address the complexities of supporting riders of thousands of buses, trains, and light rail vehicles, NJ TRANSIT tailored Salesforce for each operation's needs
  • Using Force.com Builder, the agency extended cases to track transit-specific details and then built new custom objects to manage operational responses and service quality investigations
  • NJ TRANSIT gives customers and internal users the ability to ask questions and submit issues, which flow into the Salesforce central customer information warehouse
  • Integrations that use the Force.com Web Services API link Salesforce to a data warehouse, employee information, an email management system, and a data quality solution
  • The agency rolled out Force.com workflow capabilities in one week to streamline and improve the operations of its customer service staff; workflow rules route incoming customer questions to the appropriate subject area expert
  • Successforce Premier Support customer service from salesforce.com helps NJ TRANSIT ensure 24/7 uptime for its customer-service system

Results
  • With Salesforce, NJ TRANSIT delivers faster and more complete responses to constituents and adheres to performance standards and measures 24/7
  • In 2006, NJ TRANSIT used Salesforce to handle 42,323 customer inquiries—a 500 percent improvement over the 8,354 inquiries addressed in 2004—without an increase in staff; the average response time for customer inquiries dropped by more than 35 percent in the same period
  • The agency now has 100 percent visibility into all submitted issues, as well as the resolution activities that were previously performed solely with emails and phone calls
  • Force.com workflow decreases communications overhead while increasing efficiency
  • Real-time dashboards track key operational metrics and support management priorities
  • NJ TRANSIT is able to double the number of cases it handles with no additional staffing, thanks to the system's streamlined communication and enhanced issue-tracking capabilities
 
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