We all know that good customer service is a make-or-break for retaining business and creating a loyal client base. However, all too often, the conversation around service is a micro one, focusing solely on direct customer interactions and sales support, as opposed to considering the entire customer journey.
Chris Johnson, Customer Experience Manager at Glassolutions says, “our ethos has always been about providing an excellent customer experience, rather than just solely focusing on service.”
“If we simply focus on customer service, that is limiting ourselves to a very small chunk of the overall experience that the customer goes on in purchasing from Glassolutions”, Chris explains.
“In prioritising customer experience, we consider the whole chain of events in the customer journey. Starting right from the customer making an enquiry, to not just the goods being delivered, but all the way to the aftersales support that we can offer, to ensure that our customers have the correct tools and knowledge to then sell the glass onto their customers.”
A Chain Reaction
This chain starts, in many cases, before a customer even places their first order with Glassolutions. All new prospective customers are assigned an Area Sales Manager who is an expert in the industry.
Liaising with a new supplier can potentially be a confusing time, with new terminology to understand, new methods of delivery and new products to contend with. Area Sales Managers are there to guide customers through this process, going out to site to meet with the customer first-hand to offer support, and providing a single point of contact for any queries.
Then comes the Customer Experience Teams. “We have centralised customer experience teams” says Chris, “operating in both our distribution side of the business, servicing our stock, cut and processed customers, and in our manufacturing side of the business, servicing our single toughened customers”. This enables a specialised service to be offered by knowledgeable teams in their field with an abundance of experience.
“Our Customer Experience Teams are there to support our customers every step of the way. We pride ourselves on having a team of people who are not just experts on the products that they are selling, but are also helpful, friendly and more than happy to go above and beyond for customers”, explains Chris.
“They keep our customers informed throughout the journey, proactively updating them on deliveries, providing copy Proof of Delivery where required, and assisting with any invoice queries.”
This support and guidance also extends outside the order. With a dedicated marketing team, Glassolutions can offer extensive marketing support to their customers in effectively promoting their products in showrooms and online, enabling customers to increase margins and sales.
Technical assistance is also part of the Glassolutions support package, with technical experts able to visit site to advise on efficient glass processing, as well as to offer guidance on how to safely and skilfully handle the glass to minimise damage.
Additionally, customer feedback is always being monitored and implemented, whether this be through new digital innovations to enhance the customer experience, product innovations or further sales support, to name but a few.
“It’s not just about Glassolutions growing as a business; it’s about us working in tandem with our customers to help them grow their businesses too”, explains Chris.
Rectifying Issues
As hard as we may try, no business is perfect 100% of the time and it is inevitable that occasional mistakes may be made. “We are dealing with an extremely fragile material that is very easy to break or damage”, says Chris, “and therefore, despite our best efforts, we do have the odd instance where we may have a delivery that has broken or a piece of glass that may be scratched”.
It is in these cases that Glassolutions’ customer-centric model really comes into play.
“If damages or breakages do occur, we will get a replacement made and delivered as early as we possibly can”, explains Chris. “We have an extensive delivery network, with six branches across the UK, and therefore if a customer requires the replacement glass delivered to site, for example, we can use our network to try and facilitate this with a direct delivery where possible to minimise disruption.”
Also, with both in-house processing facilities and toughening capabilities, lead times are significantly minimised as the manufacturing is contained within the Glassolutions model.
Equality in Experience
A prevailing principle for Glassolutions is that this emphasis on delivering the best possible experience for their customers, is true for all customers – regardless of their scope, spend and size.
“We have customers of all shapes and sizes, but regardless of who they are, they are treated with the exact same care and attention”, says Chris. “We are a company with people at our centre, and our passion for providing an equal customer experience truly underpins this.”
