A great year at Telnet

Well we are almost at the end of another year.

It's been a very eventful year in New Zealand. We have had it all, from earthquakes to oil spills, global financial strife, and the highlight of the World Cup win. And of course, we top it off with an election. pheeeww !!

Amongst all this we at Telnet have just got on with the job. Its been a very good year for Telnet and we end the year bigger and stronger than when we started. A lot of that I credit to our people who should all take a bow and congratulate themselves. What a team eh!

As we move into the festive season, I would like to wish our staff and our clients all a very Merry Christmas and a prosperous New year.

Be safe and best regards

John Chetwynd

Winning back Contact Centre business from Manila

I am pleased to report that Telnet has now successfully migrated the contact centres for two significant businesses from Manila to New Zealand; the most recent being a fast growing Australian based business in the telecommunications space.

In both cases the businesses were experiencing disenchantment with the service experience they were receiving from their Manila supplier. And I am pleased to report that since the move to Telnet independent surveys are confirming that customers have noticed and appreciate the improvement in customer experience.

Probably of more importance is that the price difference has not been as great as expected. This is because Telnet's unique approach results in significant reductions in handling time. Customers love the fact that their queries are understood better and resolved faster.

John Chetwynd

The Art of Selling

We at Telnet have always seen the power of good old fashion selling. As a specialist telesales provider we see the phenomenal results that can be achieved when a good sales plan comes together! This article from the Economist puts it rather well. Click

Web channels outperform phone channels

There is growing evidence that the web is becoming a critical part of the mix in delivering a superior customer experience. Recent research by Avaya and callcentres.net has not only highlighted the growth in web self-service, but has also identified quick query resolution as the most important attribute for delivering the “ideal customer service experience”

The research is consistent with the fast paced world we live in. As consumers, we like self service as it gives us more control, and when we need to interact with a service provider we want the experience to be quick and efficient. In my view, the growth of ultra fast broadband and smart phone technology will put the web at the centre of customer support. A well constructed website should not only be the first port of call for customers but it should also be the principle knowledge tool for CSR’s when servicing customers (e.g. older people)who prefer speak with a person. Businesses that can take advantage of this trend will enjoy considerable benefits. Ostensibly, customer satisfaction levels will rise, and the cost of customer service will fall due to fewer calls to the centre and the reduced handling time that results from better knowledge management

So what needs to be done? A lot! A quick review of most websites of major providers shows that they are not at all user friendly when it comes to satisfying customer queries. Many search functions in particular are generally ineffective particularly when you compare them to a ‘Google’ search. In my experience, despite the significant gains that have been made in recent years to improve the software tools available to business, knowledge management systems available to CSRs are still ineffective making it hard for them to solve customer queries quickly.

In my view, the future role of the contact centre will be to handle those queries for customers that can’t be handled by self service. And, when we need to make that call we should expect to have the call answered promptly, and our query answered accurately and efficiently.

John Chetwynd

World Cup Fever hits Telnet!

This month Telnet’s staff all participated in a Call Centre wide competition to celebrate the launch of the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand. Each member of senior management teamed up with a team on the call centre floor who in turn adopted a Nation participating in the World Cup. They then had a week to decorate their allocated area in their respective team’s colors.

The response was fantastic, with everyone joining in, management dressing up and the excitement levels reached fever pitch on the judging day. The winning team was Z-Energy (Samoa) who won a team lunch for all involved. Go to our website here to have a look!

We will continue to have competitions throughout the world cup, so watch this space…..

John Chetwynd

Service Design Thinking

This is another interesting post by Dr Catriona Wallace. In my view she hits a few really important buttons, namely the importance of good process design in our contact centre world and of course putting the customer and (in my view) the front-line staff at the centre of the design process.

We read alot about the focus on staff training and morale. Whilst these are clearly important I would put design and a superb CSR tool kit ahead of everything. We need to make it as easy as possible for our people on the front-line to satisfy customer queries. In my experience staff morale improves and training is simplified when you get the design and tools right.

If you don't already follow Catriona's blogs I recommend that you start

John Chetwynd

Congratulations to Litmos

Telnet congratulates Litmos on its recent acquistion by US software company, Callidus.

As one of Litmos's first customers, we have always recognised the power of the Litmos product.

We wish them well.

View Press Release

John Chetwynd