The Volvo Support Center (VSC) center is the single point of contact for the Volvo Retailers.  The team is located at the Dearborn Support Center in Dearborn, Michigan and currently supports more than 400 retailers in the United States and Canada.   

One of the latest 'hot topics', innovation is widely discussed but in such a variety of contexts it has come to have different, almost bespoke, meanings to individuals and organisations.  What is innovation,  how is it measured and how do we know we are innovative?

The utilities sector is one in crisis.  The customer is losing faith in the provider, and in turn the provider is losing the customer.  With customer loyalty shrinking and the urge to switch increasing, adapting a communication strategy to fit the needs of the customer is more crucial than ever before.

Our South Africa office once again contributed and made a difference in their community on Friday 2 March 2012. We are pleased to share their “Percepta Passion” volunteer story. Click the title to read more about this story…

In this brief update, Emma Kennedy provides an overview of a recent Communication Breakfast with guest speaker, STVs Rob Woodward.

We’ve all read how the 13 Instagram employees woke up Monday morning richer by much more than anyone had imagined!  Does Zuckerberg intend to annihilate his competition, since Facebook’s strength lies in photo sharing, or does he intend to turn it into another channel to push ads through?

As a supplier we respond to tenders and briefs from clients asking for our proposal to support a part of their organisation.  Nearly every time, the brief will include details of the importance of company values:  how we can deliver experiences that support the clients’ values and how our values must be aligned to the clients’ values.  Now we all know that you cannot measure values, you measure behaviours that demonstrate those values.  So why do some organisations still behave in a way that does not support the values they talk about?

Who should define your social media customer service strategy? Should it be the Marketing department who owns all the content linked to your brand or should it be the customer services department whose aim is to find and resolve customer concerns?

With an ever-growing challenge of keeping customers loyal, what are the ingredients to doing it well?  There is a lot to be said for great marketing and brand presence, but if it falls down on the delivery, the longer term damage could be much worse - the bigger you are, the harder you fall.  What are your views on who delivers a great experience and who deserves your loyalty?

We can all think of a brand or product that we are loyal to, but can you think of a service that evokes the same feelings?

If providers ensured not only a high but also a consistent level of service, would they see an increase in loyalty? If they focussed on managing every touch point of the customer experience would they ever be able to create the same loyalty that consumers feel for products?

Can a multichannel approach only prove beneficial if a consistent service is provided across the board?

If one channel can influence the experience your customers have so much, should you dedicate your time and resources to this channel alone? Or should consistency across all channels of communication be maintained?

 

With many companies recognising the potential benefits of adopting a multi channel approach to customer service, and much discussion of late surrounding the concept of personalisation within the service industry, how important is it to be able to put a face to a name when dealing with customer service advisors?

We know that Britain expects a good quality of servicing, but how fast is the rest of the world catching up?

Today, consumers can talk to a brand representative over the phone, through email, and online through social networks.  But amidst all the discussions over “multi channel” customer service, whatever happened to good old fashioned face-to-face?

On the 11th of November this year, Percepta attended the Direct Marketing Association’s 17th Anniversary Ball, held in Edinburgh’s Prestonfield Hotel, located at the foot of Arthur’s Seat.  The beautifully decorated stables adjacent to the hotel...

A recent article In Harvard Business Review (July 2010) by Matthew Dixon, Karen Freeman and Nicholas Toman recommended businesses to “Stop trying to delight your customers” and “solve their problems” but instead to win their loyalty”.[1]

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. 

In the good old days, way back in the 1990's, the most common way for a company to reach or support its customer base was by mail, phone, or fax.  When considering these three options in our world today, only phone support remains as a relevant means of support for a majority of consumers.  While more businesses have dipped their toes into the waters of live chat and social media support, thriving businesses have taken the plunge and the response by consumers has been overwhelmingly positive.

It has become apparent to me that good customer service has gone the way of the VHS… Still exists, but hard to find.  I recently moved to Burlington and had to call the cable company because my new HD box on my new service was not working.  When I finally got a human on the line, he was short, curt, and acted like I was an annoying house fly.  

My personal online accounts have been flooded with comments from friends, colleagues and business contacts about the recent ‘disaster’ caused by system failure from BlackBerry owner Research in Motion (RIM). So what got people so upset? Well, f...

Position Summary We are looking for an experienced and dynamic individual to support our Marketing Team as Marketing Assistant. What You'll Do You will be responsible for supporting the region’s business development & marketing strategy by pro...

