Crossroads 2002 A-List Award Winners

Hipbone, Inc.
San Carlos, CA

Hipbone Synetry Cobrowse
> Online Customer Support

CUSTOMERS AT WORK

High-touch product and service firms struggle to make sure that online offerings maintain their standards of excellence in service. Hipbone’s customers are looking for ways to humanize the Web experience for their users. A high-tech manufacturer and two financial services firms were among the reference customers. Common strategic objectives included:

§ Improving customer satisfaction with top-tier clients

§ Lowering the time customers need to invest in any one transaction

§ Boosting contact center productivity

WHY HIPBONE?

Hipbone’s technology puts Web-based customers and prospects in touch with contact center assistance. Hipbone supports advanced Web technologies to deliver greater business value: companies can configure the online support process to fit personalized selling strategies, regulatory requirements, and complex Web site architectures. Contact reps rely on Hipbone’s proxy server architecture to share a single view of a company’s Web page based on the customer’s cookie. Organizations design page-sharing processes using business rules to preserve privacy and meet the needs of individual business units or customer groups. Hipbone’s browser-friendly solution is delivered as a hosted service or licensed for private deployment.

BUSINESS IMPACT

Near-term value: e-Commerce creates an instant transaction experience only if everything goes smoothly. When understanding a potential business transaction is a complex undertaking, customers value having a guide the first few times through the gate. By accelerating the learning curve for their highest-value customers, Hipbone’s clients are boosting Web-based transaction revenue while reducing the total cost of operations.

Enterprise innovation: Gaining the customer’s trust is a constant challenge for any new initiative, and the Internet is no different. Hipbone’s customers are interested in using the Web as the front line for their business over the long haul. However, they are raising the stakes incrementally and making sure that their customers are ready for the next frontier. Hipbone allows them to work with customers via online communication styles that preserve the traditional intimacy of personal service.

Technology gains: Co-browsing technologies may create concerns for Web teams on two levels: customer privacy/transaction integrity and site performance. Hipbone enables companies to tackle both of these challenges. First, companies have targeted their use of Hipbone to accommodate privacy and regulatory issues—implementing the service on both public and private client sites. Web teams also rely on Hipbone’s clickstream reporting to maintain contact transaction audit trails and monitor process reliability. If anything, Hipbone has allowed client Web teams to provide a more rigorous foundation for online customer support.

SUCCESS FACTORS

Project strategy: Co-browsing needs will vary according to the kind of online transaction targeted. Searching for information involves a vastly different set of customer concerns than a complex financial transaction.

Learning: Hipbone is an amazingly intuitive tool according to customers. Client organizations focus on the need for educating contact reps on how to position the co-browsing experience. Otherwise, there is a risk of customer privacy concerns.

Resources: Clients advise investigating reporting needs upfront. As more business units have adopted Hipbone, many companies have expanded their reporting and audit trail requirements.

Fit: Service-oriented firms doing high-value customer business on line should find Hipbone a good addition to their customer support processes.

COMPANY INFO

Hipbone, Inc. is a private company with 50 employees.

866.447.2663
www.hipbone.com
Published: January 2002