The UK’s Top 50

Call Centres
Cold calling, long wait times, lost data and offshoring to India
all give call centres a bad name. But what about the
companies that are getting customer service right? Here’s
your guide to the best brands giving the best service

presented by

This is an independent publication published by UBM Live in association with Lyonsdown

2q TOP 50 CALL CENTRES FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE produced by United Business Media in association with The Times

WORKING AT IMPROVING CUSTOMER SERVICE IS KEY TO SUCCESS

ING DIRECT United Utilities is bucking the national trend and taking on more staff at its call centres.
FEELS GOOD In the last three months 40 temporary jobs have been made permanent and this is an ongoing
programme of recruitment for quality customer focused staff.

Winning the award for the best call centre customer experience in the telecoms and utilities
category has also helped highlight the work of all our staff.

It is a welcome endorsement that the transformation programme that has been running for the
last 18months to improve customer satisfaction is really working and making a difference both
COMING 8TH IN THE TOP 50 to our customers and to our business.

CALL CENTRES FOR CUSTOMER United Utilities is the largest listed UK water company, providing water and wastewater
services to seven million customers in the North West of England. We also operate and
SERVICE FEELS EVEN BETTER. maintain water, wastewater, electricity and gas networks across the UK and internationally.
Wherever we are, we deploy our vision, energy, engineering and operational experience to help
new and existing communities to grow - providing them with the essential services they need.

Thank you and congratulations to our call centre staff.
Fancy joining us? We’re currently recruiting for extra
Customer Service Associates, full and part time at
both our Reading and Cardiff call centres. To find out
more visit ingdirect.co.uk/careers and enter reference
11630 for Reading and 11632 for Cardiff.
By applying discipline to our processes, recruiting the best people and providing our people
with the best systems, training, working environment and customer focus, massive
improvements have been made possible.
Of course it helps when you provide products that transform people’s lives everyday.
So whilst this award is celebrated, it’s a milestone, not the end game as we strive towards
offering world class customer service.
To find out more about how United Utilities are providing life’s essentials in the UK and across
the world. Please visit www.unitedutilities.co.uk

We aim to be an equal opportunities employer

INGDIRECT.CO.UK/CAREERS

RATED 2ND IN THE ‘TOP 50 CALL CENTRES FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE 2008’*

Jaw-dropping service...
because how you feel is important to us
Providing great customer care is a top
priority to Denplan.
As the UK’s leading provider of dental
payment plans, we keep you smiling,
thanks to excellent customer service
matched by an exceptional range of
payment plans.
With Denplan, you can budget for your
routine dental care and treatment to
remove the worry of costly and
unexpected bills.
Our plans provide worldwide emergency
cover, a 24 hour helpline and help finding
a dentist from our network of over 6,500
dentists, plus family and group discounts.
It’s no wonder then that more than 1.8
million people are helping to protect their
teeth and gums with a Denplan dentist.
Join Denplan today and help improve the
long term oral health of you and your family.
To find the location of your nearest
practice offering Denplan, call our
Customer Service team on 0800 401 402
or visit www.denplan.co.uk

* Denplan was rated 2nd in the ‘Top 50 Call

Centres for Customer Service’ 2008 survey
missing the top spot by less than 0.5%
CAM88

Terms and conditions apply

TOP 50 CALL CENTRES FOR CUSTOMER SERVICEq NOVEMBER 2008

 TOP 50 CALL CENTRES FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE produced by United Business Media in association with The Timesq(

Call centres:
Editor Claudia Hathway
chathway@cmpi.biz
020 7921 8515
Deputy editor
Nicolette Allen

a celebration
nallen@cmpi.biz
020 7921 8529
Art director Rob Patterson
rpatterson@cmpi.biz
020 7234 8702
Designer Nick Wells
nwells@cmpi.biz
020 7234 8734
Commercial director
Simon Thorpe
Celebrating call for you to call before doing anything —
Contents
sthorpe@cmi.biz
020 7921 8507
centres? Are you
Director of partnerships mad? Everyone knows they’re terrible. It’s that’s the one you tell everyone about.
Bradley Hoyland
bhoyland@cmpi.biz all “press one for this, press two for that, It only takes a few of these stories to 4 Introducing the
020 7921 8511
Publisher Mark Turner and press nine to go back to where you give the impression that “all call centres Top 50 call centres
What’s wrong with call centres?
mlturner@cmpi.biz
020 7955 3976
started.” Or you have to speak to a machine are bad” and it’s all too easy to imagine Revealing what customers think
about calling the UK’s top brands
Marketing director that doesn’t seem to recognise English. that customer contact workers sit like
Amy Scott
amscott@cmpi.biz Then, if you are lucky enough to get brainless chickens in a coop, not giving a 6 Cheques and balances
01666 826756
Group director through to an actual living person, they damn about your problem. Discover how top performer first
direct consistently delivers for
Mark Snell
msnell@cmpi.biz
can’t understand you either. And they But there are organisations out there that customers and staff
020 7921 8510 don’t know who you are, even though you do care and want to serve customers in the
7 Banking on brilliance
www.top50callcentres.co.uk only phoned a few minutes before about best way possible. Call Centre Focus With the country in the grip of a
banking crisis, these firms are
Repro and contract publishing the same problem. Add to that the fact magazine wanted to do something to on a charm offensive
by Lyonsdown.
www.lyonsdown.co.uk
that all call centres have gone overseas, celebrate those companies, to give workers
020 8349 7192 taking British jobs with them, and… well… in this industry a bit of pride in the essential 11 Leisurely service?
Find out what entertainment,
All rights reserved. No part it’s all going to the dogs, isn’t it? work they do, and to hopefully persuade leisure and travel companies are
of The Top 50 Call Centres doing to beat the credit crunch
for Customer Service may be Er, no, actually. some of you reading this publication that
reproduced or transmitted
in any form or by any means,
I’m not disputing the fact that some call centres don’t deserve all this criticism. 14 A very public face
electronic or mechanical, conversations with call centres are awful. So, yes, The Top 50 Call Centres for Government call centres have
including photocopying and maybe the toughest job of all.
recording on any information I’ve experienced enough cock-ups, Customer Service is a celebration. It’s a So how do they cope?
storage or retrieval system
misunderstandings and even downright salute to a function that in a single day
without the written consent 16 Retail therapy
of the publisher. The content
rudeness to know that call centres collects all the insight a company would When you fancy a bit of shopping
of this publication is subject to
from the comfort of your own
reproduction in information sometimes get it wrong. need for a year-long business strategy. It’s armchair, who can you gonna call?
storage and retrieval systems.
The opinions expressed are not But because I work in the call centre a tribute to an industry that never stops
necessarily those of the editor.
‘industry’, I also know that millions and trying to improve. And it’s an 18 Price war
Read how these utility and telecoms
CCF is the UK’s No.1 customer millions of customer interactions happen appreciation of the people who companies are campaigning on
contact title and is published
more than a just a better price
by UBM Live, a division of over the phone every year without incident. sit on the end of the phone all
United Business Media plc.
In fact, they happen with professionalism, day trying to help others. 19 A time for change
Tim Bishop from technology giant
opinion, breaking news and
the latest jobs through the
politeness and even the occasional giggle. I hope you’ll take the time to
Siemens reflects on an industry
printed title and CCF Online: I firmly believe that call centres have such read on and find out a little that’s badly misunderstood
www.callcentre.co.uk. CCF is
the organiser of the Top 50 Call an awful reputation because they are a more about the country’s
Centres for Customer Service
programme. victim of human nature. You’d never dream best centres and the
of telling your friends about a perfectly people who work in them.
organised by pleasant conversation with a friendly Even if you don’t enjoy it,
member of staff who managed to sort out it’ll just be another thing
your water bill query with no fuss at all. It’s to hate call centres for.
the time you rang your broadband provider
because you couldn’t connect to the
Internet, only for them to tell you they Claudia Hathway, editor,
supported by
were aware of the fault, but were waiting Call Centre Focus magazine

NOVEMBER 2008q TOP 50 CALL CENTRES FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE

