Our partnership with FM Outsource has been strong and successful since day one. We needed an agile outsourcer who could meet our growing customer service needs and FM have more than fit the bill. They’ve ensured that our customers have remained happy, review scores have been consistent, and our reputation is protected. We see our relationship with FM continuing and growing as they continue to support us and offer the flexibility and quality that we need.
Gavin Morden, Head of Customer Service, Hotel Chocolat
The Client
Industry: Food & Drink
Established: 1987
Head office location: Royston, Hertfordshire
Number of employees: 600-650
Annual turnover: £222 million
Hotel Chocolat are a luxury British chocolatier co-founded by Angus Thirlwell and Peter Harris in 1993 selling chocolate online (one of the first e-tailers in the UK). They built Hotel Chocolat on three unwavering pillars: authenticity, originality and ethics and are constantly innovating their products and business practices. They have an ever-growing portfolio, which has over 150 locations across the UK, Channel Islands, Japan, and the US.
The Objectives
Hotel Chocolat’s business had become heavily weighted towards brick-and-mortar stores, with 80% of customer purchases taking place in person and only 20% online. When they pivoted back to online retail, they saw an over 400% increase in digital sales.
Hotel Chocolat partnered with FM to help with the subsequent increase in customer service contact volumes, to reduce missed calls, help with the transition to remote working, and – most importantly – to protect their reputation during the transition.
The Solution
Agile and Expert Advisors
To protect Hotel Chocolat’s reputation, we moved 6 of our experienced advisors to their customer care operation. Their skills and prior training ensured that Hotel Chocolat’s customers were in safe hands from day one.
Fast Set-up
The swift three-week turnaround from start of training to go live meant that the increased contact volume was handled rapidly, providing some much-needed relief for their internal team and giving every advisor a little extra time to wow customers.
The Results
FM Outsource were able to assist Hotel Chocolat throughout its transition to a more digitally-focused business. We consistently achieved a CPH of 15, ensuring that Hotel Chocolat’s operation was efficient and agile, never missing a contact.
Our expert teams integrated seamlessly with Hotel Chocolat’s internal operators. Their customers never felt a dip in quality, which is evidenced in their Trustpilot score of 4.2.
After the transition period, Hotel Chocolat’s contact volume reduced but they continued to partner with FM Outsource to help with overflow and busy periods. We still handle nearly 10,000 contacts a quarter with an average quality score of 95%, continuing to protect Hotel Chocolat’s reputation and wow their customers.
Our team was so effective at helping help Hotel Chocolat because of how agile and flexible we are. We have skilled and experienced operators that we could rely on to offer great customer care without disruption Hotel Chocolat’s service. And I’m so proud of my team who did such a good job that Hotel Chocolat decided to stay with us even after their contact volumes went back to normal!
Chloe, Campaign Manager at FM Outsource