Avaya Aura® Contact Center helps specialist clothing brand prepare

Challenges
• Create environment
capable of
processing multiple
channels, including
email, social media
and web chat
Avaya Aura® Contact Center helps specialist
clothing brand prepare for warm future
• Improve
performance of
automated features,
freeing agent time
and enabling callers
to self-serve
Value Created
• Establishes for the
first time clear
processes for
letters, improving
customer service
and strengthening
management
capability
• Incorporates new
media channels,
allowing the
business to
communicate with
new customer
segments
• Improves
performance of
automated
functions, freeing
up agents to deal
with more calls
Damart holds a dominant position in the thermal clothing
market, but its target audience is ageing. To continue to
thrive it needed a contact centre solution capable of handling
multiple channels and maximising agent performance.
Damart sells around £100 million of
customers to the brand. The 1960s
primarily ladies clothing in the UK each
Baby Boomer generation, are fast
year. Famous for its thermals, Damart
becoming its new target audience.
has a broad product range – from
This generation has different
outerwear to underwear and a selection
lifestyles, aspirations and shopping
of household products. A major home
habits to Damart’s traditional
shopping business, it has more than
customers. To succeed the business
2 million names on its customer
needs to innovate.
database and sends out 90 million
promotions and catalogues each year.
The strategy is to adapt and create
In its target market, the home shopping
product ranges as well as promotional
arena, Damart believes it is one of the
and communication strategies which
UK’s most popular clothing brand.
appeal to its distinct customer groups.
The business plans different product
Today the average age of a Damart
offerings and promotions for each
customer is 70 which, poses two
group, including driving more sales
challenges. Firstly, meeting the
through its online channel. A retail
changing needs of its existing
presence in the UK is also a possibility.
customers - vital, in enabling the
“The high street and online is where
business to maintain the strong
you’ll find younger shoppers,” says
position it has in its traditional market
Stuart Creeley, Finance and Customer
segments. Secondly, attracting new
Services Director, Damart UK.
avaya.com/uk | 1
“We take around 3,000
additional calls a day
into our IVR system,
but around 45 per cent
drop out and speak to
an agent. If we can
make improvements by
migrating these
systems to a new
Avaya Voice Portal
platform more callers
will be able to complete
their transaction
without speaking to an
agent. This will reduce
the pressure on the
agents at peak times.”
—Ian Auker, Network & Telecomms
Manager, Damart UK
Respecting the
audience
Internet access, and be wary of
phone, outbound contacts, e-mail,
outbound sales calls. These all
web communication, instant
require a sensitive approach to call
messaging, fax, scanned documents,
handling. Predicting call volumes hour
and short message service (SMS)
by hour can also be problematic.
text messages. It means agents
Auker says the contact centre tends
could integrate Damart’s new social
to go quiet during major sporting
media channels (including Facebook
events and prime-time soap operas.
and Twitter) and emails can be
Damart’s existing customers generally
pushed to agents, including scans of
do not work and watch more day time
television than average.
Damart contact centre, in Bingley,
Yorkshire. Its 180 agents handle an
average of 12,000 calls a day, from
creates a unified view of the contact
centre. Agents will also see a
In addition to customer orders the
complete view of the customer, with
business receives 3,500 letters and
historic and real-time information.
e-mails each day. The majority of
these hand written and arrive by post.
This correspondence is mainly general
The outcome will be a better service
delivery, whoever the caller,
whatever the media.
queries and service issues. The
number of e-mail contacts is growing
rapidly which reflects the strong
growth in Damart’s internet business
“At the moment it is difficult to
check whether a letter has been
dealt with,” says Auker. “We wouldn’t
know if a batch went missing. With
Advancing with Avaya
Aura
Last year, the business began a
At the frontline of this battle is the
its letters. For the first time, it
migration from Avaya CC6 to the
the Avaya Aura Contact Center we’ll
now have effective tracking
processes in place, and better tools
for supervisors to use.”
Avaya Aura® Contact Center
solution. The move would enable
Damart aims to develop teams of
order taking to customer service
issues and payments. It is largely a
voice operation, with agents talking
through orders, payments and
service issues with callers. Damart
needs to continually improve the
performance of these agents, while
building an environment capable of
recruiting and servicing new
customers. Part of this is being able
to handle more non-voice channels.
