Suggestion..... employ more staff to answer tickets and phones

[#1]

Just to update on what is happening on customer service:-
We've recently recruited a resourcing manager to focus full time on ensuring we have the right number of people doing the right roles at the right time, in addition a number of other roles to support customer service will be in place over the next couple of months. On advisors we are pretty much constantly recruiting people into Plusnet currently to increase the number of advisors we have and by the end of February the number of people will have increased significantly.

The team are conscious that simply having more people isn't the only area that needs to be looked and the structure of the customer service operation is changing alongside this to support the level of performance we all expect to see and ensure we are best placed to deliver.
Delivering an excellence in customer service is an absolute priority for us. We have made good improvements in some areas like when people move home, however, there's much more to be done as can be seen by the forum threads such as this. I can assure you we are making the changes to deliver the service levels for all our customers so more people like the comment from Steve 74 feel the service performance is where it should be.
I'll add a posting to this forum each two weeks in order to provide an update on what is happening and where we are on service performance currently. I acknowledge that for a number of our customers we need to get better, we are committed to doing and I'll update the latest situation regularly so you  can see how we are doing. 
Thanks Steve               

[#2]

2 months since your last post shutter, not 3.
Looking at your account the last tickets you raised were responded to well within the 4 hour target, so I can't see that we've let you down here?
Yes, we have some delays at the moment, and yes we're working very hard to resolve them (there has been constant induction of new starters since January and a lot of CSC staff are currently working overtime to bring tickets back under target response times).
I can understand the frustration when it takes a couple of days to answer a ticket, and that's not what any of us here like to see.
It's not a lack of trying that is causing the current problems, and as we, as a team, don't directly work tickets (although we have been recently to help our colleagues out) I think it's unfair to make us personally responsible for any and all service issues.

[#3]

@ Steve Woods,

Thank you for your response.  I am aware of several points that you make, but these points were also made 2 months ago (as Mand pointed out ... my last post) however this thread was started 3 months ago, so that is the time frame I am working on...
The main point is that despite your assurances, that "things will improve" it is obvious from the number of threads on this forum regarding "I raised a ticket and nobody has answered it for xx days"...that there is a long way to go...
I am not persuing this for my own ends, as I pointed out the the CEO, I have generally been happy with the service I have had, except the dreadful scenario of waiting on the phone, which initially prompted me to start this campaign. It annoys me a great deal that customers repeatedly have to resort to threatening to leave PlusNet and the bad feeling that creates amongst other PlusNet users, knowing that the Prime Backup Service, i.e. Customer Service just cannot keep up.It also annoys me, that to get any answers, I have had to resort to PM`s to comms staff to "have a look at this...... please"
It also annoys me that those same comms staff, appear to the customer concerned, to have suddenly woke up and have "just noticed the posting" complete with the standard "I`m sorry " apology....
It also annoys me that those same comms staff never  acknowledge that they have had a PM from me. No, I am not looking for a "golden globe award", but just a polite "thanks for letting me know" would be nice....
As someone said in a posting somewhere, (can`t remember where) If you can solve the infrastructure problems out, then the customer complaints department will have less work to do, but in the meantime, it is absolutely essential that when a customer "raises a ticket" it gets responded to..... at least within the time frame you are advertising, even if it is only to say, "thanks for your ticket, we are very busy and expect to answer it within (say) 24 hours....which is much more acceptable than absolutely NO RESPONSE for more than 48 hours or more still...
I shall look forward to Updates from you, as many others will too, I suspect.......and be watching the forums, and waiting times, to assess how the Customer Service is "improving".............

[#4]

