Dan Bennett, Director of Customer Operations at ScS, partnered with SVL in May 2022 after extensive research to improve customer service at their contact centre. 

The goal was to implement a full suite of solutions to enhance workforce management, quality assurance, and analytics. 

SVL introduced Nice CXone, as a comprehensive contact centre solution beyond the initial requirements.

Together our work has resulted in several improvements including: 

  • Abandoned calls reduced by 50%
  • 4 minute increase in answer time
  • Customer contact decreasing by 29%
  • Management team workload reduced by 20%
  • 26% improvement in web chat response time
  • Trustpilot score increase

We caught up with Dan to find out more about the impact of our work together over the years.

Transforming our operations

We had different platforms for various tasks, and none of them communicated with each other. Our previous systems really felt outdated and disjointed.  This made life harder for our team, who had to constantly jump between systems.

We needed a solution that would not only improve how we manage our customer interactions but also provide deeper insights into why customers were reaching out to us.

SVL offered a solution that consolidated everything into one CCaaS platform, NICE CXone. Alongside additional insights and expert guidance on how to properly utilise the platform and integrate with our existing technology. 

One utilised platform

NICE CXOne and SVL’s guidance helped us bring together voice, email, web chat, and more into a single system, which gave us much better visibility over our operations and helped streamline how we worked. 

After 6 months of deployment, we noticed several significant improvements. Due to automation and successfully re-routing customers thanks to improvements to our IVR, customer contact dropped by 29% across the contact centre. 

We were also able to implement a call back system, which helped abandoned calls drop by 50%. As there were less calls coming through and fewer calls dropping, we were able to increase our answer time by 4% and web chat response time by 26%. 

From a workforce planning perspective, we’re now able to plan far more effectively. Using the analytics tools, which leverage AI to analyse every customer interaction, we can understand what customers are contacting us about at scale. This has driven process improvements across the entire business.

A tailored approach with unwavering support

SVL’s patience and consultative approach made all the difference. It took us almost a year to finalise the deal, but they were with us every step of the way. 

I had some specific ideas about how I wanted things to work, and they never hesitated to find a way to deliver that vision. We rolled out the system in phases, starting with voice and moving on to other channels. The support SVL provided during the rollout was crucial.

Having access to a team who specialise in workforce planning, quality, and analytics was incredibly valuable. They helped us fine-tune the product out of the box to ensure we were getting the most out of it right from the start.

Transforming workforce management

Since deploying the platform, the difference has been night and day. What we had before wasn’t fit for purpose, especially for a multi-channel contact centre. 

Now, our systems are fully integrated, allowing us to provide a modern experience for both customers and employees.

One major win has been workforce management. Our people can now see their shift patterns up to a year in advance, not just a week out, which is fantastic for work-life balance. They can book holidays and swap shifts from their mobile devices. 

This system has freed up about 20% of our management team’s workload, allowing them to focus on coaching and developing staff, which ultimately leads to better outcomes for our customers.

We’ve also seen a significant impact on staff retention. Before the deployment, our attrition rate was around 33%. Within six months, we saw an almost 20% improvement, which is phenomenal given how competitive the contact centre market is in the North East of England.

Our ongoing partnership with SVL

SVL has been a fantastic partner throughout. They have a real can-do attitude and are always pragmatic in finding solutions to any problem I throw at them. 

The support they continue to provide, whether it’s helping us resolve issues or working on new features like integrating payments into IVR, has been invaluable.

We’ve also leveraged AI in ways I didn’t expect. For instance, 25% of our email responses and Trustpilot review responses are now AI-generated, which saves us so much time. 

We were able to boost our Trustpilot rating to 5 stars from 4.5 stars due to an increase in our overall customer service.  SVL even helped us integrate Trustpilot reviews into the CXOne platform, so our team can monitor and respond to them all in one place.

Enhancing integration and unlocking benefits

We’re currently working on integrating our ERP system with CXOne, and we have some exciting new projects, like allowing customers to make payments directly through the IVR. Overall, the deployment has had a profound impact on our business, from efficiency improvements to better employee engagement.

SVL’s expertise and collaborative approach have made all the difference for us. If you’re considering Contact Centre as a Service (CCaaS), having a partner like SVL who understands the ins and outs of workforce planning and analytics is essential. They’ve helped us get the most out of the platform and see several benefits almost immediately.

Ready to transform your customer experience?

If you’re ready to transform customer experience and efficiency, get in touch with our team today.