CASE STUDY Trusted transition and service delivery in partnership with Samsung Services Customer Service and Support 2 Case Study Samsung Samsung: delivering successful transition and great customer experience Introduction Transition: fast, safe and successful Samsung is the world’s 8th most valuable brand (Interbrand 2013). The service they deliver to their customers needs to reflect the quality of their products and the profile of their brand. Samsung initially required 70 advisors to cover the peak period across their smart mobile operations (smart phones and tablets). Samsung confirmed Capita as a partner to support their operations through the peak period in mid-November. The initial group of 15 advisors started training on 1 December and were taking live calls on the new operation on 15 December. Samsung lacked confidence in their incumbent supplier’s abilities to ramp up for their peak contact period over Christmas and New Year, and needed a partner who could mobilise quickly to successfully deliver this service. During the second half of 2013 Capita and Samsung entered into discussions, resulting in Capita being awarded the contract to deliver peak operations. At this stage it was clear that Capita shared Samsung’s vision of omni-channel delivery and best practice service. Consequently, Capita were invited to bid for all of Samsung’s UK customer service and technical support operations. Through a competitive process Samsung felt Capita understood their aims best, namely: Perform the basics brilliantly Create a genuine omni-channel service model with a single view of the customer Use service led insight to drive customer service improvement and sales growth Samsung could see valuable difference between our proposal and that of the incumbent and another bidding outsourcer. Based on this, Samsung awarded Capita a five year contract to run all of their UK customer and technical support services. Following the initial team going live on 15 December, all other groups went live on 23 December. The teams were in place ahead of the peak period of queries from people receiving new Samsung products for Christmas. Key to achieving these demanding timescales was putting a strong project team in place from an early stage. Throughout initial discussions and transition we adopted an ‘open door’ policy for Samsung giving full access to experts across our business and ensuring full transparency of our proposition. From receiving the confirmation by Samsung, the contact centre was set up and technology operational within a month. Hitting the ground running It was crucial that when the operation went live advisors were properly equipped and trained to handle customer queries. Strong operational management was in place to lead the teams, as they headed straight into the peak contact period. Capita achieved this through stringent recruitment, updated training and effective teams. Recruitment The adviser role on the Samsung operation is a demanding one, therefore strict criteria were agreed and a specific role profile developed. The role is technically challenging and it was also required that potential advisors had a passion for Samsung products before being offered a role. However, to ensure a great customer experience we recruited for customer service skills, knowing we could provide training to deliver technical skills. Training Training would be crucial to the success of the operation, both from a technical and brand delivery viewpoint. To ensure the go live dates were met the training material was updated and rewritten while being delivered. Feedback from the first team to complete training helped identify the areas requiring updates. This together with ongoing support from Samsung enabled the material to be rewritten for the following training groups. Strong Teams It was important to have experienced leaders on the operation to drive performance from day 1. We handpicked an Operations Manager with a background of working in a dynamic and fast moving environment akin to Samsung. The four Team Leaders were selected from other Capita operations and brought a strong operational knowledge. Advisors were recruited externally and each Team Leader joined their team through the training process creating a strong team bond ensuring success when they went live on the operation. SPCS110113LR | © Capita 2014 3 Case Study Samsung Operational Success Continued Improvement Initially, the operation handled a third of all calls related to the Samsung Galaxy product, though this quickly increased. Significant improvements were seen as advisers reached full competency and service delivery surpassed that of the incumbents: Alongside delivering a successful transition Capita have proactively approached Samsung with insight and improvement to support a continued improvement of customer experience. By the second month of operation advisors were significantly ahead of average handling time (AHT) targets From go live calls answered (PCA) target was achieved with 99.9% of calls being answered against a PCA 20 target of 85% During the first two months advisors increased both first call resolution (FCR) and customer satisfaction scores, ahead of the expected speed to competency. For example, FCR was 91% against a target of 70% The operational teams from Capita took a hands on approach to ensure KPI’s were met. This has been supported by Samsung who have provided a range of incentives to support the success of the operation, including Smart TV’s, tablets and phones. Capita’s quality of delivery during the peak period was cited as a key reason why we were selected to take on their full UK customer service and technical operation. In early February, Capita were awarded a five year deal with all services switching from the incumbent to Capita by12 May. This includes mobile, audio visual, printers, escalations, B2B (hotel TV, printers, large format displays and air conditioning) and home appliance. It includes handling contacts by phone and email, as well as social media listening. The operation increased from 1 line of business to 11 and grew its initial peak delivery state of 70 advisors to 350 FTE in just eight weeks. 99.9% Of calls answered against target of 85% 91% FCA against a target of 70% SPCS110113LR | © Capita 2014 One area of improvement has been in supporting faults. Previously, if a product needed to be sent for repair to an authorised service centre, it could have taken up to eight days before a response could be provided to the customer. We identified this as being inefficient, too much customer effort and damaging to customer experience. By working with the service centres, redesigning the process, and helping them to understand customer expectations, we have been able to reduce this to 14 hours. From an advisor point of view, we have also highlighted a series of improvements for Samsung’s knowledge base. These changes help advisers provide up to date information quickly and easily, therefore delivering a better customer experience. Samsung fully support this initiative and are actively making changes to the system based on our recommendations. Capita have appointed a Team Leader as our knowledge system expert to smoothly manage these changes into the operation, and provide ongoing feedback. Through process improvement we are also reducing the transfer of calls to second line complaints. We have put in place a robust process and given advisors and managers increased empowerment to rectify customer issues before transferring. We are now transferring less than 1% of calls, down from double digits with the previous incumbent. This is delivering both a better customer experience and reduced costs for Samsung. Partnership success The transition of the Samsung operation to Capita has been successful for both organisations. It has been a collaborative partnership which has ensured a smooth transition and a successful operation. This approach has yielded great results, Samsung’s external Customer Satisfaction Survey awards white flags for exceptional calls. These are rare, but our advisors received a significantly higher number (while still in transition) than comparable periods with the former incumbent. Significant investment has been made into the branding of the operation. Samsung products are available for advisors to see and try, further supporting brand engagement and improvements in customer experience. Through continued insight, operational delivery and collaborative working the partnership continues to successfully deliver. How can we help you? Our award winning Customer management operation provides tailored solutions to a wide range of B2C and B2B organisations across a range of sectors, including O2, British Gas, National Trust, DWP and Severn Trent Water. We deliver a range of services including multi-channel customer service and support; sales and customer acquisition; debt collection; customer retentions and revenue growth; and technical support. Core to our success is a proven record in understanding our clients and their objectives; building lasting strategic partnerships and transforming their customers’ experience. We are the UK’s largest provider of customer management outsourcing and part of Capita plc, the UK’s leading business process outsourcing (BPO) and professional services company. Contact us If you would like to talk to us about how our award winning teams can transform your customer management operations then contact us today. Email: bizdev@capita.co.uk Website: www.capita.co.uk/customermanagement Telephone: +44 (0) 113 207 3476 © 2014 Capita. All Rights Reserved Scan here to find out how Capita can transform your customer experience.