Client Case Study with Elevana

Rather read it instead? Here’s the video transcript:

INTRODUCTION:

In today’s video I’m going to be talking with Malcolm Pitcher from Elevana.

They’re a household name for companies in the house building business and based in the UK.

Elevana have been using Melu’s Human Live Chat service since December 2020 to help visitors understand their services and generate new leads.

It’s been very successful. So let’s get into it and hear about Malcolm’s experience.

Lee: Was it easy to go from not having live chat on your website to having live chat with us?

Malcolm: Well, I suppose with the benefit of hindsight, you’d say, well, it was really easy. But actually there were a couple of bits to begin with in that suddenly you’ve got to anticipate all the questions that people on the website are going to ask and what you want the Melu team to say in response to those questions.

And we had a little bit of toing and froing with that. But what I liked about it was you could change it on the fly and you knew that the next call coming in would be treated to the new script. That was different, never having set up or managed a live chat system before, didn’t know what to expect.

But, you know, you guys helped us through it and it was nothing, it was pretty easy. In fact, I’ve gotta be honest with you, I haven’t checked that script since I think, January, 2021. So that shows what a great job we did putting it all together.

Lee: Yes, nailed it pretty much first time.

Malcolm: Absolutely.

Lee: Brilliant, brilliant. Well that’s great. Thank you for that feedback.

The next one then, is about our operators. How do you feel about them? Would you consider them now to be a part of your team based on how they look after your visitors on your website?

Malcolm: Yeah, yeah, I would, I would. You know, occasionally, because you know the four words I don’t like in customer service and you can repeat them to me, can’t you? What are they?

Lee: I can. You don’t like people saying ASAP.

Malcolm: No, I don’t like that.

Lee: Or we’ll get back to you ASAP.

Malcolm: Yeah, because it doesn’t mean anything. And particularly, when you’ve got an emotional customer the absolute worst thing is to say, “I’ll get back to you as soon as possible.” because you lose control. So that was one little rule that we put down and occasionally it slips, I get it, you know, occasionally we get the response back, you know, “We’ll get back to you as soon as possible.” We’re very forgiving. It’s a habit. Most people have used it all their lives.

Lee: Yes.

Malcolm: Okay. And what I like is that sometimes you read it before I do. And you’ve already got an email saying, “Sorry about that Mal. I’ll have a word with the person.” But yeah, as long as we, you know, the information we get is absolutely fantastic. And I’ve got to point out one thing that you guys did, I suppose about eight weeks ago, because it’s not just potential clients coming onto the website, that’s the easy bit in terms of the managed chat, because I think we’ve covered all the bases there. But we had somebody just come in and say “I want to know if the apprenticeship is still available. There’s nothing on the instructions or anything.” What your operator said was, “Hang on a minute, I’ll go and check.” I think it was about a minute later if you look at the call log, she came back and said, “Here’s a link for you.” And when I looked at it and read it as it came through, I’m thinking, “What the hell link is that?” I clicked on it and it was actually to some government portal that lists all available apprenticeships. And there was our apprenticeship listed there. I didn’t even know it existed. I wouldn’t have known what to do. I mean gold star to your call operator, your operator who handled that chat because I mean it was absolutely brilliant.

And then another side of the business, which isn’t the training side, which I kind of help to look after, another side of the business, we demonstrate new homes to homeowners. So we’re dealing with our clients’ customers, home buyers, and we give them all the details of when to meet us and all of that stuff. But occasionally, you know, they don’t see the email or they forget it. And in panic they go, “Who’s doing this demo? Elevana.” So they’re obviously searching for Elevana and they’re going on, and that comes the little box, you know, “Can I help you?” “Yes, I’ve got a demo and a…” And they put all this stuff in. “I’ve got a demo organised.” Your guys just handle that so well, and that’s us giving a service to our clients’ home buyers. People who might have spent one, two, three million pounds for a property, are being served by your team and served really well. So it’s not just about us getting enquiries, it’s about the way that you deal personally and professionally with those kind of issues. And we can’t predict what they’re going to be or when they’re going to happen. And that’s why I tell you I would never use a chatbot, because some of the things that people ask your guys, your teams, sorry to call them guys, it’s just…

Lee: That’s okay

Malcolm: You’re people, your professionals, whatever you call them. A chatbot would just go, wouldn’t know what to do.

