Customer Satisfaction Measured at BT

BT has achieved a significant reduction in the number of customers who express dissatisfaction with its service, following the implementation of ViewsCast's Customer Satisfaction Measurement (CSM) technology in its Marketing Operations, Sales teams and three primary UK call centres.

ViewsCast enables BT to measure customer feedback on its individual call centre agents in real-time, states Mark Dunsire, E-Channel Futures and Programme Delivery Manager, BT. 'When dealing with a customer base of millions, even if there is only a tiny percentage of dissatisfied customers, it could still be representative of several thousand people. ViewsCast feedback allows us to understand the needs of both satisfied and dissatisfied customers and helps us identify rapidly when they are not being met by BT. Training and development for individual agents can be administered without delay, enabling us to rectify problem areas immediately and significantly reduce the number of customers that remain unsatisfied after their call. Without ViewsCast, we would not have this capability - it could take days, if not weeks to identify such a problem.'

ViewsCast has armed BT with the capability to work more closely with each of its 5,000 call centre staff, to ensure their attention is focused on reducing dissatisfied customer figures whilst increasing the number of those who are pleased with the service received.

It is not only BT's call centre managers who benefit from ViewsCast. Customer service desks, HR and managerial staff can also use the system to identify, address and rectify areas of concern in the call centres. This has radically improved the efficiency of BT's operations.

'ViewsCast has made a big impact on our call centre culture,' adds Dunsire. 'In addition to customer-facing operations, we also use ViewsCast to collect internal feedback from call centre staff on more generic issues, such as BT's working environment. The combination of employee and customer feedback is an extremely powerful way of enhancing our internal operations as well as our customer management. The ViewsCast material now supplements employee appraisals, training schemes and incentive programmes as well as staff and team meetings.'

BT customers and employees are encouraged to complete an automated ViewsCast telephone or web-based survey where they can express concerns and opinions. These are then immediately available to BT's Call Centre Managers and Quality Solutions Teams who take responsibility for identifying and implementing action plans.

'ViewsCast is used to underpin the bonus schemes that incentivise BT's call centre agents,' comments Roy Sheridan, CEO, ViewsCast. 'An agent's bonus is now calculated to reflect the level of positive feedback that is captured by ViewsCast, about each individual. This means agents are rewarded on an individual, rather than team based criteria. It provides a much more accurate foundation for individual rewards. Agents can access the bonus system at any time and view the development of their bonus as they work. Allowing agents to monitor the fluctuation of their bonus gives them great incentive to deliver their best service all the time.'

ViewsCast offers a Customer Satisfaction Measurement solution that provides real-time customer or employee feedback on satisfaction, perceptions and preference. It provides immediate browser-based access to results and the ability to enhance CRM systems by incorporating real-time direct customer feedback.

Further information can be found at www.viewscast.com.

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas unless otherwise stated.