SmartResponse™ Takes the Biscuit
Following the acquisition of Jacob's Bakery and its brands, United Biscuits reviewed its line of business software requirements in all areas, deciding at each stage which of the two companies was using the most suitable offering. In the case of Consumer Care, UB chose SmartResponse™ for its Consumer Services Centre in Ashby de la Zouche. Jacob's were already using SmartResponse™ to log and respond to consumer contacts, and during the evaluation process it became apparent to UB that this solution offered the best combination of ease-of-use, performance and productivity.
United Biscuits is a leading European manufacturer of biscuits and snacks with an enviable portfolio of well-known brands, including McVities, Penguin, Jaffa Cakes, McCoy’s, KP Nuts, Hula Hoops and many more. All consumer enquiries arrive at their Ashby Consumer Services Centre, and with the imminent addition of Jacob’s product range, and the subsequent anticipated increase in the number of contacts, it was essential that their Consumer Care software provided the best combination of ease-of-use and power. The clean, clear user interface in SmartResponse™ is ideally suited to this environment. Feedback from users at United Biscuits has been very positive.
Alan Rutherford, United Biscuits UK Consumer Services
Manager says:
“SmartResponse™ has proved itself to be a real winner for us. Not only is it
easier on the eye, it is slicker than our previous system at the front end,
delivering a clear productivity bonus. As a consequence, we have been able to
absorb a 20% increase in workload, without increasing headcount. Processing
consumer contacts has never been easier and the Case Wizard, which takes you
through a seven-step contact processing routine, is an absolute delight when
training new or temporary staff.
A great team and a great product – top marks”
In 2006, UB have plans to implement a second phase for the SmartResponse™ project, which will involve automatic loading and merging of sales data to provide manufacturing, quality and sales departments with statistical data on key consumer issues and trends. Access to the data produced by the system is likely to be extended via the introduction of a SmartResponse™ portal.
Extending the Reach of Consumer Care Data
Badger Software Limited have announced a new SmartResponse™ Information Portal, providing a gateway to key consumer data, metrics and performance information without the need for individual SmartResponse™ licences. Many consumer care departments find it difficult to make sure that the data that they produce reaches the right people in other departments. This data can be very valuable in all sorts of areas.
For example, the sales and marketing departments will be interested in customer feedback on new product launches, availability or promotions; manufacturing departments will be keen on the key issues of the moment, particularly where product quality is concerned. In addition, there is often a need for departments connected to Consumer Care to have more limited access to case records, perhaps to provide feedback on a specific issue, add notes, or review
The SmartResponse™ Portal will address all of these needs through a web-based interface to the data. The portal home page provides a dynamic, easily digestible dashboard view of the key consumer issues at the moment, as well as key performance indicators and trend data. The Portal will be available as a standalone product for easy deployment to users, who only require Microsoft Internet Explorer to connect and view the information. All of the information on display is highly customisable, and can be configured for different types of user.
Information is presented to the user starting at a top level “key issues” page and from here they can drill down to the level of detail needed for their own purposes. There are no complex commands to use and anyone already capable of accessing a web page can be up and running in minutes.
If your Consumer Care department isn't fortunate enough to be a SmartResponse™ client, our portal is also available as an add-on to your existing system, providing a much wider audience for valuable data.
Contact Badger Software Ltd for more information or to set up a demonstration.
Focusing on Productivity
During 2006, the key areas of focus for SmartResponse™ will be productivity, performance, usability and extensibility.
Productivity, because we believe that our customers want a solution which works efficiently and effectively, whether recording and responding to consumer contacts or generating reports or other types of analysis.
Performance in two forms: ensuring that SmartResponse™ can grow with our customers, with optimised search facilities, alerts and warnings; and as a tool with which our customers can measure and report on key performance indicators, trends and top issues affecting their business.
Usability, because we want our customers to have a solution which provides a “best of breed” intuitive user interface. Feedback from our customers suggests that we are already performing well in this respect, but we will continue to listen and learn from our customers’ experiences.
Extensibility, because we believe that the data collected by Consumer Care departments is valuable in many other areas of the business, so we want to make it as easy as possible for SmartResponse™ users to allow other departments to see reports, statistics and alerts generated by the system.
As an example of our focus on productivity, and watching the way our users respond to consumer calls, we plan to introduce customisable response templates, where administrators can configure response types with pre-defined products, reasons and other valid data such as source and method of contact. Standard replies can also be pre-assigned, then when a SmartResponse™ user creates a new case, one of the pre-defined response types can be used to automatically fill in many of the required data fields.
SmartResponse™ Integration with Microsoft MapPoint
We are pleased to announce that SmartResponse™ users can now automatically export their search results to Microsoft MapPoint 2004.
If you have Microsoft MapPoint installed on a SmartResponse™ user's PC, any search result containing post code data can be used to generate a MapPoint map showing the locations of each contact address in the search. This is extremely useful to understand contact reason “hotspots”, for example multiple enquiries on where to buy a product, or incidents of damaged or out of date items.
And as well as loading SmartResponse™ contact addresses into the map, you can overlay other address points, such as store or distribution centres, to see how these match up with the SmartResponse™ data.
This facility is provided as standard with the latest release of SmartResponse™ - all you need to do is purchase a copy of MapPoint, available for around £200 per user.
2005 Consumer Care Survey
During the Summer, Badger Software Limited conducted a survey among Consumer Care professionals working in food, beverage and cosmetics industries. One of the questions asked in the survey was about the level of computer support that Consumer Care Departments received, and in particular whether the amount of time spent generating reports was justified by how the resulting information was used.
Only 8% of respondents felt that the amount of time needed to generate reports was justified by their usage.
One of our key objectives is to make reporting and analysis a “self-service” facility, so that interested parties don't need to request information from the Consumer Care department. Instead, they should be able to use a single point of access through simple tools such as Microsoft Internet Explorer or Excel, and get the data they need themselves.
This is where the SmartResponse™ Information Portal comes in - a standalone intranet based application which can be used to distribute your data around the business without the need purchase a SmartResponse™ licence for each user. And because the portal can be the gateway to other business data, it is possible to build extensions covering any number of key business indicators, from financial to manufacturing.
