Congratulations on being a Finalist at the UK Customer Experience Awards this year. Can you tell us about your initiative?
Sales, Customer Service and ticket dispatch of 2.3m Rugby World Cup tickets over a 2 year period. Processes, policies, training and recruitment all done from scratch. Lots of different customers, lots of different phases but a requirement to provide a consistent, quality service for a key client with a lot of media interest!
Why did you decide to enter?
The Rugby World Cup was a huge undertaking and project. We’re so proud of what we’ve achieved so far and the service the team have provided. We really wanted to showcase their achievements.
How did you feel when it was announced you’d made it to the shortlist?
Delighted- it’s always brilliant to be recognized and the feedback we received on our application was superb.
What was the most positive thing about your experience at the UK Customer Experience Awards?
Seeing the standard of customer service provided throughout the country encouraged me that there’s a pool to be dipped in to where we can share best practice and learn. At the same time, at no point did I feel any other companies worked harder or are committed more to CX than ourselves.
What would you say to other people who are thinking about entering next year?
Go all out, commit and encourage all parts of your business to take a huge interest. The Awards is an opportunity to showcase internally as well – support teams need to see how they impact the customer and the positive contribution they make to customers journey.
Any exciting plans for Ticketmaster in the next year you can disclose?
We have some exciting initiatives aimed at making information more accessible for customers by taking customer service to them rather than making them find it. The beauty of working for Ticketmaster is that a new challenge will present itself and we’ll need to be creative with solutions- let’s see what the next year brings!
What’s your best CX tip?
No service is the best service- customers are always happiest when they don’t even need to think about contacting companies. Pre-empt potential issues and resolve them before they happen.
Anything else you’d like to tell us?
We’re still working incredibly hard on the project and will be until it finishes!
Matthew Wilkinson
Joined Ticketmaster in 2010 as a Team Manager in the Sales Department, and has subsequently held the roles of Customer Services Manager & Contact Centre Manager before moving in to his current role as Head of Contact Centre Operations. This role compromises of managing Sales, Customer Services, Resale, Groups, Ticket Fulfilment and the Rugby World Cup project whilst also focusing on strategic projects to improve the operation and Customer Experience.