4q TOP 50 CALL CENTRES FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE produced by United Business Media in association with The Times
Your call is important to us
Call centres are FOUR YEARS AGO, I got a job as the editor of a call
centre magazine. Brilliant, I thought, finally I get
awful...aren’t they? my dream job of editing a high circulation
publication that I can really get my teeth into and
Claudia Hathway make a success. Shame it’s about call centres.
unveils a new report Because, like you, I thought call centres were
boring at best. And at worst, they actually upset
that’s challenging people. You’re forced to queue endlessly, before
painfully extracting information, and repeating
our terrible image details over and over — all whilst holding an
of this everyday uncomfortable piece of machinery to one ear. It’s
torture worthy of an episode of 24.
business function But when I started working on Call Centre Focus ,
I began visiting call centre operations and talking
to the people who spend up to eight hours a day
trying to help customers, armed with nothing but a
headset and a computer. It was a real eye-opener.
Far from chicken coops filled with brainless
workers reading from scripts and tyrannical
bosses screaming orders and timing loo breaks,
the majority of staff are happy, motivated
individuals who perform small miracles helping
hundreds of customers every day.
Managers are truly caring individuals and many
centres offer staff comfortable, relaxing break-
out areas, concierge services, free fresh fruit, gym
access and tonnes of motivational incentives
including trips abroad, iPods and vouchers. Sounds
a darn sight better than my office, where the only
thing you get for free is repetitive strain from
continually prodding the boss for a pay rise.
It’s no wonder we feel the way we do about call
centres though. If you think about it, you usually
TOP 50 CALL CENTRES FOR CUSTOMER SERVICEq NOVEMBER 2008
only ring one because something is wrong. Either
you don’t have some information that you need or
you don’t understand something, or you want to
complain. Little wonder that most call centre
interactions are uncomfortable. Add to that
having to wait longer than a couple of key strokes
or clicks of a mouse for information, or not
understanding the person on the other end of the
phone, and you’re left with the impression that
“all call centres are bad.”
An image makeover
But it’s easy to forget just how much call centres
have done to empower us as consumers. Can you
imagine queuing up at your bank branch just to
transfer some money or pay a bill? I shudder to
think how many precious lunch hours were wasted
before call centres existed. These days you can
buy a book or DVD without going to the shops, you
can get instant insurance cover, you can even
tailor-make your own holiday in your living room —
none of which would be possible without the
evolution of customer contact in call centres.
And from working in the industry, I know that the
vast majority of the 48billion minutes of calls
received by call centres every year are perfectly
ordinary, if not pleasant — certainly nothing to get
upset about. And yet, the only stories we hear in
the mainstream press are about how dreadful
customer service is over the phone.
This is something that frustrated us at
Call Centre Focus — particularly as this industry is
so important to the UK economy, with three per
cent of the working population employed by call
centres. So we decided to do something to
change perceptions of call centres, to boost the
pride of staff working in them, even improve the
levels of service. The Top 50 Call Centres for
Customer Service was born.
The initiative is a huge project that measures the
level of service given by some of the biggest brand
names in the UK and scores each of them against
each other. We consulted real-live consumers in
focus groups to find out what they really want from
call centres to give us a basis for our scoring system.
Five key criteria were measured — timeliness,
reliability, ease of use, knowledgeable staff and
personalisation — and a series of scenarios were
concocted to challenge the call centre staff.
Then we carefully selected 50 centres that we
knew had a reputation for delivering excellent
service and, with the help of our mystery
shopping partner GfK NOP, called each of the
organisations 400 times over a three-month
period. That’s a massive 20,000 calls to test the
customer service of the UK’s biggest brands.
The results
In this first year, we weren’t sure what to expect,
but we were staggered by the results. The average
overall performance score was a massive 83 per
cent, indicating that for these 50 companies at
least, call centres are doing a cracking job of helping
out customers. Perhaps surprisingly, 85 per cent of
callers were satisfied with the service they were
offered — and 42 per cent of those were extremely
 TOP 50 CALL CENTRES FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE produced by United Business Media in association with The Timesq*

Ten of
the best
The very top
performing centres
of the Top 50 were:

1st
first direct

2nd
Denplan

3rd
F&C Investments
satisfied. That’s nearly half who were, dare I say it,
happy after speaking to a call centre.
Celebrating call centres The gala evening to announce
the top performers was as
tense as the Oscars (right) and
4th
So why have these centres done so well, when The results from the Top 50
mystery shopping survey
Extras) as he entertained the
600-strong crowd with jokes
Eamonn Holmes (bottom right)
was very popular with the
Lloyds TSB Insurance
we know from painful experience that some

were so astounding, Call
centres are patently rubbish? It could be down to
Centre Focus felt like
the fact that these companies realise the celebrating. So, along with
and anecdotes. Invited on to
the stage were the ten best
overall performers and the
5th
ladies from Holiday Extras,
who came top in their sector
(bottom left)

importance of the call centre to their brand. In this

digital age, the telephone is one of the few
the organisers, we put on a
glittering gala dinner in
top performer in each
sector to accept this
time to reflect on what the
Top 50 Call Centres for
Laithwaites

6th
personal interactions with customers left — and as London to present each and additional accolade. Customer Service will do for
such is a key battleground with competitors. In fact, every one of the centres with Having eaten and drunk, it the industry. As one ecstatic
GfK NOP research recently revealed that almost a well-deserved trophy. was definitely time to be manager put it: “This
recognition of our success is
half of 25-44 year-olds have changed supplier Daytime TV hero Eamonn
Holmes opened proceedings
merry as the teams from all
50 centres really let their hair going to fundamentally
Prudential
because of a negative call centre experience.

7th
and he developed quite a down to celebrate their change the way the call
Scary stuff — and a statistic that should make fanclub (particularly the all- amazing achievements. And centre is viewed within
marketing executives sit up and listen. female team from Holiday at the end of the night, it was our organisation.”
We hope that the 50 companies will wear their
participation in the programme as a badge of Charles Tyrwhitt

8th
honour, in tribute to their bravery at exposing their
call centre performance in a very public way. What do consumers want?
They may even display the logo on their
Measured against the top five hard to get our enquiry Top 50 The average score out
advertising and marketing so consumers can see
things consumers look for in a answered of five for this area was an ING Direct
which companies care enough about their

9th
call centre*, the performance Top 50 91% of the mystery outstanding 4.4
customers to invest in providing the best possible of the Top 50 is pretty shoppers said the centres Personalised We also want
service over the phone. impressive: performed well in this area the call to be a pleasant
I hope you will take the time to read about these Reliability Customers want to experience, with polite,
businesses over the following pages. The stories Timeliness Unsurprisingly, we be sure their problem will be helpful and friendly staff Specsavers Optical
they have to tell are nothing short of inspirational, don’t like to be kept waiting to
speak to someone
handled correctly
Top 50 Almost all (98%) of
Top 50 It could be argued
that this is an area for
Superstores
and you never know, you might find that call

Top 50 Nearly all (93%) of our
centres aren’t as bad as you thought.
callers got through on the first
attempt and only had to wait
For information on the Top 50 Call Centres for
Customer Service 2009, please contact Bradley
an average of 1.3 minutes to
speak to a human
Hoyland: bhoyland@cmpi.biz, 020 79218511 Easy of use It shouldn’t be
problems/queries were
resolved in the first call
Knowledgeable staff
Naturally, the centre should
have all the information
needed to resolve an enquiry
10th
improvement, but the overall
score for this area was still a
respectable 68%
* according to a series of consumer
Cambridgeshire County
focus groups Council

NOVEMBER 2008q TOP 50 CALL CENTRES FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE

6q TOP 50 CALL CENTRES FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE produced by United Business Media in association with The Times
TOP 50 CALL CENTRES FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE
Top performer: first direct
Renowned for having excellent service, first direct has proved once
and for all that it knows how to keep customers happy. But how does the
telephony bank achieve such fantastic results time after time?
1.2 million THINK OF AN EXAMPLE of great customer
service, and first direct is the example that
first direct customers springs to mind over and over again. And yet the
bank is entirely call centre based. Given that
most people hate call centres, how does the
200,000 finance company keep its customers so happy?
I put this question to a number of first direct
staff — at both the Leeds and Hamilton (near
calls are handled by Glasgow) centres and the answer was always
the same: it’s all about people. Each of them
staff at first direct’s insisted that customers and staff are at the
heart of the organisation on every level.
centres in Hamilton “Customers really do come first — we mean it,”
and Leeds every week says call centre manager Leigh Windle. Whilst
many companies pay lip service to this
sentiment, at first direct there is something
13,000 fundamentally genuine about it. Stories abound
of call centre workers ‘going the extra mile’ for
callers, such as the example of a customer who
calls each day are forgot her handbag and was therefore unable to
pay for a ticket when she boarded a train. On
received outside calling first direct, she was assured that a
representative would be waiting at the train
working hours station with money to pay for her ticket when
she arrived in Leeds. It’s that kind of mindset
80%
that turns customers into true advocates of the
brand. Staff hear all the time that callers are:
“proud to be customers.”
Customer representative Sandra Patterson
of contact is made explains that how they treat customers is really
down to common courtesy: “We put ourselves
by electronic means in the customer’s shoes and treat them like
human beings. I’m really proud to work here
1 in 3
because we all genuinely want to hear from
our customers.”
Unusually for a financial services call centre,
new customers join there are no scripts at first direct, allowing staff
to truly develop one-to-one relationships with
because of personal customers. And, far from being timed on each
call, agents are actively encouraged to chat. In
recommendation fact, some customers have been known to make
TOP 50 CALL CENTRES FOR CUSTOMER SERVICEq NOVEMBER 2008
92%
Overall performance score
first direct scored over 90% for all
five key service areas: timeliness,
ease of use, reliability,
knowledgeable staff and
personalisation
the agent a cup of tea whilst talking to them
because they get so engrossed in the
conversation. Staff are careful not to overstep
the mark though: “We are a bank after all,” says
Windle, “so we have to be professional. But I
think we’ve hit the right balance of being
friendly without being too personal.”
People power
So how does first direct maintain this passion
for service among its staff? Well, for one thing,
they offer an impressive list of employee
benefits, including: subsidised creche places, a
concierge service that will perform every day
tasks such as visits to the dry cleaners or
posting letters, a relaxation room complete
with onsite masseur, free parking, and car
valeting and servicing.
But even more important than any perk is the
seemingly genuine passion for people displayed
by the business. “Make no mistake,” says
customer services manager Russell Fleet, “our
people are our business. And it’s important to
invest in them and show them that you care
about them as individuals. If you treat them
with respect, they will pass that on to the
customer and repay your investment in spades.”
Call centre work is often repetitive and
uninspiring, and many operations attach
significant importance to incentive schemes
designed to motivate employees and maintain
interest. But first direct staff hardly mention
incentives (though) there are schemes to win
anything from vouchers to a holiday). Rather
they talk about the atmosphere of the place,
which is described as “fantastic”, “friendly”, “like
family”, “supportive” and “brilliant”.
Managers nurture this environment by
offering regular one-to-one coaching,
motivational ‘buzz’ sessions and recognition for
even small kindnesses towards customers or
colleagues. And
the investment
in the individual is
typified by the offer
of Neuro-Linguistic
Programming (NLP) for team leaders to help
them realise their goals both internally and in
their private lives. And the annual awards
ceremony recognises amazing people, whether
that be for help they have given to a colleague
or raising money for charity outside of work.
There is evidently a lot of playfulness among
colleagues too, with internal competitions,
dress-up days and awards for ‘service heroes’.
“We want people to enjoy work and having fun
is important,” says Fleet. “But staff should also
feel that they are valued as experts within the
business. We do not have any partitions in the
centre and staff know that they can approach
me at any time with problems or suggestions —
and lots of improvements have been made as a
result of that policy. If I could advise any call
centre manager on how to improve, it would be
listen to your staff and act on what they say.”
If the performance of first direct in the Top 50
survey is anything to go by, it’s good advice.
The bank’s people-centric approach seems to
be turning the traditional view of the contact
centre on its head and presenting the public
with an image of a professional, yet friendly
operation that is also a fun place to work.
“When people hear what I do for a living, they
ask me how I can bear it,’ says Patterson. “They
are imagining a sweatshop environment with
tyrannical managers and over-worked staff —
but it’s just not like that. The positive attitude
towards staff and customers and the great
improvements in call centres in recent years has
been proven by the fantastic performance of all
the centres in the Top 50 — and I hope it
continues for a long time.”
 TOP 50 CALL CENTRES FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE produced by United Business Media in association with The Timesq,

