Descartes Systems Group reports promising results following the implementation of its customer engagement solution by British integrated property services company James Frew.
Introduced to improve access rates to social and private property for service technicians, the solution is being credited with a 4.1 per cent rise in the number of scheduled completions at social housing service appointments and over 3% more private service appointments, equating to over 4.6% in cost savings by mitigating the need for repeat appointments.
“We continuously look to embrace innovative technology to ensure we meet our customers’ expectations,” explains Gordon Mack, Head of Operations at James Frew. “Prior to implementing Descartes, our completion rate for social housing jobs was approximately 75%, which is a direct consequence of technicians not being able to access properties.
Since implementing Descartes, access rates for these customers have increased and, by removing manual intervention from the process of scheduling and rescheduling appointments, we’ve unlocked additional customer service and operational efficiency benefits.”
Customers booked for a service appointment in James Frew’s job management system receive an automated SMS message from the Descartes’ solution to confirm the appointment time 24 hours in advance.
A second automated message follows when the service technician is on the way.
In addition to automating customer communication, the integration between Descartes’ customer engagement platform and the company’s job management system delivers customer service transparency, improves operational efficiency and enhances the overall customer experience.
Additionally, customers in both social and private housing can book and amend service appointments through an online portal and track their appointment in real-time.
“We’re delighted that James Frew has enhanced customer service by increasing access rates to both social and private properties following the implementation of Descartes’ customer engagement solution,” says Gary Taylor, VP Sales, EMEA, Descartes. “Customers expect service appointment choice, visibility and reliability and the Descartes’ solution helps service-driven organizations meet these needs by automatically keeping customers in the loop before, during and after their appointment.
This helps companies realize productivity gains and operating efficiencies by driving down no-access rates, reducing follow-up phone calls, and streamlining the customer feedback process.”
