Since the pandemic, the retail sector has experienced a severe shortage of colleagues. Over 105,000 UK retail jobs were lost in 2021, and there may be more to come. In what has been dubbed “The Great Resignation”, almost a third of British workers are considering a career change this year.
Employers have responded with the biggest wage increases in over a decade. This is fine if you can afford it, but many retailers are struggling financially after two years of lockdowns. Attracting new colleagues may not be an option, so you need to make sure the ones you have are working as effectively as possible. This is where we can help..
VoCoVo is all about efficiency. In previous blogs we’ve shown how we can save you time and money by reducing walking distance and improving task efficiency. This is our bread and butter, but it’s only part of the story.
As well as the basic functions of our headsets and call points, our system also boasts a number of unique features. These allow you to increase efficiency in ways that our competitors can’t. Here are three efficiency savings that are exclusive to VoCoVo.
1. Telephony integration
Even in the age of smart technology, the humble telephone shows no signs of dying out. A 2019 study found that over two thirds of customers still favour a phone call when trying to resolve a customer service query. Separate research from BT found that 85% of customers won’t call back if you miss their first call.
Answering every call is the only way to ensure you don’t lose customers, but this may be easier said than done. Colleagues have a lot on their plates, and leaving the shop floor every time the phone rings is a big ask. This is where telephony integration comes in:
- VoCoVo is the only retail communication system that lets you link headsets to your phone system. We can be integrated with your existing system, or replace it altogether.
- External calls go straight to colleague headsets, and colleagues can answer at the push of a button.
- Colleagues can respond to queries while continuing to work. If they are unable to help, they can redirect the call to another colleague without putting the customer on hold.
By keeping colleagues on the shop floor and enabling multitasking, we can save the average store £111 a week. This is a saving of almost £6,000 over the course of a year.
2. Two way call points
Unlike our rivals, VoCoVo call points offer two way conversations between colleagues and customers. This increases efficiency in a number of ways:
- Customers can press a call point and speak to a colleague immediately. Colleagues may be able to answer questions remotely, saving colleagues a walk and saving customers a wait.
- Call points can be placed on Click & Collect and customer service desks. This allows colleagues to get on with other tasks without the risk of missing a customer. In the case of Click & Collect, customers can use call points to check on orders without joining the main queue.
- Using a call point to unman a single Click & Collect desk can save you £594 a week. In a single year, this adds up to almost £31,000.
3. Multiple conferences
Finding information for customers is a major source of inefficiency. 39% of colleagues say that improving this process is the key to increasing productivity. A further 43% believe that this can be achieved through greater connectivity between departments.
How can stores be improved? Here’s what colleagues think.
Rival systems offer a basic version of this. Colleagues can speak to each other on a single channel, asking everyone for help at once. This is fine for a general question, but what if they need more specialised information? This is where multiple conferences can make a huge difference:
- VoCoVo is the only system that allows you to create specialised conferences for different areas of knowledge. If a colleague needs help with a certain topic, they can tune into the relevant conference and speak to an expert. This lets them answer customer queries in a fraction of the time.
- This can also be used for on the job training. New recruits can be paired up with experienced colleagues on a dedicated channel, allowing them to ask questions without distracting the rest of the team.
- Boots colleagues were able to answer customer queries 25% faster after VoCoVo was installed. There was also a 31% increase in queries being completely resolved.
Why VoCoVo is a great training tool:
For more information on the unique benefits of VoCoVo, talk to our team.