Key results

• Renewal retention increased by approximately 25%
• First-contact resolution of complaints increased by 20%
• Maximised feedback capacity from 5,000 responses a month to 180,000 responses per year

Background

Despite already operating with a customer-centric focus, this broker group was determined to understand more about the wants and needs of their customer base. In particular, the group were keen to segment and understand all their different brands with different touchpoints—this was driven mainly by senior leadership’s desire to deepen understanding of their customers and see where the group was falling short of their expectations. They recognised that to do this, they would need help designing and implementing a Voice of the Customer (VoC) programme. Davies was brought in to assist with the building of a VoC programme that would deliver a comparative understanding across the client’s brands and go beyond the major touchpoints for a more detailed overview.

How we helped

Our client wanted to overhaul their customer feedback system and grow it from a disperse, undervalued and misused activity which was previously managing 5,000 responses per month to something much more insightful and representative. We worked with the client to create a VoC programme that would help them to improve the aspects that mattered most to their customer base and to give those who normally wouldn’t be comfortable providing unprompted feedback, an opportunity to do so.

The programme we co-created with our client set out to explore all customer touchpoints, rather than just the key ones, including those customers who didn’t choose to renew with the group. We also implemented a number of solutions to help them to better handle their customer feedback and provide deeper analysis. This included integrating Trustpilot, which enabled the client to utilise the full potential volume of feedback, without having to split the volumes across both functions. With such a plethora of customer interaction data available to the organisation already, it was crucial for us to house this data so it could be segmented within customer responses to provide richer insights.

We approached the overall project with our Davies values at the heart of it—to educate, and continually support our client every step of the way. Because of this, we took a workshop approach to help share best practices and allow the client to utilise our knowledge to its maximum effect. We also stayed in regular communication with the client with regards to programme performance and the insights it created, as well as ensuring there was always access to dedicated operations support.

We understand just how vital employee engagement and motivation is for driving better customer service, so we also worked on implementing badges and leaderboards for the company’s internal teams. These serve as an automatic function that recognises when employees use behaviours favoured by their customer base—and reward them for it.

Results

The innovation and success of the programme has meant our client is ahead of both regulatory requirements—specifically Consumer Duty—and their competitors, as they can now monitor and demonstrate good outcomes for their customers.

With the help of our VoC solution, the client has achieved their initial goal of better understanding their customer base and have since celebrated both a 25% increase in renewal retention rates and a 20% improvement in first-contact resolution of complaints. They have also maximised the company’s potential for collecting customer feedback, increasing it from 5,000 responses per month to 180,000 responses per year.

Since implementing the VoC programme, the organisation has shown solid improvements in customer feedback. For example, in their Sentiment trial, trial representatives evidenced:

• A 10-point uplift in average ratings for being “helpful and friendly”
• A 13-point uplift in ratings for “knowledge”
• A 13-point uplift in “Representative Scores

Similarly, in their Complaints First Contact Resolution trial, representatives evidenced:

• An 8-point uplift in average ratings for being “helpful and friendly”
• A 2-point uplift in ratings for “knowledge”
• A 9-point uplift in “Representative Scores”

The programme has also created great benefits for the organisation’s internal teams, helping their front-line employees to establish deeper meaning within their roles and connect with real-time customer feedback, resulting in more motivated and driven teams.

The programme has become a central part of the client’s culture, reimagining the roles of many of their front-line staff by moving them away from sales-driven roles and pushing them towards empowering customer service roles.

If you want to find out more about how we can help your organisation, get in touch for a quick initial chat.