Best Contact Centre Solution – glh. Hotels

We take a more in-depth look at the award-winning “Best Contact Centre Solution” we implemented for glh. Hotels; we summarise the solution, identify the challenges it enabled glh to overcome, explain how it was project managed and finally we elaborate on it’s ROI.

Solution Summary

glh. Hotel Group recognised a need to enhance their customer experience to stand out against competitors. They highlighted two ways to achieve this; they wanted to deliver local expertise and increase first time call resolution. glh. were operating a 140 seat contact centre in Heathrow; utilising a traditional, on-site contact centre platform. Traditional infrastructure meant agents had to be in one location, however this made it difficult to offer local expertise – how could glh. have agents in Heathrow who knew everything about Newcastle, Birmingham or Leeds? Secondly, their kit didn’t provide skills-based routing, meaning customers were often transferred which impacted first time call resolution.

To achieve their 2 key requirements, IP Solutions transitioned glh’s contact centre environment from a traditional, on-site, one location, limited capacity infrastructure to a much more flexible, intuitive and adaptable cloud-based contact centre solution.The cloud based contact centre has enabled glh to deliver local expertise, utilise staff more efficiently, enhance first time call resolution, make informed decisions on customer service, track customer service SLAs effectively as well as reduce overheads.

Overcoming Business Challenges

The customer’s key pains were firstly, being unable to deliver local expertise with all agents in one location and secondly not being able to enhance first time call resolution. Thirdly, it was also made essential that no matter what we did to overcome the first two pains, they could not come at the cost of reduced contact centre visibility.

Our cloud-based contact centre involved placing agents within hotels themselves. We allocated every hotel its own ddi; customers would then connect to an agent that could offer advice/guidance based on caller requirements as they lived and worked in the area. This also meant staff spent more time assisting customers as they’d be resolving inbound enquiries when no customers were physically at the front desks. Furthermore, with advanced features on the cloud-based platform we were able to deploy skills-based routing which meant improved first time call resolution. Customers (using our bespoke IVR) were able to immediately connect to an agent that was most suited to resolve their request (booking a room, organising a conference, setting up an event etc).

These benefits could not come at the cost of visibility to the business, meaning managers still required full reporting capabilities on agent activity and customer service SLAs. Our cloud based contact centre unites any number of sites, placing every agent on the same platform regardless of location. This meant every hotel location, ddi and individual agent was tracked on the platform, providing management with full visibility and customisable reporting.

Implementing the Solution

We began by mapping out the infrastructure by hotel and agent skill group. An account manager was in place and overseeing the project in its entirety which made everything simpler for all involved. With the new, cloud-based infrastructure designed we had to allocate every hotel with a unique ddi and place this in the cloud so they could be used within the new contact centre environment. With glh happy following the ddi allocation our experts began configuring the cloud-based contact centre environment. This involved call routing to the relevant hotel, IVR creation, Hunt Group creation, Agent skill group creation and allocation as well as initial bespoke report building. What we needed to ensure was that from day one, when we pressed the “go-live” button, all rules and configurations were set up exactly how glh wanted them to be. Every decision made was checked off against whether or not it helped resolve one of the two key pains to ensure that the customers experience was constantly at the heart of the decision making process. Weekly conference calls were chaired by the account manager and it provided on open forum opportunity for glh decision makers and our support staff to liaise regularly.

Demonstrating Clear ROI

Not only did the solution help overcome their two key pains and position glh as customer experience leaders within their industry, it retained full reporting and visibility capabilities meaning that it enables the business to continue making informed decisions moving forward. Where it’s also exceeded expectations, is in the fact that transitioning to new technology has not only tangibly driven the business forward, it’s also directly impacted their bottom line from day one. Since disbanding the 140 seat contact centre in Heathrow, overheads have been reduced by as much as £500,000 per month.

customer service levels have been enhanced by the hotel’s newfound ability to deliver a more personal experience through local expertise and improved first time call resolution. No visibility has been lost and managers have full reporting capabilities to help make informed decisions and monitor customer experiences. The benefits have impacted on numerous departments. Finance has seen reduced and more predictable overheads. Cloud-based maintenance is easier for IT to manage and quicker to implement. Marketing can leverage an enhanced value proposition with local expertise and customer contact teams are able to offer a better customer experience. Therefore, the solution has not just helped those it was set out to help, it’s benefitted every area of the business in various different ways.

Review Your Contact Centre

Get in touch to have your contact centre reviewed by an award winning communications company on 0800 988 2020 or info@ipsolutions.co.uk.