Contact Centre Fraudsters Could Be Responsible For Credit Card Crime Wave

Customer fraud is being fuelled by organisations that pride themselves on their online security but are leaving their contact centres wide open to potential fraudsters, according to a leading industry expert.

Following recent reports that Shildon in County Durham has become an internet crime hotspot, Derek Bishop, the MD of customer service and outsourcing consultancy Abeo Consulting has claimed that security breaches inside customer contact centres are more common than people think and has called into question just how serious many businesses actually are when it comes to protecting their customer data from everyday fraud opportunities.

“Chip and PIN was a move in the right direction to clamp down on opportunities for card fraud on the high street, but there are vast numbers of instances when full card details need to be provided over the phone, such as paying for car insurance or making a payment on a credit or store card for example. In these cases, without the right security measures in place, businesses could essentially be placing their customers’ right into the hands of a fraudster without even realising it,” reveals Bishop.

Bishop believes that whilst businesses may be providing all the assurances online, behind the scenes there could be some significant breaches going undiscovered. Over the past eighteen months a number of contact centres have been found guilty of this. Back in March, a study of Scottish call centres concluded the industry posed a “serious threat” to data privacy after researchers, who interviewed dozens of call centre staff in the Glasgow area, uncovered evidence of workers secretly collecting customers’ data, forgetting to ask basic security questions of callers, and being regularly offered bribes by criminals to hand over confidential data.

The investigation, carried out by the University of Strathclyde, established that mobile phone cameras, e-mails and even crossword puzzles were some of the techniques used by workers to try to smuggle out sensitive customer data. Bishop believes that such revelations not only question the value of implementing online processing guarantees which are then not reflected offline, but also puts many businesses at serious danger of losing valuable customers and damaging their reputation.

Bishop says:

“A focus on security protocols for the web has meant that all too often some of the basics within the internal operational areas are simply forgotten. Or what many are finding (which is just as bad) is that policies and procedures were implemented but they have not been sustained so the scope for a breach against industry standards and the risk of fraud re-appears again and again.

I wouldn’t be surprised if much of the customer data used fraudulently in Shildon originally came from a contact centre somewhere and this latest revelation just goes to remind businesses that ignoring question marks over their data security won’t make the problem go away.”

Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS) have been established to enhance payment account data security and Bishop suggests all operations which accept card payments should review their current systems and processes, or those of your outsourcers, to see how the business measures up.

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Brands At Risk As Customer Service Not Up To Speed

In light of the misleading broadband speed claims revealed in the latest Ofcom survey, telecoms providers are being urged by customer service expert Derek Bishop to focus on improving customer satisfaction and transparency in their communications, or risk permanent brand damage.

The Ofcom survey revealed that whilst 80% of consumers are happy with their current broadband speeds, it is still misleading for broadband providers to continue to sell broadband at a lower quality than it should be, something which Mr Bishop describes as a common telecoms service failure gap.

According to Mr Bishop, a former Head of Customer Service, industry judge and founder of Abeo Consulting, download speed is one of the top things consumers look for in a price sensitive market and so a failure to deliver on this promise will have a serious impact on customer satisfaction, loyalty and dashes any hopes of future advocacy.

“This is a classic scenario of marketing and advertising material which promotes a certain type of service, yet what gets delivered is something else entirely. Many telecoms brands think that small print providing caveats around download speeds are enough but from customer service perspective, it’s not really being clear and upfront with customers,” explains Bishop.

Bishop stresses that when looking to improve the customer service experience, telecoms providers must consider what the different segments of customers need and want in relation to customer service and tackle each delivery channel individually to ensure the end-user experience in seamless.

“The service providers as well as looking into improving the customer service experience must also review the proposition messages being published, as downloads speeds are being promoted which are frequently not achieved, even if they do caveat with ‘Up to 8mbps’. They must also review how they do their service, is their business saying one thing and doing the complete opposite? And they must also act on the mismatches and this should include whether there are inconsistencies in the expectations of the customers, the proposition messages and the service being delivered by channel and they must then focus on aligning these aspects for maximum impact,” says Bishop.

