PCMS

2011 continued to be a challenging year for retailers around the world, with the effects of the global recession still reverberating through our economies, it forced us to address efficiencies at every level of our organisations.   Here at PCMS Group, we invested heavily in our product suites, managed services, infrastructure and personnel, to provide a range of leading-edge technology solutions and services that enable us to help our customers maximise the performance of their business.

The team at PCMS has never been stronger which was reflected in our performance throughout 2011.  We are delighted to have welcomed a number of new clients from around the world across multiple retail sectors including Department Stores, Convenience, Fashion, Grocery, Books, Hospitality and Electrical Hardware.   Our successes have been recognised with our first appearance in the  Sunday Times Profit Track 100, continuing success in the RIS 2011 LeaderBoard and being named for the first time on the MSPMentor 100 list of the world’s top 100 managed service providers.

We held our first Global Software User Group in New York following this year’s NRF ‘Retail’s Big Show’ in January.  This was a prime opportunity for our customers to meet in one place and discuss the big issues in global retail, as well as updating eachother on their current IT projects.  The user group also enabled us to keep our customers informed on what PCMS is doing to ensure our technology remains at the forefront of retail solutions.  The user group was well received with customers from around the world including the UK, USA, Italy, Germany, South Africa and Australia joining us – many thanks go to all of our customers and partners who joined us for making the first meeting such a success.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank our users and partners from around the world for their support in providing references and introductions which have contributed significantly to our continued success.

Richard Goodall

Group Sales and Marketing Director

Staff at PCMS Group are giving back to the local community this Christmas by assisting with the Coventry Open Christmas appeal run by charity Grab and Go.  PCMS staff have volunteered to spend  Christmas Eve and Christmas Day handing out boxed parcels of food, bedding and clothes, with a team from our Coventry based call centre at the heart of it.

PCMS  call centre telesales agent Carly Smith comments:  ‘I am involved with a number of charities outside of work.  When I saw Grab and Go needed volunteers I was keen to help out.  I mentioned it to some of the other agents and was delighted at how many came forward offering their support.  At such a busy time of year I am touched at how many people have given up their free time to support Grab and Go.’

The PCMS call centre has also begun to sell raffle tickets  to raise funds for this deserving cause with a number of great prizes on offer for those that buy tickets.   The call centre has also become a hub for the collection of donations of clothing, bedding, toiletries and food for those in need or without homes over the coming festive period.

Heather Ramon, customer call centre operations manager comments ‘I wanted to help out but prior commitments mean I am struggling for time, I am pleased with the list of key items which have been displayed around the building, I hadn’t realised the charity would need packs of new underwear but it makes sense this would be a key need.  By having the list I can donate some much needed items and know they will go to good use over Christmas.  I am incredibly proud of the efforts of everyone at PCMS and in the call centre, it reflects what a massive team spirit we have.’

PCMS would like to thank our staff for giving up their time to help such a deserving cause. For more information on the Coventry Open Christmas Appeal – or if you would like to help or donate, visit http://www.coventryopenchristmas.co.uk/

Heidi Coles

Business Development Executive

Our first Charitable Activities Week at PCMS Coventry last week was a huge success and we are pleased to announce that thanks to the great generosity of all staff at Head Office in Coventry we raised over £1500 for Children in Need! Thank you to everyone who participated in last week’s Children In Need activities and to all those who dug deep and contributed to the total.

Along with several other activities, a daily raffle raised over £275 as did the combined total from the Pudsey Picnic (cake sale) and the ‘Tuck Shop’ – we are obviously a hungry lot at PCMS!  Brave staff were waxed on Wednesday, a climbing wall was set up for intrepid climbers on Friday and our Legal and Procurement teams auctioned off a ‘Serenade’ to the highest bidder, raising an astounding £460 for the performance alone.

Footage of the ‘PCMS Serenaders’ can be seen here – a great effort in aid of a fantastic cause.

