Russ Leighton shares VocaLink service desk's improvement journey and how and why they aligned what they did with the SDI Service Desk Standard.

1. SDI at the forefront of
Our Customer Service
Confidential

2. www.vocalink.com 2
Hello
Russ Leighton – Customer Service Desk Manager
VocaLink
01423 356573
Russ.leighton@vocalink.com

3. www.vocalink.com 3
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4. Recognisable brands
95% of UK’s Payroll processing
Switch banks in 7 days
100% of DD collections The worlds first real time payments platform
100% of UK pensions/benefits
70,000 ATM’s connected
Pay someone via their mobile phone number

5. VocaLink by numbers 2015
£1.042 trillion
Value of Faster payments
transactions processed in 2015
£127billion
Amount of ATM cash
withdrawn for 2015
£4.6 trillion
Value of Bacs payments
processed in 2015
Direct Credit /
Standing Orders
Direct Debit

6. What I would like to share
• Service Desk Journey through certification and what we reached for
• What we did and how we did it
• What's left to do – the journey continues

7. The VocaLink Contact Centre
• Direct Debit Help Centre for Consumers
• Internal Service Desk (VocaLink Colleagues)
• Bacs Service (Scheme and Corporates)
• Faster Payments Service (Scheme and
Members)
• LINK Service (Scheme and Members)
• PayM (pay a contact) – Mobile Payments
• International (Asia & USA)
• Current Account Switching
• Link ATM Consumer Help line
Service Desk
• Driving of ATM’s at a business site
• ATM Deployers – ATM owners
• Third Party suppliers – Communications/ATM
providers
• Installing of ATM’s
• A complete managed service
AMS Contact Centre

8. Background and Context
• SDI was only Service Desk focused from the start (21 FTE)
• AMS Contact Centre – ATM business ‘out of scope’ (circa 22 FTE)
• 2,500 interactions a week across various mediums and customers
• Journey for SDI started in 2011 for the Service Desk
• Led from the top of the Service Desk team – all the way down
• But there were non-believers outside of the Service Desk
• Everyone believed from within the Service Desk & wanted certification

9. What did every one in the Service Desk believe
Our Vision (the what)
• 6789 – be the one number to remember
Mission (the how)
• Treat each person as the individual they are, not as an “asset number”
• Provide a level of service that our customers look up to

10. March 2011, The year of Earthquakes & Super Injunctions…
Pre assessment
Leadership – 3.73
Policy & Strategy – 4.0
People & Management – 3.73
Resources – 2.89
Processes – 3.61
People Satisfaction – 3.75
Customer Satisfaction – 1.8
Performance Results – 2.12
Social Responsibility – 3.67
Overall score 3.03
No Certification

11. Standards we failed on … Focus on improvements
• Team building initiatives – team focus was key and buy in (1.04)
• Reward and Recognition reviewed – Joined the H.R forums (3.06) & (3.07)
• Job Descriptions – Reviewed & Version controlled, with Analysts input (3.01)
• Team Temperature checks
• Remote control for users (4.08)
• Self Help/Collaboration – company wide Social Media platform called “The Grid” (4.10)
• Event based surveys (transactional surveys) (7.02)
• Customer feedback mechanism for the collection of complaints & compliments (7.04)
• Monthly reporting – a complete overhaul (8)

12. Nov 2011 – Iraq War Ends, Emeli Sande is everywhere
The REAL thing
Leadership – 4.0
Policy & Strategy – 4.0
People & Management – 3.91
Resources – 3.44
Processes – 2.93
People Satisfaction – 3.75
Customer Satisfaction – 3.0
Performance Results – 2.72
Social Responsibility – 4.0
Overall score 3.38

13. November 2012 … Upgraded to 4 Star (just)
Surveillance Audit #1
Leadership – 4.0
Policy & Strategy – 4.0
People & Management – 4.0
Resources – 3.56
Processes – 3.75
People Satisfaction – 4.0
Customer Satisfaction – 3.8
Performance Results – 3.08
Social Responsibility – 4.0
Overall score 3.75

