Personal Development

1 picture says more than 1000 words

As an employer, Swisscom is committed to ensuring that employees continue to develop and utilise various opportunities to train and develop themselves. Among other things, employees can use Kickbox to start and realise their own innovative ideas simply and easily by applying for a box. They receive a physical box containing a starting credit, 20% of their working time for two months, contacts to internal and external innovation experts and a handbook with a description of the idea validation process. In a multi-stage process, the idea is then pitched to juries and, in the best case, approved for the next stage.

By Michael Hunkeler, Head of Intrapreneurship Swisscom Kickbox

Our employee Ugur also took the opportunity to launch his idea with Kickbox. In an interview with Michael, he explains what his idea is all about, how it works and what his tips are for future intrapreneurs.

Michael:

Hi Ugur, how are you? Nice to have you here in the Swisscom Tower at Kickbox.Especially on a special day like today.

Ugur:

Hi Michael, always good to see you! Yes absolutely, the anticipation is huge for me!

Michael:

And rightly so, because today is the day when your kickboxing idea, Video Support (project name: "1 picture says more than 1000 words"), officially becomes a GoldBox! Congratulations again, this really is a huge achievement! Around 120 ideas start at Kickbox every year, of which only around 3 to 5 manage to scale successfully as GoldBoxes. Video support is also on everyone's lips at the moment. How does that feel?

Ugur: 

Thank you very much for the congratulations, I haven't really been able to process this milestone yet. At the moment, it feels especially relieving. You have to imagine that Video Support is still relatively new and is growing incredibly fast. I receive messages from Swisscom every day, for example from agents who have just started using the solution. Fortunately, our initial experiences have been predominantly positive. These brief moments are good and show that we are on the right track. But I am also aware that this is just the beginning. To stay with the concepts of innovation: We have product-market fit, now it's time for further scaling.

Michael:

What exactly is your idea about and how does video support work?

Ugur:

Video Support enables customers to simply show us their concerns using their smartphone camera. The privacy of both customers and agents remains protected at all times. The ingenious thing is that no app download is required. Customers can virtually share "their view of things" with employees on the phone in just three clicks. This simplifies communication and shortens calls in most cases. This is likely to reduce costs and increase customer satisfaction. During the pandemic, our services were more in demand than ever and face-to-face visits were difficult. This gave the idea an additional boost.Today, terms like Facetime and functions such as scanning QR codes and opening links with a smartphone have become part of everyday life for the young and young at heart.My mum, for example, who could hardly send WhatsApp messages in the past, now calls via WhatsApp or FaceTime to see her grandchildren.

Michael:

Very much to the point. And you were able to build such a solution with Kickbox?

Ugur:

(Laughs) No, using video support is an obvious idea - the trick, as is so often the case, lies in the implementation. Various telcos around the world have already introduced something similar or have failed to do so. I also maintain an open dialogue with those who are not in direct competition with us - such as A1 in Austria, Deutsche Telekom or KPN in the Netherlands. But I like to be ahead of the game, and our solution is unique because we already record the customers and their concerns in the CIVR (Conversational Interactive Voice Response). After this triage, we then proactively offer them video support with a prompt (voice announcement). They can then choose whether they want to go the old way or be connected to an agent with a video support licence. This allows us to see directly how many customers are really interested and how well they liked it. A perfect match, similar to Elite Partner - only our satisfaction rate is higher 😊. In the pilot, we realised that we can understand the customer's concerns more quickly and offer more precise and sustainable solutions.It is also particularly suitable for customer issues that often could not be resolved even after a 2nd level contact and therefore required on-site deployment of technicians.If issues are resolved before such a deployment, this makes customers happy and conceivably reduces Swisscom's time and costs. Therefore a classic WIN-WIN situation.

Michael:

And how do our customers react to this?

Ugur:

During the pilot, we conducted a survey and then commissioned an external agency to conduct customer interviews.
The result is clear: video support is not only accepted by our customers, it is desired - even demanded. Since the launch in October 2021, we have received many emails, cards and thank-you letters. Our agents are also really enjoying working with this innovative solution. I would also like to take this opportunity to say a special thank you to the entire Kickbox team, who actively supported the project team and me right up to the GoldBox.

Michael:

Thank you for these valuable insights. Last question: Do you have any tips & tricks for our readers who might want to become intrapreneurs themselves?

Ugur:

Especially this: Burn for your idea! You are the first to be convinced. Otherwise, you won't be able to ignite it any further, remain tireless, make decisions according to the situation but with foresight and sustainability. Be prepared to go the extra mile and even further if necessary. I got "no" about 32 times - that's normal. Not all feedback was constructive and encouraging either. But I always listened carefully, because it was also an opportunity to make Video Support even better. Today, the idea generates unique customer experiences with the Swisscom brand every day - and I'm proud of that.

Michael:

A great final word. Thank you very much for the interesting conversation and good luck with your tinkering!

Ugur:

With pleasure. Hope to see you soon.

About Swisscom Kickbox:

Swisscom employees can easily launch and grow their innovative idea at any time with Kickbox. The physical box contains:

  • a starting credit of CHF 1,000
  • 20% of working time for 2 months
  • a manual that explains the idea validation process and provides valuable tips

In a multi-stage process, you will be accompanied by a coach to drive your idea forward, learn a lot and, in the best case, make your idea really big!

You can find more information about the kickboxing programme here.

Michael Hunkeler

Michael Hunkeler

Head of Intrapreneurship Swisscom Kickbox

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