Ok, it is pretty important, but it really depends on what you mean by customer satisfaction – especially when it comes to call, contact or service centres. Are you happy with that? Did we help you? How nice was Jenny? On the face of it, these quest...

Even though Social Media is clearly here to stay (challenge me on this if you must) businesses are still frightened to take a leap online. What they don’t seem to realise, or what they’re choosing to ignore, is that they’ve already gained a prese...

Most organisations invest significant time and money into making sure their telephone calls are answered. But if the caller comes away thinking ‘that was a waste of time…’, why answer the call in the first place?!?! What steps can you take to ensure the caller puts the phone down thinking ‘that’s taken care of…’?

“Just because you have not seen something does not mean it doesn’t exist”.  I remember my mum saying this to me as a child.  In those days it usually referred to fairies or in even more serious conversations – God.    Well I've taken this ...

At Percepta, in the Customer relationship centres, our focus has been traditionally responsive. In our area of business we usually wait for the customer to call us and then we take action from there. We help them to the best of our ability and then, ...

I was recently enlisted by a friend of my father's into helping him buy a new car. With 12 years in the automotive industry, and considering myself a bit of a petrol head, I was only too happy to help, and thought that it would be a piece of cake (and ...

We all know the stereotypes around salespeople, such as being silver tongued, having the gift of the gab and being able to talk the hind legs off a horse. While eloquence is never a bad thing, it’s not the only thing and we’re looking for in an Aut...

As the dust barely settles on a number of high profile news events, the News of the World phone hacking scandal, the riots in England, allegations of corruption in high places in various sports, the safety of idyllic Seychelles beaches, it is easy to s...

We all know the stereotypes around salespeople, such as being silver tongued, having the gift of the gab and being able to talk the hind legs off a horse. While eloquence is never a bad thing, it’s not the only thing and we’re looking for in an Aut...

Television, without a doubt, is one of the greatest forms of advertising but is also one of the most costly. For a typical TV advertising campaign you’d be looking at around £40,000 to £250,000 per month…and that’s without adding on the costs...

Or maybe the question is “What’s the format?” Growing up, reading and being read to, is something that really stands out in my head. Whether getting absorbed in the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn or being read the Hobbit by my Dad, I have always...

Holes in some things are good; without them sieves would be bowls, teabags would be pointless and the view from behind the goal would be terrible (or for Coventry City fans, much improved). However in other things they must be avoided at all costs, an...

At Percepta we support our clients in a number of different ways, not all of them as front line customer service; we also provide a number of back office support functions to help ensure everything runs smoothly, just like our clients vehicles. Campai...

If I shop in the same store every week or I collect points in a retailer programme on a regular basis, am I loyal? What if that store closed down and I started to purchase those essential items somewhere else, maybe because it was the closest alternat...

Percepta have a list of their current global vacancies on our careers site...head on over there now to see what we have in your area.

Ever wanted to write one of those letters, the really important complaint ones? The “For the attention of the Director of ...” type letter? I have a different question, ever wanted to respond to one of those complaints? If customer service is yo...

It might seem obvious to most people that if you spend time, effort and money collecting something then you will want to do something with it. Take my father in law, Brian, for example. He collects old bicycle parts. Specifically, rare bicycle parts fr...

Is it just me (quite possibly) or is everyone being swamped by the information superhighway these days? The internet, smart phones, tablet computers, a couple of old tin cans and a piece of string... all seduce us further and further into the world-wid...

Are you a Warranty professional who knows your stuff? Could you help aid our approvals process and cut our cost per repair? Then we may have the role for you! We are looking for a Warranty Technical Specialist to join our Warley Warranty Team initial...

Parlez-vous français? Parla italiano? Sprechen Sie Deutsch? ¿Habla usted español? If the answer to any of these is yes, (or Oui, Si, Ja or Si respectively) and you are looking for an accountancy role, then we may have the position for you. Percept...

The guys over at Google Chrome have launched a series of adverts over the past few weeks showcasing different ways that the internet can be used. From a father setting up an email account for his daughter and writing to her every day until he shares th...

Customer service is the cornerstone of our business and our Customer Service Advisors are the keystone in the bridge between customer and client. They are the organisation’s public face, delivering the level of service that will surprise and delight ...

Many people feel marketing is a strange and specialised area, with numerous complications and a slightly different view on the world from the other departments within the company.  That simply isn’t true, as everyone has experience of marketing, whe...

