Softline Pastel, the market leaders in the development of business and accounting software, is also committed to providing world-class customer care. The company recently made a significant investment in Presence software to upgrade its already internationally award-winning support centre.
Pastel customers will now, more than ever, experience an enhanced customer-centric service. “All improvements have been made in response to direct requests and suggestions from our customers,” says Pastel's support manager, Tamsin Bradford.
While the entire customer experience has been completely revamped, some changes will be more noticeable to clients than others.
Intelligent routing has been introduced. Based on a unique identifier, the innovative technology routes clients to the appropriate team, depending on the products they own, saving time and minimising frustration for the caller.
One of the support centre's most groundbreaking innovations is the online Web chat. This system functions in a similar manner to Skype. “Web chat is a combination of the ease and cost-effectiveness of e-mail and the in-depth assistance of a telephone call,” says Bradford. “The customer service centre's e-mail support queries have increased by 300% since 2009, and our new technology allows us to queue e-mails to agents, ensuring a quick response on a first-come first-served basis.”
With an average inbound call rate of 80 0000 calls per month, with spikes at various times of the year, the support centre system has become more flexible so that operators can deal with an increase in inbound calls. This is especially useful during the financial year end period when call volumes double. “Customers can now specify if their query is year-end related and be transferred to the appropriately skilled agent. This means all customers' queries are treated as a priority and handled accordingly,” says Bradford.
Of course, all calls are recorded and stored for immediate retrieval. In the event of a query, customers and agents can easily listen to previous call recordings. Another benefit of this system is that a greater volume of calls can be assessed for training and quality processes.
Core to Pastel's service ethic is the principle that no matter how amazing your technology, it's imperative to have a team that delivers professional service. The company is extremely proud of its customer service team, which continues to win excellence awards locally and globally. It was recently nominated in four categories of the Contact Centre World Awards, including best help desk and best customer service. Bradford has also been nominated for best contact centre executive. The awards will be presented in London in July.
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Who is Softline Pastel?
Softline Pastel is South Africa's leading developer of accounting, payroll and business management software for the small, medium and large enterprise market. Founded in 1989, Softline Pastel has developed an in-depth knowledge and understanding of the industry, establishing itself as a market leader and the preferred choice of South African business. The numbers speak for themselves; daily, 200 000 businesses use Pastel Accounting to run their businesses and nine out of 10 accountants recommend Pastel Accounting.
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