I will be explaining the options open to Parcelforce for closing a perceived quality gap.
Between the years 2004 to 2008 when Parcelforce improve their quality in terms of how well they
answer their customers in a week for example phone calls to call centre 59,000 calls and only 89%
answered in 2004 and in 2008 30,000 calls and 95% answered. In 2004 there were 20,000 calls to
the depot and 8% answered and in 2008 32,000 calls to the depot and the answer rate was 92%.In
terms of the emails in a week in 2004 they will receive 2000 emails and answer in 10 days and they
improved in 2008 by answering 7000 emails in 2 days. The voice recognition in a week they will
receive 12,500 calls and only 32% calls went through and they lost 68% and in 2008 they received
18,000 calls and 91% calls went through and they lost 9% which shows an improvement.
Parcelforce changed the process which allowed them to improve .
Parcelforce had help from ‘New voice media’ to help improve voice recognition. They replaced
Parcelforce’s voice recognition and provided better voice recognition software. They also changed
the businesses KPI’s which is the key performance indicators changed to ensure fewer calls lost.
They also retrained staff to avoid calls being lost. New voice media also introduced an email
handling software and this will allow emails to be answered quicker .
Parcelforce hired live ops to install a new email system and they helped improve email response
time. Parcelforce was not able to handle the amount of emails they got a month which was 50,000,
live ops helped introduce a chat and better email option. Lives ops is introducing the cloud based
smart email management which will be held offsite using services that use the internet to
communicate. Responses are automated; they have a view of message history which will avoid the
same responses. There is a template response; the email is already written so they will just need to
fill in the customer details. The result of this was that the Reponses time has improved by
500%.Also 82% of customer’s rate Parcelforce’s services as excellent or good, a survey shows
Parcelforce offer the best online service out of all parcel carriers .
Blackbay provides handheld scanners and symbol is the company that manufactures it. The
scanner capture’s the customer’s electronic signature and inbuilt scanner to scan barcode on
parcel. The customer’s signature confirms that the parcel has been delivered. Customers can track
their delivery and they will know information about their collection or delivery throughout the day.
The handheld scanners can be updated without being disrupted so it will be updating and it can still
be used. The exact time the delivery is made will be noted, in case customer makes a complaint .
Parcelforce introduced CRM and better online security; they invested in a customer relationship
management programme by Concentrix. The CRM solution allowed parcelforce to use customer
data in a target way which is one to one with customers rather than treating everyone the same.
Staff spends more time with customers which increased sales. Parcelforce wanted to increase
sales, improve business processes and increase the time staff spent with customers. CRM being
introduced allowed parcelforce to increase sales and improve their customer service .
Parcelforce were close to breaching the data protection act when they got hacked and the website
broke down and customer’s data such as their signature was exposed. This caused parcelforce to
invest in online security. Parcelforce’s ‘track and trace’ feature on their website failed because
people using it could have access to customers name, postcode and signatures. The reason
parcelforce were close to breaching the data protection act is because that act states that
“businesses have a responsibility to keep personal and sensitive information secure”. Parcelforce
apologised and they have said the problem is fixed .
1
Between the years 2004 to 2008 when Parcelforce improve their quality in terms of how well they
answer their customers in a week for example phone calls to call centre 59,000 calls and only 89%
answered in 2004 and in 2008 30,000 calls and 95% answered. In 2004 there were 20,000 calls to
the depot and 8% answered and in 2008 32,000 calls to the depot and the answer rate was 92%.In
terms of the emails in a week in 2004 they will receive 2000 emails and answer in 10 days and they
improved in 2008 by answering 7000 emails in 2 days. The voice recognition in a week they will
receive 12,500 calls and only 32% calls went through and they lost 68% and in 2008 they received
18,000 calls and 91% calls went through and they lost 9% which shows an improvement.
Parcelforce changed the process which allowed them to improve .
Parcelforce had help from ‘New voice media’ to help improve voice recognition. They replaced
Parcelforce’s voice recognition and provided better voice recognition software. They also changed
the businesses KPI’s which is the key performance indicators changed to ensure fewer calls lost.
They also retrained staff to avoid calls being lost. New voice media also introduced an email
handling software and this will allow emails to be answered quicker .
Parcelforce hired live ops to install a new email system and they helped improve email response
time. Parcelforce was not able to handle the amount of emails they got a month which was 50,000,
live ops helped introduce a chat and better email option. Lives ops is introducing the cloud based
smart email management which will be held offsite using services that use the internet to
communicate. Responses are automated; they have a view of message history which will avoid the
same responses. There is a template response; the email is already written so they will just need to
fill in the customer details. The result of this was that the Reponses time has improved by
500%.Also 82% of customer’s rate Parcelforce’s services as excellent or good, a survey shows
Parcelforce offer the best online service out of all parcel carriers .
Blackbay provides handheld scanners and symbol is the company that manufactures it. The
scanner capture’s the customer’s electronic signature and inbuilt scanner to scan barcode on
parcel. The customer’s signature confirms that the parcel has been delivered. Customers can track
their delivery and they will know information about their collection or delivery throughout the day.
The handheld scanners can be updated without being disrupted so it will be updating and it can still
be used. The exact time the delivery is made will be noted, in case customer makes a complaint .
Parcelforce introduced CRM and better online security; they invested in a customer relationship
management programme by Concentrix. The CRM solution allowed parcelforce to use customer
data in a target way which is one to one with customers rather than treating everyone the same.
Staff spends more time with customers which increased sales. Parcelforce wanted to increase
sales, improve business processes and increase the time staff spent with customers. CRM being
introduced allowed parcelforce to increase sales and improve their customer service .
Parcelforce were close to breaching the data protection act when they got hacked and the website
broke down and customer’s data such as their signature was exposed. This caused parcelforce to
invest in online security. Parcelforce’s ‘track and trace’ feature on their website failed because
people using it could have access to customers name, postcode and signatures. The reason
parcelforce were close to breaching the data protection act is because that act states that
“businesses have a responsibility to keep personal and sensitive information secure”. Parcelforce
apologised and they have said the problem is fixed .
1
