Putting the customer first

Insight talks to Alex Mountain, Experian QAS's Head of Customer Management

"Across all segments, the recession is forcing a rethink of spending patterns. Interestingly, it isn't all about cheap. It is about value, and value means more than it ever did before. It means green, it means service, it means trusted by other consumers." ¹

Charlotte Hogg, Managing Director, Experian UK and Ireland

Alex Mountain has worked at Experian QAS for over nine years, where, along with his background of telecoms and media sales, he has gained substantial experience running the Graduate Sales Scheme. With heaps of business drive and focus, Alex has made the move to Customer Management. We talked to him to find out more about recent developments in Customer Management and how the department is helping Experian QAS customers receive the best possible service.

So Alex, you've been busy putting your stamp on Customer Management for the last few months. Tell us about your role and how the Customer Management department is structured…

My role is to move the department from being focused on collecting renewals, to one that focuses on ensuring customers get the best value from our software. I manage a team of 21 people, and the team is divided into sections, so we now have specialists working with Vertical Markets, Public Sector and Partners. This helps individuals to focus on specific markets within our customer base and therefore provide a more bespoke service.

What exactly is the function of the Customer Management team?

Good customer service is at the heart of what we do at Experian QAS. Our customers buy QAS software to help them gain a clearer picture of their own customers, through good contact data management practices. The most important factor, especially in the current economic climate, is that they get the software up and running as soon as possible so that it can start delivering ROI (return on investment) to their organisation. With this in mind, the work of our Customer Management team is absolutely crucial. Its role is to ensure that customers are aware of the benefits of what they have bought; move through the integration process smoothly; know what constitutes success from their project; and ultimately want to renew their software licence at the end of the 12 month period.

How have you developed your vision for Customer Management

We like customers to view us as an organisation that works with them to achieve their business goals, instead of just selling them our products. We aim to provide our customers with information on all things related to customer data management, along with our latest ideas and practices to help give them a better understanding of our business, and how we can benefit theirs in terms of implementing ideas and strategies, and the impact or outcome of this.

Sounds challenging…

It will definitely be a challenge, but it's one that can be overcome with careful management and an excellent team of people. First of all, we have asked all our customers for their feedback on our products and the company as a whole. With this information, we aim to improve Customer Management processes and improve our service to keep our customers happy. We are also carrying out a huge update of our CRM system. This will provide us with more relevant information on our customers, and enable us to pre-empt any problems they may be having with areas such as updates and technical support.

What can we expect from Customer Management in the future?

As we discover more about what our customers think of our service, we intend to identify trends and act promptly to improve customer satisfaction. We are putting a process in place whereby, as soon as we acquire a new customer, or when an existing customer would like us to, we carry out an in-depth review of how the customer uses our products. This will enable us to offer them details of cost benefits and help them to justify their investment to others in their organisation.

Like all organisations, we aim to offer our customers the best possible value on their investment, and this includes better support once they have purchased.

Thank you, Alex, for your insight into Customer Management.

If you would like to get in contact with the Customer Management team, please email customermanagement@qas.com, or visit our ' Customer zone' for more information.

1. An Experian Report - Quarter 2, 2009