Immigration New Zealand
Case Study
Immigration New Zealand Benefit from Knowledgeable Enquiry Handling and Insightful Reporting Services from EWA
The Brief:
Immigration New Zealand (INZ) is an official New Zealand government organisation based in London. It handles all immigration enquires from the UK, Europe and further afield ranging from visas for extended holidays to citizenship enquiries.
Having been with their existing contact centre provider for 12 years they wished to assess their service in comparison to competitor offerings and also to improve the level of insight gained from reporting. Instigating a tendering process, INZ stipulated that they needed effective insight, exceptional customer service and economic viability. Ultimately any provider would act as INZ’s front line, handling a wide range of enquiries so that the office based immigration professionals could focus on more advanced activities.
The Strategy:
EWA entered the tendering process with a clearly defined strategy:
- Utilise the proven reporting technology and expertise of the EWA Insight Unit to provide greater qualitative reporting.
- Acquire sufficient knowledge so that the majority of enquiries could be immediately resolved, with minimal need for referral.
- Employ the tried and tested EWA protocols to ensure that callers receive helpful, affable and efficient customer service.
- Deliver the entire service at an attractive and competitive cost.
The strategy, based upon proven experience, expertise and technical knowledge was praised for its comprehensiveness and competitiveness and as such was successful during the tendering process.
The Execution:
As reducing referrals and increasing one-stop resolutions had been identified as key objectives of the project, EWA understood that knowledge would be imperative to success. EWA achieved this knowledge by creating an internal ‘Champion’ for INZ.
This champion, as well as members of the enquiry handling team completed an extensive training programme with INZ over the space of 3 months, which included visits and conference calls.
The service launched on 1st June 2010. For the first week, INZ sent a representative to EWA to assist in handling more complex enquiries. The presence of the INZ representative was not only immediately useful, but also demonstrated the immense worth and effectiveness of the comprehensive training programme.
Due to the complicated nature of enquiries and legalities involved, EWA maintain a hotline with INZ so that enquiries can be answered immediately and correctly, with the caller on hold for the shortest time possible.
In direct response to the brief; EWA utilised proven insight reporting techniques, giving INZ in-depth analysis on the types and origins of enquiries for the first time.
On an operational level EWA’s working relationship with INZ is friendly and sociable whilst remaining professional. INZ processes require little interaction and run smoothly, however if problems arise, EWA are quick to respond and resolve any issues.
The Results:
In the time since launch EWA have reduced referrals dramatically from 17%-4%, demonstrating the knowledge and understanding of the EWA enquiry handling team. Further evidence of this knowledge is that there are virtually no enquiries passed onto INZ, the vast majority being resolved immediately or with the use of the hotline.
Even with the use of the hotline however, INZ enquiries have reduced average call time from 4 to 2 minutes, highlighting the increased ability of the enquiry handling team during EWA’s tenure. By providing detailed information on the types of calls, geographic location and complexity of enquiries EWA have delivered significantly improved insight into enquiry processes.
EWA have added value in a number of ways:
- By handling a wide range of enquiries and reducing referrals, the INZ immigration professionals can use their time more effectively and focus upon their core objectives.
- Through more insightful reporting, INZ have been shown where and how resources can be deployed in direct response to reliable qualitative data.
