In a move which goes against the recent trend of sending call centre services to other parts of the world, Canon New Zealand and Australia have joined forces with kiwi-owned company, Datacom, to bring the Canon companies’ contact centres into Canon New Zealand’s headquarters on Auckland’s North Shore. The contact centre is being officially opened by New Zealand Prime Minister, John Key on the 22nd July.
The Canon Oceania Contact Centre employs 92 staff and has created 80 new jobs for Auckland’s North Shore. The centre now serves customers across four time zones; from Gisborne to Perth.
Mike Johnston, Country Manager Canon New Zealand, says combining contact centres under one roof in New Zealand makes sense for both Canon companies. Canon’s New Zealand customers benefit from the increased scale and service capability a larger centre delivers. Canon Australia benefits from a lower cost model achieved through New Zealand’s lower rents, a more flexible work environment and exchange rate differences.
“Having Australasia’s contact centre in one place and under local management ensures Canon customers receive consistently excellent after-sales advice and technical support whenever they need it,” says Mr Johnston, “New Zealand and Australia also have similar cultures and expectations and, with so many kiwis living in Australia, hearing a New Zealand accent is not unusual for an Australian customer.”
Johnston agrees that while contact centre management is not core Canon business, providing superior customer service is a priority and a point of difference for the company. He says it made good business sense to engage Datacom to manage the contact centre in-house, rather than sending it offshore.
“We pride ourselves on the service Canon provides to customers. We recognise that the relationship does not end when a customer purchases a camera, printer or photocopier; it is just the beginning,” says Mr Johnston.
Datacom was chosen as Canon’s contact centre partner because it has similar values and culture to Canon and considerable experience in creating and providing contact centre solutions that deliver high levels of end-user satisfaction to large corporate organisations and government bodies.
Greg Magness, Director at Datacom New Zealand, says the company is committed to delivering positive, memorable customer service experiences for Canon customers.
“We have introduced advanced technology into the new contact centre and we have a very strong focus on staff development. These combined lead to higher retention rates and a consistent level of service for Canon’s customers, all the while reducing costs for Canon”, said Mr Magness.
Canon’s Australasian contact centre is the first touch point for all product enquiries from businesses, professional print companies, Canon retailers, customers (both pre and post purchase); orders, returns and field service dispatch as well as managing the Australian inbound switchboard.