Financial Services
Call centres have
been around in the
form of service and
telemarketing ‘hubs’
Tough economic times are putting Bupa for more than
increasing pressure on call centres in the BUPA MAKES a real
difference to so
were never 20 years, but it
banking sector. Luckily, though, financial many people, was only in the
helping them live
services firms have always grasped the
longer, healthier, mid-nineties, when
importance of customer service and were happier lives.
The people in our call
companies were able
the early adopters of call centres, which
means they are more advanced than most.
centres offer the personal to link calls to their
encouragement and
While an overall trend in the Top 50 support our customers computer systems,
revealed that many centres could do better
need at important and
often difficult times. Their
that the notion of
in terms of personalising service, the banks efforts really can’t be
under-estimated, as one
customer contact
and insurance companies excelled in this customer explained in an as an ‘industry’
area. The report from GfK NOP states that: emotional and heartfelt
really took hold
letter to the team:
“Financial services consistently received the “I went through a most
highest excellence ratings on the more difficult period of treatment
for lung cancer and the shock
subjective service elements, such as of having the disease was
Nationwide
friendliness, politeness and willingness to very difficult to come to terms highlighted — we only ever ENSURING THAT NATIONWIDE’S call centre
with. Your staff gave me offers great service is vital to the way we do
received words of criticism. The
help.” What’s more, 90 per cent of mystery personal words of kindness, care care I received from Bupa helped business. In fact, we recently revamped our
callers to the Top 50 financial firms were and encouragement to get well. This me come to terms with my illness and employee bonus scheme to place an even
was so special and I felt that Bupa kept my mind focused on beating it. greater focus on customer satisfaction.
satisfied or extremely satisfied with their really cared. I was not just another “I am one of your most grateful Under the new scheme, managers will
experience. Little wonder, then, that no less number on an insurance file.” customers and have probably got the review the way advisors handle customers’
“From my past experience of running word ‘Bupa’ running through my body calls and give them a score that will form a
than six out of the ten top performers in the a large public company, the good points key measure for their employee rewards.
like a stick of Brighton rock! Thank you.”
programme are from this sector. We also make sure we follow up with
customers to check how satisfied they are —
each month 1,200 customers are surveyed

49% Nearly half of consumers say they would be more loyal about the service they received from the
call centre. Some recent comments
to a company after a positive call centre experience included: “A very helpful chap
resolved all my issues,” and
“you gave the best service.”
Coventry Building But what really sets us

86%
apart is Nationwide’s
Society PRIDE philosophy. PRIDE
“TALKING TO THE COVENTRY? It’s like stands for Putting
coming home.” What makes a customer say members first, Rising to
that about our call centre? Mrs Woods could the challenge, Inspiring
tell you. A long-standing member of the Overall performance score confidence, Delivering
Coventry, she had an appointment at a best value and
for financial services
medical centre on the same business park as Exceeding
the Society’s call centre. call centres expectations. In short,
Frail, anxious, tired, and now lost, she was PRIDE helps remind our staff
on the point of collapse. That was when Phil of the need to put themselves
Blount found her. An advisor with the in the customer’s shoes to really
Coventry, he was on his way in for an evening excel in the service
shift. He didn’t know where the medical they provide.
centre was either. He didn’t know Mrs Woods
was a member of the Society. He just knew ING DIRECT
he had to do something. In Mrs Woods’ TEAM LEADER Katie “There is a really open, behaviour and instant prizes
words, Phil rescued her. He calmed her, Halls describes how she family atmosphere at such as chocolates when we
helped her to the clinic and reunited her feels about working for ING, and there are regular get a customer compliment, or
with her husband. Then he went to work. ING Direct: “I am proud to be briefings with senior where an agent gives “wow”
Quite simply, talking to the part of a company with great managers. I’ve been working as customer service.
Coventry is “like coming home” commitment to their staff and part of a team who meet with “Recently, I received global
because of the people who customers. I have never worked the ceo and directors to discuss recognition as the UK Team
in an organisation that’s so ideas and exchange feedback. Leader of the Year and was
work here. Everyone knows
vibrant. Everyone is “Customer service is a real given the fabulous opportunity
their job is to help customers approachable, with all focus for us and we are to visit ING Direct Italy — an
and they love delivering on managers accessible and rewarded with bi-monthly amazing experience and one I
that responsibility. sitting amongst their teams. Oscars, recognising role model will never forget.”

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LV Tesco Personal Finance Denplan

JOHN O’ROARKE, managing TESCO PERSONAL FINANCE is products and services, financial services. A JULIA DAWSON, director of customer services
director of LV= General the UK’s most successful from pet insurance to great example of this at Denplan, is sure that motivated, happy
Insurance, says: “Excellent supermarket bank. Since its credit cards. With 55 per is the Tesco Instant employees are essential for a successful
launch in 1997, we have grown cent of sales now Travel Insurance product,
customer service is central to the business and keeping customers happy.
to have over five million originating from the Internet which was an industry first.
culture in LV= and as our call centres are the “Senior management make sure they are
customer accounts. and 45 per cent of business This product lets customers
first point of contact for many of our customers, Tesco Personal Finance coming through the stores, we buy their travel insurance always available for staff in the open-plan
their success is of paramount importance. As a markets its products through have to make sure our products literally off-the-shelf. Another centre and a great deal of effort goes into
direct insurer, ensuring we provide an efficient, Tesco’s 1898 stores, with a are available where and when good example is in the in-store creating a sense of team work.
informative and friendly service is extremely permanent presence at over customers want them. cheque deposit facility. This “Our advisors recently took part in
important to us. 15,700 checkouts. Tesco Personal Finance aims means customers can also pay a charity “It’s a Knockout”, raising
“We believe in investing in the people who Since 1997, Tesco Personal to always be innovative in its cheques into their savings money for Dentaid, and also a
work for us and creating an excellent working Finance has launched 28 approach to delivering account as they shop. community action day, where
environment. We handle an average of 35,000 they gave a church garden and
calls a week, so it’s vital that staff reflect our a scout hut a makeover.”
friendly and open culture. And this spirit doesn’t go
“Throughout our business we actively unnoticed by customers. A recent
encourage a good work-life balance, and offer letter pays tribute to the culture of service
flexible working patterns to attract different excellence that we continue to nurture: “The
people to reflect our customer base. telephone conversations I just had are without
“LV= is a mutual organisation, meaning we doubt the finest example of customer service I
exist wholly for the benefit of our members and have ever experienced. It’s a credit to Denplan.”
customers. We aim to reflect this through our
customer services team and make our
customers feel valued.”
F&C Investments
AT F&C, WE TAKE time choosing our staff and
make no apologies for it. You can’t train
someone to naturally empathise with

Bollywood
the widow who’s never dealt with
finances, or the new parent who
desperately wants to make the right

calling Co-operative Financial Services

choices for their baby’s Child Trust
Fund. We use training to develop
financial knowledge, so we focus on
A new film based on WE’RE A COMPANY with soul — they build rapport with mandates? What other recruiting individuals who display an inherent
the most successful and it’s reflected in our contact
centres, where training
customers.
“During these uncertain
companies plough profits back
into the community through
ability and desire to help our customers.
Our customers are individuals, so we create an
English language book focuses new colleagues on the
core Co-operative
times, customers want to deal
with people who are friendly,
promoting responsible driving
and recycling?
environment where our staff can be individuals
too. We don’t provide scripts, or target call
in Indian history, One principles of value,
fairness and social
helpful and most importantly
whom they can trust,” says
The Co-operative’s vibrant,
dynamic contact centre
length, we just look for solutions. At F&C

Night In The Call responsibility.
We don’t target
Centre, is currently advisors on call
handling times, but
screening in India. rather on how well
Ann-Marie Stagg, who heads
the contact centre.
Where else can customers
influence business practices
through customer-led
environment is right at the
heart of the company and is a
credit to the passion,
commitment and dedication of
those working within it.
excellent customer service is a career choice,
not just a job, and there’s a real buzz in a team
who know they are making a difference. As one
customer put it, they are: “brilliant...absolutely
wonderful, very kind and very helpful.”

