As engineers at Auto Trader UK, Tim Speakman and Adrian Bradshaw are at the coal face of implementing, understanding, and altering how the company’s customer service and experience systems operate.
Having phased out the company’s data centers in the last few years, the team decided that it was time to migrate to the cloud via a CCaaS platform.
Auto Trader is the largest digital automotive marketplace in the UK, with cross-platform visits totaling approximately 80 million per annum.
For years, customers experienced inconsistent service, where 300 agents were overwhelmed by more than 60,000 monthly calls.
Supervisors also struggled with incomplete customer insights and lacked effective real-time data and reporting tools.
In order to handle such a sizable and complex customer base, it was integral that the team found a CCaaS provider that ticked all the right boxes.
Bradshaw explains how they consulted Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for CCaaS, trialing and evaluating offerings from the likes of 8x8, RingCentral, and NICE before settling on the Genesys Cloud platform.
The engineer described Genesys as the “best fit” due, in part, to the company’s support in facilitating the transition and simplifying the administration process:
So that was the probably the biggest reason why we moved, because it [Genesys] helped with that transition.
“It also gave us the ability to switch services, whereas with our previous on-premises solution we had to buy kit, we had to buy licenses, we had to do upgrades, we had to manage all of that.”
Another key aspect of Genesys’ offering that appealed to Autotrader was the company’s flexibility, as well as the transparency of its pricing model. In particular, Bradshaw and Speakman highlighted the ability to choose between named and concurrent licenses and manage overage costs more effectively.
"Other vendors come in with a lower price but then they can't honor it when it comes down to looking at the contracts,” explained Speakman.
“But Genesys was very flexible. They weren’t laying down the law to us, telling us that this is what you're going to do, and this is what you're going to get.”
But has Genesys delivered on its promise?
The Proof is in the Pudding
It is clear in speaking to Bradshaw and Speakman that they have been impressed with what Gensys’ CCaaS offering has managed to deliver, and the results seem to support this.
By transitioning its entire buying journey online, the company has streamlined customer service and reduced effort, allowing business analysts to leverage data for better sales and revenue decisions.
Additionally, retiring several systems has cut IT hardware and maintenance costs.
Previously, the company spent approximately £300,000 every three years on hardware and an equal amount on support and running costs.