Knights BMW

Integrated Telephony helps Knights deliver customer service excellence

Knights is a BMW dealer group running two sites, one in Stafford and one in Stoke-on-Trent, serving the Staffordshire and West Midlands regions. The group employs 160 people in total.

Knights pioneering integrated telephony system
In January 2011, Knights signed up to be a pilot for Integrated Telephony from ADP within their Aftersales department. The full Integrated Telephony solution allows communication between a computer, the Autoline Dealer Management System (DMS) and a telephony system. Key features include screen-popping of a customer record before answering a call, click-to-dial functionality from within the DMS, call recording and call statistics. Knights have taken a phased approach to implementing the full solution, starting with the roll-out of the call recording functionality.

Call recording functionality caused initial concern
Knights are dedicated to continuous improvement of their business processes to deliver superior customer service and excellence in every aspect of their operation. As a result of this commitment, Knights took an interest in call recording as a process enhancement tool. Ian Dow, Aftersales Director at Knights, found the functionality of call recording appealing but felt some scepticism regarding the concept prior to the launch. He explains: “I was concerned that this would be seen as a ‘Big Brother’ project, that it would cause issues with staff morale and that the technology would be perceived as intrusive. In my opinion, my employees were already very efficient and did not need to be scrutinised.”
 
Unique insight into processes
As Knights started using call recording it soon became clear that the operation had great potential for further improvement. “What we thought we did and what we were actually doing were not the same”, Ian says.” We started getting an insight into customer service and business processes that just hadn’t been possible before starting to use the call recording system.”

An impressive alternative to mystery shoppers
Until recently, the business would regularly employ mystery shoppers at a cost of up to a thousand pounds per round, to assist in identifying possible areas of improvement throughout the service process. Different scenarios would be set up in order to represent a typical customer interaction and the result would then be recorded and fed back to management.  “It was an expensive solution”, admits Ian. “Sometimes it was also a fairly blunt instrument, as staff were learning to recognise the mystery shopper scenarios. It just wasn’t as cost-effective as we would have liked. However, what we have discovered since starting to use call recording is that we no longer need mystery shoppers. Today, every phone call is a true mystery shop.”

Call recordings revealed the real customer experience
Initially staff were slightly wary of their calls being recorded. Soon, however, Ian noticed how the team was embracing the functionality and identifying their own benefits. Employees would choose to use the system in situations where they felt the need to be protected in conversations with clients and they would regularly listen to and review their own calls to improve their technique.
From the very outset, the call recordings highlighted issues in the business processes. With the help of the Integrated Telephony system, Ian could now identify a number of process improvement opportunities which he had previously been unaware of. “We simply weren’t as good as we thought we were”, Ian sums up.

Improving processes across the business
Beyond helping in identifying improvement opportunities, Knights found a number of useful aspects of the call recording system that help them drive performance.
The company managed to increase the value of each customer interaction by identifying missed up-sell opportunities. Once this issue was highlighted, Knights could address it by putting a suitable process in place to capture any previously missed additional sales. The effect was instantly positive as the monthly figures jumped dramatically. This result sparked further analysis of other processes. “We took a step back and looked at the full business”, Ian explains. ”In the past, we have had a number of business processes put in place, but over time focus has been lost. Having access to a solution for continuous control will make sure that focus doesn’t change and that we can manage our processes effectively.”

Quickly solving disputes
One key issue which previously had been difficult to resolve was the matter of customer disputes. From time to time, a customer would claim to have been given promises of discounts or additional services, which Knights would find it difficult to verify. After introducing the call recording system, these disputes were no longer an issue. The recording could be played back to the customer, clearing up any confusion and avoiding conflict.

Recordings used in training and recruitment
Knights do not see call recording as a method to single anyone out for poor performance but as a help towards individual improvement, by highlighting training issues and dealing with those effectively. An external trainer is given a selection of call recordings and provides collective training to all staff based on the issues identified – without using the actual calls in the training process. This training helps achieve a greater buy-in from staff as they understand processes better and can be more engaged in delivery of service.

Another very strong benefit of using call recording can be found in the recruitment process, where recorded calls can be used to recognise key skills in potential new employees. The candidates can be played a selection of calls to critique, in order to establish whether they can identify particular mistakes.

Apparent financial benefits visible
The pilot project at Knights has already been a great success. In the three months since introducing call recording as part of company process improvements, Ian reports seeing on average an additional £299 worth of retail sales per day. Over the whole year, this would represent £75,000. “We have been able to see quick and direct financial benefits based on this system and are very pleased with being able to review how we are actually performing. You are only ever as strong as your weakest link – and now we can make sure the entire chain is strong enough.”

The next task for Knights is to implement the screen popping and click-to-dial functionality from within Autoline. They are also currently in the process of taking on a new Sales Manager who will be tasked with implementing similar initiatives to call recording beyond the area of Aftersales. Read more about Integrated Telephony.

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