Exceptional Customer Care

All industries face the same challenges in today’s choice-rich, low-loyalty society: differentiation. A few years ago products differentiated themselves by functions, features, and their longevity / durability. Nowadays things are very different. Products are cheaper to replace than fix, creating a ‘disposable’ culture where loyalty is truly a thing of the past - tossed to one side along with the product’s carcass. But is loyalty truly dead?

Actually – no. Loyal customers still exist and are worth fighting for today more than ever. With the global village becoming more accessible through e-commerce, competition is at an all time high. Costs to acquire new customers are still higher than costs to retain (although the traditional gap is closing), and the expectations customers have of your business are increasing exponentially. The need for exceptional customer care and the dependency on effectively delivered consumer services are paramount. Customer service is one of the last true differentiators in the vast majority of industries the world over.

Contact Centre - Cost Centre or Profit Centre?

In the past, many organisations have seen customer care as a cost centre – a necessary evil that has to be applied in order to do what the consumer expects of them and little more. Then mind-sets started to shift towards a profit centre mentality. This step change meant customer care provision was seen as a route to cross-sell and up-sell, an opportunity for customer services functions to pay their own way in the corporate environment.

Today, Sitel leads the next generation of customer care provision – a “Profitability Centre” approach that ensures Return on Customer Investment (ROCI) is reaped through an effective suite of customer service solutions whilst the corporate intentions of cost and profit centre management are addressed.

Our portfolio of outsourced business processes includes: Customer Acquisition, Customer Care and Maintenance, Technical Support, Collections, and Back Office – encompassing a total package of overall care to our clients’ consumers. Any of these elements can be taken in isolation as an outsourced service, but each must integrate seamlessly into a cultural corporate understanding that customer care is the key business differentiator. This enhances overall profitability through increased customer satisfaction, improved retention, growing loyalty and a higher propensity to repurchase.

Ultimately the aims of any organisation developing effective customer service delivery in order to differentiate their offering are to: increase consumer spend, increase customer loyalty and reduce the cost to serve. Sitel’s intentions are no different; we simply do these things on our clients’ behalf.

Case Study Examples:

We have a plethora of case studies illustrating how Sitel helps industry leading clients in Financial Services, Consumer Goods, Telco, Utilities, Public Sector, Retail, Travel and Transportation. We can illustrate how our activities have saved clients millions of pounds, improved their customer satisfaction levels, increased spend per user, and positively impacted brand advocacy and loyalty. Sitel’s services help clients differentiate their products and services to a wide range of discerning audiences through effective customer service delivery. As there is limited space here, please contact us if you have a specific industry interest or functional requirement and we will provide you with relevant a case study or information.

The case study below shows just one example where Sitel has helped the client identify an opportunity to enhance their scope of services. Through Sitel’s excellent customer care provision and innovative thought leadership, the client is now offering these extended services on both ad-hoc and subscription basis to their client base. The result is an extended portfolio with successful revenue generating activity for the client and enhanced customer relationships.

Case Study:

This project innovation was initiated to:

• Increase customer value to Sitel’s client
• Improve the customer’s experience
• Go beyond the scope of the existing ‘free’ support offered
• Build greater customer loyalty on behalf of our client
  
• Enhance client brand advocacy
• Meet the unsatisfied need of the customer base

The Client

A global telecommunication / broadband organisation.

The Innovation

This service grew from a Sitel innovation, identified and implemented through close relations with the client.

The Sitel operations team delivering the broadband support service on behalf of the client, identified that customers required more complex help than standard free support typically provided. Recognising the need to address this ‘out of scope’ consumer requirement, and its potential impact on satisfaction, loyalty and perceived ‘value’, a ‘test’ service was quickly implemented. Demand was immediately high and the desk quickly grew in size and complexity and continues to evolve rapidly today.

The Calls

The Home IT Support desk supports all manner of call subjects:

• Home Networking
  
• Wireless networking
  
• Adding peripherals to the home computer set-up
• Operating system issues
  
• Online gaming set-up
  
• Software problems
  
• PC health check
  
• Spy-ware removal
  
• Virus removal
  
• Online tutorials

Skills Sets of Agents

Our team of technical experts are highly trained and experienced in all aspects of home computing and networking. Their development forms part of Sitel’s drive for continuous improvement through initiatives such as the Sitel University and site-based learning zones.

The Results

• Customer Satisfaction - 96% highly satisfied
• Conversion from ‘pay as you go’ to subscription customer - 97%
• 100% resolution of calls handled by remote diagnostics
  
• 1500 new subscribers per week

A profitable new business line has been created for the client, providing a unique service which furthers their differentiation, enhances their brand and increases customer loyalty.

Client Statement
“Sitel has provided a reliable, flexible service offering during this period of constant change within our business.” Senior Client Management

If you would like more information on this or any other service offered by Sitel, please contact us.