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Customer Service Marketing

Customer service in the UK is broken – but it is fixable

By Ash Schofield, chief marketing officer

January 26, 2017 | 4 min read

As we look ahead and make our priorities for the year, brands would do well to reassess how they view customer service.

customer service

Too often it is an afterthought, or a bolt-on to the business, with not enough consideration given to the caller or the call-handler, both of whom are the victims of an outdated system.

Doing away with call centres altogether, and instead giving members (we never regard them as just customers) the chance to troubleshoot for each other on our forums, has resulted in an average response time of 90 seconds. This is versus the national average of 15 minutes spent waiting on a call centre helpline, so a lot of time saved.

Our members are free to come and go as they please, they expect flexibility, to get a good service and for their opinions to count – essentially a new way to deliver better mobile.

On our own we are just another network. With our members we are a network with a difference. It’s this shared purpose that has helped us establish giffgaff as the market leader for satisfaction and we believe the network that is most likely to be recommended by its members.

Our members provide frontline support to other members, spread the word to attract new people to the network, and suggest new ways to make us better. They create content to inform and entertain each other, help us make the big decisions through community consultations and generally keep us on the right track. We never want to fall into the trap of being just like the everybody else.

So my advice to the industry and beyond is to peel back the layers and do not overlook the fundamental reason your business exists – your loyal fanbase who purchase your product. Here are five tips for a happier, more honest customer service model.

Be more human – remove the barriers between yourself and your customers. It should never be ‘us and them’; we’re in this together with a shared interest and enthusiasm to find a better way.

Allow for meaningful contribution – beyond helping troubleshoot problems for others, our members really get stuck into the business via giffgaff Labs – a platform for suggesting ways to make the business better, either large or small. Every four days we implement a new member idea. That’s collaboration.

Be curious – in pursuit of a better way ask yourself and your customers how things can be done differently and then don't be scared to act. Question, listen and challenge the status quo. As long as you stay true to your values then anything is possible.

Persevere – customer service is tricky, it is the front line of operations and it is full of pitfalls. Learn quickly and turn mistakes into triggers for transformational change. You’ll need a thick skin and a good dose of grit to face up to the truth and make the necessary changes but doing so will win you trust as well as improving the experience.

Recognise the power of recommendation – it’s no surprise that when you change your relationship with your audience in this way then they are far more likely to recommend you and if they do it’s not only polite but good business to reward members for doing so. Win win.

Ash Schofield is chief marketing officer at giffgaff, which was recently named ninth in the UK's Customer Satisfaction Index

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