Ana Marantes
Head of Customer Service
Estoril Sol Digital SA
Portugal
At Estoril Sol Digital, the customer experience department is at the forefront of delivering the company’s ambitious mission - to provide a unique, innovative, high-quality gaming experience whilst adhering to a responsible gaming policy. The person tasked with delivering this is Head of Customer Service, Ana Marantes, who has introduced a number of highly-effective CX initiatives throughout her time with the organisation, all with the end goal of creating a truly customer-centric environment.
On looking at ways to improve the company’s existing CX programme, Ana launched a rigorous customer survey programme, which enabled the team to outline proactive solutions and prioritise pain points.
A key aspect of Ana’s business strategy was combatting customer dissatisfaction. A detractor follow-up procedure was implemented, which analysed all poorly-rated replies and followed up with the customers to ascertain the problem. After the follow-up, a new survey was dispatched asking the customer to re-evaluate the customer support service provided and whether the new reply met their expectations.
The above initiatives and others like them were all implemented with the main purpose of fostering a real customer-centric vision. Ana sought to develop this by spreading CX procedures and thought processes throughout other departments within the company.
A training plan within the CX department is now mandatory for all new starters, regardless of position/sector. Ana also operates a company-wide open-door policy, with staff from other departments frequently invited to CX meetings to provide different insights and feedback.
Ana’s initiatives have yielded positive results, not just for the CX, but also the company bottom-line. An NPS increase highlights the improvements that have been made, as well as outlining the customers that were at-risk and more likely to churn, thus contributing to the 4.2% retention increase.
Arguably Ana’s biggest achievement however, is the customer-centricity that she has spread throughout the company. She has introduced CX-specific mentorship and career path programmes, as well as presiding over 0% absenteeism and high talent retention within the CX department, all highlighting the buy-in and enthusiasm that she has managed to generate for CX within the company.
I have managed to leverage CX and make it an essential part of the company's vision, mission and values as the indicators gravitate around the customer-centric culture. The work done to involve all team members at all levels, from CEO, HoDs, team leaders and customer service agents has been essential to give our customers a differentiated and innovative experience.
