CEDR Case Study
Transforming a Telecommunication Company's Specialist Customer Care.
CEDR helped a global telecommunication company transform their approach to specialist care, taking a human-centric approach by empowering their teams to have better and more productive conversations with customers.
Impact at a Glance - Within First Year
Customers Awaiting Resolution
Reduced from 3000 to 300.
Complaints Referred to External Adjudication
Reduced by 39.6%.
Average Resolution Time for Customers
Reduced from 22 days to 4 days.
Feedback From the Customer Specialists
89% rated the training 'Excellent'.
Partnership Overview
In 2023, following a strategic review, this Telecommunication Company's CEO announced a new roadmap for the company with a clear focus on rekindling their relationships with its hundreds of millions of customers.
As part of this transformation, in the UK, they built a team of 100 Specialist Customer Care Managers dedicated to managing the most complex, vulnerable, and exasperated complaints. The simple aim is to defend less and engage more in order to build sustainable and rewarding relationships with customers.
This prompted the Head of Specialist Care to search for support partners who can not only train the team to get to the root causes of complaints, but also creating a learning experience that enhances the specialist's comfort, confidence and control in engaging with aggrieved customers.
Integral to transforming specialist customer care was to rethink the company's approach to complaints combined with the exceptionally challenging nature of escalated disputes.
A variety of factors, including the pandemic and the cost of living crisis have led to a deterioration in customer behaviour which has made complaint handling even more challenging.
Additionally, at the time, Ofcom's last published data showed there was room for improvement in the following areas:
- reasons to complain
- complaints per 100,000 customers
- surveyed as less likely to be recommended by a friend
Having run this Telecommunication Company's (and other organisations) final consumer redress scheme for several years, CEDR understands the nature of customer service conflict. This, combined with CEDR's expertise in delivering practical conflict engagement skills training allowed us to deliver an intense and ongoing learning experience for the team of customer care specialists.
Importantly, the programme emphasises interactivity and roleplays to ensure that participants demystify conflict and overcome inertia when it comes to challenging conversations.
By simulating the pressure and challenges of real-life scenarios, they are able to utilise their new skills and framework in order to truly learn how to use and embed them long-term. This is accompanied by live coaching and support from CEDR’s experts who help them develop their own unique approach to conflict.
Early Successes
Following the implementation of the new Specialist Care Programme and the ongoing training by CEDR (starting Sep, 2023), the following improvements have been tracked:
- Customers awaiting resolution queue - reduced from 3000 to 300 in within first year of the training
- Average time taken to find a resolution for a customer reduced from 22 days before programme to 4 days in proceeding 12 months
- Average ADR applications (external resolution) averaged 260 from July 2022 to June 2023 - reduced to 157 from July 2023 to June 2024
"Not just the same old work course, life changing skills that improve work and home life. Thank you CEDR and in particular Phil and Tracey." - Senior Customer Care Specialist
"This should be essential for all frontline teams." - Team Leader
"Amazing content delivered perfectly. I feel so confident in the skills I have learned." - Senior Customer Care Specialist
"This course has shown me that even with lots of experience there is still so much to learn… this has changed how I see myself in my role!" - Senior Customer Care Specialist
"Before I took the CEDR training I thought that I was a good listener. The time I had with CEDR proved me wrong and taught me how to actively be one both in work and wider life. I will forever be grateful for this experience and will never forget it." - Customer Care Manager
Conflict Styles
Ensuring team members understand their individual approach to conflict and that of others. Being comfortable with the spectrum of styles enables the team to adapt their approach depending on the situation and customer they speak to.
Active Listening Skills
Teaching the specialists the range of skills needed to effectively engage with customers and to uncover the root cause of problems.
Rapport and Trust
Empowering customer care specialists to deploy active listening skills and other techniques in order to have meaningful and effective conversations with customers.
Preparing and Opening
Embedding the use of an engagement framework and process for challenging conversations and teaching the specialists how to set themselves up for success.
Managing Emotions
Understanding that in order to resolve disputes, you need to address the underlying emotions of the client. Only when they feel heard and respected, will they be able to look at solutions to the problem.
Problem Solving
Coaching on how to successfully craft and present offers that address the core concerns of the clients and in a way that make them more likely to be accepted.