For more information please visit: www.abeoconsulting.co.uk

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Energy Suppliers Need To Play The Loyalty Card

The energy industry as a whole is playing a dangerous game by consistently failing to focus on building long-standing customer relationships, according to leading customer service consultancy Abeo Consulting.

Following on from revelations of a £2m fine imposed on EDF for its poor customer service, experts at Abeo have issued a stark warning to energy providers to make a concerted effort to focus on customer longevity in a marketplace that is now almost exclusively made up of ‘brand switchers’.

Derek Bishop, MD of customer service consultancy Abeo Consulting says that energy brands need to radically change their strategy from a process-led approach to a more customer-centric approach, which focuses on delivering a consistent and positive end-to-end customer experience.

“Whilst price is important, energy providers need to appreciate that price is not the only determining factor and that service is a critical component. These days, customer expectations of acceptable (let alone good or exceptional service) are much higher and it’s much easier for them to switch to an alternative provider,” says Bishop.

Bishop claims that in the case of EDF, the disruption to the end customer of not having a connection completed on time is tremendous and in modern society, customers do not expect to have problems accessing basic things like electricity and water. And when complaints arise and are then handled poorly, the frustration for the customer is two-fold.

“Given the high profile that energy prices have had over recent years, and the amount of advertising they have each been doing in order to win new customers, it’s interesting how they are continuing to treat their existing customers so poorly in areas that could be easily rectified with a little planning and organisation. If they focused some time and effort into looking after their existing customers, perhaps they wouldn’t have to spend so much on trying to attract new customers, or paying such hefty fines which could have been invested in improving customer service and processes,” adds Bishop.

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Scotland primed to take Contact Centre Industry by storm

A leading customer service and outsourcing consultancy has extended its support to the Scottish contact centre industry in an effort to boost employment and secure new business.

With the support of the Scottish Development International, a team from Abeo Consulting has arranged to visit a number of contact centres in Scotland, a country renowned for exceptional outsourced customer service delivery. Derek Bishop, MD of Abeo Consulting and a former head of Customer Service at AXA is excited about the prospect of working with Scottish contact centre operations and says:

“The contact centre industry has always been big business for Scotland and its inherently friendly culture plays a big part in that. We are finding that many organisations are either pulling their contact centres back from overseas or are reducing their in-house costs by outsourcing and with a renewed emphasis on quality and service delivery, Scotland is in a prime position to capitalise on this and really expand this market.”

Derek’s views are mirrored in the recent audit of Scotland’s contact centres by Strathclyde University, which reveals that contact centres in Scotland have grown by 50% (based on employment) over the past five years and are still continuing to grow rapidly. In Glasgow alone 25,000 employees work in a contact centre, making up just over 6% of the population.

After several successful visits this year, the management team at Abeo are actively engaged in further discussions with key players in the Scottish contact centre industry. Abeo often assist their clients in selecting outsourced partners and this investment by Abeo in getting to grips with Scotland’s offering is designed to speed up the selection process for their clients.

Jim Mason from Scottish Development International is encouraged by Abeo’s plans and adds “we are very pleased that Derek and his team are investing their time in helping to put Scotland on the map as the home of contact centres and BPO operations. Their track record of success is impressive and I am confident that the Scottish industry will see a real benefit from their involvement.”

For more information visit www.abeoconsulting.co.uk

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Statistics:

Contact Centres in Scotland – The 2008 Audit
A Report for Scottish Enterprise/ Scottish Development International
November 2008
Professor Phil Taylor and Pauline Anderson
Strathclyde Business School, University of Strathclyde

Scottish Call Centres risk missing business boom over security issues

A failure to address security issues means that the Scottish Call Centre industry could miss out on a surge in business as more organisations pull their overseas operations closer to home, warns leading customer service and outsourcing consultancy Abeo Consulting.

On a recent visit to several Scottish call centres, Abeo Consulting’s MD Derek Bishop said that Scotland was in a prime position to capture a large share of the contact centre market but that security problems could be thwarting their progress. Bishop’s comments come hot on the heels of a recent Scottish Call Centre survey, which concluded that the industry poses a “serious threat” to data privacy.

