James Frew increases customer appointment completion rates with Descartes’ Customer Engagement Platform

Descartes Systems Group (Nasdaq:DSGX) (TSX:DSG), the global leader in uniting logistics-intensive businesses in commerce, announced that British integrated property services company James Frew is using Descartes’ customer engagement solution to improve social and private property access rates for its service technicians to complete customer appointments. Within the first year of deployment, James Frew completed over 4.1% more scheduled social housing service appointments and over 3% more private service appointments, equating to over 4.6% in cost savings by mitigating the need for repeat appointments.

“At James Frew, we continuously look to embrace innovative technology to ensure we meet our customers’ expectations,” said Gordon Mack, Head of Operations at James Frew. “Prior to implementing Descartes, our completion rate for social housing jobs was approximately 75%, which is a direct consequence of technicians not being able to access properties. Since implementing Descartes, access rates for these customers have increased and, by removing manual intervention from the process of scheduling and rescheduling appointments, we’ve unlocked additional customer service and operational efficiency benefits.”

Customers booked for a service appointment in James Frew’s job management system receive an automated SMS message from the Descartes’ solution to confirm the appointment time 24 hours in advance. A second automated message follows when the service technician is on the way. In addition to automating customer communication, the integration between Descartes’ customer engagement platform and the company’s job management system delivers customer service transparency, improves operational efficiency and enhances the overall customer experience. Additionally, customers in both social and private housing can book and amend service appointments through an online portal and track their appointment in real-time.

“We’re delighted that James Frew has enhanced customer service by increasing access rates to both social and private properties following the implementation of Descartes’ customer engagement solution,” said Gary Taylor, VP Sales, EMEA, Descartes. “Customers expect service appointment choice, visibility and reliability and the Descartes’ solution helps service-driven organizations meet these needs by automatically keeping customers in the loop before, during and after their appointment. This helps companies realize productivity gains and operating efficiencies by driving down no-access rates, reducing follow-up phone calls, and streamlining the customer feedback process.”