customer service
Cabot Credit Management Invests in Respond
Flexible automated complaints management platform is selected
28 November 2012: Cabot Credit Management (CCM), the UK’s leading acquirer and manager of consumer debt, has selected Respond, from Aptean (www.aptean.com) to centralise and automate its complaints management processes.
The system, which went live in September 2012 is used to register and manage all in-bound customer complaints.
“Respond is already significantly reducing the administrative time and complexity of management and compliance reporting. The ability to produce reports automatically with the knowledge that all the statutory data is included, and any potential issues have long been addressed, is invaluable to a highly regulated business such as CCM,” said Deborah Langley, Compliance Manager, Cabot Credit Management.
CCM is the parent company of Cabot Financial and Apex Credit Management who merged in April 2011. The company inherited two largely manual systems so decided to upgrade to help meet the ever increasing demands from regulatory bodies on fair customer complaints management.
Langley added: “Before the final decision was made we conducted our own research of complaints management systems available on the market. We arranged to see Respond in a similar business and the feedback was very positive. This, coupled with some of the teams’ previous in-house experience of Respond, drove our decision to invest in it rather than to build our own complaints management platform. Additionally, its open APIs mean we can integrate the platform with our existing information system very easily.”
Respond has been modified to interface seamlessly with the advanced debt management system currently under development. It is highly flexible and can interface with most CRM systems. The ability to port customer information between Respond and CCM’s debt collection platform will dramatically cut the time and cost of case administration, whilst significantly increasing the efficiency and time to successful complaint resolution for client and customer.
This sharing of information and single-point data input will also guarantee that the data needed to ensure the fair treatment of customers is always available and presented the right way. This is essential to ensure regulatory compliance not just for CCM, but also for its contingent clients to whom CCM must report. CCM and its financial services clients are regulated by the Office of Fair Trading and the Financial Services Authority (FSA) respectively.
Langley concluded: “Regulators are driving consumer fairness. As independent businesses we have always been highly compliant. As a merged entity it’s vital this continues, but we can only achieve this with absolute visibility across the business. We need to know ahead of time if we face a potential compliance issue and put changes in place if we do. “
Integral to Respond is Root Cause Analysis (RCA). CCM will use the resulting analysis on an on-going basis to pinpoint areas of the business that require review, not only to guarantee the most efficient steps to resolution and compliance for CCM and its contingent clients, but also for customers, as laid down by the FSA in its Treat Customers Fairly (TCF) principles.
As a result of Respond going live in September, CCM’s reporting processes have become automated. Respond populates pre-set templates automatically, ensuring that all the data required for individual reporting and the mandatory bi-annual FSA compliance reports, is included.
The Aptean professional services team worked closely with CCM to ensure that Respond was personalised to meet the exact business requirements of the company. The same team will meet periodically with CCM moving forward to ensure on-going performance excellence as the business grows and regulatory changes inevitably transpire.
About Aptean
Aptean, a global leader in enterprise application software (EAS), gives businesses of all sizes a competitive edge. We empower people and businesses with end-to-end, industry-specific solutions to address complex business challenges more effectively. Our software applications and professional business services enable more than 9,000 customers, in more than 100 countries, to more successfully manage their business. Software built specifically for our target markets, aligned with deep knowledge across vertical industries, allow businesses to satisfy their customers; operate most efficiently; and stay at the forefront of their industry. For more information, visit http://www.aptean.com.
About Cabot Credit Management
Cabot Credit Management is a market leading acquirer and manager of consumer debt. Divided into four specialist businesses, Cabot Financial, Cabot Financial Ireland, Apex Credit Management and Apex Discovery Solutions, it covers debt purchase, contingency collections and customer tracing.
Cabot Credit Management has purchased assets of £7.5bn, managed assets of £1bn, cash collections of circa £20m per month and a 13 year unbroken track record of steady growth.
The Group employs over 700 people with offices in Kings Hill, Stratford-upon-Avon and Dublin. It prides itself on its ethical values and high standards and has an impressive list of accolades. These include Investors in People Gold award (accredited for three years) for Apex Credit Management and Investors in People Bronze award (accredited for two years) for Cabot Financial which also has achieved a Quality Management System ISO 9001 since 2008. In addition both Apex Credit Management and Cabot Financial have been included in the Sunday Times Buyout Track Top 100 best companies to work for.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )CDC SOFTWARE PROVIDES “NEXT DAY” COMPLAINTS MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS AS REGULATORS GET TOUGH ON CUSTOMER SERVICE
Respond as a Service set-up and supporting customer service excellence in less than 24 hours
11 May 2012: Respond, the market leading customer complaints management platform from CDC Software, is now available as a service following demand from retailers, banks, travel companies and service provider businesses for a “next day” solution.
