Blueprint Operations (BPO) has undertaken a root and branch overhaul of its Customer Services which has seen the market-leading land-based gaming brand bring all support functions in-house, open a new dedicated Service Support Centre based in Droitwich and instil a culture of continuous improvement which has resulted in 99 percent of replacement parts meeting Blueprint’s next day delivery pledge. Coinslot spoke to the company’s Director of Operations, Nadia Timofeev, who has overseen the transformational process.

When did you take responsibility for the Customer Services function at BPO and what is the most important change that you’ve made?

Officially we started consulting with our customers three-years ago as a dedicated project to establish exactly what they thought about the service and where we could make improvements. This brought up a number of issues which we set about addressing. However, I think the key development was the decision to bring all functions in-house. Bringing everything in-house means that we are in total control of every customer touchpoint and as a consequence able to identify potential issues courtesy of an escalation procedure which enables the team to proactively intervene. We have introduced standard KPIs to track speed, efficiency and quality of service and are in constant contact with customers channelling their feedback into our review processes.

What feedback have you received?

We track everything that we do and know for example that over 99 percent of replacement parts meet our next day delivery pledge. Any brand that fails to listen to and act on the feedback provided by its customers is missing opportunities to deliver a gold standard service. By having the right conversations we established that operators were uncomfortable with suppliers’ pricing policies so we became the only organisation to introduce a simplified and totally transparent pricing structure comprising standard and major repairs without any hidden costs.  Over 85 percent of repairs fit into the standard repairs category offering the customer efficient and cost-effective service. We have also introduced a Returns Portal which allows operators to return parcels  free of charge – which was another operator bug bear.

What does best in breed Customer Service contribute to operator profitability?

We are very aware of the pressure on operators and the huge costs involved in running any business but in particular for those organisations that are consumer-facing: as a consequence initiatives which simplify pricing, introduce free of charge services and enhance efficiencies are key. We should never forget that Customer Service is also about maximising machine uptime which drives revenues. At the last two dedicated UK shows, ACOS and EAG, we had dedicated Technical Areas where customers could learn more about operating their Blueprint machines in order to maximise income. This is an extension of the traditional customer service function which directly enhances operator profitability.

Why in your opinion is Customer Service so important?

Customer Service is pivotal to the overall impression of every brand. Outstanding customer service can cement and even enhance a relationship whereas a negative experience can prove to be difficult to recover from. If you are in charge of a brand you can’t have a situation where the last impression a customer has is a negative one.

Is outstanding Customer Service a cultural phenomenon which requires total buy in from the people responsible for delivering it?

I think there has to be a culture of problem-solving that everybody embraces. Essentially, if customers aren’t happy we have to find a solution which remedies that because happy customers will stay with a business and our core purpose is to be profitable and enhance our market-leading share of machine sales cross all sectors. What we are also doing  is elevating the status of the  customer service team and being very clear about how team members can develop their career path. Customer Service Manager Mateusz Stanislawski and Operations Manager Samantha Hempshall have both made huge contributions to the success of the Customer Services team and serve as examples to the rest of the team of what they can achieve in their roles.

Caption 

BPO’s Director of Operations, Nadia Timofeev (centre) pictured with Customer Service Manager Mateusz Stanislawski and Operations Manager Samantha Hempshall