EPSON UK

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IT Outsourcing Strengthens Customer Services

"Based on our experience we felt very comfortable about Fujitsu Services' capabilities and he Company's knowledge of what was required," - Ian Bodswarth, Operations Manager, EPSON (UK) Ltd.

EPSON UK Ltd

EPSON UK Ltd is responsible for the sales and support of Seiko EPSON products in the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, Scandinavia, the Middle East and English speaking Africa. The company's main product lines comprise information-related equipment such as printers and projectors; electronic devices such as semiconductors, LCDs and crystal devices; and precision products, especially watches. Seiko EPSON had fiscal 2001 sales of 1,274 billion yen and a workforce of 68,786 employees.

The Challenge

Through EPSON UK's customer support centre, EPSON gained satisfied customers, good references and high sales growth. However, in Scandinavia where EPSON worked through a range of dealers, customer support was variable and, in an expanding market, EPSON could not reach its full potential. Although EPSON increased sales activity in Scandinavia, it knew that to grow sales it also needed to take direct control of customer satisfaction. It needed a Scandinavian support centre.

The Solution

EPSON UK Limited knows that it is not feasible to set up a local language support centre within Scandinavia. An alternative is to have a local language support desk from the UK with the same high service levels: 80% of calls answered in 60 seconds, 90% of all calls connected and less than 1 % escalated to EPSON. Since Fujitsu Services operates multi-lingual support desks for a range of companies, EPSON UK outsourced the support desk project to Fujitsu. Fujitsu Services used its existing IT and telecommunications infrastructure to provide customers with free phone numbers and to avoid costs associated with renting lines.

The Benefits

Fujitsu Services takes responsibility for providing technically competent staff with language skills. EPSON avoids a fixed cost unrelated to sales and does not need to cover peaks in demand. The support desk works in the words of Ian Bodswarth, Operations Manager, EPSON UK "like a well oiled machine". The team is now self-sufficient even to the point of requiring little help from EPSON on product training. The major benefit is increased sales. In January 2000 the EPSON Scandinavian support desk handled its 100,000th call. It has directly contributed to the company's sales success through increased dealer and customer satisfaction. Dealers know that when they sell EPSON printers, the Scandinavian support desk will handle all customer support issues and as a result customers will have confidence in the EPSON brand.