1

Case Study: Customer Care Helpdesk

The Client

The client is one of the leading local newspaper publishers in the UK with over 200 weekly newspapers, over 17 daily paid-for titles and also publishes magazines and trade publications.

The client also operates a network of web sites. The client has a weekly circulation figure of more than 10 million copies and over 13 million in readership. It has a digital portfolio of newspapers and online-only brands which attract more than 6 million unique users.

Outsourcing customer care helpdesk to an offshore location was a strategic decision for the client though the client had already outsourced its Verification of Free Distribution (VFD) work to Merit.

Challenges

Reporting and Productivity: Though the client had an existing customer care team the biggest challenge was the lack of set systems and processes. There was no effective measurement of agent productivity and service quality, and little training material or guidelines for staff.

Peaks and Troughs: Staffing was a major issue as the peak call volumes were concentrated around circulation days and there were severe troughs on certain days. Also, the volume of work was dictated by the Gross Distribution Figure for the week.

Enabling Systems: The client did not have native workflow administration software and therefore yet another challenge was to find a CRM software that was flexible enough to encompass all requirements of the client.

Setting up an outsourced team with the customer care and communication skills that matched the native customer care team was a consideration. There was an underlying concern that a team offshore might lack the skill and ability of the local team. For a publisher of local newspapers, this was an obvious concern.

The Solution

Having already worked with Meritgroup, the client had complete confidence in their approach and methodology. Meritgroup UK managers spent considerable amount of time in observing and documenting various processes at the client site.

Merit identified a flexible but cost effective CRM software and integrated client processes to get the reports and statistics that fulfilled client requirements.

Merit set up a bureau and deployed part time and full time employees, cross training them in different aspects of the help desk activities.

The Process

.

The transition was led by a UK account manager who liaised with the client at every stage clearly defining goals, objectives, and performance benchmarks. The transition was governed by a project plan that was developed by Meritgroup covering three main areas of transition namely staff training, technology rollout, procedures & reporting

Merit did a thorough testing of the CRM software, its ability to flex and stretch to meet improved reporting and performance monitoring requirements

Training on Customer Care was delivered by Merit’s training personnel along with its UK account manager who spent considerable amount of time with the client’s project management team. Both client and Merit teams were trained on the CRM software by Merit’s in-house technical training person and IT manager.

Merit clearly defined, enhanced systems and processes by creating process maps and related documents. Exception handling and escalations were clearly outlined and documented.

Benefits to the Client

Cost: The client has an offshore customer care desk that has reduced its operating cost by a significant percentage with standards that match and exceed its expectations.

Resource Flexibility: Client did not have to worry about staffing and flexing its workforce to meet peaks and troughs and was able to concentrate on improving other functional areas of its business.

Systems: The client did not have to invest on costly CRM systems and did not have to spend on costly systems integration as Meritgroup identified the right software to suit client needs that was cost effective.

Service Quality: Client benefited from improved customer service levels as escalations were quick, systematic and documented. Agent service delivery was subject to measurement and accountability.

Though there are no set SLAs we have internal service levels on hold times and average handling time (AHT) and also minimum time before calls are answered. Regular checks and controls help us maintain the average at all times.

Results

The client is happy with the results and has extended the scope to other regions and is doing a feasibility study to expand the scope. This has resulted in a wider opportunity for Merit that has already proved its expertise in two major areas of client’s operations.

Contact

Graham ThomasSales DirectorMobile: +44(0)7545 554528Email: graham.thomas@meritgroup.co.ukWeb: www.meritgroup.co.uk