Category Archives: North America

Volvo Support Center Site Launch

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The Volvo Support Center is currently located in the Dearborn Support Center.  The Dearborn Support Center, Percepta’s first dedicated site in Michigan, celebrated its grand opening on January 19th.

The Volvo Support Center went through a major transition when they officially completed the separation from Ford in the 3rd quarter of 2010.  Volvo also migrated the support of several applications.  All technical support was transitioned to Sweden.  This was challenging and exciting for the team.  During this transition contact volume tripled for the summer months in 2011.

Today, the Volvo Support Center provides both technical and administrative support for several applications such as Novell IDM and VRC2 which is the main web portal for retailers. The team also handles password resets for CIS, Parts and Warranty, TIE fax requests for access to web applications, configurations of Windows XP and Windows 7 and VIDA (Vehicle Information for Diagnostic Aftersales) which is a diagnostic tool with multiple functionalities.    

While the team is small, (5 agents, 1 SBA and a Team Leader and a Manager), they definitely deliver when it comes to the metrics. The client is pleased with the team’s  knowledge and the fact that they can consistently meet and exceed his high expectations when it comes to service level (which is 90% of all call answered within 60 seconds).

To see pictures of the event, please click the following link to go to our Facebook page.

Volvo Support Center Site Launch

Percepta Passion: Volunteer Stories – Shavathon 2012

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Percepta-Africa2012 saw the third year in a row that the South African office organised the Shavathon on site.

The Cancer Association of South Africa [CANSA] is the organiser of the event. The CANSA Shavathon is one of South Africa’s best-loved annual events in support of a worthy cause. People shave or spray their hair to show solidarity with cancer survivors or to remember loved ones lost to the disease. It also raises awareness and funds for the fight against cancer. As the shaving of heads can become a logistical nightmare [especially when it is not done indoors], the team opted for the spray-painting of hair or Spray-a-thon at a minimum donation of R20 per head.

The ‘old’ site, at the Customer Service Operations Canteen was manned by Percepta’s own Customer Relationship Centre staff with the assistance of Johnson, a Ford employee. Johnson remarked the following: I really enjoyed working here today. Percepta is like a family. The people come out to work and they joke with one another and one can feel the good vibe.2012 saw a first collaboration effort as the Ford Motor Company’s Wellness Coordinator offered to assist and organised an additional two sites where people could participate. One catered specifically for the parts warehouse staff. The second new site was situated next to the main canteen, an area with a lot of feet walking past. The high number of feet was evident in the R1 610 that was taken in that area.

 

Getting Painted

Similar to 2011, most Percepta employees donated money to buy the paint needed for the day. As is the case with all volunteering efforts from small teams, every body contributed to the success of the day. The guys, who did not assist with the spraying, had to deal with all the incoming calls for the day. 

 

2012 saw the team reach the target of hosting a bigger event. A whopping R2 750 was raised, far exceeding the R1 356.50 that was raised in 2011.

A big highlight of the day was the launch of the new branding with a banner masterminded by Christel Snyman, the Operations Manager.

For more info about the Shavathon, see the CANSA website at www.cansa.org.za or www.shavathon.org.za.

 

 

A Tactile Approach To Ford’s History Is Key In Creating the Lincoln Customer Experience

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The Melbourne, Florida CCT/Lincoln Training Team introduced an engaging and enriching Ford Motor Company Timeline activity into its New Hire training.  The timeline documents major events in Ford history dating from 1896-2011. 

By contributing their own important events to the timeline, Lincoln team members experienced a sense of belonging to the Ford-Lincoln community and its history, and left them eager to be part of this exciting opportunity in creating the Lincoln Customer Experience.  

Michelle Gellene and Sonya Showley designed the activity in order to bring the team together with a hand’s on approach to reviewing Ford’s timeline. Sonya provided the idea for using a timeline from her past experiences at other organizations while Michelle was responsible for collecting most of the Ford and Lincoln history for the timeline and facilitating the activity.

“People commit to things they help create.” Sonya stated. “By getting the Lincoln team involved in creating the timeline and adding their personal histories they were able to begin to experience a sense of fitting into the Lincoln community and its history.”

Feedback from the participants was mixed regarding what was most impactful.  The majority of Lincoln team members agreed their ability to personalize the Ford-Lincoln timeline greatly enhanced their experience, while a few others were just blown away by Ford’s historical significance.  The activity promoted group cohesion at an early stage of new hire training and helped set the stage for the rest of the team’s learning experience together.  The activity not only opened the participants’ eyes to Ford’s longstanding and distinguished history; it provided an opportunity for them to draw connections to their lives.

Mary A.  said “I thought it was a great exercise.  It put into perspective the whole history of Ford, and it put our lives in the mix.  I could look at the year I was born and say ‘Hey, look what Ford was doing at that time!’ It’s a cool thing.  I liked it a lot…being able to put our lives and Ford history together.”

Pat H. said “Initially [in class] you’re preoccupied, wondering what the class is going to offer, but the timeline activity was a fun way for everyone to learn a little about each other.”

Brian H. said “I thought it was great to view our own personal timeline, as well as everyone in class, along with Ford’s evolution…it made things a little more real.”

Star M. said “Well, for me, since I enjoy the older vehicles, it was a nice way to tie in my love for the hobby—learning about the classics—into my role as a Lincoln Customer Care Specialist.  It was a nice bridge between those two aspects.  I think for some of the others in my group, it was also really neat for them to learn the history…and it was nice that it was tailored towards Lincoln.  I think people tend to hear a lot about Ford, but we don’t hear a lot about Lincoln history.  I believe a bulk of the history is with Lincoln, so learning about the brand history was great…and then adding our personalization to the timeline…it’s always neat to learn about your team members.  It brings us closer as a team.  Even if we don’t know the people per se, we know where they’re coming from.”