It has been almost impossible not to have heard of the latest celebrity scandal that have been filling cyberspace, the airwaves and more column inches than the recent royal wedding. With privacy laws in tatters and gagging attempts proving a spectacula...

We are currently looking for a Correspondence Team Leader to be part of our Daventry Customer Relations Centre (CRC) for whom accuracy is a way of life, who can keep grounded in their grammar and has a way with words. The position is an interesting an...

I have recently seen several discussion on LinkedIn, even started some myself that are asking “Where does CEM sit in an organisation” “How can HR and Marketing partner to deliver great customer experiences”. “Should HR associations (CIPD) a...

Most of you reading this will already be aware of the term ‘outsourcing’ and the potential benefits it can bring to an organisation. Contracting non-core business activities to third party providers can reduce your operating costs, give you easy ac...

It seems that everywhere we go businesses want to ask us questions. Retailers including Boots, Sainsbury and Co-op display questions on their chip & pin terminals asking things like – Did I know I can pay bills in store? Was the queue time acceptable...

Twitter can end up being an endless mass of information, links and general ‘life’ updates. So how does one go about using hashtags effectively to filter through the information and manage a conversation with a mass of followers? If I were to go ab...

George Osbourne’s budget featured a 1p reduction on fuel duty as a step towards easing the burden on the beleaguered British motorist. However ‘good’ this news is though, the fact that there will be a £2bn tax grab from the oil companies probabl...

Red Nose Day was Friday 18th March - this is a day members of the British public take on various fundraising challenges to raise money for worthy causes at home and abroad. I relish an opportunity to do my bit for the community and charity work is se...

Facebook have rolled out an update to their Questions feature and have made it far more social than it has ever been. Instead of you posting the question to strangers – you can now post it to your friends. For example, I could ask for recommendations...

I had another blog almost prepared for this month. A snappily titled little number, “Dear Costa, Starbucks, Philip Morris, Imperial Tobacco… can we have our money back please?” It was to be a piece about a subject dear to my heart – hidden cost...

There has been a lot of discussion in press around Africa being a choice for organisations as an offshore destination, comparing it to the more dominant markets such as India, China and Malaysia. An article in Outsource Magazine predicted that Africa (...

Welcome to the Social Media Round Up at Percepta. Check back here every Friday to find out what’s happening in the world of Social Media. Facebook Updates Its Comments Plugin The latest update to the comments plugin takes the Facebook experience to...

It's been almost impossible not to have noticed the buzz created in the last couple of weeks with the unveiling of the iPad 2, the updated version of Apple's between category gizmo. It's only just over a year since the initial release of the tablet-com...

We all know that key to growth is entering new markets where there is a potential need for services. This has been key to Percepta’s growth in Europe and Asia Pacific as throughout 2010 we expanded into mainland Europe (Spain, France, Belgium and Ita...

A debate has raged since a survey conducted by Barclays corporate and the Financial Times shows that 52% of the private sector would not employ public sector workers who may lose their jobs in the government spending cuts. Conversely, a survey conduct...

The new design of Facebook Pages is rolling out over the next week to all pages currently existing on Facebook to fit in with the new design of Facebook profiles. But what does this mean and how will it affect current businesses on Facebook? Well, fir...

... and if it doesn’t move? Measure it until it does! Statistics are all around us and I got to thinking, how much do we depend on analysis and are there times where they are just not worth paying attention to? Before I continue, and at risk of a c...

At a time when the banking sector could do without the least bit of bad press, I can imagine the last thing on any of their minds would be having to pay out fines worth millions for poor service and advice to customers. Following all the recent media ...

After many moon’s worth of deliberation, debate and deferment, Q4 2010 saw the arrival of our first ever company internship scheme. The programme was ushered in, without any great fanfare or trumpet-blast, rather quietly under cover of darkness –...

Wishing you all the best for the festive season and we'll see you in the New Year! The Percepta Blogging Team

I am a big fan a “Mad Men” BBC Four and liked when the fictional advertising agency, set in the 60’s, won a contract with Hilton Hotels. In one episode Don Draper the creative partner in the business is given the job of finding the essence of Hil...

No matter what application or tool you are using nowadays we are all provided with a little help when it comes to spelling the way we were,or should have been, taught at school. Good old Uncle Bill or Uncle Steve,depending on which family you belong to...

I’m sure nobody has escaped the recent freeze or if you have been lucky enough not to be affected you will not have missed the continued news reports on the chaos caused. Many people haven’t made it into work, not because they can’t get there bu...