“Protecting customers from fraud has always been a major concern, especially in the financial services industry and in the last twelve months alone, I have seen and heard of many security breaches whereby sensitive data has been lost, from briefcases left on trains to DSS payment beneficiary’s details going missing. Unfortunately, security breaches are far more common than they should be, calling into question just how serious many businesses actually are when it comes to protecting their customer data from everyday fraud opportunities”

According to Bishop, Contact Centre operations which handle customer data and collect payment details from customers should have strict policies and procedures in place to prevent mis-use of customer data, yet we still see examples of operations where mobile phones are permitted in the contact centre and payment card data can be fully retrieved at a later point after the specific transaction has been completed.

“Whilst your business may provide all the assurances online, behind the scenes there could be some significant breaches going undiscovered. Over the past eighteen months a number of contact centres have been found guilty of this and just questions the use of having all the guarantees for the online processing, when offline is so unsecure! And more worryingly, if customers were informed of a security breach linked to your company they would loose all trust in your company and will make sure everyone else is aware of the problem as well. And in a recession, losing customers is the last thing you need.”

The Private Rights Clearing House claims that more than 234 million records containing sensitive information have been breached since January 2005. They reveal that vulnerabilities can appear anywhere in the sales process and could include POS (Point of Sale devices), personal computers or servers, wireless hotspots or web shopping applications, in paper-based storage systems and unsecured transmissions of cardholder data to service providers.

“A focus on security protocols for the web has meant that all too often some of the basics within the internal operational areas are simply forgotten. Or what many are finding (which is just as bad) is that policies and procedures were implemented but they have not been sustained so the scope for a breach against industry standards and the risk of fraud re-appears again and again,” says Bishop.

For more information visit www.abeoconsulting.co.uk

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Retailers should embrace Facebook, not stifle it

Social networks like Facebook provide retailers with the opportunity to reach out to both staff and customers and can be more effective than email marketing campaigns, according to two industry specialists.

Despite recent news that employees from Waitrose and Tesco’s were using Facebook to post derogatory comments about their customers, customer service specialist Derek Bishop believes that rather than focusing solely on the risks associated with social networking sites, retailers should also look at the benefits that can be gained by embracing web 2.0 as part of their customer strategy.

“Waitrose and Tesco employees used Facebook to complain about their customers, but on the same lines there are plenty of personal blogs out there about poor service customers have received from organisations. Those organisations that aren’t already tapping into this valuable ‘feedback mechanism’ need to wake up and take action now, as valuable customer data is out there if you are prepared to look for it and tackle issues head on”, says Bishop, MD of Abeo Consulting.

Bishop also claims that organisations must accept that social networking sites like Facebook are a way of life for a growing percentage of the population and need to ensure the type of behaviour reported in the press is tackled within their internal policies to prevent similar occurrences in the future.

“Years ago organisations had challenges about Internet and email abuse by their staff, and have had to put policies and monitoring in place in order to manage the situation. This now brings on another level of challenge for organisations as they will need to have internal policies in place to help protect themselves from this type of dangerous scenario whilst also leveraging the opportunity”, says Bishop.

Online networking expert William Buist, MD of Abelard Management Services, agrees and says that like any tool, Facebook has its benefits and its risk. “Tesco’s and Waitrose have clearly experienced the risk side, but there is much research to suggest that in some instances, Facebook can be a more effective marketing tool than email campaigns”, says Buist.

According to leading online intelligence service Hitwise, during November 2008 online retailers received 5.47% of their UK Internet traffic from social networking sites, such as Facebook, YouTube and Bebo, compared to November 2007, when just 4.3% of their traffic came from social networks.

“Social networks provide an opportunity to engage with the customers in a way that can provide information to the stores and the customers that can either build strong synergies, or break the relationship. Organisations need to think about the opportunities and risks that tools like Facebook presents and how they can maxmise these tools for the benefits of the staff and customers. Those that understand the power of social networks will embrace the debate and join in the conversation, rather than trying to either suppress it or control it,”, says Buist.

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For press enquiries please contact Rebecca King on 01603 283 506 or email rebecca@mediajems.co.uk

Nationwide no-cut on interest rates praised as smart move

Nationwide’s announcement to not reduce the costs of its tracker mortgages any further to protect its savers has been praised as a smart move by customer service specialists at Abeo Consulting, who say that by doing so, Nationwide is supporting the principles of ‘Treating Customers Fairly’.

