TELUS implemented a company-wide Customers First program to improve customer experience and increase employee engagement. They engaged employees to develop Customers First Commitments, introduced technologies to enhance customer service, and recognized employee advocacy. As a result, TELUS saw industry-leading employee engagement scores, lowest customer complaint rates, and strong business results, demonstrating that putting customers first provides benefits for employees, customers, and the company.

1. Learning for Others: Customer Service
Lessons from TELUS
A Customers First Journey
Paul Bleier
Member of the TELUS team
July 17, 2015
@paulbleier
paul.bleier@telus.com

2. Story: “The curse of the emoticon”

3. A telecom customer in distress
1
2

4. Sharing how not to put customers first
200 views 15 comments < 1 hour
TELUS’
Internal
Social
Network
SAP Jam

5. An unexpected offer of support
We take ownership of every customer experience
TELUS Customers First Commitment

6. Happy endings for both the customer and TELUS
New customer TELUS
 Disgruntled telco customer
became TELUS’ biggest fan
 Increased referrals led to:
 21 new postpaid
activations
 2 new device upgrades
 $25,000 of new revenue over
next 2 years
Rock Star

7. Our cultural and
customers first evolution

8. TELUS is a complex organization
13.9m+ customer
connections
Multiple countries
Unionized work
force
More than a
telecom
Flexible work
styles
Diverse age
ranges
$12.1+ billion Vast product lines 44,000 employees

9. The early days of employee engagement at TELUS
53
58
54
57
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
TELUS Employee Engagement

10. The nature of work and the workforce itself is changing
 Improving Employee Engagement Practices
 Increasing Productivity
 Adapting Existing Work Processes
 Ensuring Long-term Health and Results
Future of Work
Organizational Challenges
Workforce Workplace
Multi-Generational Interconnected
Global Dynamic
Work Styles Performance-driven
Mobile Open leadership
Transient More specialized
New models for
career
New models for
TELUS
Fewer organizations operate in a single
location, sell a single product or offer a
single service; workforces are becoming
more disparate and diverse requiring new
and improved methods of collaborating
and communicating.

11. Our customers were changing too
Changing Customer
More knowledgeable
More environmentally &
socially conscious
More willing to change
More need for the right
answer the first time
Increased need for support in
various mediums
New models for TELUS
…and asking us
to change too

12. The facts at the beginning of our journey
 Team engagement was static
 Churn & repair rates were increasing
 CEO escalations were rising
 Likelihood to recommend results were flat
 Network & products the same as competitors
“How could we transform a good
organization into a great organization?”

13. Started with team members and then focused on “YOU”
Continuing
to foster
our internal
culture for
sustained
competitive
advantage
Putting
Customers
First to
provide
focus and
direction for
each role Putting customers first became
our #1 strategic priority in 2008

14. Our people and culture priorities
Learning
Modalities
Leadership
Behaviours
Collaborative
Technologies
Community
Investment
Recognition
& Feedback

15. Benefits of pervasive learning
• Training is not simply an event1
• Learning is a continuous, collaborative
and connected process
2
• Team members utilize > 80 hours per
year learning informal & social =
reduced cost
3
• A model that can/should be replicated
across all learning functions and
faculties
4
Pervasive
Learning

16. Benefits of our TELUS Leadership Philosophy
• A leadership framework for all 44,000+
TELUS team members
1
• Leadership is for all; culture is our
competitive advantage and instilled by
the TLP
2
• A common language / framework for
all team members to utilize in their
daily operations & actions
3
• The driving force behind Leadership
Development, Career Development &
Performance Management
4

17. Frameworks supported by collaborative tools
• Integral component of TLP and
pervasive learning frameworks
1
• Drives further adoption of a
collaborative & connected culture
2
• Increases contribution of collective
intelligence across all team members
& business units
3
• Demonstrates future friendly team
environment regardless of jurisdiction
or work style
4

18. Community…in our hearts, and our minds
We give where we live to improve the lives of youth and their communities through the power of technology.
+$150M
+$150M
+$10M
We Give Where We Live® How we give

19. How we recognize our team members
Lifetime
achievement
Annually
Quarterly/
semi-annually
Everyday
Legends
Legends are the face / the example of what TELUS is. 20+ years service
(Certificate, Photo, Commemorative coin, gift card)
Customers First Champions
Director level & below in customer
facing roles
(Gift card and gala event)
Career Milestones and Ovation
Anniversaries every 5 years and departures
with 25+ yrs
(certificates, tree, coins, points)
Own. It
Several categories, recognizes excellence in
Own. It leadership and results
(Bravo points, RSUs)
Bravo Awards
Recognition of demonstrating values
(cards and points)
Passion for Growth & Reliability
Significant achievements impacting our
business, our customer and our team
(Bravo Points, card and RSUs)
Bravo Cards & Points
(cards, points, gifts)
President’s Club
Sales people and Sales support