“We have to be sensitive to the
senior market,” says Ian Auker,
Network & Telecomms Manager,
Damart UK. At present a significant
number of callers might live alone,
be hard of hearing, live without
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agents in the contact centre to
agents with multiple skills sets who
handle simultaneous multimedia
are able to work across multiple
from a single interface, including
channels, whilst recognising that
certain agents are better at
around 45 per cent drop out and
service.” Damart will also be better
customer service, others on credit
speak to an agent. If we can make
able to monitor agent performance,
payments etc. This will enable the
improvements by migrating these
in real-time.
company to adapt to its changing
systems to a new Avaya Voice Portal
environment and expanding
platform more callers will be able to
He is keen on exploring the cost
customer base. At present, around
complete their transaction without
saving potential of remote workers
10 specialist agents deal with
speaking to an agent. This will
using Avaya Aura Contact Center,
incoming email. Auker says he
reduce the pressure on the agents at
but says any solution must comply
expects the number of e-mails to
peak times. Auker is engaging with
with Payment Card Industry Data
grow significantly in volume and
Avaya Professional Services to
Security Standards. He is already
multi-skilling is seen as an effective
address this drop-out rate.
working with Avaya on further
way of dealing with this change. To
improvements, making it possible
enable this change the business has
The current situation is doubly
for agents to transfer calls into the
been working with an external
frustrating, he says, as callers who
Avaya Voice Portal so callers can
agency, T2UK, to train its customer
drop out of the IVR process have to
complete the transaction
service staff to write effective and
re-input their details with an agent.
automatically. Avaya Proactive
appropriate letters and e-mails.
However working with Avaya
Outreach Manager will allow Damart
Professional Services, the plan is to
to create automated voice, email or
Enhancing self service
carry the caller information through to
SMS messages, with respondents
the contact centre, regardless of
handled through the Avaya Voice
During the winter months Damart
channel, allowing the agent to pick up
Portal. Again, respondents will be
sends out specialist catalogues
the call without a pause. “We’ve done
given a choice of fulfilment via self-
devoted to its market-leading
some maths around it and it could save
service or agent. It allows Damart to
thermal and warmth product range.
us 12 hours a day,” says Auker. “With
tailor specific campaigns, using the
During a recent winter, this catalogue
current calls averaging 3.5 minutes
appropriate channels, to its different
hit doormats on the coldest day of
that means a great deal of extra
customer segments.
the year. As a result, the contact
capacity we can devote to customers
centre enjoyed its busiest ever day,
not using the self-service option.”
handling 18,000 calls – but
telephone service levels fell and
some calls were lost. The business is
“I’d heard about this solution from
Avaya and knew it would work here,”
Future possibilities
says Auker. “You don’t want too
many suppliers in the contact centre.
keen to avoid a repeat and believes
Auker is aware there is a job to do
that the Avaya Aura Contact Center
today, and an environment to
will provide the solution.
prepare to tomorrow. “When
internet usage takes off in our
Everything has to glue together and
the best option is an end-to-end
solution from one supplier. Avaya
has delivered this.”
One of Aukers goals is to reduce the
market there will be a host of web
call demand on telephone agents by
features we’ll be able to add with
offerings customers a better level of
Avaya Aura Contact Center. The
self-service. Using integrated voice
Avaya Aura® Agent Desktop, a
Learn More
response, Damart customers today
single-interface client application,
For more information, contact your
can check their account balance or
will enable us to interact with
Avaya Account Manager or a member
order status, or make a payment, all
customers via a variety of media.
of the Avaya Connect channel partner
without speaking to an agent. It is
Coupled with Presence, showing
program, or access other collaterals
the same with the online portal.
whether agents with the relevant
by clicking on Resource Library at
skills are available, we’ll be able to
www.avaya.com/uk .
“We take around 3,000 additional
check whether the most appropriate
calls a day into our IVR system, but
agent is free and deliver a seamless
avaya.com/uk | 3
Applications Systems, & Services
• Avaya Aura® Contact Center
• Voice Portal
• Avaya Aura® Agent Desktop
• Avaya Proactive Outreach Manager
• Avaya Professional Services
About Damart
With a British heritage, unsurpassed patented thermal fibre and over 10 million
customers worldwide, Damart has grown from a small family business into a
warmly thought of global brand name. Damart developed and patented
Thermolactyl, a unique man-made fibre now renowned for its ability to provide
warmth without lots of bulky layers. Today we are incredibly proud of our
reputation as a leading international brand and a well-established household
name in the UK, as well as overseas. From our UK headquarters in Bingley,
Yorkshire we strive to deliver unrivalled quality, value and, most of all, excellent
customer service.
www.damart.co.uk
About Avaya
Avaya is a global
provider of business
collaboration and
communications
solutions, providing
unified communications,
contact centers,
networking and related
services to companies
of all sizes around
the world. For more
information please visit
www.avaya.com/uk.
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