When customers complained it was hard doing business with Shell,
the company realised its customer service act was falling apart.
Shell adopted CRM and noticed a vast improvement, writes Liz
Warren.
In 1997, Shell Oil Products, a $100bn division of Shell that
supplies lubricants, heating fuel and gas to homes and businesses,
found itself in trouble with its customers. "Basically, customers
were saying it was difficult to do business with Shell," admits
Toby Detter, customer service programme director for Shell
Europe.
Shell's response was to develop a new strategy based on a single
customer service centre in each of the 30 European countries where
it operates. Drawing on a central data repository, the centres let
customers place orders, check the status of product deliveries,
make account enquiries, complain and obtain technical product
information with a single call. Customer service representatives
get all the relevant information about each customer, so they can
develop a more personalised relationship and introduce customers to
products and services that are relevant to them.
Shell chose PeopleSoft CRM as the foundation for the new service
centres because it could pull together customer-related information
from across Shell's existing systems, including its ERP,
distribution and fuel-card systems. "It's the single view of the
customer which improves the quality of the relationship," said
Detter. "That's what makes the difference between customer
attrition and customer retention."
Shell has seen a significant rise in customer satisfaction in its
regular customer surveys and the number of queries resolved in the
first call has gone from well below 50% to near its target of 80%.
The solution has also helped Shell cut costs by between 25% and 40%
in each country, and its targeting of customers' needs has already
let the company exceed its target for generating additional
revenues.
The Bottom Line: Costs cut by 25-40%
More Case studies
ConsigniaIrish Life & Permanent