Half of repeat calls to Virgin Media O2 come from a handful of customers
Key Points
- Around half of Virgin Media O2's repeat calls come from a small group.
- The group includes complex cases, vulnerable customers and spam calls.
- Virgin Media O2 has opened a 150-agent hub in Newcastle for these callers.
- Spam calls now go to the hub to cut waiting times for other customers.
- Agents will receive enhanced training on supporting vulnerable customers.
Virgin Media O2 found that around half of its repeat calls come from a small group of customers.
The company uncovered the figure in an internal review designed to understand why some customers contact it again and again.
Virgin Media O2 said the group comprised customers with long-running complex problems, vulnerable customers and those with specific needs, and nuisance or spam calls.
In response, the operator has launched a new hub of 150 agents in its Newcastle office dedicated to handling these repeat callers.
The firm said the team will take ownership of extended, complex issues from start to finish and provide tailored support for vulnerable customers.
Customers with complex issues will get a dedicated agent and proactive case management, so they no longer have to explain their problem to different agents at different times.
Vulnerable customers will speak to a familiar advisor who has the freedom to spend more time making sure they receive and understand the support they need.
The new team will also take nuisance calls, which Virgin Media O2 said arrive in the same way as the spam calls people receive on their mobile phones.
The company said diverting these calls to the hub stops them from eating into agent time and should cut waiting times for genuine customers.
All 150 agents will receive enhanced training on supporting vulnerable customers, which the firm said will help them adapt their communication style to each caller.
“That’s why we started a deep-dive to understand why, in some cases, first-time resolution wasn’t being achieved, and we found that almost half of repeat calls were being driven by a small subset of customers,” said Alan Stott, chief operating officer at Virgin Media O2.
“Through launching this new team of agents in Newcastle, we’ll be able to ringfence these calls so that those repeat callers benefit from a dedicated advisor better equipped to help them, while also freeing up our wider team of agents to respond to other customers more quickly and efficiently,” Stott said.
“We’ve made huge strides in our customer service over the last two years, with complaints significantly reduced and first-time resolution – the gold-standard of customer service – on the rise,” he added.
“But we know there’s even more we can do to deliver for our customers,” said Stott.
