Xerox Canada Ltd. offers seamless customer service in New Brunswick

Telemarketing, Jun 1995

Xerox Canada Ltd. is demonstrating its commitment to a new level of customer service with the launch of its national call center in Saint John, New Brunswick.

Research conducted by Xerox revealed that as the business environment in the '90s has become more complex, customers are demanding enhanced access and responsiveness from their business partners and suppliers. A telemarketing experience that involved more than one or two steps meant the customer had lost time, and in some cases, money.

Xerox's research revealed that a central resource to answer questions, fill orders or resolve technical problems would be a cost-effective means of consolidating services for customers.

According to Steve Robbins, director, integrated customer services at The Document Company -- Xerox, "As business becomes more complex, customers are seeking simplified processes from their partners. There must be an understanding on the vendor's part that the customer's time and energy are valuable commodities -- this call center allows both to be maximized, allowing customers centralized access and round-the-clock service and support."

The Saint John Call Center builds on more than a decade of success Xerox has enjoyed using similar customer service systems. Previously, the call centers were more functional in nature, meaning customers might have to call one number for billing matters, another for service support, or sales or marketing issues.

"Although these call centers had allowed us to achieve cost efficiencies, we realized that we could provide a higher level of service to our customers," added Robbins. "As a result, we moved from a functional or specialized approach to a consolidated and integrated system, where customers have only one point of contact with us, whatever their type of question."

To create a truly seamless experience for callers, Xerox had to redesign the technology it had used in the other call centers to allow the databases to "relate" to each other. There are several benefits of consolidation/integration, as identified:

* Customers enjoy more centralized access into the company;

* The simplified process saves time and money for customers;

* Xerox enjoys cost benefits through increased productivity; and

* Xerox call center employees are empowered, gaining control over the customer relationship through broader responsibilities.

The empowerment of Xerox employees, and finding the right candidates for this environment, was one of the factors that led Xerox to consider New Brunswick as the location for its integrated call center. "Based on our location research, we knew that New Brunswick had a large pool of available, highly skilled workers," noted Robbins. Xerox received 1,700 initial applications for 120 positions at its national call center. Because New Brunswick is Canada's only officially bilingual province (French/English), Xerox easily reached its 35 to 40 percent target levels for bilingual workers.

Xerox's attention was also caught by New Brunswick's track record in attracting new call centers. "The province and NBTel (The New Brunswick Telephone Company, Limited) seemed to know what they were doing," Robbins recalled. "NBTel's innovation and expertise were important differentiators. Together with the Premier's Office, they had formed a strategy and developed a sound team approach to implementing the call center that assured us we were making a sound decision in their favor."

The province of New Brunswick has created an environment that is cost-competitive, both with other areas of Canada and North America. There is no provincial sales tax on 1-800 service. Power, leasing and set-up costs are favorable. And telecommunications infrastructure and costs garner high ratings.

In addition to Xerox, other businesses that have chosen to locate telemarketing call centers in New Brunswick include UPS, Federal Express, Northern Telecom, Unisys, Royal Bank, Canada Trust, CP Hotels, Camco, VIA, CP Express & Transport, Purolator, MEDITrust, DMS Marketing, Connect North America, Canada Post and Sun Life.