20. Helping others through the TELUS Transformation Office
Future of Work Digital Readiness Flexible Work Styles
LinesofBusiness
Web: www.telustransformationoffice.com Email: tto@telus.com
How are organization addressing the
changing nature of work with respect to
customer and employee expectations?
How are organizations ensuring that
employees understand how to leverage
technology to perform in their roles?
How are organizations supporting and
introducing telecommuting and
flexible work options?
Services
Discovery
Workshops
Strategic
Planning
Business
Outcomes
Pilots
Training &
Adoption
Strategies
Consulting &
Support
Resources
Collaborative
Technologies

21. Team members and customers
feel a deeper emotional connection
to TELUS and take action to
inspire that same connection with
their friends and family.
Why we introduced Customer’s First

22. Advantages of our Customer’s First program
Organizational/
Employee
• Address pain points
• Employee engagement
• Pride
• Accountability
• Closer to the customer
• Advocacy
• Purposeful leadership
• Feedback
Customer
• Address pain points
• Satisfaction
• Loyalty
• Trust
• Experience
• Advocacy
• Feedback
Internalfocus
Externalfocus

23. Inside look at what’s driving our Customers First program
Our customer
declaration
Customers First
Commitments
TELUS Team
Advocacy
Service
Technologies
Getting closer to
the customer
Customers First
Champions
Service 2.0
Transformation
Public
Awareness
Winning the hearts and minds of team members to help achieve our goal of
becoming the number one recommended company globally.
Our goal

24. TELUS customer declaration
We’re not perfect, but our employees are deeply motivated to
consistently delight our customers.
We know that getting better means making sure we’re listening to you.
That’s why we’re embracing new ideas that will make your TELUS
experience better, everyday.
We’re on a journey to build on your trust by being clear, helpful and
dependable.
In other words, at TELUS, we put YOU first

25. Phase 1: all team members engaged in the creation
of Customers First commitments
1000s of idea submitted
Consolidated, refined and summarized submissions
Summarized to top 20
DLF/MLF workshops to review and validate
Validation results in top 10
ELT approval
Final top 4 or 5
Communicated commitments to all
team members
Execute &
Evaluate
We brought our customer declaration to life by engaging our team members in Fair Process to create
Customers First commitments, personalize them, and embed them in everything we do.
Strategic intent
Crowdsourcing our customer commitments

26. TELUS Customers First Commitments

27. Enabling team member advocacy
#expectmore

28. Customer service technologies
Quest Interactive
Learning
Network Experience
Application
Appointment
Scheduling Service
2012 20152013

29. The payoff

30. Industry leading engagement results
53
58
54
57
70
80
83 85
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
TELUS Employee Engagement
“the TELUS employee engagement
score is #1 globally amongst
organizations of similar size and
composition”
AON Hewitt

31. Happy customers: That’s what sets us apart
Lowest number of complaints when compared
to other national wireless carriers in Canada
(CCTS Mid-year 2014-15)
Best mobility churn rate in North America for
the third consecutive quarter (Q1 ‘15)
1.28%
0.91%
Blend Postpaid
1.47%
1.18%
Blend
1.64%
1.24%
BlendPostpaid Postpaid
Complaints against TELUS decreased 46%
from mid-year 2014

32. Strong business results

33.  Assess organizational strengths and find opportunities for improvement
 Better understand your customer
 Provide purposeful leadership
 Improve upon the customer experience
 Drive customer loyalty and advocacy
 Increase focus on employee engagement
 Recognize employee accountability and advocacy
Why putting customer’s first makes sense
Launching a customers first program allows you to:

34. www.telustransformationoffice.com

35. Our leadership philosophy supports our customers
Customers First Commitments
Over 1,000 team member
ideas helped to shape our
Customers First commitments.
Introduced in November 2012
to complement our values and
guide our actions to
consistently put customers first.
 Help us stay focused on
customer priorities
 Clarify how each of us can
put customers first every
day

36. Customer Declaration
customer
commitments
strategic action plans TELUS values
How will we achieve
our #1 priority?
How will we stay
focused?
How will we know
we’ve arrived?
How will we conduct
ourselves?
L2R framework
The Future is Friendly
Our brand promise
Our commitment to
growth
External
Internal
Linking it all together