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7 Seek operational improvements. I see operations as the sharp
HR and health and safety appear in some organisations to be
end of the business, close to the customer but often undervalued
completely removed from the commercial imperatives of the
by the organisation. Listen to your customer service and logistics
business. They’re also areas in which you are less likely to be
teams and develop your call centre and warehouse functions to
knowledgeable. Contracts and redundancies can be much
improve the customer experience and financial performance. Then
more manageable when you’re guided by an expert, however.
consider working with an outside adviser to
Likewise, a consultant can help you develop employee
reduce costs and improve service, using benchmarking and
training and incentive programmes to boost performance
industry key performance indicators. and loyalty.
enhance campaign and product knowledge to improve the
customer journey, average order value and call times.
9 IT is the engine of most businesses—get help stoking it.
appraise the customer journey to improve customer satisfaction,
Start with a systems health check to highlight opportunities and
including customer communications and contact numbers,
weaknesses—very probably you have more functionality than you
agent skills and first-time resolution.
realise. Early on I was advised to hire a full-time IT manager as
review call centre and email management solutions.
soon as I could afford it. I delayed, but how right my adviser was!
define your fulfilment strategy—for example, in-house or
An expert can help you define your IT strategy and select the best
outsource? Is offshore fulfilment an option?
providers.
review warehouse processes, returns management and carrier
I hope these thoughts will prompt you to use the Advice Centre.
and postal alternatives.
Good advice and consultancy should result in either money saved
8 Work with a third party to lighten the burden of human- or money made. One last piece of advice: Don’t hesitate to be
resources and health and safety issues. Increasingly regulated, demanding.
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