At last. Something to really shout about in

the financial services sector!
FTS - working on behalf of F&C Investments - is delighted to have achieved 3rd
place in the National Top 50 Call Centres for Customer Service, organised by
Call Centre Focus Magazine. • Inbound & outbound
telemarketing
Winning this award is living testament to our continued dedication in providing programmes
our partners with telemarketing solutions that really work.
• Customer acquisition
It proves that appreciation for our partners’ hard-won brand values is central
to what we practice. • Customer retention
It shows beyond doubt the true value of the Treating Customers Fairly culture • Customer service
that is embedded throughout our organisation.
FTS is a subsidiary of BNP Paribas SA, a European leader in global financial services with a Standard and Poors rating of AA+
• Revenue generation
Authorised and Regulated by The Financial Services Authority. Financial Telemarketing Services Ltd, Company No 02794024.
Registered Office: New Horizons, Studio Way, Borehamwood, Herts. WD6 5XX

Call Andrea Peskett or Nathalie Moreau on: 020 8324 3300 www.fts-ltd.com

TOP 50 CALL CENTRES FOR CUSTOMER SERVICEq NOVEMBER 2008


Prudential
THE CUSTOMER IS pivotal to everything
we do in the sales centre. Our advisors
regularly suggest ways to improve our
service based on their conversations
with customers. Many ideas are simple to
implement, which means they are
empowered to really make a difference.
Matt Hogan, head of direct marketing
at PruHealth says: “PruHealth’s aim is to
make people healthier and we actively
encourage our policyholders to engage
in a healthy lifestyle. This positive
attitude to health and wellbeing is
reflected in the manner of our sales
centre staff who make sure that a
customer’s interaction with us is of the
highest possible standard.”
Neil Bowyer, telephony director
(direct distribution), added: “The Top 50
initiative was a fantastic opportunity to
learn how real consumers benchmark us
against other great companies across a
variety of different industries. I’m
extremely proud of the team for getting
us into a top ten position, and we’ll use
the results to further improve our
customer experience.”
Abbey
ABBEY UNDERSTANDS that the real
secret to giving great service is down to
employing great people.
Our call centres create an environment
that encourages staff to take ownership
of the service that they deliver for every
single customer — and that approach is
reflected in some of the comments that
Abbey is starting to receive. One
customer recently left a comment to say
that the adviser they spoke to was “very
polite and helped me with exactly what
was needed — thanks a lot Abbey, you’ve
restored my faith in the banking system”.
Employing friendly people that
customers can depend on in this way is
critical — but it’s also the hardest thing to
get right. Luckily for Abbey, having
enjoyed success at the National Sales
Awards and also scooping a prestigious
Agent of the Month award earlier this
year, it looks as though our staff really
are committed to making sure that the
customer continues to come first.
Direct Line
“DIRECT LINE’S ETHOS has
always been to provide the
very best in customer service,”
says Frances Browning, head
of newsroom at Direct Line
Insurance. “In an increasingly
competitive market such as
insurance, we know that our
service delivery will be an
important differentiator.”
Direct Line began life in April
Five things you
should never put up
with from a call centre:
1. Interminable and confusing menus — especially
ones that are not specific enough and end up
taking you back to the beginning
2. Promises to do things that are then not done
3. NETMA (Nobody Ever
Tells Me Anything): lack
of knowledge about a
company’s products
or services
4. Having to redial other
departments, rather than
being put through
5. Lack of courtesy
If any of these do
happen, make sure
you complain to a
manager — companies
need to know when
their staff are not
performing well.
Simon Roncoroni, SR Consulting
TOP 50 CALL CENTRES FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE produced by United Business Media in association with The Timesq.
1985 with 63 employees and a
call centre in Croydon. It was
the first insurance company to
use the telephone as its main
channel of communication.
This was revolutionary at the
time, as out went the
middleman, commissions,
forms and jargon — and in came
speed, simplicity and a
common-sense human touch.
It is this relationship with the
customer that Direct Line is
now synonymous with. The
simple, straightforward ethos
that customers can get a
better deal by going direct —
either on the phone or via the
website — is still very relevant
for customers today.
Direct Line now has five call
centres across the UK.
NOVEMBER 2008q TOP 50 CALL CENTRES FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE
Churchill
“CHURCHILL INSURANCE is delighted to be an
inaugural member of the Top 50 Call Centres
for Customer service programme,” says Peter
Johnson, head of service at Churchill Insurance.
“The company’s core vision has always been
about delivering outstanding customer
service. From running a dedicated 24-hour
claims line to handling customer enquiries
and concerns, the call centre staff are geared
up to listen to and action customers’ needs.
They are also essential for realising Churchill’s
goal of not having any tricky claims forms to fill
in should the worst happen, or laborious
paperwork for policy amendments.”
Churchill is synonymous with its iconic
bulldog, which burst onto TV
screens in 1996. His
catchphrase ‘Oh yes!’ sums up
the firm’s attitude and is
mimicked up and down the
UK. Churchill nodding dogs can
be seen in many cars, as 1,000
are sold each month.
Lloyds TSB Insurance
ROBERT REGAN, HEAD OF sales and
operations at Lloyds TSB describes his work:
“When I’m asked outside of work what I do, as
soon as I mention the three words insurance,
call, and centre, I get one of two responses:
1. a glazed look appears across their face,
followed by a swift change of subject
2. a tirade of how much call centres anger
them, with their absurd wait times, etc,
So why is it that I am really proud of the place
I work? Because I‘m responsible for making
around 3,500 promises to customers every
week that when something really
bad happens in their life,
someone from my business
will make things better.
Have you ever been burgled?
Or flooded? Lost something
precious? Or accidentally spilt
red wine on your brand new cream
carpet? It’s not usually until something goes
wrong that you then think about your
insurance company in a different light.
Yes, we are a business and are fully aware
that we’re here to make money, but we never
lose sight of the fact that we are here to
protect our customers.
10q TOP 50 CALL CENTRES FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE produced by United Business Media in association with The Times

Incompetent.
Annoying. Sweatshops.
Why is it that these words are so often used about call
centres more than any other type of service?
Yes, there are some bad ones, but the majority provide an
excellent, cost effective means of communication. It’s that
simple.
Local government has in recent years recognised the positives
for both staff and customers alike.
In Slough,we launched a multi channel centre,MyCouncil,
in 2005. Over 300,000 customer enquiries come in annually now. More importantly, we
fixed first time, over 85% of those enquiries. Hardly ‘incompetent’?!
Independent Borough surveys indicate a 14% increase in customer satisfaction with Slough
Borough Council since MyCouncil opened. A staggering 81% of customers were satisfied with the
service they received when using MyCouncil direct.
Not so annoying then.
As for the team, many of whom have been here since day one; say they take pride in
their role. Stressful days are shared and so is light-hearted ‘banter’. And the newest
members, well some of them were customers. Would you actively seek to join a
‘sweatshop’? Didn’t think so.
So before you go down that well trodden road of negative opinion, why not first try out some of
the great service centres. Pop into ours if you are in Slough.
We think you’ll be surprised.

www.slough.gov.uk

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©2008 Satori Software, Ltd. All rights reserved. Satori Software and MailRoom ToolKit are trademarks of Satori Software, Ltd.
Call 0871 360 2203 or visit holidayextras.com/times2

TOP 50 CALL CENTRES FOR CUSTOMER SERVICEq NOVEMBER 2008

 TOP 50 CALL CENTRES FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE produced by United Business Media in association with The Timesq&&

Entertainment,
Neilson Active Holidays
THE STAFF IN OUR reservations team are not
the monotone type that put you off going on
your holiday. In fact, they are the opposite and

travel and leisure

positively bubble over with excitement when
talking about Neilson holidays. The reason?
They love what they do. Most members of
the contact centre team are ex-season
staff who have tried and tested Neilson
holidays first-hand. We make a valid point to
recruit reservations staff who share our
passion for active fun – whether it’s on the
slopes or the sea. We actively
encourage staff to visit our
resorts through
educational, company-
funded trips or concessions
that can be enjoyed with
family and friends. Thanks to
this first-hand experience, we’re
able to give our customers best tips, advising
them on anything from best-suited resort,
through room layout, to available equipment.
We feel this makes our customer service
stand head and shoulders above the rest and
ensures we give our customers the best
experience when booking a Neilson holiday.
An interesting observation about travel TOP PERFORMER
Holiday Extras
centres is that they make very little effort to
give extra information to callers. We’ve “WE AIM TO CREATE a
unique environment
basically made them a bit lazy by doing for our team which
tonnes of research on the Internet before reflects how they deal
with our customers,” says
ringing to book with all the exact details. Peter Mooney, head of
Holiaymakers can expect that to change, operations at market leading
travel add-on company,
though, as travel and leisure companies Holiday Extras. An open,
realise that offering details of other services relaxed working atmosphere
combined with an award-winning
is not only good customer service, but also
office building set in the Kent training courses to keep knowledge
offers additional sales opportunities. countryside provide the and skills up to date.
foundations for the excellent A performance-related bonus
The good news is that nearly all (96 per
customer service that Holiday system, prize giveaways, transparent
cent) enquiries were resolved first time — Extras consistently delivers. career progression and a lively social
The centre handles one million calls scene keep morale high. The team
a major tick in the box for any call centre
annually and quality of communication make regular use of a variety of
interaction. What’s more, the overriding with customers is one of the key internal communication channels
measures of staff performance.Every where issues are resolved quickly.
measure of success for these centres is how
one of the 120 team members “I personally think it’s
satisfied their customers are because they receives a two-week induction, absolutely critical to keep your
want you to feel happy about their brand. Just a quarterly morale meeting team happy,” concludes
with Mooney, a monthly Mooney. “If they’re happy,
as well, then, that 92 per cent of our mystery coaching session and regular the customer is happy.”
shoppers found these centres easy to use.