14. November 2013 – November 2016
Maintained and increased our 4 star score

15. So What Did We do ……
• Mission Statement and Service Desk Promise (2.01)
• Instant Chat and more channels into the service desk (walk by’s/email/chat/phone)
• Employee reward and recognition forum (HR) (3.06) & (3.07)
• New Starter Packs and Career Development, planning and progression (3.02) (3.09) (6.02)
• Personal Development plan – from recruitment to 2 year training (the right people) (3.03)
• Knowledge forums – knowledge is the key commodity + enthusiasm (4.09)
• Skills Matrix complimented by task book
• Investors in People Certification – Gold award
• Ensure a consistent and seamless experience, regardless of channel
• Understanding the costs of each incident - Value and relevance at every interaction (8.24)

16. We created Behaviours

17. But what did we really do …..
• Empowered the team and made it their mission, not ours
• Embedded the framework so it was truly BAU – not a retro fit
• Trusted that the outcomes would improve
• We committed fully to the cause - SDI disciples
• We had a plan and we stuck to it
• We marketed the Service Desk – putting it at the heart of VocaLink
• We transformed a Service Desk from an Operational focus into a Customer Focus
• We created a culture
• Sent Analysts to industry events to help benchmark
• The team really believed …..

18. Did it make a difference ?
• People Satisfaction increased by 30% (a ‘You Said, We Did’ approach) (6)
• Service Desk Customer Satisfaction ...
• 83% in 2013
• 88% in 2014
• 96% in 2015
VocaLink Net Promoter Score… (7)
• +39.2 (2013)
• +57.9 (2014)
• +58.5 (2015) (Industry wise, on par with First Direct)
2015 final score for Overall VocaLink Customer Satisfaction - 92%

19. Did it make a difference ?
• Efficiency increase – staff move on into the business with no need to replace
• We created a confident Service Desk
• Staff retention stayed below 5% per annum for four years
• Energy, succession planning, pay and reward, development into VocaLink
• The Service Desk is the one number to remember
• Back to the Floor programme has increased colleague and senior advocacy

20. • 21 FTE’s in 2011 (when we started SD-C) versus 16 in 2014 & 12 in 2016
• Team members now in second line support after personal development
– Efficiencies driven by adopting SD-C into BAU, no need to replace
• Reduction in the number of interactions, c10,000 to c8,000 per month
– Automation
– Self help (The Grid Social Media)
– Problem Identification and Management
– Incident Progression
Savings
circa £250,000 + FTE hours
Return on Investment…

21. So what next ….
• Customer Services as a single function was formed in 2013 & continues to grow
• Wider customer focus aligned with SDI into the Institute of Customer Services (ICS) –
ServiceMark achieved
• Single Contact Centre leadership – bringing all contact centres together
• The ‘elephants in the room’ have to continued to be addressed with IT, Resolvers & Customers
• The passion and enthusiasm has to be channelled to influence stakeholders
• Leadership development – alignment with a whole customer focus
• Celebrating often and not being ashamed to do so ….!

22. It has to be kept simple & on track in 2016
Key Goals in 2016
• Customer Satisfaction has to remain above 90% (92% in 2015)
• Maintain Net Promoter Score (NPS) +88.5 in 2015 (industry leading)
• Staff Satisfaction above 90%
• Best Companies Award – enter the Sunday Times Top 100
• Service Desk (4 star) and ICS ServiceMark maintained
• Align the full contact centre to 4 Star
Centred Around:
– A single Vision across Customer Services
– A single set of Behaviours and stating that “this is how it is around here”
– Achievements and clear goals (we don’t do objectives)

23. Key & continuous accomplishments (8)
Number of interactions First Contact Resolution
SLA Achievement Average Resolution Time P3/4/5

24. www.vocalink.com 24

25. Service Desk is at the heart of the business
If you don’t have team buy in, it wont work
You don’t “just get it” because you’ve paid for it
Russ Leighton – Customer Service Desk Manager