Challenges

Groupon’s exceptional growth meant its telephone customer interactions were multiplying at an astonishing rate. With a company philosophy to provide unbelievable customer service, Groupon needed an innovative phone system that could stand the pressure and go beyond the traditional realms of telecoms.

“We desperately needed a voice solution that was flexible, scalable and efficient but one that would also greatly improve a customer’s interaction with our brand. You can’t put a price on customer experience. We are predominately an online business so telephone interactions represent an important opportunity to get closer to our customers.” explained the Head of Customer Relationship Management for Groupon’s UK & Ireland operations.

The ability to report and analyse voice activity were also key drivers in the decision making process. Inefficiency and lost productivity impacting revenues and profits was a concern so Groupon sought a solution that would mitigate that risk and add financial value directly to the bottom line.

Solution

Natterbox’s Voice Anywhere (Cloud PBX telephony) and Voice Integration with salesforce.com

Natterbox integrates telephony and CRM to provide Groupon with a simple, customer-centric approach to voice, which is backed-up by robust technology. “In order to give a personalised experience, you have to know your customer. The CRM system holds all this knowledge,” said Mahmud. “Natterbox is unique in that it works on two levels: it uses the information within the CRM system to manage voice, and automatically populates this voice activity back into the CRM system against the correct contact, opportunity or account. This helps with monitoring call activity, providing training and analysing voice. For example, it highlights if we need more resource.”

Natterbox helps Groupon in 4 key areas:

• Voice Management: Personalisation & Experience
• Improved Efficiency
• Reporting and Analysis
• Training and Monitoring

Results

Process management, employee efficiency and customer experience have all seen dramatic improvements. “Natterbox empowered Groupon to revolutionise its voice experience, remove reliance on the switchboard and turn the focus to customer experience and efficiency. It is a great example of cloud infrastructure working for a business on the ground.” said Mahmud.

The Future

Mahmud concluded: “Natterbox is at the forefront of voice technology. With a business of our size and scale, the project continues to evolve as our requirements develop and shift. Natterbox continues to push the boundaries in voice – there is always something in beta and existing services continue to get better. It was crucial we found a solution that had the flexibility to meet these demands and with Natterbox we have. This is a long-term relationship; the UK is just the beginning.”

Read the full case study about how Natterbox ‘glues’ together telephony and salesforce.com to improve customer experience, employee productivity and business efficiency for Groupon. It uses CRM information to manage calls; and, it makes voice intelligence available for reporting. Natterbox helps enterprises and dynamic organisations make informed decisions on resource management, training and monitoring. Works with mobiles and landlines.

Natterbox ‘glues’ together telephony and salesforce.com to improve customer experience, employee productivity and business efficiency. It uses CRM information to manage calls; and, it makes voice intelligence available for reporting. Natterbox helps enterprises and dynamic organisations make informed decisions on resource management, training and monitoring. The best bit? It works with mobiles and landlines.

Come along to learn why and how we glue together telephony (mobiles and landlines) for companies like Groupon.

See you on the 22nd!

Natterbox

Patronising pre-recorded messages, long waiting times and rude operators are among the biggest bugbears of UK customers, research has revealed.

The survey by Natterbox, the cloud based voice services provider, found just four per cent of customers are patient enough to wait more than 30 minutes to have their query resolved over the phone. The majority of respondents (39 per cent) are onlyprepared to wait up to five minutes, with a further quarter (25 per cent) willing to hold for ten minutes.

In reality, 15 per cent of Brits said they have spent more than an hour on hold, with almost a half (42 per cent) reporting painful waits of more than 40 minutes.

Top five gripes about telephone customer service:

Being on hold for too long – 80%
Not being able to speak to an operator – 63%
Having to repeat customer details – 59%
Too many press one, press two options – 51%
Pre-recorded messages on how valued you are – 48%

Other major gripes highlighted by the study include rude operators (38 per cent), being put through to the wrong department or person (31 per cent), having to call back (27 per cent) and annoying hold music (24 per cent).

The survey also exposed internet providers as having the poorest call centres, with the majority of respondents (31 per cent) naming and shaming them as the worst for customer service. Bycontrast, banks were most likely to get it right, with the majority (34 percent) of customers saying they provide the best telephone experience.

Neil Hammerton, CEO at Natterbox, commented: “In today’s fast-paced and socially connected world, customers don’t have the time or patience to wait on hold to get an issue resolved. A number of minor irritants can build up to a major headache and this can have a devastating effect on customer loyalty and the brand over all. Unhappy customers can lead to unhappy staff, which could result in staff turnover and additional costs in rehiring and training.

“We all know how irritating it is to be passed from operator to operator and repeat details over and over again. But nowadays cloud based technology is available for call centres to streamline the caller resolution process. If they can be automatically put through to the right person, first time, it cuts down the call time and improves their experience. After all, no one really likes to spend their days listening tohold music.”

Research conducted on 1,000 UK adults in January/February 2012