Virgin Atlantic
CUST TRIC is a key word in the
95%
Virgin Atlantic contact centre. Virgin
Atlantic customers have very high
expectations and the staff are recruited
and trained to deliver these ‘brilliant
basics’ to meet expectations and add
‘magic touches’ to exceed them. Which
might explain why they get at least ten
thank you letters each week. “One of the
perks of the job is reading the wonderful
letters that our customers have taken the
trouble to write,” says John Giddings,
general manager of the contact centre.
The monthly call quality programme is
designed to truly measure the customer
experience, as opposed to ‘tick box’
exercise. As Giddings says,”Does it really
matter whether or not the agent used the
customer’s name three times? What really
matters is how good the experience really
was” And the monthly customer
satisfaction survey supports the call
quality programme. “It’s pointless having
a yearly measure,” says Giddings. “If
something is wrong, we need to know
about it as soon as possible.” There’s no
doubt that customer service is taken
very seriously at Virgin Atlantic and
we believe the personal touch gives
us a competitive advantage.
Nearly all of the mystery shoppers got through to
entertainment, travel and leisure centres first time
P&O Ferries
OUR CALL CENTRE HAS been
painted in yellow, thought to
be the most powerful of
earth colours, symbolising
wisdom, tolerance and
patience — qualities we encourage in our
agents. Giant murals, specially chosen to evoke
happy thoughts, adorn the walls and large picture
windows offering a panoramic view of the English
Channel create a bright and positive environment.
Our teams become tribes — each one
recognisable by its Totem Pole. At the head of
each of these is a bear, a creature believed in
Native American folklore to possess the power to
assume the form of any being it meets. This
reminds our agents that through empathy with
our customers, we create a service they’ll want to
use again.
Each individual’s efforts determine the
customer’s perception of our service quality and a
sense of pride in our company’s achievements in
turn encourages the development of an inclusive
team culture. It’s this concept of cross-functional
team-work that drives our business success.
Haven Holidays
“THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE is a
core ethos throughout our
business,” says Haven Holidays’
call centre manager Sean Power,
who has been with the company
for 17 years. “The customer’s
first impression of their holiday is set by the call
centre, so it’s incredibly important.”
The success of the call centre can be seen not
just in the sales figures, but in the positive
response from customers:
“If there were more Kims in this world it would
be a better place, she has restored my faith in
human nature’, wrote one customer after
booking a break in Blackpool. “I wish every
company had a team like yours, then maybe
customers would not get so irritated,” said
another. “I’d like to congratulate
you on an excellent service.”
wrote Mr Smart.
But the centre has to be good
for the team as well. Rob
O’Brien sums it up by saying:
“I’ve tried other call centres but I
love it here. The training is
brilliant and the whole working
experience is really fun and enjoyable.”

NOVEMBER 2008q TOP 50 CALL CENTRES FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE

12q TOP 50 CALL CENTRES FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE produced by United Business Media in association with The Times
Lego
CHRISTMAS IS COMING and if you
work for one of the world’s biggest toy
companies it’s the best time of the year. Over
the next few months 100 multi-lingual,
multi-skilled advisors from all over Europe
will be sitting in Slough waiting to talk to
consumers from over 15 countries about the
LEGO sets they want for Christmas 2008.
Here’s what the LEGO Group’s experience
and innovation director has to say about the
impact contact centre advisors have on the
way LEGO develops new toys: “In the product
development area, we are very fortunate
to have committed creative individuals
whose passion for the products, proactive
approach to problem-solving and deep
concern for consumers make for a highly-
focused dialogue during our product
development process. Input from our
product specialists in the contact centre is an
essential component in developing new and
better products.”
People who call Lego give
great feedback because
they speak to fun,
reliable and engaging
advisors who embody
the brand values
TOP 50 CALL CENTRES FOR CUSTOMER SERVICEq OCTOBER 2008
£14,611
average salary for a new
agent in the travel sector.
Agents who leave call
centres in the travel sector
most frequently cite low
pay as the reason.
58,000
number of call centre
agents in the industry
11
average number of seconds
taken to pick up a call in
this sector (seems longer,
doesn’t it?)
95
percentage of callers who
got through first time to
centres in this sector
12.3%
the proportion of email
interactions is (more than
almost any other sector)
Statistics taken from ContactBabel UK Contact
Centre Operational Review, 5th edition
Emirates
“CUSTOMERS’ FIRST
IMPRESSIONS of us are likely to
originate with a phone call to
our European contact centre
located in Wilmslow,
Manchester,” says Paul
Henderson-Spoors, contact
centre manager at the
European centre. “We handle
up to approximately 130,000
calls per month from
customers based in the UK,
Ireland, France, Germany,
Emirates serves a rapidly expanding network,
stretching across 100 destinations in 62 countries
Austria, Italy and Switzerland,
365 days a year. It’s therefore
vitally important we deliver an
end-to-end customer
experience and our goals
include: getting through to an
agent quickly, empathy with
customers, and resolving
enquiries in a single call.
“We’re always looking at
ways of improving our service
levels and our involvement
with the Top 50 programme
will help provide a professional
assessment of how the airline
talks with its customers.”
Regarded as one of the
world’s most dynamic and
fastest growing carriers,
Emirates flies more than
17.5million passengers a year.
Since its launch in 1985, it has
received more than 400
awards in recognition of its
efforts to provide unsurpassed
levels of customer service.
National Rail Enquiries
“REMEMBER, IT IS AN ACTUAL person on the
other end of the phone” became more than just
a saying when an advisor for National Rail
Enquiries (NRE) was seriously injured in a
motorbike accident.
Gordon D’souza, a key member of the NRE
contact centre team in Mumbai, India was left
in a coma and on a ventilator fighting for his
life. Determined to help, the entire NRE team
sprang into action. The same passion that
drives the outstanding performance levels of
300 advisors in Rotherham, South Yorkshire
and 300 advisors in Mumbai, India was
employed to raise thousands of pounds
to assist in paying for his critical care.
Tejpal Singh, head of contact centres
for NRE, says: “I am very proud of the
way the team came together and
really put themselves out.” Gordon’s
condition has improved and although he
remains in hospital, he is in a stable condition.
Singh concludes: “It’s not so much what we do,
as it is who is doing it that makes the NRE
contact centres so special.”
National
Express
WHETHER IT’S by
train, coach or bus,
customers are at the heart of
everything we do at
National Express, and for
those with disabilities, we
want to pay them a little
extra attention.
To achieve our aim of ‘Making
Travel Simpler’, our award-winning Assisted
Travel Team gives an extra helping hand to
thousands of people travelling the country
every month. What’s more, the National
Express Disability Group, which involves
various focus groups nationwide, debates
travel issues to find the best solutions and
ensure we are providing the right level of
support.
National Express also has a strong
commitment to employee engagement and
recognising outstanding performance.
“Working for National Express is a really
enjoyable experience,” says Umar Imtiaz at our
Birmingham contact centre. His team were
rewarded recently for being part of a winning
team that achieved ambitious customer
satisfaction targets. “This incentive was a
brilliant bonus and a great way for the company
to show us that our hard work has not gone
unnoticed and that my involvement does
matter,” concludes Imtiaz.

82%
Premier Inn
THE UK’S BIGGEST and
fastest growing hotel
chain, Premier Inn has Overall performance score
more than 500 hotels for entertainment, travel
and 37,000 rooms in the and leisure call centres
UK and Ireland. At the
heart of the organisation is
the contact centre team who
deal with three million calls and
emails a year and who, in 2007/08,
contributed more than £1million to the
success of
Premier Inn.
Thanks to our diverse team and their ability overseas during the offshoring boom. Government-
to meet the needs of our similarly diverse
guests, we ensure customers know what to
expect and that we will deliver what we say
we will —every time.
Communication is ongoing and varied to keep
the team up-to-date with the many changes
and challenges affecting the company — this
includes urestricted access to the Internet,
weekly huddles, team briefings, brand
knowledge and days out, as well as Keep In
Touch senior management briefings and
conferences. The employee survey always
returns a score of more than 90 per
cent and the ad-hoc feedback
we receive is great too:
“Always a good atmosphere”,
“fantastic flexibility”, “I feel
appreciated and part of a team
that’s making a contribution”.
TOP 50 CALL CENTRES FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE produced by United Business Media in association with The Timesq&(
Sky Eurostar
“Sky warmly welcomes the opportunity AT THE EUROSTAR contact
to benchmark our performance with
centre we provide a personal
other leading organisations,” says sales
contact point for our
director Dave Rumble. “Our goal is to
deliver a simple, reliable and personal service customers, whether by phone,
to all our customers and we plan to use the e-mail or the good old-fashioned written word.
Top 50 initiative to support the continuous Why are we different? Because we
development of our leading customer encourage all our highly motivated staff to use
management capabilities.” the personal touch, scripts are a no-no,
Customer service is at the heart of our personality is a big YES! We pride ourselves in
business and we are one of Scotland’s biggest
the fact that our people have the tools and
private sector employers with more than
personalities to deliver great service; giving
6,000 people in our contact centres in
Livingston, Dunfermline and Uddingston. We our travellers a personalised experience every
place considerable investment in training and time they contact us, whether they are
coaching our people and we are also very booking a ticket, claiming points or raising an
proud of our award-winning accessibility issue – the mantra “Think Customer” is at the
service, which offers a one-stop-shop for heart of everything we do.
disabled customers. As a result, typical customer feedback
Sky is the UK’s leading entertainment
includes comments like these:
company and operates the most
“The whole conversation left me loving
comprehensive multi-channel, multi-
platform television service in the UK and Eurostar even more.”
Ireland, and our aim is to “She was excellent; very helpful, polite,
offer unparalleled choice
21million viewers
and 8.9million
cheerful and courteous-an excellent
in content, delivered
households enjoy a
ambassador for Eurostar.”
through innovative and vast choice of “I just wanted to drop you a short line to give
technological advanced channels on Sky the highest commendation to a member of
platforms that best serve and 3.4million use your team.”
the growing demands of Sky+ to record and
“I cannot remember the last time I
today’s viewers. store programmes
encountered such a friendly and helpful
person at the end of a telephone.”
Only around 3-5% of UK call centre functions went “I cannot praise your services enough... I
walked around with a smile on my face for the
rest of the day. Thank you so much for your
commissioned research in 2005 suggested that any wonderful customer care!”
trade gap created would be more than filled by the
general growth trend for business services
Thomas Cook
THE VICTORIAN pioneer who completely focused helped to arrange
founded Thomas Cook and on improving wheelchair assistance
gave it his name described customer service and at the airport. The
himself as “the willing and creating a workplace journey went well and the
devoted servant of the culture committed to next day, when I answered
travelling public”. learning and development. the phone, I was very surprised
Today, more than 160 years Our fantastic staff are to hear it was Valerie asking if
later, those words remain a celebrated every quarter when Dad had arrived safely in the
fitting foundation for the our Customer Heroes are UK. We have been travelling
company he created. The goal announced. Typical of these is for years and until now, I have
of the Thomas Cook sales Valerie Lickerish. One never received a follow up call.
centre is to be number one in customer said: “My father is I can’t stop telling my friends
the travel industry and is 78-years-young and Valerie about how kind Valerie was.”
NOVEMBER 2008q TOP 50 CALL CENTRES FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE
14q TOP 50 CALL CENTRES FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE produced by United Business Media in association with The Times