Operational in less than 24 hours, the Software as a Service deployment option of Respond provides the same functionality and business benefits as the time proven on-premise version. Over 800 customer-facing and often highly regulated businesses have relied on Respond for customer complaints management for over 20 years.
“Demand for Respond as a service is high from both existing and new customers. For existing clients it provides a quick an easy upgrade path to Respond Version 5, an essential tool for regulatory reporting, and quick-fire expansion of user numbers,” explained Mark Chambers, Head of Solution Consulting at CDC Software.
“For new customers, the ability to have a proven customer complaints management system set-up in less than 24 hours is compelling and business changing, especially as both consumers and regulators are demanding customer service excellence,” continued Mark Chambers.
Respond as a Service has been extensively tested and piloted over the last 12 months. Tests included independent security and penetration assessments and service delivery processes.
Feedback from Respond customers conclusively demonstrated administrative efficiency gains within days of the application going live. The most immediate being the ability to greatly reduce the time it takes to register, file and resolve a complaint. These processes are now instantly automated, centralised and linked to workflows that ensure the most effective route to resolution is achieved.
Longer term benefits include automated customer correspondence; scheduled daily or weekly management status reports; regulatory compliance reports; integration with other customer databases via open APIs and the ability to analyse the stored data to establish the root cause of complaints and service issues so these can be put right before creating widespread concerns.
“Under the pressure of business growth and regulatory changes, manual complaints management processes are no longer reliable or cost effective. Purchasing Respond as an on-demand application, rather than a capital investment means businesses can have a fully functioning complaints management system in hours, without impacting IT budgets and internal IT resources,” explained Mark Chambers of CDC Software.
Billing for Respond as a Service is flexible. This makes the on-demand application ideal for businesses faced with sudden or seasonal increases in customer complaints or enquiries. It also offers businesses the same tools as their larger competitors, without the time and cost commitment of purchasing and maintaining the supporting IT infrastructure.
Alternatively, businesses that are looking to manage temporary peaks in customer complaints, for example those managing huge volumes of PPI claims would be ideal candidates for Respond as a Service. Whilst many of these customers are facing pressure from the industry regulators to improve customer complaints management or face fines and potential product recalls, others have accepted that a cultural shift back to customer service excellence is needed if their businesses are to prosper and a review of processes is required.
“Respond as a Service offers businesses an alternative deployment option. It is set-up in less than 24 hours and requires minimal IT skills at the customer end. User training is included in the hosting agreement and there is a range of online tutorials and support guides to ensure maximum benefit is had from the application,” concluded Mark Chambers of CDC Software.
Respond as a Service is managed by CDC Software and hosted by an industry-leading hosting provider. Advanced monitoring systems guarantee service and each customer’s database is partitioned to ensure security.
NOTE TO EDITORS: Currently, Respond is offering a 15 month contract for the price of 12 months for customers looking to go live with Respond as a Service before 1 October 2012.
About Respond
Respond provides customer complaints management excellence and regulatory compliance assurance for all customer-facing businesses and organisations. For more information: visit http://www.welovecustomerfeedback.com or Twitter @cdcrespondmark.
About CDC Software CDC Software is a global provider of enterprise software for on-premise and cloud deployments. Leveraging a service-oriented architecture (SOA), CDC Software offers multiple delivery options for their solutions including on-premise, hosted, cloud-based Software as a Service (SaaS) or blended-hybrid deployment offerings. CDC Software’s solutions include enterprise resource planning (ERP), manufacturing operations management, enterprise manufacturing intelligence, supply chain management (demand management, order management and warehouse and transportation management), global trade management, e-Commerce, human capital management, customer relationship management (CRM), complaint management and aged care solutions. CDC Software delivers innovative and industry-specific solutions to approximately 10,000 customers worldwide within the manufacturing, distribution, transportation, retail, government, real estate, financial services, health care, and not-for-profit industries. For more information, please visit www.cdcsoftware.com.
Press contact Caroline Howlett / Nicky Feakes
Strategic Public Relations 01494 434434 cdc@strategicpr.net @strategicpr
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Customer Service Survey – Are utitlities companies looking after you?
We are conducting a quick survey on behalf of a client and hoped you might spare five minutes to click on the link and complete the survey.
The findings of this research will be used to prove to gas, electricity and water businesses in the UK that there needs to be a cultural change towards fair and efficient customer service, a change that would positively impact us all.