This activity helped build team brand loyalty between our employees and the client. In turn, employees will feel a connection to the brand and their customers. 

Support Your Customers Like it’s 2012…Not 1999

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It doesn’t take much to understand that the world has changed significantly over the past 10-20 years.  How did we ever live without the internet and how in the world did we ever get anything done without email?  Today we are all connected at the click of a link, the touch of a screen, or the tweet of a tweet.  It doesn’t matter that we are even “wired in” anymore.  In fact, it is rather “old school” to be communicating with a device that isn’t wireless or 3G or 4G; is there a 5G?  I can’t keep up.  The point is, consumers expect to be supported via live chat and social media nowadays.  It is no longer a nice surprise to a customer when a company provides support via these mediums, it is expected. 

 

At Percepta, we have supported customers through live chat for over 3 years now.  The way in which you approach chat support can vary and it largely depends on the amount of dedicated resources as well as the type of support you are providing; Technical support v. Sales/Product support. 

Chat Support Options

Understanding your website as well as the goals of your website is critical before deciding whether you want to provide chat support via a static or dynamic button.

Having a static chat button means that the consumer will always see a chat button when they log into your website, as long as it is within hours of operation. 

A dynamic chat button is rule-based or triggered by customer behavior.  In other words, if a customer lands on a page for more than a few minutes, a rule can be set to trigger a chat option to the customer.  Additionally, specific links clicked within a website can trigger an offer of chat support.  

You can also maximize agent bandwidth by having agents handle two or more concurrent chats (customers) at a time.  End of chat surveys provide an opportunity to capture customer feedback and gauge satisfaction.

Percepta has recently begun Remote chat support often known as agent-at-home.   The primary benefits of remote chat support include:

  • Reduction of costs generally driven by brick and mortar centers.
  • Increased employee satisfaction.
  • Retention of top talent.
  • Expands employee recruitment base beyond the immediate geographic area which provides a more qualified talent pool.

Social Media

So if live chat support is a 7 on the scary scale, the idea of any type of social media support is usually a full fledged 10.   I am talking about waking up in the middle of the night, heart pounding, drenched in sweat kind of scary.   Once you take the first step however, you will find that the journey is more rewarding and revealing than you could have ever imagined.

Joining the masses in social media requires the establishment of rules of engagement which needs to include a code of conduct.  While there is absolutely a need for protocol and rules, they exist to level set or remind agents of the importance and visibility of each engagement.  Adherence should not be achieved or enforced through canned messages however.  We need to ensure we are part of the conversation and we must truly leave our marketing hats out of the conversation.

Assembling your Social Media team should start with a point of contact or a social media strategist.  This person will direct the team and its engagement by identifying items or conversations that impact brand perception.  It is important the representatives that engage with customers are well-versed or knowledgeable on the subjects they are responding to as well as perceptive and versatile enough to respond to different scenarios and various personalities.

Percepta today supports its client’s customer base  in the following areas:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Numerous forums and message boards

The conclusion is quite simple.  The good old days are gone.  The information days are here.  Supporting or engaging your customers through live chat and social media is no longer an option, it is now an expectation.  With Facebook alone predicted to reach one billion users by 2012 can you afford to be stuck in a 1999 mentality? 

So don’t be afraid.  Come on out.  Honest.  It’s not scary at all!

Does a Happy Customer Equal a Loyal Customer?

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After 5 minutes of interrupting me, giving me attitude, and being just plain rude he reset my cable box.  Of course, it didn’t work.

After calling 3 more times (different days), I finally got them to schedule a service appointment.  Even then, the girl told me that I will be charged $80 if the problem turned out to be a loose cable or something I did to the box.  I’m thinking, after 4 calls all of that would have been covered, and the nerve of her to actually imply that I didn’t have the brains to check the cables.

I have to say, after speaking with 4 different people on 4 separate occasions, in the same call center, I really do not want to give them my business.  Unfortunately, they are the only cable provider in my area.  To change service would mean I’d have to move.  I feel like a hostage, with no ransom request. 

Why is that?  Why should a customer, paying good money, have to feel that way?

I just transferred from one program and I am learning a new program.  One of the things I’ve learned is that within the last year they have enhanced the Soft Skills training that is geared towards teaching agents the importance of building a relationship with the customer by showing empathy and building rapport. 

It covers things such as differentiating sympathy vs. empathy and techniques used to empathize with the customer.  Using proper phrases when communicating with our customers so you don’t sound accusatory or condescending (would have been nice if the cable company’s agents knew some of these), identifying customer’s personal needs as well as their business needs, and how to create brand loyalty.

All of this training is all well and good, but the question is, do the agents actually apply it and does it work.

Well, let me give you an example.

I recently listened to a call by one of our agents, Jackie.  The customer called in because they were highly unsatisfied with the overall quality of the vehicle and their experience at the dealership.  Jackie successfully empathized, built a strong rapport with the customer, and acknowledged the customer’s business and personal needs.  Because of this she was able to convince the customer to go back to the same dealership to have the vehicle diagnosed.

Later that week I was made aware that this customer called our center back to advise that he traded the vehicle in for a brand new one, and was even looking at another vehicle for his wife.

Based on that call and personal experience, I strongly believe that by providing the right training and coaching, good, no, great customer service equals loyal customers.

Great customer service may be hard to find, but I am happy to say that, at Percepta, we are working together to change that and provide world class service for our customers.