Hundreds of thousands have seen their savings potential plunge in recent months, with some accounts gaining just 0.01% interest and so the move by Nationwide is a welcome one, considering the majority of their customers are savers, says Abeo MD Derek Bishop.

“Nationwide has recognised and responded to the fact that the higher proportion of its customer base are savers rather than borrows.  There has much criticism that savers are losing out in the current climate as the focus is so much on reducing the cost of borrowing”

Whilst the borrowers at Nationwide will understandably be unhappy, Bishop believes that they should make a real point about the fact that on this occasion; it is looking after its savings customers and supporting ‘Treating Customers Fairly’.

“Clearly the message to customers needs to explain the situation, rationale etc so customers understand the reasons behind the decision. They will need to ensure their customer facing staff are prepared for the questions, challenges and criticism from the borrowing customers. It will be interesting to watch Nationwide’s direct competitors and see what their response will be”, adds Bishop.

For more information visit www.abeoconsulting.co.uk

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For press enquiries please contact Jessica Suter on 01603 283 503 or email jessica@mediajems.co.uk

Woolworths collapse send warning to retailers to keep eye on the competition

For Immediate Release

With news that Woolworths has fallen into administration, customer service specialists at Abeo Consulting are warning other business not to take their brand reputation for granted and take notice of the activities of their competitors before it is too late.
 
According to Abeo Consulting’s MD Derek Bishop, one of the main cause’s of Woolworths’ loss in profits is likely to be attributable to their customer service and had they drawn up a competitive analysis plan, it would have given them the ammunition to live up to the top dog title.
 
“Take Wilkinson’s for example, their customer service has been said to be more akin to John Lewis – if you ask where you can find a product in-store, the staff will take you directly to that product. However in Woolworths, you don’t get the same impression, you just get the feeling that the employees are not interested in the customers at all. It’s true that better customer service is proven to give you better profit”, explains Bishop.
 
Bishop says that Woolworths will find it hard maintaining or in fact improving customer service, given staff are uncertain of their future. He recommends that management should start communicating and help staff  through the difficult period, as the shop floor staff will be the ones who make or break the customer experience.
 
“Managers need to be walking with the staff on the shop floor, staying close to them, as this is a very traumatic time for them. With managers becoming more sensitive to staff, morale will boost leading to improved sales and more money to put back into the kitty. At the same time, staff will have a huge number of ideas on how things should be improved in order to make a difference to the customer – engaging them will have a positive impact for the business. The employees also need to be kept informed on the movements of the company, if it is to completely collapse, so they would get a chance to create a back up plan if necessary. This will also contribute to higher morale and respect”, explains Bishop.
 
“Customer experience is so crucial right now as retail sales are already under strain, let alone within Woolworths. They need to start focusing on the customer experience again and put unbeatable prices to the side”, adds Bishop.

For more information please visit: www.abeoconsulting.co.uk <http://www.abeoconsulting.co.uk>

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Notes to Editor
 
Abeo Consulting specialise in assisting Customer Service Leaders to significantly improve Customer Service, retain customers and reduce costs. They have a depth of expertise in Customer Service, Outsourcing and Leadership development.
Founded by Derek Bishop, a former AXA Head of Customer Service, in 2005, Abeo has a proven track record of delivering business results in high volume and complex environments, whilst leading individual teams through change a performance based culture.
 
For more information visit www.abeoconsulting.co.uk <http://www.abeoconsulting.co.uk> .
 
Press Enquiries
For all press enquiries please contact Jessica Suter on 01603 283 503 or email Jessica@mediajems.co.uk

Early Sales Frenzy could spell disaster for unprepared retailers

As major retailers across the country slash their prices in a bid to give the high street a much needed boost, many may be setting themselves up for an even bigger fall due to poorly implemented processes which could actually reduce spend further, warns Customer Service specialist Derek Bishop.

In a recent article for Executive Magazine, Abeo Consulting’s MD Derek Bishop predicted the ‘battle of the nerves’ behaviour now being seen from major retailers such as Marks & Spencer, Debenhams and BHS, as they face the dilemma of who will break first and start promoting their sales even earlier than before in the race to win more customers.

