fizzback

01 Sep 2007
Call Centre Focus

 

NOWHERE TO HIDE WITH FIZZBACK

The Brits have an historical reputation for not liking to complain but it seems that shoddy customer service has finally set our stiff upper lips all of a quiver. Perhaps fuelled by hours spent listening to soft rock on loop in call centre queues or waiting for an acknowledgement that the email bemoaning a poor experience hasn’t simply vanished into the ether, a new complaint culture is emerging.

 

Rob Keve, CEO of Fizzback argues: “Box ticking is notoriously poor in terms of accuracy because however many questions you ask you’ll find all the answers will be weighted towards the customer’s overall experience.”

 

His company has come up with a faster way for customers to get their message across with an instant, electronic feedback service. The advantage is that not only can customers register a complaint at the exact moment they are using a product or service, the business itself gets a more honest insight into how the customer is really feeling at the time, rather than waiting for comments after they have festered over a period of time.

 

Bourne Leisure, which counts Haven, British Holidays and Butlins among its portfolio, has installed the Fizzback system at its resorts in Minehead, Bognor and Skegness. If guests encounter any problems, be it a missing pillow or something more serious, they can send a text message that goes straight to an onsite manager for action.

 

After an initial response acknowledging the complaint, another text is generated after two hours to check it has been dealt with to the guest’s satisfaction. If not, it is routed to an offsite manager to flag up.

 

“There is nowhere to hide, which is good. If we manage those issues correctly we get a thank you back, so everybody wins at the end of the day.” Says Gill Benwell, director, Bourne Leisure “It’s made significant changes to how our guests communicate with us. Before, they had to trudge to reception or to an office. By the time they found someone to talk to, what could have been a small problem might have become a much larger one because we made it difficult for them.

 

“We do have people with clipboards knocking on doors but it can get confrontational and you can’t be everywhere at once or in the right place at the right time as far as our guests are concerned. So it’s either very labour intensive or inefficient from their point of view.”

 

As Keve point out, regardless of industry, if customers have an issue and the company is able to resolve it quickly and efficiently they are likely to be far more loyal and trust the brand, greatly improving retention rates.