Entrepreneur Shepherd Chen at his middle-age. Innovation for eCRM

 – To create a business after you are ready, Shepherd Chen start a business innovation in eCRM

In front of you there are two options, one is to open a gorgeous and amplified aircraft, loaded with people's expectations and following the scheduled route going to your destination destination; another option is to sail a boat, You can choose freely who will be your companions during navigation, but during the journey, you may face any unknown situation. Which you would like to choose?

The Chief Executive of Telexpress - Shepherd Chen at the age of 45, choose to leave his senior vice president position at Citibank (Taiwan) phone banking and customer service center. He stated that "In life there are dreams that should be fulfilled!” He led his partners jumping on his own boat that he built and headed to their dream course.

To start a business at mid-aged, the burden is heavier than those in young aged. However, there is an irreplaceable advantage – to distinguish what is the “Hot/potential industry" . During the term of Shepherd Chen in Citibank and IBM, He has accumulated a total of 20 years of work experience with the aura of high-level managers, but his heart is constantly pouring ideas about Entrepreneurship: "in the next decade or so, what do I really like most?” he gave himself two years, bring all his savings, and started his dream and put up the business.

He saw the opportunity of network and mobile business. From the service perspective, He saw the needs between brand and customers interaction. Thereafter, Shepherd Chen founded Telexpress. With technology as the foundation, to develop the core service of customer experience interaction, opened a new page of eCRM (digital customer relationship management). 

Unlike young entrepreneurs often faced with the problem of lack of capital and connections, Shepherd Chen has a huge contact network as advantages in the banking sector, thus he just needs to use the team resources effectively to complete each stage targets. At first, Telexpress provides an advisory service, accounted for more than 80% of the resources; With funds, personnel in place, Shepherd Chen began to allocate resources, focused on developing a co-creation framework as the core product, while also allowed consultancy services reducing ratio to below 40%. This helps him towards the goals step by step.

Shepherd Chen believes that the initial stage of business must first find a business model, so that the company can operate, thereafter gradually complete the stage targets. Telexpress has been the Top 1 in the BPO industry in Taiwan within five years. After a steady pace, it expends the market to China in 2004 and gradually expands to all Asian market. Data-oriented is Telexpress’ biggest advantage, which is not only able to know what consumers' thought but analyzes how many people showing the same concern.

Social media management has become a prominent subject of eCRM. How amazing is the power of “Fans”? The 19 million “Huawei fans”(The fans of Huawei) can be the best example. “Huaweians" is the group of fans who loves Huawei. Huawei started the business with network equipment, it spends 2.5 years to beat Xiaomi in 2015 and become the top 1 in China smart phone market. At the same time, it becomes the top 3 mobile phone brand in the world. The key is to create the member(customer) experience. Shepherd Chen said that the key from the offline to online is to provide excellent customer service is to "find and meet the needs of customers".

"Membership" always the most valued asset for a branded enterprise. The business owner is more into when these members become a loyal VIP member. Traditional CRM is through a shop/retailer. Through the time of eCRM, is to browse the community, Facebook and other social media, interact with hundreds of customer service representatives. For example, what sort of information is the customer want to know before purchase and how to resolve the issue after the purchase? On the other hand, to “create topic”, allowing the user participation and sharing their usage experience. By doing this, enhancing the participation and loyalty of the company.

Through the consumer behavior analysis, in-depth understanding of customer consumption trends and brand attitude, planning and executing customer acquisition, preserve, restore and other marketing strategies. Through implementing the membership mechanism, establish more depth interactive with the customers, enhancing customer loyalty, and consolidating the loyal customer. Customer heart is like a needle in the sea. Understanding customers needs is a challenge. However, the most difficult is how to serve various brands into the market at the same time? Shepherd Chen use “shared service” to solve this issue.

Imagine, if you are a multinational brand owner who wants to enter the global market. Will you choose to set up your own branches in different countries from nothing; or you may think of cooperating with a local partner, shorten the time to enter the market and take advantage of it?

You are smart to be able to choose the lower cost of cooperation. This is also observed by Shepherd Chen which is the model of “shared service”. Establishing a brand system by the company itself due to high cost. furthermore, the market vary from country to country. The entry of each market per region affects the pace of globalization. The “shared service” shortened the time of market entry, achieving the target quickly.

