The Global Association for Contact Center Best Practices & Networking

A commitment to customer service has been key to company growth for Apex Hotels, a UK operator of luxury, contemporary hotels. The company has a reputation for providing a ‘friendly face' to all guests at its five exclusive hotels in London, Edinburgh and Dundee and aims to provide positive opportunities for interaction with staff at every property; this commitment also extends to its contact with customers by phone and online.

In 2001 Apex Hotels introduced Netcall's hosted QueueBuster service to support its Central Reservations and Central Meetings teams who handle phone enquiries, reservations and bookings for the hotel's restaurants.

Andrew Jacques, IT Director at Apex Hotels explains: "We want to ensure that every interaction with Apex Hotels provides a positive experience for our customers. QueueBuster allows us to do this by offering customers a callback as an alternative to waiting on hold to speak to our reservations team. It is really about giving our customers a choice and showing that we value their time."

Netcall's QueueBuster gives customers an alternative to queuing. Customers simply leave their details and hang up. QueueBuster does the rest, patiently holding for an available agent and only then calling the customer back.

Apex Hotels also receives an increasing proportion of customer enquiries and bookings online. So it was a natural move to introduce Netcall's CallMeBack application to its website. CallMeBack allows online visitors to fill in a simple online form to request a callback from a hotel representative, either immediately or at a time of their choice.

"We want to make it as easy as possible for online visitors to make a booking. The CallMeBack solution fits perfectly with our customer service ethos.It works in the same way as QueueBuster callbacks, allowing our reservations staff to make a personalised call to our customers, at a time of the customer's own choosing. Many of our guests have busy lifestyles so this is a very appealing service."

Both QueueBuster and CallMeBack are available as an ‘on demand' application hosted remotely on Netcall's fully-managed Intelligent Communications Platform. This hosted service model requires no upfront technology investment and offers a very attractive ‘pay as you go' pricing model.

The callback option provides benefits for Apex Hotels' staff too, as Andrew Jacques explains: "Our incentive scheme encourages staff to constantly improve their performance and QueueBuster helps them meet their targets by minimising abandoned calls. And by taking the pressure off during busy periods, it allows our reservations team to focus on delivering the excellent service that Apex Hotels is renowned for."

Apex Hotels has a philosophy of controlled, dynamic growth with two new hotels planned in Edinburgh and London, opening 2008 and 2009 respectively. Andrew Jacques says QueueBuster and CallMeBack will continue to play a key role in its customer service strategy as the company grows: "We use the very latest technology to enhance our guests' experience of the hotels, so it makes sense to use technology in our customer service operation too. The hosted service model has many benefits; not least attractive pricing based on usage, which is perfect for a relatively small customer service team such as ours. Customer service excellence helps us win new customers and ultimately we believe that both QueueBuster and CallMeBack have had a positive impact on sales. We are planning to step up our digital marketing campaigns and CallMeBack will play a key role in helping convert online interest into sales."