We spoke to Annette Cunningham, vice president – sales, UK and Ireland, TD SYNNEX, about the importance of customer service in today’s market and the small changes the company has been making that are positively impacting its customers.
After four decades in the industry, Annette Cunningham, vice president – sales, UK and Ireland, TD SYNNEX, possibly has a better understanding of the importance of customer service than just about anyone in the channel. ‘Customer service has always been important, of course. That’s stating the obvious. But it matters even more now because there is more choice than ever – both in terms of where our customers can purchase product and the different options available. That means that we have to work harder than ever to earn their business every day.’
When you are processing more than 5000 orders a day, that’s a huge task. ‘We have to focus on getting the basics right, but you can never relax or lose focus because, at the end of the day, all that really matters, is whether or not our customers are happy.’
Over the last few months, TD SYNNEX has been making systematic efforts to ensure that it’s approach to customer service is as rigorous and consistent as possible. It needed to do that, said Annette, in response to the changes that took place during the pandemic and its aftermath. Not only changes to customer needs and expectations, but also within its own organisation.
Radical change
‘It was a period of quite radical change. All of us were plunged into a world of home and remote working almost without warning. That’s now evolved into a hybrid approach and one in which we are all trying to strike a balance between maintaining flexible ways of working and keeping that essential team spirit and sense of togetherness alive. That’s been a challenge for our partners, their customers and for us.’
There was a need to get back to the basics, but it also became more important to recognise individual needs and deliver a more personalised service
During this time, Annette believes a fundamental shift took place that meant the approach to customer service needed to be subtly different. ‘It’s affected different people and organisations in different ways, of course. But I think one of the quite common impacts was we lost a little bit of that spirit of togetherness and the energy that’s created when teams are all there in the workplace. Some people thrived, but many struggled working in isolation for an extended period. It underlined the fact that – as people and organisations – we all have different needs.
‘That brought a change in attitudes and expectations and as we came out of the pandemic, I think we all struggled to readjust, because while the changes were fundamental, they were also quite subtle. There was a need to get back to the basics, but it also became more important to recognise individual needs and deliver a more personalised service.’
Authenticity and trust
Underlying all of this is the need for authenticity and trust, she emphasised. ‘It’s really important that we can deliver on what we promise – that’s always been the case, but now it’s more important than ever.’
About a year ago, Annette re-examined TD SYNNEX’s customer services and implemented several initiatives and changes. One was to put more accounts under personalised management control. This may seem like an obvious way to improve service levels, but with more than 7,000 registered customers, providing a named account manager for every customer would be impractical. But for the additional customers that do now fall into the wider managed category, it’s made a significant difference.
The sales trainer is one of the busiest people in the business right now
Customer data is being used to focus resources more effectively, identifying gaps in partners’ portfolios and offering to provide them with the enablement support required to fill them and extend their business into those areas. Data is also being used to give the sales teams a better understanding of customer needs and challenges – this has been particularly important with respect to salespeople working with SMB reseller customers.
More training is being provided to ensure salespeople understand how to engage in the right way and put the customer’s needs first. This has been hugely successful. ‘The sales trainer is one of the busiest people in the business right now’, said Annette.
Improved response
One change that applies to all customers and is certainly making a difference, is that customer queries are now handled from start to finish by a named individual. Internal sales executives (ISEs) have been tasked with keeping customers up to date with progress on queries. There has also been a drive to improve response times. As a result, Annette now receives many more positive comments about customer service.
Another very significant change is that all salespeople, account managers and ISEs are now more empowered to make decisions and encouraged to take positive action. The additional training now being provided is helping salespeople to gain confidence. This and a closer collaboration between sales teams and business units, also helps with responsiveness.
Hopefully, with the positive changes we have made, we are proving to our customers that we can and do deliver good service
TD SYNNEX has sharpened its competitiveness in certain areas too and that’s helped customers to stay loyal and subsequently see the benefits of the positive changes that the business has made in customer service. They are definitely having an impact, said Annette and she knows this, not only through anecdotal feedback, but also specific metrics.
Positive changes
Over the past year, its business across all its accounts have grown, and at a time when the market itself has been flat or even negative, this indicates that TD SYNNEX has won market share. The company’s net promoter score has risen significantly – from ‘good’ to ‘great’ over the past year and there is a determination to take this metric even higher.
‘Hopefully, with the positive changes we have made, we are proving to our customers that we can and do deliver good service’, said Annette. ‘We know that really matters and it’s not something we are complacent about. And while automation and making it easy for customers to do business with us 24/7 is still important, what this is really all about is ensuring that our mindset is focused on the customer and aligning our business with their needs. That has made it easier to have broader, deeper and more progressive conversations with more of our customers.’
If you have a question or a query you want to raise with the TD SYNNEX customer services team or a member of the sales team, please click on the link below to send us an email.
