News: Customer Service/Care
Customer service training: Making amends for client "neglect"
10 September 2008
The boss of one UK-based international firm says attention to customer care development saw profits surge in the multi-million pound packaging enterprise.
Peter Atkinson, who previously worked for global companies including Procter & Gamble and automotive giant GKN, took over at Macfarlane Group five years ago and was tasked with turning the faltering business around.
He explained to the Times that customer service levels rested at 60 per cent, meaning that a problem arose with four out of every ten transactions made.
"There are customers today who, if we knocked on their door, would still not do business with us because of how we neglected them back then," he noted of his firm's client base, which includes mobile phone company O2.
"It is a small group but I understand why they feel like that."
As part of a strategy described as "taking the business back to basics", troubleshooter Mr Atkinson focused his attention primarily on customer care and how to improve it for individual clients.
Referring to O2's desire for more eco-friendly packaging, he concluded that any impact on sales was less of a concern than having a happy - or "sticky" - customer.
Last week, Macfarlane reported that its pre-tax profit for the first half of this year had doubled to £1 million on a six-month turnover exceeding £60 million.
