Everything Everywhere invests £50 million to revolutionise service for its 27 million customers

Orange and T-Mobile become first in UK to re-design customer services around handset operating systems
Everything Everywhere to invest £50m in contact centres, high-street stores and  customer-facing staff in 2012
Development academy launched to deliver new era of training for up to 12,000 employees
Everything Everywhere, the UK’s biggest communications company, has today announced a £50 million investment programme which includes a revolutionary new way to deliver service to its 27 million customers. The company – which runs Orange and T-Mobile in the UK – has overhauled its service approach, designing it around handset operating systems and the devices that use them. For the first time in the UK, customers will now be able to access highly trained specialist agents who are experts on specific devices and related operating systems, giving customers unrivalled service for their Apple iOS, BlackBerry, Android and Windows phones.

The unprecedented smartphone growth the UK has experienced means that customers are using devices in a completely different way and this new service approach is designed to meet customers’ changing needs.  Orange and T-Mobile staff will become experts in all aspects of customers’ digital lives, advising them on device, technology and account specific needs without having to transfer them between departments, which has been the traditional approach to telecommunications customer service. This is a fundamental shift in how the Orange and T-Mobile service experience is delivered and is central to Everything Everywhere’s plan to be the UK’s number one for customer loyalty.

The new service approach is actively rolling out across the organisation following successful trials which showed dramatic improvements in the resolution of issues at first point of contact, as well as a double digit increases in Net Promoter Scores – a key measure of customer service.

Jackie O’Leary, Chief Customer Officer at Everything Everywhere, said: “It is our goal to create the best customer experience in the UK so that customers can trust us with their digital lives. This new service approach responds directly to how our customers are now using their devices, the service they expect and how our people look after them. Being the first in the industry to champion something new is exciting and we are extremely pleased by the amazing feedback we are receiving from our customers, our people and the handset manufacturers and operating systems we represent.”

Another of the company’s biggest areas of investment is also in its people with the launch of a development academy across Service which is focussed on creating loyalty and experts with excellent communication and engagement skills. Up to 7,000 people in customer services will receive training in operating systems and in time employees will also receive an accreditation in the area they specialise in.  This will be extended to Retail and Online channels later in the year covering all 12,000 employees who aim to deliver outstanding service to our customers through all customer touch points.

Everything Everywhere is also significantly investing in its retail stores through refreshing and modernising its entire high street estate. The refresh and training in stores complements the company’s previous announcement that it will be selling both Orange and T-Mobile products across all of its stores. T-Mobile prepay dongles were first sold in Orange stores earlier this year and Orange Broadband will be sold in T-Mobile stores from this week.
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Note to editors
Contacts:
Everything Everywhere Press office:
everything.everywhere@golinharris.com
Tel: 0870 373 1500
*Industry Comment
“We’ve been impressed by the professionalism of Everything Everywhere’s dedicated BlackBerry customer service team that has delivered a real improvement in resolving customer queries quickly at the first point of contact,” said Phil Lander, Senior Director for Everything Everywhere at Research in Motion. “We’re delighted to support the launch of Everything Everywhere’s Development Academy as we continue to improve the service for BlackBerry customers in the UK.”
Huawei Device UK & Ireland Executive Vice President Mark Mitchinson said: “The advent of smart devices, faster data networks and rich mobile content has seen the customer relationship with mobile technology deepen. As the technology gets smarter and even more accessible, that will accelerate. How customers look for support from their providers is changing as well. Everything Everywhere’s move to change its customer services model recognises this. It is entirely relevant to the new consumer mindset. Huawei is delighted to back it, and congratulates Everything Everywhere on this important initiative.”
About Everything Everywhere
Everything Everywhere is the UK’s largest communications company, providing mobile and fixed-broadband communications services to more than 27 million customers through the Orange and T-Mobile brands. It has invested over £15 billion since 2000 building Britain’s biggest mobile networks, and plans to invest over £1.5bn in the next three years to further improve its network and introduce fast 4G LTE mobile broadband services.  Recognised for award-winning customer service, Everything Everywhere employs more than 15,000 people and operates over 720 retail stores across the UK.  It has revenues equivalent to a FTSE 40 company and is backed by two of the world’s leading global communications groups, Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom, who are equal owners.