Late last year Vodafone launched its Always Connected promise. If a broadband fault can’t be fixed right away, and the customer in question has an eligible mobile plan, Vodafone will give their household as much mobile data – for free – until their connection is up and running again.

Using Vodafone’s leading 4G network, Always Connected data can be applied to up to four eligible Vodafone mobiles – and by setting up Wi-Fi hotspots – all their other devices at home can be connected.

Reon Goodwillie, Vodafone’s Head of Customer Experience, said the idea for ‘Always Connected’ actually came from customers themselves.

“Customers constantly compare their broadband service to water or gas – it’s essential for modern life. Our customers challenged us to find a way to make sure broadband always ‘just worked’ – and so, the idea for Always Connected was born,” said Reon.

Reon is a firm believer that the way to deliver great returns for a company is to deliver great outcomes for its customers. His career in the telecommunications industry has seen him lead many teams on the customer service ‘front line’ over many years of change.

Reon started out as a retail sales consultant for a company call Ben Rumble Communications in 1994. He then started with Vodafone in 1999, and throughout this time he has seen both the industry and Vodafone grow and develop. He acknowledges that during the more intense periods of organisational change - the industry at large hasn’t always got its customer service experience right.

“Service is one of the key ways companies like Vodafone can distinguish itself from competitors - and it’s top of the list of things that customers really care about,” said Reon. “You have to really nail customer service it in order to stand out from the crowd and be proud of what you do.”

It’s a well-known truth the world over – when large companies are brought together the process of knitting existing IT systems together adds a layer of complexity. More complexity often means less focus on what matters most – the customer’s experience.

“I can remember the months after Vodafone merged with Telstra Clear - the cracks in the customer service experience really began to show,” said Reon. “Wait times for customers calling into the call centre increased and complaints began to pop up on social media. After all those years of feeling proud to work for an innovative challenger brand – it was a real shock to suddenly be the seen as the ‘bad guy’ of the industry.”

In an effort to simplify these growing customer service concerns, Vodafone made a call to invest heavily in more frontline staff, and initiated a programme to refocus the entire business around the needs of its customers.

When Reon first heard Vodafone was introducing a customer experience programme, he put his hand up to lead the charge.

“The programme which we simply call ‘Proud’ is about inviting our customers through our doors to uncover the root cause of the issues they’re experiencing,” he said. “It is also designed to help everyone working at Vodafone to think hard about developing products and services that deliver value and benefits to our customers.”

‘The Kitchen’ space is an example of how Vodafone is listening to its customers. A dedicated environment where experts from across the business can engage with ‘customers’ and hear both the good - and not so good - first hand. These insights inform the development of the business strategy, with the ultimate goal being to ensure the customer’s experience is at the heart of every commercial and product decision.

Vodafone’s promise to upgrade eligible customers to its FibreX gigabit network within just three days - or they receive a $100 account credit - is another example of how the Proud customer engagement programme is informing big commercial decisions.

“Customers told us that the installation of UFB can be a really challenging service experience – so we took these insights on and are now offering eligible customers a quick, no-fuss option to upgrade to high-speed broadband across our FibreX network in Wellington, Kapiti and Christchurch,” he said. “We have had a great response to the offer – which we think is more evidence that the customer feedback loop is in much better shape these days.”

Another example is the Vodafone Ninjas - Masters of Tech. Vodafone Ninjas are experts in everything from syncing emails between phones and a home based PC, to Wi-Fi tuning, and configuring new devices. Ninjas are specially trained to solve customer’s technical queries on the spot – whether it be in store or over the phone.

But perhaps the biggest evidence of Vodafone’s customer service turnaround story lies in the bare numbers.

Ultimately, the company’s focus is simply to reduce the need for customers to call into the call centre with service related queries, and in the year to date, Vodafone has already achieved a 14% call volume reduction.

When customer do call in, their call is dealt with quickly. Vodafone receives approximately half a million calls into its call centres each month, and 71% of them are answered in under one minute. At the peak of the Telstra Clear / Vodafone transformation, this was closer to seven minutes.

Reon adds, “Today our formula is simple – we exist to deliver the best possible experience for our customers, so they love buying products and services from us and tell other people about how good we are.

“It’s the way to run a business, it’s the way to feel proud about your life’s work and it’s how we will continue to focus our efforts into the future to ensure our customers love being with Vodafone“.

For more information about Vodafone’s new Always Connected promise, visit http://www.vodafone.co.nz/network/reliable/