Damart, which has experienced a 40 per cent increase in revenue from its ‘0871’ numbers since installing the technology, tasked the provider with improving the effectiveness of its customer order line; facilitating increased control, improved customer service, data gathering and boosting revenue.
The 18 month pilot saw TalkTalk Business deliver a bespoke Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system, controllable by Damart via a secure and reliable online portal, which provides full control over its telephony lines and better online reporting options. In addition, by changing to a new 0871 number at 10ppm, the call rebate to Damart was highly competitive.
The mail order giant’s customer order line regularly faces high inbound call volumes, however the challenge of improving its effectiveness for increasing revenue and improving the customer experience was further complicated by seasonality. The company only has two windows of opportunity a year to change their 0871 numbers, February for the Spring Summer catalogue, and August for the Autumn Winter catalogue.
Damart’s Network and Telecoms Manager, Ian Auker, said: “The improved revenue has made our 0871 numbers a significant profit centre within our business, helping us to maintain high levels of profitability in a hugely challenging market place. In addition to the immediate increase in revenue, improvements in efficiency have enabled us to boost customer service while also freeing up our internal resource to concentrate on other priorities.”
The new solution gives Damart much needed control over its own calls, allows it to glean valuable caller data, boosts reliability and has led to a significant increase in revenue. Following the success of the IVR installation, a three year contract has been signed with plans to roll out TalkTalk Business’ number ranges to a number of its recent acquisitions.
Chris Collinson, Director of Corporate and SME at TalkTalk Business said: “The success of the IVR has far exceeded Damart’s objectives of increasing revenue and improving the customer experience. The portal design allows Damart to accommodate fluctuating demands on their call centre and respond quickly to crisis situations should they arise. The system allows Damart to quickly and easily cope automatically with irregular events such as bank holidays, meaning the overall experience is much more efficient both from a resource perspective and most importantly for Damarts customers.
“By managing the entire changeover process, the porting issue was overcome by adding the company’s existing numbers to the back end of the new IVR, meaning there was no operational downtime. Damart’s contract also allows it to benefit from flexible minute volume targets”
Ian added: “We were really impressed with the team’s proactive approach and in depth technical knowledge. As well as signing a new contract with Damart we will also be introducing TalkTalk Business’ number ranges to a number of our recent acquisitions in 2012.”