WORKS LIKE A CHARM!
On-the-spot voucher app gives colleagues the chance to turn frowns upside down
Everyone who works on the railway knows things can’t always run smoothly. When delays or communication failures do happen, our customers can be inconvenienced and frustrated.
Until now, the only on-the-spot remedy for customer-facing colleagues was to offer sympathy and accurate information.
But thanks to a new app, colleagues now have an easy and effective way to bring a smile back to customers’ faces.
“We felt colleagues were missing a tool that allowed them to diffuse a situation and even delight customers in the moment,” explains customer experience programme manager Victoria Liddell.
“Providing colleagues with the freedom to give something away is immensely empowering and has the potential to reduce complaints and increase customer satisfaction scores.”
The app, called CHARM, was trialled at 10 of our stations over the summer. After the relevant training, colleagues could use CHARM to give a gesture of goodwill to customers up to the value of £10. Customers could then redeem their voucher at up to 50 selected retail partners.
Colleagues log in to the app, and then the customer inputs their mobile or email address. At that point, they are immediately issued with a link to redeem their voucher.
The app can offer on-the-spot recompense for anything from delayed services to out-of-order toilets and deliver ‘random acts of kindness’ or tokens of thanks.
Feedback from colleagues and customers during the trial has been very positive.
“Within days, we received a commendation from a customer who received helpful service and a gesture of goodwill from station colleagues when their journey was disrupted,” says Victoria.
“Another customer who had difficulties with a ticket vending machine and lost money was offered an apology and gesture of goodwill for the inconvenience, and boarded the train much happier. It’s very exciting to see the difference it is already making for our customers travelling with us and how colleagues feel about their interactions with customers.”
Among those trialling the app were Theresa Opoku-Ware and Shelton Shaw at Dalston Junction.
“I issued four in the first couple of weeks and the experience was amazing,” says customer host Theresa. “Customers couldn’t believe it. One came back to me three times to say thank you and another asked to take a photo of myself and Shelton!”
Jaspal Sian, a customer service ambassador on the Mildmay line, added: “CHARM is a good relationship builder with passengers and helps defuse tensions when we have issues.”
The initial CHARM trial ended in August, before a potential network-wide rollout.
“The trial period revealed the impact a simple gesture of goodwill can have,” says Victoria. “This is all about empowering our people who care so passionately about their customers, and showing how they make a real difference to someone’s day – even when things are not going as planned.”
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