In these difficult times, it is hard not to see the change in expectations from ourselves and those around us when it comes to appreciating the customer service we are given. I was out for dinner with some friends last week at our local Pizza Express....

Movember. It's not even a proper word but an amalgamation of 'Mo' for moustache and 'November'. But whether it's the Queen's English or not, the Movember movement will be responsible for a lot of unshaven faces for the remainder of the month. The mor...

Is there too much emphasis on answering telephone calls, and not enough on the outcome of the call? Most organisations invest significant time and money into making sure their telephone calls are answered. But if the caller comes away thinking ‘tha...

Last month I looked into Social Media and the Rise of Reality TV and how production teams are using Reality TV to transfer their audience from one media to another and transfer online buzz into viewing figures...but what happens when Social Media goes ...

Customer Experience Management seems to be all the rage these days, from global brands to individual consultants, everyone seems to be talking about it.  Even traditional contact centre outsourcers are getting familiar with the term.  But is it actu...

Sir Green’s review of the government budgets and spending uncovered several startling truths that will hopefully make the government stand up, listen, take accountability and make things right without resulting in thousands of job cuts – so lets no...

Before you dismiss this article as nothing to do with customer experience,  please stop as this is not about how to deliver that all important punch line – it’s about the role of the delivery person and / or fitter in the experience your customers...

Daventry Express has published an article today in regards to Percepta relocating the Ford Customer Relationship Centre to existing Ford premises in Daventry. The reports that the move will create 40 jobs in Daventry which will help in part revitalise ...

Reality Television consumes a monumental amount of television airtime. From Big Brother to Britain’s Got Talent to Over the Rainbow and right back round to The X Factor, like it or not (and personally I love it) reality TV is here to stay. But what i...

Over the past few years I have been noticing a real shift in the way that mainstream news is reported and how impartial reporting has slowly been eroded and replaced with a more analytical and opinionated news-machine. I’m certain that a lot of this...

To slightly misquote police chief Brody (aka Roy Schneider in Jaws), “We’re going to need a bigger gun!” The only problem being, that in today’s economic climate, the best we can afford might be firing BBs instead of RPGs… if you get my drift?

Many companies use Customer Satisfaction surveys as a means to gather feedback on various aspects of their business, whether it be employee performance, the customer’s viewpoint of the processes employed, pricing, product quality or loyalty. Understa...

Steph’s poor cat; dumped unceremoniously into a wheelie bin and then posted globally over the internet. What has amazed people, almost as much as the callousness of the act, is the speed with which the story became international news; sharing the sta...

Social Media really works! Percepta offer social media support as one of many customer experience tools for our clients. It is therefore important to “do as we preach” and I’m delighted with the results we achieved recently when we recruited a ne...

Should we expect a different level of service from different sales channels; Online, Retail Outlets, Telephone? My most recent experience buying a mattress online for a fantastic 50% discount (www.bedroomworld.co.uk): Value approximately £250 Wron...

It got us thinking. If there are social media tools that are useful for business operations, and if Education functions are already using social media in one form or another then surely there must be tools that would work for Learning and Development functions too. Right?

Thousands of performers, theatre goers and reviewers are currently flocking to Edinburgh for the annual Edinburgh Festival Fringe. With 2,453 shows across 259 venues, it can be pretty hard to hit the right shows by chance, so below are my top sites and...

Isn’t it funny how the past 18 to 24 months have seen a revival of some old brands, old products and recycled ad’s from the 90’s.  A great move, some would say, in these ‘tough times’, re-using old ideas and packaging them up as retro.  Som...

The face of marketing has changed so much in the last few years. All organisations need to ensure that their marketing materials are not only clear, but are being presented to their targets in a way that will interest them.

It still amazes me to see how many companies boast about their 'excellent' customer services, yet offer a service which at best is 'one size fits all'. When will companies recognise that as a customer we want a service that is tailored to suit our need...

Following the recent online hoax about the Back to the Future movies and being a fan of the trilogy myself, I thought it would be worth having a look at what was happening in the year that Doc, Marty, Jennifer & then Biff travelled forward to in or...

In today's business world, almost every management expert knows the phrase "Think globally, act locally." The more important questions are ‘How exactly do you behave according to that phrase in an international environment?’ ‘How are you acting l...

My last two blog posts (here and here) really pushed out the boat in terms of length. Apologies for that… The fact is that they were originally written as one post that was deemed too long by our blogmeister (meaning you really got off lightly!) Havi...