If you could share …the link / forward it to your own contacts we would really appreciate it.
Thanks!
Caroline
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/utilitiesfeedback
Hosepipe Ban Could Cost Water Companies £792 Million as in-bound Customer Calls Surge
2 April 2012: Calls to customer services teams at the UK’s 25 water companies have surged following the announcement that seven water companies in southern and eastern England will be implementing bans from 5 April, with further regions on high alert. The impact on customer service teams has been significant.
The average hosepipe related enquiry is taking 10 minutes to resolve, at a cost of £12 per customer, on top of the expected daily call levels. However, this cost and administrative pressure is not necessary.
Customer analysis has identified a common question: “What impact will the hosepipe ban have on me?”
Having established the key customer concern, it would be far more effective, both in terms of cost and administration, for the water companies to take a proactive approach to customer management. With the technology now available there is no excuse for customers to feel ill-informed and therefore for huge spikes in call numbers in the event of a planned service change, such as the hosepipe ban.
“It is very easy and cost effective to proactively communicate with high volumes of customers, quickly and accurately via letter, email, SMS and social media,” explained Rob Gillam, consultant to the utilities sector, CDC Respond.
“Service providers must use the intelligence provided by customers to pre-empt issues and communicate. Not only will this limit the number of repeat enquiries, the more informed a customer is, the less likely they are to escalate an enquiry to a complaint. This not only reduces the administrative burden, it ensures that the customer management process remains compliant with the requirements of the regulator,” continued Rob Gillam.
From a regulatory perspective it is vital that customers are happy with the communications. OFWAT, the water regulator is increasingly taking action against water companies that provide poor customer service and inadequate complaints management processes.
Whilst the water ban is an environmental consequence, how the provider manages the restrictions will impact compliance and could open the company up to a considerable fine, in addition to the increased administrative costs.
For more information on proactive customer complaints management visit http://www.cdcrespond.com; email: rgillam@cdcrespond.com or Twitter: @cdcrespondrob
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 1 so far )“Revise Customer Service Processes to put an End Consumer Misery”
CDC Respond tells Utilities Businesses to as EDF Energy Joins List Fined for Poor Customer Complaints Management
There is no excuse – technology can manage the end-to-end process and recover service reputation whilst providing vital, potentially revenue generating businesses data
12 March 2012 – With EDF Energy now ordered to pay a £4.5 million ‘fine’ and npower and British Gas fined over £2 million each for failing to manage customer complaints effectively, Mark Chambers, head of consulting at complaints management specialist, CDC Respond has called on the energy sector to: “Revise customer service processes to put an end customer service misery for millions of UK customers.”
Speaking openly to those responsible for managing customer complaints mark Chambers explained: “There will always be complaints. What matters is how a complaint is managed; how the customer is handled and the processes that lead to a speedy and satisfactory resolution.”
Electricity North West, which owns, operates and maintains the North West’s electricity distribution network has significantly improved its customer complaint handling by putting in place processes that enable the handling and processing of high volumes of customer enquiries, quickly and efficiently.
According to Stephanie Rourke, connections enquiries manager at Electricity North West, “The step-by-step processes, driven by CDC Respond, a widely available customer complaints management platform, allow us to manage our process to deliver the regulatory requirements of the CEAR Act when dealing with customer information requests or complaints.”
Stephanie Rourke continued: “Each step is guided by the fields set-up in the software. All communications are recorded and can be analysed at any point during the processes. We can also export data directly into Ofgem reporting templates to demonstrate that processes are being followed. This is invaluable in the case where a complaint is escalated to the regulator,” explained Stephanie Rourke.
There is no reason why other utilities businesses are not following the customer service excellence route being taken by Electricity North West.
“From an intelligence and administrative perspective, CDC Respond has proven to improve efficiency and highlights choke points within our processes, those that create dissatisfaction with our customers.” The uniform data collation means information can be shared easily between departments, therefore reducing handoffs and interfaces for the customer,” continued Stephanie Rourke of Electricity North West.
Tools, such as CDC Respond, provide customer facing businesses with the ability to manage and respond to customers as individuals, or as groups of similarly affected customers. Controls can be put in place to ensure that every step of the complaints management process, from initial information gathering, through to the point of resolution is recorded.
“Reports generated from customer feedback can be used to improve the business, but also to demonstrate to regulators that all efforts are being made to rectify customer issues and to put in place effective customer complaints management processes,” concluded Mark Chambers, CDC Respond.
@cdcrespondmark http://www.cdcrespond.com
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