Parkway Motor Group moves into top gear with new communication tool

Parkway Motor Group, one of the leading dealers of new and used Volkswagen vehicles in the Midlands region, with sites in Derby, Leicester, Kettering and Northampton, heralds the arrival of its new website by installing new software that will enable it to communicate with customers in new ways.
 
Node4 has been workingwith its partner,contact centre software specialist Zeacom, to provide a solution that will allow Parkway Motor Group to interact with customers through web chat from its new website at http://www.myvolkswagen.co.uk from the end of June. In addition, the solution will enable Parkway Motor Group to have better control of their email systems as all communication will now be tracked through a single platform. 
 
The ultimate aim of the upgrade is to enhance customer service by enabling agents at the company’s contact centre to have at-a-glance information of call volumes and how quickly they are answered. They will also be able to chart the busy and quiet periods throughout the day, which will then help them to better plan tasks assigned to members of staff to ensure they stay productive. 
 
Sean Booth, Managing Director of Parkway Motor Group, said, “More people now want to be contacted via emailbut we were at a stage where we had no means of monitoring how many emails we were getting each day. At the same time, we were receiving requests from our customers to add web chat to the ways they could get in touch with us. This new solution that we are installing will tackle both of these requirements and enable us to service our customers much more efficiently as a result.”
 
The application ensures all types of contact, arriving through different channels, are queued and answered appropriately, and that agents have all the customer information they require at their fingertips, whichever channel the enquiry takes. Zeacom’s application also produces reports for all channels, thus highlighting any areas where the customer experience could be improved. 
 
However, the new offering goes one better than this. It prompts agents to utilise troughs in incoming calls by carrying out other tasks such as answering e-mails or, via its outbound caller software, for example calling all customers whose MOTs are due shortly, inviting them to book appointments. The offering allows companies to add any number of further channels of communication to the mix and Parkway Motor Group plans to incorporate social media later this year. 
 
Parkway Motor Group has been a Node4 customer since 2006 when the data centre and communication specialist installed a VoIP telephone system that meant Parkway Motor Group no longer needed to rent conventional telephone lines and received substantial cost savings as a result. The company selected Node4 for the personalised service it receives and for its focus on using emerging technology.  
 
Sean Booth says that although the automotive industry has embraced digital media, it hasn’t been as quick as other sectors to use the internet as a complete platform to enable interaction with customers. For many, such innovations are simply seen as an unnecessary cost.
 
“Many motor trade businesses still tend to think of IT as a cost”, Sean Booth summed up. “This is a mistake. It is an investment, because there is always a return, whether that’s actually saving money, or the less tangible benefits of customer satisfaction, and of making your business look more professional. You can’t put a figure on those things – they’re invaluable. They make you stand out and give you that edge over the competition.
 
“Node4 has helped us to remain competitive in this respect. They always keep us updated about new products which can help us develop our business, from a process point of view.Node4’s level of expertise, as well as customer service, are impressive and are helping our business to succeed.”

Source: NODE4