Consum Supermarkets

Consum achieves customer service excellence and sees a 40% improvement in customer query resolution with Zendesk and redk

Consum is one of the leading cooperatives within the retail sector that operates across the Spanish Mediterranean. Founded in 1975, it has grown to have more than 800 supermarkets, hiring more than 18,000 employees and serving more than 4 million customers in six regions of Spain.

The impact: tangible improvements in performance indicators and happy customers

As a result of the implementation of Zendesk, Consum has seen significant improvements internally and externally, with data that speaks for itself:

• 40% improvement in customer query resolution
• 41% increase in response speed
• 90% of calls answered in the first attempt
• An 8.4/10 CSAT score

Consum: a high-volume retail business with a customer-centric focus

In 2019, as part of their strategy to put the customer at the centre and improve the customer experience, they undertook two key projects. On the one hand, they redesigned the supermarket model to offer a transparent, personalised and convenient shopping experience. And on the other hand, with the help of redk, they began to implement Zendesk to achieve their goals concerning customer service excellence.

The challenge: optimise and automate processes to impact the customer experience

Consum’s Customer Care Department, which initially answered 1,000 phone calls per year, now resolves more than 25,000 queries per month, which are also increasingly complex and lengthy. In 2018, with the creation of the first online Consum store, the limitations of their existing tools became evident. The tools did not allow the automation of processes to resolve the growing volume of incidents, nor did they have the capacity to integrate different channels: web forms, emails, phone and other channels. They also didn’t facilitate remote work – a measure that Consum had already implemented in 2015 – nor did they allow them to keep up with the growth of the contact centre.

With many different types of incidents (more than 250 use cases) stemming from the very nature of the business and outdated and inefficient technologies, Consum had to hire more staff and make a great effort to be able to fulfil its customer service excellence goal, which is their top priority.

Business Outcomes Powered by Modern Technology

This transformation process needed to go far beyond the features of the software, Salesforce. In order to efficiently set up and personalise the software, we needed to fully grasp the reality of the business and its operational model, the people with their roles and functions, the business processes, and their then-current technology set-up.

First, we worked to understand the long-term vision of what TIME Investments needed to achieve, then we broke it down into operational areas. We then further defined those operational areas into functional units to support the business, all powered by the extensive data that is collected throughout the business.

The solution: leading technology at the service of business needs

To address these limitations and dramatically improve the efficiency of its customer service, Consum decided to implement a customer oriented architecture that had Zendesk technology at its core, integrated with the other main technologies of the business.

According to Inma, ‘We had to find a tool that would integrate seamlessly with the CRM we used to manage the loyalty program, and the one that did it best, while also adapting to the rest of our operational needs, was Zendesk.’

The journey: personalised implementation with the support of an expert integrator

To implement Zendesk, Consum chose to rely on the advice of redk, which became essential throughout the entire process.

In Inma’s words, ‘They immediately helped us define the use cases, what automations could be implemented, and how certain processes could be redesigned to be more efficient and effective. From the beginning, we recognised their expertise of the tool, something that other companies did not have. When I think about it, I don’t understand how we could integrate Zendesk well without redk.’

In the first part of the process, the team at redk worked closely with Consum to develop more than 250 use cases and introduce them to the help centre, a project that took some time due to the complexity and variety of the cases.

During this phase, the tandem team defined automations and found new ways to simplify and manage processes, thanks to Zendesk functionalities.

The implementation process was completed at the end of 2019 and the solution was ready for launch in 2020, pending operational testing and training measures. The COVID-19 pandemic at the beginning of March forced this last stage to be accelerated in order to respond to a volume of incidents that multiplied overnight due to the lockdown.

In these very difficult circumstances, the customer service agents were required to change from one system to a radically different one, which, although was more efficient, required a learning and familiarisation process. redk’s experience and flexibility and Consum’s commitment were key to accelerating the training and implementation so that the company could overcome the challenges presented at that time.

The results: Optimised processes, scalability, accurate reports for service excellence

From the very beginning, Zendesk’s automation tools became Consum’s best ally in its pursuit of customer service excellence.

• Two knowledge bases have been created: an external one for employees and an external one, which facilitates self-service queries.
• Multiple integrations have been carried out to implement tools that considerably facilitate the work of agents. They now have access to all customer information in the same interface and deliver complete and accurate customer data seamlessly (Cisco and Algonomy’s CRM).
• Macros and triggers have been created that automate responses and reduce the contact centre’s workload.
• An automated and detailed reporting system has been implemented that provides data on incidents and agent performance and allows the responsible departments to be informed so they can identify areas for improvement.
• New communication channels have been integrated, including the Mindsay chatbot that automatically responds to first-level incidents.

The future: Conversational messaging and integrated channels

In the short term, and always counting on the expert advice of redk, Consum plans to explore new possibilities and Zendesk functionalities, such as integrating Whatsapp for Business to open conversational messaging, to continue advancing in its objectives of customer service excellence.