“With disposable income down, customers are even more likely to want to take advantage of bargains and retailers have realised they need to take action now, or their customers will simply continue to hold back on spend until the sales kicked in”, explains Bishop, a former Head of Customer Service and founder of Abeo Consulting, a consultancy specialising in delivering sustainable change in customer service and retention.

Bishop says “Christmas is one of those peak times when broken processes, or inefficient customer handling becomes evident. Those that have reviewed their processes and customer experience in light of upcoming (and rapidly changing) demand will be those who benefit from a good reputation and word of mouth advocacy from customers and hence achieve greater sales despite the credit crunch”.

Hughes Direct successfully achieved this last Christmas by implementing their online Q&A service, which reduced email enquiries by 40%. Bishop believes that retailers need to be flexible and ‘nimble’ with their staffing and be capable of increasing staffing to cope with increased demand, whilst not being hugely over staffed, as profit margins continue to come under strain and prices are lowered. 

Bishop says “those that will win on the customer service front this festive season are those that can react effectively and quickly to the changes in customer demand. Retailers are bound to find this trading period tough, but if they can focus on improving their processes and streamlining the customer experience, they will see that customers are still buying, albeit a little more selectively”.

For more information visit www.abeoconsulting.co.uk

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Notes to Editor

Hughes Direct prepare for online Christmas rush with Transversal – http://www.e-consultancy.com/news-blog/364594/hughes-direct-prepares-for-online-christmas-rush-with-transversal.html?keywords=customer+service+online

Abeo Consulting

Abeo Consulting specialise in assisting Customer Service Leaders to significantly improve Customer Service, retain customers and reduce costs. They have a depth of expertise in Customer Service, Outsourcing and Leadership development.

Founded by Derek Bishop, a former AXA Head of Customer Service, in 2005, Abeo has a proven track record of delivering business results in high volume and complex environments, whilst leading individual teams through change a performance based culture.

For more information visit www.abeoconsulting.co.uk.

Press Enquiries

For all press enquiries please contact Jessica Suter on 01603 283 503 or email Jessica@mediajems.co.uk

Virgin’s gamble for a ‘great service’ Gatwick unlikely to pay off

Recent reports suggest that leading venture capital organisation Virgin has expressed a desire to be part of a consortium to buy Gatwick, with a distinct desire to inject some of its ‘Virgin Air Passenger experience’ into the troubled airport.  However, according to customer service experts at Abeo Consulting, this may not be easy to achieve as the end result will be hugely governed by the other members of the consortium and where exceptional customer service sits on their priority list.

Abeo Consulting predicts that conflicts of priorities are likely to be an interesting early debate as the consortium thinks about driving out efficiencies and capturing the cost savings to deliver shareholder value. But as Virgin continue to promote their ‘even cheaper’ flights to America, Abeo Consulting challenges the need for reinvesting the savings to make further improvements to the customer experience.

“Customer service will always be important so it is crucial to consider whether people would still want very cheap flights if the reverse of the recession happened? No, but they will still need excellent and efficient customer service”, explains Derek Bishop, director of Abeo Consulting.

“Any new owner tends to focus on achieving some quick win results to improve the biggest ‘hot spots’ in poor service, but in doing so may not consider the end to end customer journey. This could just shift Customer Service problems to different parts of the airport if the improvement opportunities are not joined up.  Any improvement programme therefore needs to be linked to the Customer Journey the new owner is trying to achieve”, adds Bishop, who has over fifteen years experience in customer service management and is a former Head of Customer Service at AXA.

Large customer growth already planned for Gatwick even though the current legal agreement stands that a 2nd runway will not be permitted before 2019 and Bishop believes that to achieve such growth without the existing customer service deteriorating further will require some radical thinking to achieve both effectiveness and efficiency improvements.

“Pushing more customers through an already troubled service experience is only going to bring service to a greater standstill with more damaging effects longer term”, warns Bishop.

Abeo Consulting specialise in delivering sustainable change in customer service and retention. For more information please visit: www.abeoconsulting.co.uk

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