"Emergencies always happen outside
office hours!" thought Dave as he called ECHG's 24-Hour customer service centre.
Arriving home from the late shift, he found water pouring through the ceiling.
The customer service adviser diagnosed that a pipe to his hot water cylinder
was leaking, told him how to find the stopcock and turn the water off, and to
avoid electric sockets and switches until a contractor arrived in two hours.
"Normally, I would be thumbing through the phone book for an emergency plumber
but, thanks to the CSC, one call to a technically trained adviser and the matter
is in hand."
Another satisfied customer of ECHG Services' customer service centre (CSC) which
uses the latest contact centre technology to provide a 24-hour service, 365
days a year.
Delivering high quality services through a single point of contact is a Best
Value solution that links customer needs with professional services, covering
property maintenance and repair, rent accounting, arrears management and debt
& benefit advice. The CSC can be contacted by telephone, fax, and email or via
the internet at any time of the day or night. This was the first housing contact
centre awarded the RNID's Louder than Words award for service provision to the
hard of hearing. The contract centre staff are also able to provide translation
services in seven different languages, including Russian, and this is supplemented
by the use of Language Line which provides translations in up to 100 community
languages, ensuring equal access for all tenants.
Set up in 1998 and now handling over 250,000 contracts each year, two thirds
of these by more traditional methods of telephone contact. Although still relatively
small, there is an ever-increasing trend toward e-mail and Web communications
from customers. With a single point of contact, customers can make enquiries
about rent or benefit entitlement, request repairs or apply for property. By
dealing with the majority of day to day enquiries the CSC has freed up local
staff to spend more time supporting customers with more pressing issues.
In order to ensure effective management of customer contact the CSC continually
reviews its process and use of technology. It listens carefully to customer
feedback and to what is happening inside and outside of its own industry in
order to anticipate customer needs and keep ahead of the game. There is a true
commitment to the use of technology but only where this is appropriate and where
it brings about an improvement to customer service.
"Our work with Comino in developing the Workflow system is a clear illustration
of this," explained Jacqui Johnson, Operations Manager. "Soon after setting
up the operation it became apparent that our housing system as it stood did
not fully support the needs of a contact centre environment. The stages were
too many and too complex to complete a transaction while the customer was on
the line: and time is paramount. Together we were able to pioneer a new approach
which superimposed a workflow system to simplify the transaction with the customer
based front screen, and information is transferred to and from the system. This
made it much easier and quicker to use improving the service to our customers
and the effectiveness of our advisers."
The screens were built to guide the advisors step by step through the necessary
processes. Included in the development is a workflow facility which enables
work to be allocated electronically to the most suitable adviser and tracked
to completion. Workflow is also used to control the spend on repair orders by
directing these according to agreed developed powers. Linked to a scanner, this
has helped the CSC to achieve a truly paperless office, in an environment renown
for the amount of paper it can produce.
The CSC's customer service advisers are recruited from a customer servicing
background and trained to a high degree of competency in repair analysis and
housing management issues. This training is carried out in-house using their
own specialist through a structured training program backed up by quizzes and
games at the desk which reinforces formal classroom courses. The specialists
are also there to give advice and support on issues of a more complex nature.
To monitor its performance and that of its contractors, regular telephone surveys
are carried out and the results published on a quarterly basis. The latest survey
found that 86% of customer enquiries were resolved during the first phone call,
while 94% rated the overall service as good or excellent. In recognition of
the investment and value put into its staff the CSC was re-accredited with Investors
in People status.
Key to the CSC's success has been its ability to attract new business to its
services. In March of this year the CSC had its first contract, set up in 1998,
renewed for a further two years. Since then a further four housing association
clients have been added to the growing list of clients using its contact centre
services bringing the number of properties managed during out of hours to almost
40,000. Andy McQuaid, Client Account Holder, who has responsibility for managing
these relationships, said: "the evolution of the CSC has been one of real growth
from a call centre to a multi-channel contact centre with customer care at the
forefront. Our blend of telephony and technology and our specialist skills enable
us to offer a flexible and effective service solution to our customers, and
this has found a niche market amongst our contemporaries in the social housing
industry."
Outsourcing contract centre services is a realistic alternative to the high
cost of setting up an operation of this type. It provides the benefits of economies
of scale and access to contact centre expertise, delivering a seamless extension
to clients' business so that their customers view the quality of service as
their own.
If you would like more information about ECHG's clients services or would like
to discover how they can help you deliver a better service contact Andy McQuaid
on 0116 242 8143, or by e-mail to: amcquaid@echg.org.uk
New web services...
If you would like more information on Comino's products contact our head office
on: 01628 850 311 or email enquire@comino.com