Three outbound nominees won prestigious innovation awards for their work in developing customer-focussed outbound. The awards were presented at the Planning Forum’s 10th anniversary conference in London on 20th April, where each talked about how they achieved their success.
The 2010 Contact Centre Innovation award for Outbound was won by outsourcers Ventura, for pioneering a new customer-focussed approach to planning outbound collection calls. They increased right-party connects by 40% and conversion by 20%, using a new data warehouse and analysing demographics to create effective dialling strategies. “Robert and his team should be very proud of their achievements as they have shown how using existing technology in a new way can deliver remarkable achievements. Moreover, this is just one part of the story as the way this has been implemented and communicated to the staff makes this a fantastic example of how an outbound operation should be run”, explains Dave Vernon, Head of Best Practice at the Professional Planning Forum.
Outsourcer Ventura automated reporting and created a data warehouse to generate efficiencies, which enabled a focus on analysis rather than production of data. Linking demographic information from Cameo allows Ventura to contact the right customers at the right time, using “demographic dialing”. The dialer is now integrated with workforce management and real-time adherence is shown on plasma screens and managers’ PCs. Through effective communication, advisers understand the changes and see the benefits flow through to their incentive schemes. “Demographic dialing has been fantastic,” comments Alasdair Skeoch, Head of Collections at Ventura. “It is about the customer experience. You won’t get through to certain demographic groups, so it’s a waste of effort,” adds Robert Clegg, Forecasting and Planning Manager
The Contact Centre Innovation award for Service Integration was won by Netflights for the use of customer information on web transactions to focus and develop customer-focused outbound calling. A team of only six, generated over £12 million in revenue, using web analytics to identify prospects for outbound calling and by reviewing KPIs, incentives and schedules. “This award demonstrates how integrating two forms of customer contact can genuinely improve the customer experience,” explains Dave Vernon, Head of Best Practice at the Professional Planning Forum. “The impact it has had in delivering excellent customer service whilst delivering increased revenue to the company cannot be understated, a truly outstanding achievement”.
Netflights grew year-on-year revenue by 340% in 2 months, with an outbound team of just six, who account for 20% of total revenue and consistently deliver more revenue per hour than any other reservation area. A web diagnostic tool called Tealeaf identifies prospects based on the customer’s web interaction and the team are also able to cross sell higher-margin products. Incentives and KPIs have been reviewed across the whole centre, creating a lucrative commission scheme, with conversions up 21% and call time up 27%. “No one else was using Tealeaf as a sales tool,” commented Phil Anderson, Resource and Planning Manager and Specialist Sales Manager at Netflights. “A big percentage of customers like it. You are providing assistance to customers and at the same time, you are building up a relationship,” adds Lee Swords, from the Outbound Team at Netflights.
The Contact Centre Innovation award for Integrated Planning was secured by HM Revenue & Customs for transforming performance to handle an increase of almost 1 million calls by integrating planning across many different departments to promote early renewal, initiate an outbound campaign and create an enthusiastic contingency team of 1000 advisors from other areas of work. “I am truly pleased for all involved in this project as delivering an acceptable service given such a massive uplift in demand was a huge challenge. The HMRC has learnt from past experiences and has put measures in place by working across all areas of their vast organisation in a joined up and methodical way. Moreover, the people have not been lost in this and the enthusiasm shown by the employees to deliver excellent service to the customers was incredible”, enthuses Dave Vernon, Head of Best Practice at the Professional Planning Forum.
The HMRC handled almost 1 million more calls than the previous year and cut busy messages by 80% during the annual Tax Credit renewal period when incoming calls rise over 600% above the norm. By working with stakeholders from across the business and analysing performance in the previous year, plans were set up to shift demand, cross-skill advisors and start outbound calling, rather than just recruiting for the peak. IVR messaging was developed, a contingency team of 1000 advisors cross-trained and a 27-day outbound campaign exceeded all expectation, making over 50,000 contacts, 20,000 more than predicted.
“The big message was to renew early and that campaign was successful … we got together the back office, the front office and marketing,” explained Vicky Passant, Demand Control Manager at HMRC. “This success is down to effective planning and collaborative working,” endorsed John Terry, Regional Manager, Contact Centres
The Contact Centre Innovation Awards are organised by the Professional Planning Forum to celebrate the achievements of the industry’s innovators and offer a benchmark of excellence within the industry. They showcase innovations that are transforming the experience of customers and employees and demonstrate how planning can make a real difference. The winners were selected by a team of judges who visited each of the 17 shortlisted organisations, and then assessed them against a strict set of criteria. “Every year the process of judging gets harder. The contact centre industry has changed so much in the last 10 years and each year we see new exciting innovations that make you proud to be part of the industry,” comments Steve Woosey, the Planning Forum’s Membership Director.