New Retention Framework

Between 2017 and 2018, a behavioural economics experiment was conducted in the private pension plan retention, Customer Relationship Center (call-center). The pilot was a success, bringing impressive results in a short time by using biases in retaining arguments during the calls. With the implementation of SalesForce CRM in all post-purchase operations, the proposal was to apply these concepts to the retention processes for private pension products.

In other words, the experiment would be scaled up and gain strength, to improve the experience of the users, the Customer Service Representatives (CSRs), and the end-users, the clients.

Every day thousands of customers call the Customer Relationship Center asking to withdraw all or part of their private pension investments at Caixa Seguradora. This amount at the end of the month can reach millions of dollars, which naturally impacts the company's revenue. With this in mind, the goal of the project was three:

• Enhance the new CRM platform to the needs and context of the users, the CSRs. That means automating and unifying tools, avoiding the usage of different solutions and software.
• Implement biases and heuristics in arguments used with customers in order to maximize retention. That is, with training and by offering an appropriate technological solution.
• Finally, increase the main productivity, engagement and revenue KPIs as a result.

The New Retention Model was particularly exciting for me as a designer. Not only for addressing such a curious concept of behavioural economics but also for having a UX process that is very close to the user at all stages. First, a dedicated and multidisciplinary squad was immersed in the Customer Relationship Center for most of the project, observing the operation in all senses. This multidisciplinary team also had extensive knowledge about behavioural economics, including the consultancy of the InBehaviour Lab.

Also, because we were so close to the CSRs, we could easily gather information, discover pain, needs, and collect feedback quickly. That includes insights before any definition (Foundational Research), invaluable information from interviews and usability tests (Design Research). With it, we could define more accurately the necessary features for the project and create a more suitable solution!

A workshop was also held, which we called Design Lab. With some of the steps and tools of the Design Sprint, for two days a team from various areas of Caixa Seguradora was dedicated to identifying problems, brainstorming solutions and bringing inputs for the next steps. We've used the Map to bring all collaborators to a common ground while and the Sketch later on.

The Lab was essential to the whole mechanic behind the dialogue format. Through it, we've discovered 4 major motives for clients to withdraw their investments, with about 4 to 5 other minor motives inside. We also brainstormed in different teams about the best practices, strategies and arguments for each major motive. We came out with over 300 inputs, to be later on refined and reduced to 135 arguments.

With the inputs of the interviews, researches and Design Lab, it was time to sketch ideas and start designing. From there, we've created low-fidelity wireframes making sure all necessary features were there. After it, we've used Bizagi as a prototype not only to define interactions but to test it with users for two weeks.

Bizagi was compatible with the CRM usage by the CSRs at the time, and we wanted to make sure that the solution could be functional in a real-life situation. After the validation of the prototype, the UI was done following up Caixa Seguradora's branding guideline and Salesforce visual limitations. The final version also included two new features to the New Retention Framework: an income simulator and a withdrawal simulator, to support the arguments and new script.

As mentioned, some usability testing happened during the design and development stage, with the service being created by the Service Squad together with Deloitte. These tests were essential to validate features, information architecture, CRM journey, as well as motions and interactions.

The Bizagi prototype result itself validated that the new New Retention Framework flow would be positive for CSRs' engagement with customers. The learning curve was also fast, in less than 10 days the users had already internalized the new experience proposal, which gave us the confidence to move forward.

As a result, the Private Pension Simulator of Caixa Seguradora was recurrently used in digital campaigns, from national to even sporadic advertising. The volume of traffic in the product page also increased considerably, including by reference, since Caixa Econômica Federal, one of the majority shareholders of Caixa Seguradora and Brazil's largest bank, also placed the Simulator on its website.

As a learning experience, especially because it was my first UX and Design System project, the importance of thinking big but starting small remains. It is important to contain your enthusiasm and focus on delivering an MVP - improvements will come later.