Based on our pedometer tests, VoCoVo saves an average of 389 man hours per year with our average UK retail partner.
This efficiency saving is thanks to the technology behind our communication system. Our headsets provide a unique channel for colleagues to interact, saving time across multiple locations, industries and team sizes. Without our system, staff spend too long either using tannoy call outs, finding information, checking stock or looking for team members. We want to make that a thing of the past.
Here’s how our system saves almost 400 hours per annum for our customers:
1. Finding answers to questions
Without a headset, colleagues regularly need to leave their post to ask questions. On a daily basis, staff might find they have to seek help with authorisation, customer questions or training issues. All these require the support of a manager, which means time lost serving customers.
If you can ask a question from any place in the store, suddenly you save an awful lot of wasted man hours.
Through our pedometer tests, VoCoVo has discovered the sheer amount of time spent walking to find answers. In most cases, we save 77km per annum in colleague steps per store. Our headsets provide an open line, enabling people to answer the call wherever they are. This system has also supported retailers looking to encourage multiple skills their staff, across tilling, the shop floor and the stockroom.
2. Faster, better customer experience
Customers are less patient than ever, requiring answers to questions as quickly as possible. It’s not surprising that the sound of a till bell or tannoy irritates. It’s a signal that they have to wait.
If colleagues have to leave to seek support, the customer is left feeling isolated. Some would walk away in this scenario, resulting in lost sales.
VoCoVo communication means that customer experience can rapidly improve. Colleagues can answer questions without leaving the customer unattended and can glean responses quicker than ever before. 95% of our customers felt that there was an increase in customer enquiries being answered ‘very quickly,’ with a 41% increase in completely resolved customer queries.
3. Smarter processes
With our clients, savings come from less travel time and better customer service. But we’ve also discovered that the new communication system enables teams to reexamine their processes, looking for additional savings.
It’s quite common for our technology to be used to improve restocking processes. Through communication, staff can discover instantly whether something is in stock. This quick relay between the shop front and stockroom results in considerable efficiency savings.
The headset also improves tilling processes. Our single keypad touchpoint means that the tannoy system can be avoided and new tills can open quickly. At a well known Builders Warehouse, tannoy announcements were reduced by 62% after the introduction of our solution. Help can be summoned at the touch of a button, and questions answered without a wait. Some stores have even implemented a new dedicated till runner, a colleague who is free to open up a new till as required, thereby cutting queue times.
4. Better training
Onboarding new staff can be time consuming. Especially if training is spent 1-2-1 in office, answering numerous questions with a more experienced colleague.
Newly trained staff might struggle to answer customer questions without looking for help. Our solution allows for constant improvement, with ongoing colleague training throughout the year. Feedback from the Builders Warehouse shows that staff felt 46% more confident answering customer questions after the headsets were implemented, suggesting that staff were receiving improved guidance.
5. Multi-skilled staff
Our recent project with Jack’s, the new discount retailer launched by Tesco, suggested that stores can improve business efficiency with the use of multi-skilled staff.
This model is being used by many top retailers, including ASDA and Tesco. Increasingly, any member of staff is expected to perform a range of tasks. This enables stores to operate with fewer staff members, and prevents staff from being ‘stuck’ in a certain role.
Our technology supports this innovation, enabling linked team communication with easier staff training. Now, with a connected team, staff have a new working model and can operate flexibly according to the needs of the day.
Find out more about how VoCoVo can transform efficiency, safety and the customer experience in your stores by contacting me.