Thank you to all at PCMS who helped to raise such a large total to go towards Children in Need.

Melinda Richardson

Marketing Assistant

The past week has been our annual Charitable Activities Week here at PCMS, with staff from all around the business organising events with the aim of raising money for a worthy cause and having some fun in the run up to the festive period.  This year we have chosen to donate all of the proceeds from our activities to the BBC Children in Need fund.

Throughout the week, staff at the Coventry head office have thrown themselves into varying activities, our brave Client Services team had their legs waxed for cash on ‘Waxing Wednesday’, raising a fantastic £103.  PCMS staff also baked cakes for charity, with a homemade cake sale on Tuesday raising a fantastic £145.70.  Other events have included a daily draw, a Quiz, ‘Extreme Logo’ competitions to see who could take a picture of our brand in the most interesting location.  Today, PCMS staff will brave the ‘Climbing Wall Challenge’ and later in the afternoon our Legal and Procurement departments are going to stage a short musical production in the form of a serenade auctioned to the highest bidder.

The final totals raised are yet to be calculated, but we are hopeful that we will be able to make a good contribution towards the BBC Children in Need fund. Children in Need is a great cause supporting projects in the UK which focus on children and young people who are disadvantaged.  Their vision is that every child in the UK has a childhood which is:

• Safe
• Happy and Secure
• Allows them the chance to reach their potential

Melinda Richardson

Marketing Assistant

Start Ups Guest Blog of the week:  The One True Currency – How To Become Truly Influential Within Your Field – and why it pays off, is a thought provoking article.  It got me thinking about the  main values we have here at the PCMS customer call centre to develop our influence.

1.       Professionalism – much of the time we are the primary and often only point of contact for our clients’ customers.  We are the representatives of their brand and it is essential that we maintain their brand image as diligently as we would our own with a professional service experience.  All of the agents within our customer call centre receive extensive training before handling calls, but also at regular intervals to ensure that levels are consistent.  Regular training updates are scheduled for all of our teams, with follow ups, coaching and call monitoring so that we can ensure standards are maintained. We hold 1-2-1 sessions with all of our agents on a monthly basis as well as annual appraisals giving each of our agents the opportunity, all ensuring that the highest professional standards are reached.

2.      Quality and value – Quality delivery that offers value for money is an essential part of our customer call centre services.  Image maintenance is crucial for our clients as their customers call expecting great service; the quality of our teams is evident in the results of our customer satisfaction surveys, which score consistently high.

3.      Increased sales – the PCMS customer call centre has an excellent track record for increasing basket sizes and booking great appointments.  Our telemarketing and telesales services do not engage in pushy sales techniques but listen to the customer and make relevant suggestions of additional purchase. Our customer sales teams are second to none, they receive a lot of training to ensure they perform to the best of their ability on behalf of our clients.

4.      Partnership – At PCMS we have a culture of working in partnership with our clients to ensure that the service delivery is designed to get the results desired.  We have a working culture of being open and giving regular feedback to our clients, enabling the client to influence our working methodology and for us to influence theirs.  Our success is measure by your success and we believe that working in partnership is the only way to achieve the best results.

5.      Long term goals – At PCMS we take a long term view of our relationships with our clients; we believe that this allows both parties the time to develop the right service and brand knowledge.  Establishing a long term relationship means that your customers are secure in the knowledge that they will call through to an experienced customer call centre that knows your products and services as well as you do.  Great customer service is viral, if your customers are happy they spread the word!

Heidi Coles

Business Development Executive – PCMS Call Centre

Christmas demands on retailers have a massive impact on call volumes and sales.  PCMS offers specialist services supporting outbound and inbound calls over the Christmas period.  All agents are trained in customer services and increasing consumer basket size - contact us today for more details.

