A Multichannel Retention Solution

Following a corporate decision to outsource their ‘First Point of Contact’ Service, we were awarded a prestigious public sector contract with the client. The contract covers an omni-channel solution servicing their 162,000 members of medical professionals and students.

Previous to this, the service was in-house and supported by an external provider for out of hours contact with local offices taking calls in the day alongside their other activities. The opportunity to expand the capability and move to an operating model that incorporated a retention strategy, was a key decision to outsource.

The initial contract commenced in August 2016 with the transfer of 56 staff.  As part of the transfer, we committed to salary increases for all staff and moved to meet the ‘Living Wage’ salary. The transfer was a huge success with minimal attrition, the additional salary and Kura benefits were cited as key reasons for the decision to award to Kura.

We invest in our people through an extensive training programme before the agents move into a Grad Bay Environment.  Each agent receives 3 weeks initial employment training, 4-6 weeks in a Grad Bay environment before moving to a core operational team.  We support agents through their journey and help to develop their skills and knowledge through tailored and specific coaching.  Upon completion we review the need for upskilling, which is done at a pace that suits both business and agent needs..

Our services include:

• Handling employment related queries from  professionals working in the NHS or private setting via the following channels:
  • Inbound Telephony – 96,000 per year
  • Webchats and emails – 34,000 per year
• Pro-active retention of members through an outbound channel
• Support local offices by seconding experienced agents to fill resource gaps

A ‘partnering success’ example

Over the last two years we have designed, developed, evaluated and implemented a multichannel retention solution for our client that supports the organisations membership recruitment and retentions strategy. On transfer of the service, the communication channel was telephony based and limited email activity hence we created an omni-channel solution that gave member choice.

We also recognised that regular engagement was important to retain members and introduced an outbound call strategy to improve retention.

We developed a toolkit for callers to promote the value in the membership offering without putting up a barrier to prevent the members from cancelling.

Retentions activity has grown over the past 2 years to cover multi-channel activities in both inbound and outbound formats.

• Inbound calls to cancel
• Retentions inbox – handling email requests to cancel
• Pre lapse calls – contacting members who have cancelled their direct debit

Quarterly engagement with the client around continual improvement has resulted in positive gains in member retention. Between January- July 2020, we retained 1,824 members saving the client over £400,000 of lost revenue. Before this, they had more than 3,000 members falling from the base over the same time period. 

“Kura succeeded in securing member subscriptions of £432,381 that otherwise would have been lost because of members ceasing their membership.

Looking at the performance this year so far, from  members that have been contacted from the start of the year until end of July 2020, a total of 1824 members are still in active membership as a result of retentions activity. In terms of revenue, if these members stay in membership until the end of the year, with the average membership of £303, our retention activity so far would have protected £552,672 which could have otherwise been lost. These results are excellent and by the end of the year should grow further. Further proactive work is planned to persuade members to continue with membership. Great work, thanks to our colleagues at Kura for all their efforts”

Director of Member Relations