magazine
12
Cover Story
As business leaders return to their
desks after Christmas and the
New Year, many will be wondering
what 2015 holds. Amidst so many
uncertainties, from the the price of
oil to the outcome of the General
Election, what are the factors that
businesses can rely on and set their
compass by?
One certainty is the continued
importance of customer service. This
was a key trend in 2014 and is likely
to become even more critical in 2015
as businesses expand their marketing
activities to build stronger relationships
with customers who all the evidence
suggests are becoming less and less loyal.
Almost one in three UK consumers
(30%) surveyed by Vision Critical for
customer service specialist Kana said
that they had become less loyal to retail
brands in the last five years, with 25%
identifying poor customer service as the
main reason.
Who’s in charge?
Consumers have always had the power
to vote with their feet and take their
custom elsewhere. But in the past, it was
often easier to endure poor service than
find an alternative provider or navigate
the complexities of switching supplier.
Today, things are very different.
A number of factors, from market
liberalisation to the world wide web,
mean that in 2015 consumers hold the
cards. It is no longer the customer’s lot
to fulminate about poor service and
then eat humble pie; today, with just a
few clicks of a mouse, it is easy to find
an alternative supplier and probably one
that charges less.
The impact of technology is also
changing customer expectations.
People know what technology can do;
they know what is possible and are
therefore less tolerant of delays, errors
or obstructive customer service. The
twentieth century consumer doesn’t
exist to be fobbed off – at least not more
than once.
In a recent Censuswide poll
Get closer to your customers with the help of Neopost and make 2015
the year of multi-channel customer communications
Close contact
commissioned by Netcall, 11% of
consumers revealed that they had taken
their business to a competitor after
failing to get a satisfactory response to a
complaint at the first time of asking.
Technology as enabler
However, technology is much more than
a stick to beat suppliers with. It is a great
enabler for businesses too. Today, those
that choose to do so can find out more
about their customers than at any time
in history.
Electronic payment systems,
the rise of e-commerce and even
people’s own social media profiles give
remarkable insight into the buying
habits and preferences of customers and
potential customers; while electronic
messaging and social networks, allied
to commoditisation of computers,
smartphones and tablets, enable
businesses to interact with customers
like never before.
Nor is technological innovation
limited to electronic communications.
Digital presses that allow businesses to
The twentieth
century
consumer
doesn’t exist
to be fobbed
off – at least
not more than
once!
As part of a strategy to improve its
customer communications, Ranson, a
provider of baking supplies to bakeries
and patisseries around the UK, surveyed
its customers to see how they wanted to
receive invoices, statements, credit notes,
leaflets and catalogues.
Approximately 70% expressed a
preference for mail, with 30% choosing to
receive documents electronically.
Ranson sends out about 100 letters a
day and after letting customers choose how
to receive them, staff
had to spend a
great deal of
time manually
separating those
that were to be
emailed from
those to be sent
through the post.
Ranson already used a Neopost franking
machine and folder-inserter and so it was
only natural that it adopted Neopost output
management software to streamline and
automate the company’s multi-channel
communications processes as well.
Now, software automatically routes
mailings to email or print, based on each
customer’s preference. This has led to
happier customers, lower mailing costs and
significantly less manual processing, whilst
providing Ranson with verification that
emails have been sent.
Marcin Rutowski, office administration
manager, said: “The solution Neopost
provided is very, very simple. I would
recommend this multi-communications
platform to other companies; it’s really saved
time and money.”
Neopost proves
the right choice for
baking specialist