@ Mand... It was 3 months ago that I started this thread, and that was primarily because of the ridiculous situation I found when I rang up one evening regarding the waiting times as published for 25 minutes and the fact that when I got through the guy said he had nobody waiting for the whole of that time....
the last post was 2 months ago, and I have left it alone to see what improvements had been made, after your assurances that things would improve because you had indeed employed more staff and they needed time to be trained, and inducted into the system
As mentioned, I am generally satisfied with the service I have had since I have been with PlusNet.... I am not persuing this for personal reasons, rather, to speak up for all those other frustrated and let down customers.  Customer Service may not necessarily have let me down personally, but it sure has let down a lot of customers who joined PlusNet because they heard that CS was good. 
I think your statement " I can understand the frustration when it takes a couple of days to answer a ticket, ......."  is a bit of an understatement.  as though 2 days is the general rule that tickets go unanswered.... Sorry, but reading the forums on this would give a different view....  As you say, it is not a lack of trying..... but rather that the Customer Service department needs to "try harder"...
I do not hold you and Chris "personally responsible for any and all service issues"... I never have.... but you and Chris, both made assurances to me, on this forum over  2 months ago, that things would improve,...... quite frankly they haven`t....  New customers are not being updated, kept informed, and generally ignored, until something breaks, and they get on the forum to vent their anger....
I acknowledge that you  both do what you can to keep things "smooth" in these cases, and the effort you both put in, is, I am sure, appreciated by the customers that get "the personal touch"... The problem is, regarding those who do, eventually leave PlusNet, with grave misgivings, and certainly a lot of "bad mouthing" to friends and relatives who could well have been potential customers....
Perhaps the "new structure" of Customer service, with the Resources Manager, and the newly trained Customer Service Advisors, will eventually bring the service back to what it was.......
It remains to be seen.... and I shall be watching !

[#5]

There is another option to employing more staff: stop chasing new users so actively and concentrate more on keeping the existing users happy. It is pretty obvious that a lot of the problems at present are because Plusnet has grown faster than the resources, both human and network, can accommodate. Add to that extra faults as a result of moving people to 21CN

[#6]

It costs a lot less to retain a customer than to go out and "persuade" somebody else's customer to join Plusnet.
I wonder how many people "move" from BT to Plusnet? 

[#7]

Hi All,
Two weeks ago I said I do a new post updating on where we are within the customer service area.
The good news is we have made progress in a number of areas, there's still more to do and certainly nobody sitting back and saying we can't improve further. On voice calls this week we are now on target on most of our main call routes, whilst ticket response times still need to improve further the volume of tickets in our main pools is now significantly less than it was a month ago.
an overall assessment would be definitely moved in the right direction, however, recognise there is more to do to get us to a position where all our customers feel they are getting great service.
Thanks..Steve         

[#8]

Thanks for the update, Steve.... I cannot vouch for the phone service, as I have not had occasion to use it, lately,  I hope the improvement begins to show in the customer satisfaction stakes.....it has been noted that there are a few less complaints in the Rants & Raves department, however, there also seems to be a rise in the number of more "serious" omissions and errors by CSC staff.... tickets not being answered for 3 days, and postings on the R&R saying "I will get back to you tomorrow", and two or three days go by without any "getting back" response... If a CSC staff comes on the forum to help, and says he will do something, then the customer is expecting them to "keep their word"... .... Yes, some times, events overtake themselves, and staff are human, and forget things. but a quick note to explain, is better than nothing at all.... then get down to the nitty gritty and sort the problem as soon as possible...

[#9]

Well, another four weeks have passed since my last comment on here, and quite frankly, from what I have been reading on the rants and raves department, very little seems to have changed....
people still waiting unheard of number of DAYS before ANY response is received from the ticket system......
http://community.plus.net/forum/index.php/topic,84418.0.html
Is just one example, and look what Mand has to say...... " a small backlog"...........  C`mon..... it shouldn`t take more than a couple of hours to clear a "small backlog" of enquiries,..... even if you only acknowledge them, in person........ NOT an automated reply,........at least the customer know you are actually doing something....

It would appear from the complaints about the ticket system, that apart from the "promised" increase in staff, there has been an equal amount of increase in the number of tickets generated..... erm..... haven`t PlusNet got enough customers yet?  or are so many leaving, that the numbers must be replaced.......and those leaving  demanding their accounts be closed that the ticket system can`t cope ..... Oh, and why are they leaving?  because they get NO RESPONSE from the ticket system...... swings and roundabouts?  of course....... get more customers from other ISP`s.... increase income..... spend income on staff...... need more customers for more income..... oh dear..... customers now leaving, but still need more staff to deal with their closing requests..... get more customers... increase income.... spend income on staff.... here we go again.....
NO... that is not the answer is it..... The whole ticket system need a complete overhaul..... it may well have served it`s purpose when PlusNet was a "small" company, and could clear up " a small backlog" in a couple of hours..... but now it seems to be almost as big as BT itself.... and consequently, it`s reputation is suffering because the TICKET SYSTEM IS NOT WORKING PROPERLY.....