Public sector
You remember those days when TOP PERFORMER

Kent County Council
Derek Smith, of Contact Kent, the call centre
for Kent County Council, says: “I have worked
in contact centres, for many years, but this is
the most complicated, diverse and life
changing environment of them all.
“The commitment we have to our customers
is seen through the variety of calls we
handle and our customer focus. We don’t
target how long a call should last, but focus
on what is right for that caller. The service is
offered all day every day and with no IVR or
speech recognition — it’s a service for people
delivered by people. A typical day in the life
of a customer service representative may
involve starting at 12pm and finishing at
8pm, taking 162 calls of all different kinds,
including: enrolling 22 people on evening
courses; helping one person to apply for a
disabled Blue Badge and chasing up an
application made three weeks ago; logging
two requests for a pot hole to be filled in and
reporting a faulty streetlight; making
appointments to register five deaths and
seven births ; explaining the rights when
buying a second hand car to three people;
and renewing 20 library books.
the first two pages of your Thomson Local were Cambridgeshire County Council
taken up with separate numbers for each of the
different departments of your local council?
Well, in 2006 Tony Blair decided this wasn’t
good enough and asked chairman of Her
Majesty’s Revenue and Customs David Varney
to come up with a blueprint for creating call
centres for local and central government that
people could contact by simply phoning one
number. The result? The public sector is catching
up to the private sector in terms of customer (or
citizen) satisfaction.
This is quite something when you consider BALANCING THE CONCEPT of the caller and signed off with the words: “Just tell
on the line being your next best friend them I love them and that I’m sorry.”
that agents working in public sector call centres and delivering cost effective and Realising the caller was distressed, the
have to cope with an unimaginable variety of efficient customer service is not that call handler contacted the council’s
easy, but it’s what Cambridgeshire Direct Emergency Duty Team who responded
queries and requests — anything from what strives to deliver. Chief executive Mark to find the caller had taken a cocktail of
time the bin man comes to questions about Lloyd recently praised staff for the alcohol and drugs and had fallen. The
support they give to the residents of appropriate emergency services were
claiming child benefit or talking to someone who Cambridgeshire and for “making soon on the scene.
has recently suffered bereavement. In spite of customer service the norm.” The whole team‘s customer service
Testament to the staff’s dedication is ethos is simply summed up by one of the
this, the survey showed that 93 per cent of
the recognition that a routine library dedicated employee: “Providing
queries are resolved on the first call and centres service call was in fact a desperate plea customer service is my passion, it’s a
for help. A caller rang the call centre part of who I am. If I went a day without
came in for particular praise for being easy to
asking for them to contact her friends helping people, I wouldn’t be me!”
use and reliable.

Surrey County Council

Liverpool Direct
LIVERPOOL DIRECT LIMITED (LDL) provides
public access services to more than one
million customers and is proud to be able to
shatter the false perception many people
have of ‘battery hen’ contact centres. Highly
trained staff use state of the art technology
to provide services to some of the most
vulnerable sections of society.
We’re particularly proud of our life-saving
Telecare service, which helps the elderly
maintain independent living at home. The
Telecare system ensures that anyone with
the system installed at home will be
responded to quickly, potentially saving a life.
For example, when the gas sensor was
triggered in the home of a 78-year-old man
with dementia, it alerted staff at the LDL call
centre, who rang Transco. They found a leak
and the cooker pipe was
Founded in 2001,
made safe. Or the example LDL provides a
of the 76-year-old who fell range of services,
and pressed the button on including debt
collection, payroll
his fall pendant, alerting services and an
the LDL call centre, which emergency centre
then sent an ambulance. for Defra
Driving Standards Agency
Staff from every level of the
organisation describe the
work of the call centre:
“I’m delighted that the staff
in our call centre have received
such recognition for their
commitment to our customers.
The work they do is vital to
DSA and their place in the Top
50 is testament to their hard
work and dedication. I am very
proud of their achievement.”
Rosemary Thew, chief
executive.
“We balance daily the needs of
our business customers and
the public — we’re more than
aware that we have to be the
best.” Jason Falk, customer
operations manager.
“There’s never a dull moment
working here – it’s a fast paced
environment where no two
days are the same. It’s good to
see through the Top 50
programme that companies
are keen to change the poor
image of call centres.” Victoria
Wright, supervisor.
“I enjoy working at the DSA, as
there is a friendly, family type
of atmosphere, which helps
morale and productivity.
Managers are always
supportive and understanding
towards staff and help guide
and assist with career
progression.” Dave Shell, call
centre agent.
AT SURREY COUNTY COUNCIL, we are aware
that “having to phone the council” may fill some
people with dread, because the perception is
often one of an impersonal service and
bureaucracy. But we treat all our customers as
individuals, recognising that different people
choose to contact us in a variety of ways at
different times of day. With customer
satisfaction scores consistently over 95 per
cent every month, our success is due to the
hard work and professionalism of our team
of 100 dedicated customer service agents
who handle around 50,000 calls a month, the
vast majority of which are answered in less
than 20 seconds.
Nick Skellett, leader of the county council,
says: “Focusing on the needs of our 1.1million
residents is key to the way that we conduct
our business across the whole of the council.
The fantastic work carried out by our contact
centre is truly representative of our ethos of
placing the customer at the heart
of everything we do.”
And it’s a great place to
work too, as agent Rashmi
Dave concludes: “It’s so
motivating to work in a team
environment like this.”

