Sandton-based Momentum Employee Benefits, the employee investment company in the First Rand group, has implemented a contact centre as part of a broader customer relationship management (CRM) initiative designed to improve service levels to existing and new customers, and to assist in gathering and leveraging information about these customers.
In an investment worth R2,5 million, Momentum Employee Benefits (MEB) has chosen the Apropos all-media solution from CCH Enterprise Solutions as the foundation of its contact centre. This will allow customers to contact MEB contact centre agents through a channel of their choice - Web, fax, e-mail or voice - with consistent levels of customer service and satisfaction. In combination with the new Funds@work product, this is in effect individualised investment under a group banner.
Alongside Apropos, MEB has installed the Onyx CRM solution, supplied by Pierre Mulder & Associates. This will help MEB in profiling its customers, analysing their needs and driving business intelligence. In total MEB has invested R4 million in the joint contact centre/CRM initiative, and it expects to see return on investment inside a year.
MEB is the third company in the Momentum group to choose Apropos: earlier this year Centurion-based Momentum Wealth went live with one of the most successful contact centres in the country.
MEB has some 450 000 members under administration. As with other companies in the Momentum group, it makes extensive use of technology to improve its customer service.
"As a company we`ve tended to be focused on the group, rather than the individual; product-centric rather than customer-centric; now we are reversing the focus, with technology as the enabler," says Trevor Wilmot, head of client management at MEB.
"As with many companies in the employee benefits arena, MEB has previously focused largely on servicing brokers, employers and trustee groups. We lacked the infrastructure to deal effectively with individuals. The greater degree of control individuals have over retirement investment, has forced us to review this model. This is why we`ve set up the contact centre, to allow seamless communication with the broad base of individuals."
Implementation of Apropos was rapid and smooth, being completed in eight weeks, says Wilmot. "The service and expertise we enjoyed from CCH was excellent. Not only did we meet all the deadlines, but we went live a week ahead of schedule.
"In conjunction with CCH, we believe we`ve done it the right way, defining our business processes up-front; deciding what we wanted to achieve; starting early and small, initially targeting only Funds@work clients; and integrating it into the business step by step. Now we will market the service to our brokers and through communication roadshows to the companies under administration."
"Customer relationship management (CRM) cannot occur without a consistent customer experience," says Sophie Hasell, Apropos product manager at local distributor CCH Enterprise Solutions. "MEB is laying its CRM foundation in a manner calculated to ensure long-term success and customer satisfaction."
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