The busy festive period is the most profitable time of year for retail, but can place significant strain on supply infrastructures regardless of estate size.  As the UK’s leading independent supplier of software and services to the retail industry, having worked with some of the best loved brands in the world, our experience within the retail industry has helped us to create a portfolio of services designed to assist retailers during this busy, but profitable, time of year.

Many retailers find that they receive much higher levels of calls during the festive period, leading to call wait times becoming hard to control and ultimately, frustrated customers who may go elsewhere.  Many retailers often find they could benefit from extra resources on a temporary basis to manage this seasonal peak of inbound calls, as well as engaging in an outbound campaign to boost sales even further.

Our Coventry based call centre is here to help retailers, in alignment with our unique position as an expert in the retail industry we can provide a range of services that help ease the pressure.

The PCMS call centre offers a range of inbound and outbound services to assist retailers.  Our inbound team can offer a range of services to suit your specific needs, from handling overflow calls during busy periods, additional lines or hours of service, a fully managed sales order line or a customer service helpline. PCMS outbound services could help you gain a Christmas sales boost with a telemarketing or telesales campaign.

All our agents are trained to achieve excellence in the provision of customer service; the PCMS call centre achieves consistently high customer satisfaction scores and you can have confidence in our team representing your brand.  Our agents are trained to listen carefully and make relevant suggestions to increase basket size, without using pushy sales techniques that may turn off your customers.

The PCMS call centre offers tailor-made and fully scalable packages to suit your business needs, contact us today for more information on our festive support services.

Melinda Richardson

Marketing Assistant

I’m pleased to announce that PCMS has been shortlisted in two categories of the 2011 Retail Systems Awards; best use of technology in the hospitality and leisure sector and technology vendor of the year. The Retail Systems Awards recognise excellence and innovation in the field of information technology within the UK retail sector.

PCMS has been shortlisted for the best use of technology in the hospitality and leisure industry in partnership with Krispy Kreme, in recognition of the innovative technology needed to meet the rigorous demands of Krispy Kreme’s ambitious growth strategy.

The technology vendor of the year award recognises a UK technology vendor that has excelled in its field, implementing innovative technology into retail organisations during the past year.

The work that we have carried out for retailers such as Krispy Kreme, Marks and Spencer, Luxottica Retail and John Lewis in addition to our work to keep our solutions at the leading edge of retail technology has shown that PCMS is a strong contender for this title.

The Retail Systems Awards 2011 winners will be announced on 26^th October; everyone at PCMS feels extremely proud to have been selected amongst the shortlisted candidates.

Richard Goodall

Group Sales & Marketing Director

In recent years there has been a significant change within the call centre and outsourcing industries for large businesses to move away from offshoring and bring their call centres and outsourced functions back into the UK.  In 2008, HSBC moved 250 jobs back into the UK;  in 2009 AXA moved 600 roles back into the UK from offshore and just last week Santander announced that they are bringing 500 agent roles back into the UK from India.  In June the Financial Times published an article “Private Sector Backtracks on Offshoring” which significantly demonstrates the move away from cost driven offshored customer service and contact centres.

This is part of a growing trend in customer service and outsourcing provision; the focus is moving away from cost-led decisions based on the cheaper staffing costs available in other parts of the world and acknowledging the brand damage incurred by  poor levels of customer service and consumer frustration.  In 2009 the Financial Services Authority (FSA) warned that firms with offshore call centres posed a high financial crime risk as a result of poor staff vetting.  With high levels of frustration reported by consumers, the tolerance of consumers has been waning considerably.

Many businesses are now acknowledging that the low cost shipping out of customer service functions to other economies has done more harm than good, the advertising and PR needed to counterbalance the brand damage is significant; it no longer makes financial sense to offshore vital customer contact roles.

Many businesses are now advertising UK only call centres and outsourcing partners as a selling point for their services.  Whilst outsourcing of these functions is still being handed to specialist call centres, the emphasis on quality and consumer perception has once again become paramount.

