HomeGround

HomeGround’s Trustpilot score has continued to improve with them achieving a 4.5 star rating.
Quality of interaction with customers via phone and email improved dramatically.
Improved consistency of delivery across all departments.

Challenge

HomeGround rely on customer feedback to help them improve their service. One of the barometers HomeGround base their customer service on is their Trustpilot rating. HomeGround have come on a journey over the past 18 months where their TP review has increased from 1.8 to 4.5 out of 5. Trustpilot feedback highlighted some needs for further training with reviews ranging from 1 star to 5 stars.

HomeGround had run training sessions previously, however with new joiners and a more focused approach on customer care, a refresher company wide was needed. They ultimately wanted to improve the customer experience but most importantly bring consistency across every area of the company. There are several different niche departments working in silos further highlighting the need to drive a consistent approach.

Each department understand their own functions in depth, but it was more critical that everyone within HomeGround was driven by the same ethos running through the heart of the company.

“Accelerator helped us ensure the roll out of training at all levels was flawless. Training content was tailored to our business needs, informative and enjoyable for employees. I would have no hesitation using them for future training needs.”

Matt Paterson
Customer Service Manager

Solution

After an initial consultation, our training consultant Nina Maan put together content based around the desire to create consistent customer service delivery.

The training was an opportunity to bring departments together that didn’t work alongside each other day to day. It also provided an opportunity for managers from different teams to share their experiences, learnings and best practice and for employees across the whole of HomeGround to work together.

The training was delivered in-person and split into four different courses. Firstly, with a combination of interactive presentation and practical activities, a two-day ‘Lasting Impressions’ course for customer-facing employees to build on their existing customer service foundations. A one-day equivalent was provided for those that are non-customer facing.

For team leaders, a one-day course was designed, with a two-day version for all managers. The overall intent was that all employees, regardless of their role, attended a one or two-day programme to reinforce the need for consistency across HomeGround.

HomeGround

Results

A term from the training that has really stuck with HomeGround staff is using MAGIC NOT TRAGIC language. For example, when giving a customer updates, instead of using negative phrases such as ‘unfortunately no’ they take a more positive approach like ‘because of x reason we aren’t able to...but what we can do is…’

They had previously found that using negative language and agreeing with a customer’s frustration could extenuate the customer’s emotion and leave them with unanswered questions, causing several re-contacts later down the line. Using more positive language gave clear reasons and other options, preventing customers from feeling they need to come back with further complaints.

A number of staff, when returning for their second day of training, said that they felt this had worked, since they hadn’t received follow-up questions. They also felt it added clarity to a conversation that might previously have been a little vague.

Mental Health & Resilience training was also embedded into the course when it was discovered that reasons for the lowest 1/5 Trustpilot scores were sometimes due to employees having external pressures outside of work. When confronted with an angry customer, their resilience and motivation was low and they felt unable to cope to the best of their ability and give calm advice. This resilience and empathy training has helped employees ‘manage the bad days’ whilst still delivering consistency in customer experience.

Upon completion of the training, HomeGround aimed to put quality assurances in place to ensure the training was being put into practice across all teams.

HomeGround’s Trustpilot score has continued to improve with them achieving a 4.5 star rating.
Quality of interaction with customers via phone and email improved dramatically.
Improved consistency of delivery across all departments.

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