Telexpress is like TSMC (Taiwan Semi-conductor Manufacturing Company) in service industry. The difference is that the test is not a service but a service process. By verified successful experiences, it expands to other industries and markets, from banking to 3C (Computer, Communication and Consumer Electronics) industry, rapid re-entry consumer goods, and retail. From Taiwan to China, and then enter the whole Asian market.

Differ from globalization of manufacturing industry, service industry is more concerned on localization. “Local interaction” is the core value of service industry. When multinational brand enters the regional market, often it is not used to the culture, language, people, and consumption habits which are the main differences.

Each brand creates a streamline, simple, luxurious, and other different styles. Each industry also has a different know how, but it does not affect on the customer interactive relationship. Therefore, Shepherd Chen builds the advantage on proficient entrepreneurship. The core is to develop the methodology of process.

"If there is no methodology, it's just another me, too." Shepherd Chen leads the team in establishing " innovation and R&D center" which keeps the knowledge of R&D to stay in Taiwan; creating the service process, and let the creation become one part of the process. Furthermore, the process has the ability to validate the service. The team focuses on customer experience interaction service as the major development, implementing service experience engineering method S.E.E （Service Experience Engineering）and service research technology, constructing "intelligent knowledge service model", "social media service model", "one call resolution service model."

"The experience during the service is the best timing to perform sales” Shepherd Chen observes that if the contact point between the brand and the customer only happens on sales, it loses its brand power and its charm. Telexpress cares about after-sale service which is ignored by most brands and also indicates the weakness of Taiwanese companies. Separating the service and sales loses the essence of service.

The most common sales approach is to simply sell the product and invest lots of money in advertisement. This is a wrong selling perspective.

Shepherd Chen analyzes “As a first step, we should serve the people who bought the product". To resolve customer complaint and do well on after-sale service, or else it's a waste for the advisement. To build brand value needs to build up the customer loyalty which need to bring back the sincere service.

For example, a customer service call, is to solve one issue for a person. After solving the issue, we may get a loyal fan, the fans will group into a community, after that word of mouth, finally link to the sales on ecommerce. "To help a person is the best marketing strategy , to solve the problem is a kind of value, proper communication, is a good thing. "

The turnover of Telexpress will be more than NT $1 billion next year, every year over 20 million people interaction, achieve growth of 15% per year. Back to origin, “Believe the thing will be successful”. Shepherd Chen reminds “to love what you love and take responsibility”. The start of all entrepreneurs came from their ideals, but the key to succeed is how much responsibility you invest and handle.

Entrepreneurship is a process of self-achievement which verifies the life's wisdom. The observation from Shepherd Chen, “Many young entrepreneurs establish a successful business model in Taiwan and eager to extend to China. In fact, it is just like your land on the ground but without the map. High risk! ”To find a mentor who has the experience is like a boat with an experience pilot, which effectively reduces the cost.

The time of entrepreneur. Shepherd Chen believes the disadvantage of starting the business in a young age wherein the mental ability is too weak to win the battle. But if you have the ability, the age isn’t an issue. In other words, regardless of middle-aged entrepreneurs, young entrepreneurs, and even older entrepreneurs, (false proposition /assumption), the real question is “are you ready?”

Shepherd Chen believes that to grow the whole entrepreneurship, we must rely on the “system of entrepreneurship”.

Currently Taiwan entrepreneurs highly rely on government subsidy program, it is like people want to change the health care system, it only compensates the certain patients but ignores the thing we really need to change- the regulation of health care system.

"System of entrepreneurship" refers to build a system like Silicon Valley. To create a platform which can be cooperated, co-created and shared, helping the entrepreneurial team with a minimum cost and time to achieve success. Verification method: let the entrepreneurial team have 30% chance of success to survive within the system which is the purpose of collaborative entrepreneurial system, which we can all learn from.

Retrieved from: “To create a new business after work: the 7 tips to increase the fighting power of entrepreneur”

Publisher: Institute for information industry - service innovation and Application Institute

Author: Institute for Information Industry

Published date: 2016/01/05

ISBN: 978-957-581-642-1