Creating differentiation through superior customer service skills
With over 100 years of experience, Spirax Sarco is an industry leading
provider of bespoke and retail steam system solutions.
Spirax Sarco offers a single source of supply for the entire steam and
condensate loop, from spare parts to a complete plant-room package,
from a blown down valve to a new boiler house.
The primary industries they currently supply to are:
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.
In late 2011, Spirax Sarco reached out to several Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) in search of a training provider that could offer a tailored customer service solution suited to their specific learning needs. Amongst several other providers, New Horizons Learning Centres was selected as the preferred partner for the delivery of a two-day customised customer service program.
Ashley Wainwright states, “We decided to use New Horizons over other providers as they spent more time consulting with us in regards to our specific needs. Subsquently, the customised solution that they presented included a level of depth that the other providers lacked.”
The customer service training program provided by New Horizons was conveniently delivered at Spirax Sarco’s Sydney offices and enabling staff to maintain sufficient support lines with clients. The program was customised and contextualised to suit Spirax Sarco’s needs, covering topics such as: customer service fundamentals, customer communication, how to handle difficult people and customer management.
Standardised Service
The training provided by New Horizons has lead to a more consistent and standard level of service provided to customers. This consistency ensures quality engagement and maintains longterm relationships.
Increased Employee Confidence
“One of the main outcomes I’ve noticed from the training has been the overall increase in confidence within our customer service team. Prior to the training, our team struggled at times to manage queries from ‘difficult’ customers, however, now they possess a level of confidence that enables them to manage those ‘tricky’ situations and still maintain a positive customer experience,” states Ashley.
Improved Customer Satisfaction
With a renewed sense of confidence and set of customer service ‘tools’ at their disposal, the Spirax Sarco customer service team has reduced the number of customer complaints by 5% and increased overall customer satisfaction.
