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By Julian Goldsmith, 4 January 2008 12:34

Specsavers has beefed up the CRM systems at its Nottinghamshire call centre to get a single view of its customers.

The optician has achieved solid growth over the last few years, building brand loyalty through advertising campaigns and competitive offers. Specsavers was in danger of damaging that brand through outdated customer data management, prompting it to install a dedicated CRM system last year.

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The retailer's 50-seat customer services desk was using pen and pad and Excel spreadsheets to record customer data. This meant Specsavers could not keep an accurate record of its dealings with customers that could be made available to call-agents if the same customer called again.

Having already used software specialist Infor for other business processes, Specsavers turned to the supplier to build a CRM gateway, called Epiphany, that integrated with its existing databases. It allowed its call centre staff to update customer enquiries to the central customer database, also used by the retailer's 800 stores, and give them quick access to customer information when dealing with telephone enquiries.

Specsavers IT accounts manager Chris Corbin explained: "With the company growing exponentially we need better core data, so that customer contact agents could respond quickly to enquiries and easily review previous purchasing histories."

Much of the revenue Specsavers receives are from repeat orders, especially for prescription contact lenses. It is important for Specsavers to keep these returning customers satisfied with the service they receive and the improved CRM system is instrumental in achieving this.

The application went live in August 2007 for 40 seats. The build contract cost £500,000 and Infor has been retained on an ad hoc basis for maintenance, support and consultation.