[#10]

Hi Gerry
Whilst I take your point (s) there's a lot of speculation in there. I admit that we're not completely sorted yet but we're not far off. I dont remember the numbers exactly right now, but we've employed a significant number of new CSC agents in recent weeks. It takes time to train them and get them up to speed, but quite a number of those have hit the floor in the last number of weeks and there are more to come.
Mand was correct in that there is still a small back log but that is well improved on where we where a few weeks ago. It's not just a case of clearing down that backlog. Whilst we action older tickets, new ones are raised. Call answer rate has improved massively, as have ticket response times. There still remains a back log in some faults workflows, but good progress is being made there and will continue to be.
Steve has already stated that we are comitted to improvement and delivering excellent customer service and we are making very significant progress. It has been suggested here in the past and again by you today, that we should acknowldege a ticket, I'd ask why would we do that, if we can acknowledge it we can action it. That approach, whilst I can see where you're coming from, actually achieves nothing. I'd much rather have a ticket dealt with than a note saying thanks we'll come back to this in a bit.
The ticket system does not need a complete overhaul, we simply need to ensure we are staffing accordingly and working efficiently. Thats eactly what Steve and team are working through right now and is exactly what they will deliver and to be fair, their not that far off.
I walked into the CSC early last week and couldnt believe the number of new faces, I then saw the number of people in the two training areas and was amazed at the speed at which the CSC are recruiting. There is a huge effort ongoing to recruit and deliver improvements and I can see the excellent work the CSC team are doing right now. Give it a short time and you and the customer base will continue to see the improvements which are happening each and every day.
Its taken a bit of time and we've still a bit to go but we are most definately on the right track.

[#11]

Was this why you had to bring James back?
I hope he was well rewarded.

[#12]

Hi Jeremy,
I'm going to write a longer post, hopefully this week if I get some time, really just to say what I'm actually here to do (granted the job title is a touch long!).
Steve's touched on the fact that the waiting that a number of our customers are currently doing is less than ideal, which is why we're recruiting, heavily.  As an example, when I started on Monday last week, I was one of 19 to start on the same day, and this certainly isn't a one off.  I've come back to Plusnet to initially help with the training and development of our new members of staff after they have completed their initial training period, sitting with them helping them take calls and answer tickets until they're ready to fly on their own with the rest of the guys in the call centre.
Please rest assured that we are employing a large number of new staff in the UK to deliver the level of service that you expect from us.
Like I said, I'll post some more when I have some time to.

[#13]

Thanks for the response, Mark....
I can undestand some people under training may not be "up to the mark" when it actually comes to doing the job "live".... and that there will be some "who fall by the wayside".... Good to know that you are still in the process of replacing them.
Whilst we seem to disagree about acknowledging receipt, at least keep the notification of how long it will take for action up to date.... and be truthful about it..... saying the time for a closure on a ticket will be  22 hours 47 minutes, (example) should mean that..... and not any longer..... Yes, I know, some tickets take longer to process..(and this is where the acknowledgement could come in useful, to advise a customer that it will take longer) ..... . but some also seem to be falling straight into the closed box, and not found again, until the customer complains on the forum....This is where I say the system needs a complete overhaul.....
There must be many many tickets that get answered within the time frame, and obviously, do not get complaints, (or recognition) on the forums...so there is some good work being done behind the scenes...
Regarding Mands comment about a "small backlog".... how big is small?   Mount Snowdon is small compared to Mount Kilimanjaro, but Mount Kilimanjaro is small compared to Mount Everest..... (if you see what I mean). ! and to the customer. if  his particular ticket is at the bottom of the mountain (backlog) (however small) then it is a long wait....... especially when you don`t know when the bus is coming or not.....
Let`s hope the new staff will be able to come up to standard, and bring back the good reputation for customer service that PlusNet once had....
Thanks again for the update....

[#14]

Further Update.......
For those who continue to read this thread.....!...
I would like to point you to this
http://community.plus.net/forum/index.php/topic,84639.msg698751
Which gives an insight into what is happening now, and in the future.......

[#15]

Having been some time since my last post I just wanted to take the time to update you on the latest customer service status.
I'm pleased to say we are now (and have been for the last month or so) a lot closer to where we need to be to give the levels of customer service you require. Anyone that has needed to raise a ticket recently should have seen a more rapid turnaround in the time it takes to respond.
Whilst speed is not the only thing that matters it is one basic area we should get right and when coming alongside high quality responses (which we continue to look to improve on) it all means our level of performance is improving.
I'm sure you will continue to be demanding of us in terms of the levels of service we provide (this is important to ensure we constantly strive to be better), however, those people that have had reason to contact Plusnet recently should have seen the improvements our customer service levels and customer satisfaction results are starting to show we are delivering.
Thanks Steve