At VoCoVo, we’re proud to support all retailers big and small. Over the years, we’ve forged strong relationships with everyone from neighborhood grocers to vast nationwide supermarket chains. No matter the size of the store, the same rule applies- easier communication means superior customer service.
None of our clients illustrates this better than The Fresh Market. They came to us with a problem- they were struggling to stay on top of customer phone calls. We sprang into action, streamlining their incoming calls and saving them a lot of money in the process. How did we do it? Through the power of telephony integration.
Meet the client
Few retailers are as synonymous with good customer experience as The Fresh Market. Ever since Ray and Beverly Berry opened their first supermarket in 1982, customers have flocked to their stores for friendly service, affordable prices and the freshest produce money can buy.
Today, The Fresh Market has 161 locations in 22 states. The business may have grown, but it hasn’t lost sight of its original mission- to make extraordinary food accessible to everyone. Customers clearly appreciate the effort, voting it America’s best grocery store for the last three years running.
Read more: how our keypads take the stress out of supermarket checkouts
The problem
Email, social media and live chat have made it easier than ever to get in touch with retailers, but many consumers still opt for the trusty telephone. Over 60% of customers prefer to call a business for assistance, and three quarters believe this is the quickest way to get a response.
The Fresh Market can certainly attest to this. Their stores receive dozens of calls every day, with customers enquiring about everything from stock levels to opening times. These calls were arriving via static landlines, forcing associates to leave the shop floor to answer.
This created an impossible dilemma. Should associates prioritize the customers in the store or the customers on the phone? Whatever they did, one group would always be disappointed.
For a company so dedicated to its customers, this was an unacceptable situation. Luckily, we knew just what to do.
The solution
The Fresh Market was the perfect candidate for our telephony integration feature. We provided a minimum of 20 headsets for each of the company’s 161 stores, making a total of 3200 headsets across the entire network. We linked these to The Fresh Market’s existing phone system, allowing stores to redirect incoming calls to associates’ headsets. This has made life easier for associates and customers alike:
- Associates can take calls without leaving the shop floor. This speeds up response times as customers don’t have to wait for an associate to walk to the phone station.
- Headsets are hands-free, so associates can continue to work while they answer calls. There’s no need to pause a task every time the phone rings, helping colleagues to stay on track during busy periods.
- Calls can be transferred between associates at the push of a button. If an associate lacks the knowledge to answer a question, they can transfer the customer straight to an in-store expert.
Saving more than time
These changes are great for the customer experience, but they also make sense from a business perspective. As well as speeding up response times, telephony integration has created some significant monetary savings for The Fresh Market:
- Combining telephony into a single centralized system has greatly reduced licensing costs. Rather than purchasing ten licenses for ten separate phone stations, stores can buy one license and link the phone station to ten headsets.
- Increased efficiency on the shop floor has made it possible to put fewer associates on a shift. This has created considerable savings in payroll hours
- Missed calls are no longer a problem, giving stores the chance to capitalize on every revenue opportunity.
Three efficiency savings that are unique to VoCoVo
“Since implementing VoCoVo’s devices, our stores have been able to significantly improve efficiencies. Having integrated VoCoVo’s technology with our phone system, we were instantly able to speed communication, cut out unnecessary walking, and allow our team members to remain focused on more business-critical tasks. More importantly, we are able to respond to guest needs more quickly to ensure that we never knowingly let a guest leave the store less than completely satisfied.”
Scott Jones, Digital Communications Manager at The Fresh Market.
The Fresh Market is just one of our many success stories. We’d love to add you to the list, so why not get in touch and book a demonstration?