This is great news for the UK call centre industry and a chance for us to demonstrate what we can offer businesses, offshoring may provide a cheap alternative to the UK but tends to offer very process driven services.

PCMS Group whilst best known for our retail software systems, also operates a UK only call centre providing outsourced services, based in Coventry we offer a value proposition with high levels of customer service at the forefront.   With operational costs being more competitive in the Midlands than in the South East, combined with our extensive knowledge of retail we are pleased to see that the private sector is beginning to realise the benefits of the talent available in the UK and that price should not always be the primary decision maker when considering any outsourced functions.

Once a brand has been damaged through a poor choice of outsourcing partner, it is costly to repair – making the right decision longterm has never been more important.

Melinda Richardson

Financial pressures on businesses have never been higher than they are today.  Modern consumers have higher expectations of products and services than ever before, and they also want it delivered sooner and at a much lower cost.  This places substantial pressures on any business to try and find ways to further improve the efficiency of business processes and improve that all important margin.

At PCMS, our experience in working within the fast-paced retail market, where demands for IT efficiency are ever higher has given us a great insight into what is and is not effective.  We have used this extensive experience to help clients from a cross section of industries to improve their IT support efficiency.   Sometimes, focussing on what you do best and leaving the rest to specialists can be a wise strategic decision and improve business productivity significantly.

The top four benefits that our clients cite following the introduction IT outsourcing have been:

1.       Delivering more from less. IT budgets in many organisations are under constant pressure, making it hard for most businesses to maintain a fully equipped IT management team, especially when these resources are not always called for every day.  Using an outsourcing agent means that our customers have benefitted from our expansive team of resources without the immense cost of maintaining their own in-house IT support.

2. Increased flexibility. Few but the largest of businesses can afford to employ 24/7 IT management teams, but our customers can benefit from our 24/7 facilities.  Whether you need 24/7, out of hours pickup or less, you can usually find a suitable package to maximise your cover, with the bonus of flexibility to up or downscale according to your peak times.

3.       Faster response times. At PCMS our help desk and IT response teams have years of experience in incident resolution and problem management, this invaluable experience means that clients benefit from fast response times.

4.       Increased network stability. PCMS uses proactive incident management techniques when managing IT estates for clients, using data analysis our teams work to identify problems at the earliest possible stage and resolve them, plus proactively assess other areas which may cause instability, reducing the chances of downtime by an IT failure.

Melinda Richardson

Marketing Assistant

This year was PCMS’s second time at Palmer and Harvey’s Pro-Retail expo, which was held at the International Centre in Telford on 10^th and 11^th May. The event ran over two days and was a fantastic opportunity for anyone who works in the convenience retail industry to see a showcase of established and new products and services. It was also a fantastic opportunity for myself and my colleagues at PCMS to meet entrepreneurs and independent retailers and discuss their experiences running their own businesses. In return we were able to show how the latest technology we provide has been designed with their businesses in mind, to make life simpler and improve profit margins.

On the PCMS stand, we showcased our latest EPoS technology for the convenience industry, BeanStore for Convenience, which has been selected by Palmer and Harvey and their symbol brand ‘Mace’. Over the two days, my colleagues and I spoke to hundreds of entrepreneurs and retailers about what BeanStore can offer to their stores and the feedback on our demonstrations proved to be extremely positive.

The big attraction to Pro Retail 11 was certainly Mary Portas ‘Queen of Shops’, who was there to give her views on best practice for independent retailers. Mary proved to be a great draw for thousands of visitors to the event, who all seemed to be very excited to have the rare opportunity to gain advice from one of the best known retail gurus in the business.

The Pro-Retail Gala, held at the close of the expo on Tuesday gave 1,600 exhibitors and attendees a fantastic show, a party that ended with a live band and a free funfair so large that local residents were queuing outside the event seeing if they could come in – a great way to end a busy day talking shop!

Rob Lenane

Convenience Sales Consultant