Expecting the Unexpected: Embedding Flexibility into the Service Plan

by Blue Ocean News in Case Studies

The Client

When you make millions of grocery deliveries a year, some eggs are going to break. Our client succeeds in a difficult business by being responsive and nimble, and making it right when things go wrong.

Our client has carved out a niche in its area of operations, offering clients quality service on par with the quality of their two-inch, customer-cut steaks and other products. They have established and maintained profitability in a crowded industry, and particularly in the finicky online category, by having quick-response, quality service as their competitive differentiator.

In 2007, when the needs of their growing customer-base started to outpace the scope of their in-house support systems, they wondered: How can we create an outsourcing plan that builds in the agility we need?

The Tactics

We developed a customized recruiting solution utilizing proprietary behavior & aptitude profiling system. This matched candidates that had the right combination of customer service hard skills, the necessary soft skills, and resilience particular to our client’s CSR positions. Then, we curated a customized training model by forecasting core needs, with added flexibility for spikes and unexpected scenarios. Next, we provided customized reporting, from real-time reporting to half-hour intervals. This offered our client’s customer care execs with insight and confidence.

Our daily service level commitment embedded an inherently nimble response into the project contract.

Customized reporting including real-time reporting to half-hour intervals providing our client’s customer care execs with insight and confidence. They can monitor in real-time delivery performance vis-a-vis contact volume.

Customized cross-trained shared pool agents program producing CSRs fully-immersed in the brands they uphold and expert at empathetic, efficient issue resolution who serve as a high-volume response our client’s SWAT team.

The Results

Turning to an outsourcer for the first time, our client chose Blue Ocean, experienced in high-touch brand extension, to live their brand promise with them. From daily service level commitments, to training and reporting – fluidity was entrenched in the solution.

When a major pipe burst in a packaging plant on a Saturday night causing a shutdown on the distribution line, Blue Ocean quickly coordinated extra coverage with on-the-fly incident response training to help minimize the negative impact on the customer experience.

When supply chain issues result in product line shortages, inbound CSRs switch tactics and place outbound calls offering customers make-goods or substitutions before the impact of delivery disruption is even felt.

A SWAT team of cross-trained, high volume-expert CSRs are deployed from other Blue Ocean projects at a moment’s notice when unexpected weather impacts our client’s delivery service.

With uncontrollable forces like weather affecting business, consistent service excellence requires rapid response flexibility in a customer care solution. We have the agility and experience in switching lanes quickly for a solution that works when delivery, call volumes, and customer service are impacted by unexpected forces on any given day. Contact us for more information today.

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