With more than 100 years of experience and a network of over 1,300 engineers operating in 34 countries across the globe, Spirax Sarco is one the world’s foremost leaders in the development of bespoke steam system solutions. Within Australia, Spirax Sarco employees a team of 50 frontline engineers who provide onsite and over-the-phone consultation to clients regarding custom products to help them achieve greater manufacturing efficiency, reduce environmental footprint and improve market competitiveness.
Behind the scenes, a team of nine dedicated customer service staff members are tasked with providing daily technical support to both internal and external clients as required. With 60% of the organisation’s revenues coming from repeat customers, this team is directly responsible for maintaining long-term, profiable relationships with clients by providing consistent high quality aftermarket service.
Ashley Wainwright, the National Operations Manager, states, “aftermarket service is a major point of differentiation for our business. There are generic steam products which can be purchased over the internet, however, when companies buy online they aren’t provided with support, which is something almost all customers will require at some point. Our ability to provide that support is key for our organisation.”
However, when Ashley first joined Spirax Sarco in 2011 and was made responsible for the performance of the customer service team he quickly realised that, while the staff’s technical knowledge was quite sound, the standard of service varied significantly from team member to team member when dealing with clients. Upon further analysis Ashley discovered that most of the support team did not come from a traditional customer service background and had never received formalised customer service training.
With this in mind, Ashley endeavoured to provide his team with the tools necessary to deliver consistent quality service. The end goal was to increase the team’s overall customer service standards, decrease the number of dissatisfied customers and improve staff confidence.