News and Events
Customer service in times of crisis
Panel discussion about the opportunities and future development of customer service in Central and Eastern Europe
At the 12th Call Center Convention in Vienna, well-known experts discussed the significance of customer service in times of crisis, when the economy will start to speed up again, the balance between price and performance and service as a differentiator for companies.
The significance of customer service remains undisputed even in times of economic decline. The experts agreed that customer service is a management matter. In order to really make a difference, customer service should be positioned on the board level. After all, customers should be at the center of all discussions about new processes, products and services.
Jeroen Hollestelle, presenter of the panel discussion and Customer Care Director for private customers of Romania’s Romtelecom, asked the panellists to express their opinions about the current status of the service culture and its consequences for customer behaviour with regard to trust and loyalty.
“Most companies focus on marketing and sales instead of customer service – it is much more efficient, however, to focus on existing customers”. That’s what Vedat Sencer Sözer from TTNET in Turkey believes.
At Vodafone Romania, it’s business as usual: “The topics are always the same: cost reduction and simplifying processes. It’s the same in times of crisis”, emphasises David Perotta. No doubt, however, it benefits every organisation to place the customer at the center of its entrepreneurial activities. The crisis, Perotta believes, is also an opportunity for evolutionary values such as trust and loyalty to develop.
But up-selling plays a decisive role especially in the telecommunications industry: “Studies indicate that customers who use several products or services are less likely to leave the company as customers who only use one product”, Sözer reveals. According to Radek Šterba of T-Mobile Czechia, customer service remains a crucial theme in the current circumstances; however, new approaches are also required, such as making available a broader range of products.
Preventive service
In order to prevent customer migration, companies use preventive measures such as active complaint management and new payment options or very good contractual conditions. Sharp chose customer loyalty programmes with attractive guarantee certificates for their products. “This is an opportunity for us to get to know our end customers. Otherwise retailers stand between us and the customers“, explains Karin Korschan, Corporate Communications Manager at Sharp CEE.
Growth opportunities: the reality check
The mobile phone market has long been saturated in the CEE region. Experts therefore see growth potential in opening new communication channels, greater Internet use, VoIP, self care and automating routine inquiries. It is still the case, however, that the more complex the product, the greater the need for more personal contact.
The topic of outsourcing in times of crisis was also talked about. The question was how to determine the quality of different kinds of call centers.
Sözer has developed a score card for this purpose. The better the performance of the service provider, the more calls they are allowed to process. This means that the outsourcer with the best performance will get the most calls. A focus on quality is also of relevance to Perotta. “You can’t do without training and identification with the companies and the products”, the service expert believes.
Linking customer satisfaction to a bonus system
As a rule, outsourcing is intended to increase both quality and efficiency. But as we know, this comes at a price. “The quality of the service must match the quality of the product”, Korschan believes.
Šterba uses shortlists when choosing an outsourcing partner: only companies that meet all relevant quality criteria will make it to the final round. Generally, discounters do not meet these quality criteria and are eliminated in the pre-selection round. Price is important but it is only one factor amongst many. “When you link customer satisfaction to a bonus system, the entire company has an interest in making each customer interaction as pleasant as possible”, Perotta believes. Be it shops, inhouse or outsourcing call centers: customers are a company’s most valuable asset.
The customer is always right
It is often the case, however, that customers contact the service line only to be confronted with a sales script. “When there is a market saturation of more than 100 percent, we cannot talk about a sales topic here”, says Šterba. The experts agree that customer service should be represented on board level. Customers have become more demanding, there is room for improvement on all service levels. “That’s why customer service is a matter for management: it concerns the entire company, all units, all processes”, Sözer concludes.
| Marianne Rutrecht |