Lee: Yup, yeah, absolutely. I mean I think that’s us in a nutshell really, the value in what we do, is the people and it was actually Julia who helped on that chat about two months ago. And I asked her the same question because, what we tend to not do is give the operators too much of a free reign to go and find an answer on the internet because there’s a chance that that might be be the wrong answer. But because she found that government portal straight away and it actually had your logo on it to say that you were opening apprenticeships…

Malcolm: I didn’t know that either.

Lee: She obviously saw that and thought, “Well, these are the same guys, this is the right link.” and put it through. And so I asked her that as well. I said, “How did you find it?” And she said, “Well I just searched for it. You know, it wasn’t crazy busy and I just felt like I could help this person.” So, you know, I’m really pleased about that. She got a big pat, a virtual pat on the back and glad it worked for you.

Malcolm: Julia, you’re a genius. I won’t suggest a pay-rise, Lee, I won’t do that.

Lee: That’s going to happen in April anyway, don’t worry.

Malcolm: Oh, oh, okay.

Lee: Cool okay, that was great. That was brilliant feedback. So it actually…Something that the next question kind of stems from what you’ve said here. So, and it’s basically about missing opportunities. I think what our service helps, especially small businesses, not suggesting that you’re a very small business, but businesses where everyone is busy. Everyone’s got a job to do and they can’t divert from that job during the day. If you didn’t have our service on your website, is it safe to say that you would likely miss some of those opportunities where someone wouldn’t pick up the phone, they just want that quick response?

Malcolm: I think absolutely, yes. Absolutely, yes. And, you know, the way our business is, we are a small business really, but we only need one good lead a month to make you guys such great value for money. In fact, if we had 20 good enquiries a month, I don’t think we’d know what to do with them at the moment, we’re so darn busy. But, you know, it’s about the quality of the lead that you get and people, and, you know, we do have this promise that we will get back. If it’s in a working day, we will get back within 90 minutes.

Lee: Yes, but not ASAP.

Malcolm: And that’s a big point for us, so when I get the lead from you, I pass it onto my team. We will call that prospect and say, or that potential client, “Well hello, it’s Malcolm Pitcher from Elevana calling. We said we’d call back within 90 minutes as promised and here we are.” And people go, “Oh yeah.” Now do you wanna say as soon as possible on your chats? I don’t think so. Because you’re making a service promise and of course you guys have handled it well to begin with. We are then in there within 90 minutes if it’s a working day, and we’re already talking to the client and they think, “Gosh, this is a great business to work for.” So we’ve definitely picked up business from it.

Lee: That’s great, and that’s another benefit of having real people on the site.

Malcolm: Absolutely.

Lee: Especially non-office hours.

Malcolm: Absolutely.

Lee: Because the visitor doesn’t expect it because they don’t see it too often. And the only time they normally see it is if it’s a chatbot. And yeah, people are put off by that sometimes and therefore they don’t use it. So to actually talk to a real person at 10 to 10 on a Friday evening, just makes them feel better about your business and your brand on the whole.

Malcolm: Yeah, absolutely.

Lee: Great, well thank you so much for answering those questions, Malcolm, I really appreciate your time. Any general feedback on using Melu? Would you recommend this to other businesses? Have you had a good experience with us?

Malcolm: We’ve had a great experience. I mean it was the first time we’d ever used Managed Chat and it coincided with the launch of a new website. And, yeah, it’s been great. There’s no way we would change. Well, I wouldn’t even consider anybody else anyway. And definitely you proved to me that chatbots, for the kind of business that we are, that is a very personal service to people, chatbots don’t work.

Lee: Sure.

Malcolm: And when I see a chat-bot on a website, I think, “Well, this is a company that doesn’t really want to invest in actually talking to real people.” You know, but I suppose if I ran an insurance company with 100,000 calls a day, I might consider a chatbot to at least clear out something before people get involved. But from a small business perspective, chatbots, no way, Managed Chat every time.

Lee: Brilliant, brilliant. Well, thank you so much, Malcolm for your feedback today. Thank you for joining me. Thanks for being a client. And I really appreciate you taking the time today.

Malcolm: Pleasure. Thanks a lot.

Lee: Thanks, Malcolm, bye.

Malcolm: Yeah, cheers.