TOP 50 CALL CENTRES FOR CUSTOMER SERVICEq NOVEMBER 2008


DVLA
DVLA’S AWARD WINNING
contact centre answers calls
and emails on vehicle and
driver-related enquiries from
the public, commercial customers
and public bodies — but that doesn’t even
begin to convey the complex and in-depth
enquiries our contact centre advisors handle
on a daily basis.
We know that the initial contact from a
member of the public is DVLA’s first
opportunity to make a good impression and
demonstrate the professionalism of the
organisation. Therefore, our customer service
agents are highly-trained and have a
deserved reputation for delivering a quick and
quality service that’s bespoke to the
customer’s needs.
The ‘buzz’ created by the contact centre’s
vibrant working conditions and the
enthusiastic approach of our staff is always a
source of comment by visitors to the centre.
The ongoing focus is firmly on performance
and continuous improvement, with customer
satisfaction and multiple channel self-
services at the forefront of all we do.
Worried about staff being
exposed to angry callers,
there are examples of
public sector centres
launching training to
help agents recognise
and effectively handle
and diffuse ‘phone rage’
£14,759
salary of a new call centre
agent in the public sector
22%
proportion of calls met with
an IVR system
28
the average number of
seconds to answer a call to a
public sector centre
58%
the proportion of time agents
spend on the phone as
opposed to completing
admin tasks
7%
of calls are dealt with through
self-service (compared to an
industry average of 17%)
Statistics taken from ContactBabel UK Contact Centre
Operational Review, 5th edition
Slough Borough Council
SLOUGH IS OFTEN regarded as
a true microcosm of the UK in
terms of its diverse make-up.
A booming ‘mini’ economy
and the first and biggest
business park in Europe,
creates a uniquely challenging
environment for the council.
But we are committed to
delivering excellent value for
money services to all our
residents and to improving
accessibility to all.
TOP 50 CALL CENTRES FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE produced by United Business Media in association with The Timesq&*
78%
Overall performance score
for public sector
call centres
The customer service
department, MyCouncil, leads
the way in that commitment by
providing help and advice to
our residents. Based in a state
of the art facility in Slough
High Street, MyCouncil is able
to engage with residents
through email, telephone and
in person.
In the past year alone, the
centre has dealt with 500,000
customer enquiries and strives
Her Majesty’s Revenue
and Customs (HMRC)
HMRC’S AWARD WINNING contact centres
deal with 60million calls every year, across a
wide-range of different subjects. Our aim is
simple: to make it as easy as possible for our
customers to get it right.
We’ve come a long way — as several award
wins and an overall customer satisfaction
score of 90 per cent show — but there’s still
lots to do and we welcome the feedback
from the Top 50 survey.
We can’t afford to stand still. We’re
opening a new call centre at Lillyhall,
Cumbria in early 2009, which will be HMRC’s
20th UK contact centre, and will take us up
to a total headcount of around 10,000 staff.
Head of HMRC contact centres Linda
Maslen says: “Our staff receive extensive
training and support to deliver a high
level of customer service that reflects
our commitment to providing
exceptional service through
exceptional people.
“The new Lillyhall contact
centre will bring continued
improvement to our
customers’ experience
and support HMRC’s
business plans.”
London Borough
of Lambeth
LAMBETH, IN SOUTH WEST London has high
levels of unemployment and residents
claiming benefits. But the council, together
with JobCentre Plus, has come up with a
scheme to encourage residents who have
been unemployed for long periods of time
back into work and to improve performance
in our contact centres.
Residents who had not worked for long
periods of time or had low skill levels were
given an opportunity to train and work in
customer care on a part-time basis.
Merlin Newell is a shining example of how
successful the scheme has been. She
explains: “Being out of an office
environment for such a long time made it
difficult for me to find work. Since I joined
the council, I have been trained in a number
of service areas, including parking, street
care, registry, and generally to inform
residents about the range of services
offered by the council. I’d definitely
recommend this training scheme to others.”
to handle each one with
courtesy and professionalism.
“We want to demonstrate
that we are committed to
service excellence, “ insists
head of customer service Zena
Miller. “To be able to measure
ourselves against the best
across a broad spectrum in the
Top 50 will hopefully dispel the
myth that the Public sector
somehow don’t care about
their customers.”
NOVEMBER 2008q TOP 50 CALL CENTRES FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE
16q TOP 50 CALL CENTRES FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE produced by United Business Media in association with The Times
Retail and
distribution
Thanks to the Internet, home shopping
has never been easier, but when you have a
more complex order or a query, you might need
to call the retailer. So how does the shopping
experience stack up on the phone? Pretty well,
actually, as this sector was revealed to be the
strongest performer of the five, with the top
average score and three retail companies
making it into the top ten performers.
This could be because the best retail and
distribution companies are realising that a
time of economic uncertainty means holding
on to existing customers is more important
than ever. And that means spending more
time and money making sure that every
customer contact is a good one.
GfK’s mystery shoppers found that in 74
per cent of cases they got through in less
than a minute, compared to an overall
average of 58 per cent.
69%
of UK consumers would be less likely to purchase from
a company after a negative contact centre experience
TOP 50 CALL CENTRES FOR CUSTOMER SERVICEq NOVEMBER 2008
TOP PERFORMER
Laithwaites
SUPERB CUSTOMER service is something
we pride ourselves on at Laithwaites.
Everyone at the company on all levels works
hard to develop the personal relationships
we establish with customers. This is
something that has been the essence of the
company since it was started by Tony
and Barbara Laithwaite 40 years ago.
Almost everyone who works for
Laithwaites starts, or gains
experience of, working in our call
centre before moving into the wider
business. The experience of direct
contact with our customers, dealing
with wine enquires and helping iron out any
problems gives our talented employees a
key understanding of excellent service. This
commitment is then taken with them
wherever they end up within the company.
We never rest on our laurels and are always
striving to go the extra mile. Call centres in
the UK do not have the best of reputations,
but we are proud to challenge that with a
passion and attention to detail to ensure the
customer experience is the best it can be.
Boots
“WE’RE PROUD OF our heritage and value the trust
that people put in the brand,” says Graham Hardy,
head of customer care at Boots. “And the call
centre is a key part of maintaining that trust.”
Based at the central support offices in
Nottingham, the centre has 250 seats with
a seasonally fluctuating population — and
we even have some agents working from
home. Everyone is expert at their role and
has a desire to give the best customer care,
reflecting the quality of service and expertise
delivered in our stores. As the primary support for
the Advantage loyalty card, boots.com and Boots
Opticians, our call centre employees are keen to
look after customers with helpful advice and to put
things right when they go wrong.
We truly value our staff
Boots UK Ltd is the
and offer them a safe, retail business of
supportive environment, Alliance Boots,
where they’re kept formed from a
informed, where we seek merger with
Alliance UniChem in
their views, and where they 2006, and has 2,550
are offered opportunities healthcare outlets
for personal development. all over the country
Charles
Tyrwhitt
NICK WHEELER, founder of
fine shirt-maker Charles
Tyrwhitt, has two driving
passions: great quality products and
outstanding customer service. He spends a
couple of hours every month listening to
calls, he replies personally to his customer
correspondence and every day finds him
avidly reading feedback left on the website.
With that sort of direction it is hardly
surprising that the call centre is committed
to understanding what the customer wants
and then trying to go one better.
There is a strong belief that the success of
the brand is down to the commitment of its
people. The Charles Tyrwhitt team focuses
on giving individual service rather than just
taking orders and every call is seen as an
opportunity to gather valuable information,
or solve a problem and put a smile on the
customer’s face. After all, it could be the only
chance we have to make sure that customer
buys from us again.
M&S Direct
WE AIM TO CONSISTENTLY
delight our customers with
service that is personalised
and appropriate to ensure
they keep shopping with us.
What our customers say about us
is vital to our continued development, as it’s
only through listening to their feedback that
we can drive positive change. One customer
told us recently: “Elaine took the time to fully
understand my issues, she made enquiries of
other areas of M&S, returned my calls and has
fully resolved my issue, all the while being
sensitive and sympathetic to my needs.”
Our four contact centres have to be
enormously flexible to meet demand, ranging
from 500 to over 1,000 staff at any one time.
Despite the scale of our operations, the key to
getting the customer experience right is the
quality of individuals working for us. We
proactively seek out positive, respectful and
determined people who take ownership for
recovering any issues that arise.
It’s important to make everyone feel part of
one virtual M&S team so that we can project
the brand consistently. After all, it’s not just a
contact centre, it’s an M&S contact centre.
 TOP 50 CALL CENTRES FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE produced by United Business Media in association with The Timesq&,

Specsavers
SPECSAVERS WAS BUILT upon
the premise of value for money,
quality eye care and strong
customer service. Therefore, it
was only natural to create a call
centre to further improve
customer service. Mary
Perkins, founder of Specsavers,
says: “The call centre is vital in
maintaining high standards of
customer service and I’m
delighted that all their hard
work is being recognised.”
An essential part of
establishing the call
centre was recruiting
individuals with a
personality and who
enjoy helping people. This
focus has not only created a
centre for customer service
excellence, but also a great
place to work.
Staff are rewarded for
achieving high standards and
can even aspire to becoming
king or queen of call quality.
Laura Kellow-Web, the current
queen, says: “It’s nice
to be recognised and
to work in a company
with such a huge focus on
exceeding expectations.”
Jonathan George, head of call
centre services says: “The
customer is at the core of the
centre and staff are always
encouraged to do whatever
they can to assist.” Our place
in the Top 50 will ensure we
continue to develop ways to to
deliver world-class service.

Dealing with customers

can sometimes be hard…
Tech support: I need you to right click on the desktop
Customer: Ok
Tech support: Did you get a pop-up menu?
Customer: No
Tech support: Ok, sir. Can you tell me what you’ve done up until this point?
Customer: Yes — you told me to write click, so I wrote click

John Lewis Direct

BEING PART OF THE John
Lewis partnership means
customer service is at
the forefront of what we
do. Perhaps this is why
www.johnlewis.com is
consistently ranked one
of the UK’s top online
shopping destinations.
Johnlewis.com aims to Direct says: “It’s very “It’s really important
be the best of the store exciting to work in such a that we exceed those
online and has grown fast-paced environment expectations, and my job
incredibly fast, with full for such a well-known is to work with the
year sales of £268million brand. We have been contact centres to help
in 2007. That growth has working on moving from deliver that. Customer
been supported by an being a fantastic
Comet in-house team at head e-commerce website to
service will be crucial in
the run-up to Christmas
office in Chelsea, as well become a great shopping this year and we are
COMET CELEBRATES its 75th birthday this year
as two contact centres in experience, which quite working to ensure that
and the business has grown to become one of
Scotland. rightly drives a high we’ll be on top of our
the largest electrical specialists — with customer Richard King, customer expectation of excellent game to support the sale
care at its core. service development service over the phone of great value and
Click & Chat, an award-winning innovative manager for John Lewis and via email. inspiring products.”
online chat service, which is run from Comet’s
customer information centre in Hull, is a great
example of Comet’s commitment to remaining
at the cutting edge of customer care. This chat
service offers online customers immediate

87%
access to expert product knowledge and
advice through a Click & Chat button on the
screen that connects directly in real time to a
product expert within the Comet
customer information centre.
Initially launched to support
Plasma and LCD TVs, the Overall performance score
service has proved so popular for retail and distribution
(90 per cent of customers rate call centres
it as “extremely useful”), it now
covers most product areas. Click &
Chat allows us to replicate online the excellent
personal service that’s available in our stores.

NOVEMBER 2008q TOP 50 CALL CENTRES FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE

18q TOP 50 CALL CENTRES FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE produced by United Business Media in association with The Times

Telecoms 82%
and Utilities Overall performance score
for telecoms and utilities
call centres

With an increasing number of TOP PERFORMER

price comparison websites springing up, it’s United Utilities

never been easier to switch suppliers — and
most telecoms and utilities businesses are
realising that in order to hold on to their
existing customers they are going to have
to compete on more than just price.
This means that a great deal of investment
is being made to ensure that each and every
customer that contacts a telecoms or utility
company feels good about doing business
with that supplier.
Indeed, for a sector that tends to perform
badly in industry benchmarking surveys,
the centres in the Top 50 are proving once
and for all that ringing your water company
or mobile company is not always the arduous
task you might expect. In fact, a whopping
97 per cent of queries posed by our mystery
shoppers were resolved efficiently.
WHEN IT COMES to professional
customer service, Vicky Bigrigg
is a shining light. The
dedication of this United
Utilities customer service
advisor, and her 400
colleagues, has helped the
North West water company
perform best of the telecoms
and utilities companies in the Top 50.
The 29-year-old from Cleaton Moor
deals with billing issues affecting
water and wastewater — and doesn’t
rest until a customer query is
resolved to everyone’s satisfaction.
Vicky’s team manager, Barbara
Powe, is full of praise: “Vicky is a
compassionate individual. She is 100
per cent committed to her job, and
always goes that extra step to
guarantee customer satisfaction.”
Customer services director Brian
Hurd adds: “Our team is the main
point of contact for more than seven
million people across the North West.
It’s a fast moving and complex
industry, and employees need to be
extremely knowledgeable, and full of
initiative. Vicky is a great example of
this philosophy in action. We are all
thrilled to be recognised as among
the best in the country.”
Carphone Warehouse
“I BELIEVE THAT THE Top 50 programme will
help the UK contact centre marketplace
demonstrate that in recent years a
tremendous amount of great work
has been achieved in helping
organisations truly put the
customer back at the heart of
decisions and processes they
implement,” says Nigel
Pearson, director customer
service and online sales at
Carphone Warehouse (CPW).
Founded in 1989 by Charles Dunstone,
CPW was built on the premise of great
customer service and the ability to deliver
‘simple, impartial advice’ in the ever-
complex world of mobile phone purchasing.
With the same principle the company has
expanded into nine further countries across
Europe — and even in North America.
And to further build the company’s market-
leading position, CPW is taking steps to evolve
its customer proposition and offer a broader
retail experience. By applying the same
customer principles it brought to mobile
phones to the laptop and broadband market,

21% The relatively low proportion of outbound calls made
by utility suppliers may surprise many consumers
Vodafone
VODAFONE IS ON a mission
to allow people to see the
centre as a learning and
development environment
and as somewhere that is
creating strong foundations for the future of
the industry as a whole. For example, the “Take
a Chance” initiative, where school children are
brought into the call centre in order
to dispel any misconceptions of the
environment. This raises our profile
and demonstrates to the local
community our commitment to
them, our company, and the mobile
and call centre industry.
One of these pupils was Hannah
Wilkinson, who joined us last year
and was a finalist in the National
Customer Service Awards 2008.
She says: “I was so taken with the
people at Vodafone. It’s a great
place to work and such an
opportunity to make a difference
to our customers. I love it!”
Orange
WE HAVE OVER a million conversations with
customers every week, but the real challenge
is that customers today are now more product-
savvy and demanding of top-quality service
than ever before.
At Orange we understand that good
customer service means feeling valued and
understood, knowing someone owns your
problem and will help, and being delighted
with the service. We are evolving
our business to help us achieve
this, including the launch of our
Brilliant Service strategy. Front
line staff will be managed and
rewarded based on delivering
brilliant customer service, rather
than working towards sales or
efficiency targets.
This marks a fundamental shift
away from traditional
call centre models,
but we believe
this new focus is
needed to make
our customers
feel valued and
cared for.
EDF Energy
EFFECTIVE CUSTOMER
service is about building a
two-way relationship. Quite
rightly, our customers demand
more and more from their energy
supplier. It might at first seem an odd thing for
us to say, but we want our customers to use less
energy. That’s because, as a company, we are in
this for the long-term and we believe that
climate change is the biggest challenge we all
face. Our advisors are trained to give energy
efficiency advice to customers, helping them
cut their carbon footprint and save money.
We aim to reduce the intensity of our own
CO2 emissions from our electricity production
by 60 per cent by 2020. We have had a long-
term commitment to keeping our call centres in
the UK and we are also continuing to lead the
industry with our special help for our most
vulnerable customers.
It might seem ambitious, but as an energy
company, we recognise we are part of the
problem — so we must be part of the solution:
save today, save tomorrow.
the company is democratising a wider world
of technology for customers.
O2
WE BELIEVE THAT happy
employees lead to happy
customers, so we always try
to give our people the same
great experience we give our
customers. In fact, employee
involvement is becoming part of our DNA,
with a number of new initiatives, including a
group of frontline workers playing a key role
in decision-making and a full scale inquiry to
find out from retail customers what great
service feels like.
So it’s more than an inspiring working
environment, great benefits and fantastic
career opportunities that make O2 a great
place to work. It may sound like a cliché, but
it’s our people that make the difference. A
year ago, O2 people all made a promise to
each other — a shared
vision of the O2 we wanted “We are number one
to be. We called it The O2 in our market for
customer numbers
People Promise and it is
these seven simple
and satisfaction and
principles that underpin
have out-performed
the rest of the
everything we stand for as market in terms of
a company and everything profit growth over
we do for each other. the last few years.”

TOP 50 CALL CENTRES FOR CUSTOMER SERVICEq NOVEMBER 2008


What can be done to
improve the service
given to customers
over the phone?
Tim Bishop, chief
strategy officer for
technology giant
Siemens, shares
his thoughts
A desire for change
What are the main challenges for call centres?
To really get a handle on what was challenging call centres, we commissioned
a research programme earlier this year, which reached more than 500
customer service agents from both public and private sectors. Three day-to-
day challenges stood out — and they all have a technology component:
Challenge one: Agents actually spend relatively little time in focused
communication with the caller, about 29 per cent of their available time. The
rest they spend entering data onto systems, reading information from
screens, making notes and querying with colleagues. This is a real problem,
since the whole benefit of speaking to another person is to get that human-
to-human interaction.
Challenge two: Call centre staff have to wrestle with a complex and ever-
changing IT environment. Half of the respondents had experienced a
significant technology upgrade within the last six months, and yet are still
having to manage an average of five different software applications whilst on
a call. Indeed, five per cent of agents are regularly dealing with over 15
applications! Just managing the IT places a major demand on the agent — and
so saps time and intellect away from engaging with the caller. Of all potential
productivity improvement initiatives, agents voted for better IT systems as
the number one choice, with a majority of 61 per cent.
Challenge three: Worryingly, 46 per cent of the employees surveyed
agreed or strongly agreed with the statement: “I believe there are obvious
changes that could be made to the IT systems and processes we currently use
in the contact centre that would improve the customer experience.” In many
cases, it’s obvious to the agents what needs to be done, but somehow their
voice is not being heard.
How do you think they can be solved?
Clearly, involving the agents themselves in designing their work experience and
the desired caller experience would be a huge and positive step. They
TOP 50 CALL CENTRES FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE produced by United Business Media in association with The Timesq&.
The wacky
science bit
Touch-tone menus have
given call centre technology
a bad name, but recent
advances could improve
your customer experience
Speech analytics
WE’VE ALL HEARD the phrase: “Your call may
be recorded for training purposes,” but
there’s another reason for these recordings.
By scanning calls with sophisticated voice
recognition software, computers can pick
out phrases such as “very disappointed” or
even a word like “wow”, to find out what
customers think about a product or service.
Emotion detection
FEELING PRETTY frustrated talking to an
agent? Well, the company could soon know
just how you’re feeling through an emotion
detection system. The technology tracks the
volume and pitch of your voice to create an
idea of how you feel — and can even warn the
agent if they’re about to get an ear-bashing!
Visual IVR
THIS COMBINES traditional voiced-based
services — you know, ‘say yes if your details
are correct’ — with a video application
allowing you to interact with a live video
stream on a mobile handset or any media
that can carry voice.
Presence
ANYONE FAMILIAR with Instant Messenger
will probably know how to set themselves as
understand that complexity is damaging the experience, and where their online, away, busy, lunching etc. Similar
software running in companies will allow
brainpower is being directed toward internal systems and processes and not
people who aren’t actually in the contact
customer engagement. From a technology point of view, there are new
centre to show if they’re available for a call.
approaches to integrating systems that could provide call centre workers with So if your call needs some expert help, the
one application. This hides the complexity of back-office systems and can be agent or IVR may connect you with someone
designed to exactly mirror the desired customer experience, allowing the outside the call centre but with exactly the
agents to focus their energy on the customer. expertise to solve your problem.
My poor
Why do you think call centres have such a bad
reputation in the eyes of the UK public?
Frankly, some of them deserve a bad reputation because, in an effort to drive
out cost and improve internal performance metrics, they have lost sight of the
basics: providing a positive, effective interaction between the caller and the
ears!
From a poll conducted by Siemens
agent. Equally, many very good call centres never hit the headlines because SHOCKING THINGS agents have heard from
they achieve this goal of easy interaction. callers who thought they were on hold:
The experience should be as unobtrusive as possible, with the caller barely ■ One in ten have been forced to listen to
registering that they are talking to a call centre. And that’s why the Top 50 someone using the bathroom
■ A quarter have overheard couples having
initiative is so important, because it brings excellent practice into the spotlight.
an argument — and one agent heard one in
Given the ideal of being entirely unobtrusive — good practice really does need which the woman described her partner’s
exposing. bedroom performance as “rubbish”
■ One in 20 have been serenaded by
unsuspecting customers
The industry has changed a lot in 20 years: ■ One agent in the poll caught a fraudster
what does the future hold for call centres? who, thinking he was on hold to claim he
I see call centres penetrating much deeper into organisations. If, for instance was unemployed was overheard serving
you are calling your local authority planning department and the expert who customers in the shop he was working in
can answer your query is not in the call centre but in the planning office, why
shouldn’t you be able to talk to them anyway? The technology now exists to On a more serious note, though…
■ Almost half of agents have been sworn at
reach sources of expertise around an organisation wherever it is, and to make
and 35 per cent have been called stupid
more visible what level of service is being offered. I can see a future where the
■ Three quarters have overheard people
call centre and the organisation actually become one and the same. moaning about them or the company
Tim Bishop is chief strategy officer at Siemens Enterprise Communications
■ Each agent has to put up with seven angry
020 75264861, www.siemens.co.uk/enterprise outbursts every single day
NOVEMBER 2008q TOP 50 CALL CENTRES FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE