PPI Claim Specialists Switch Call Centre Software to Postcode Anywhere
Portal Claims moves call centre address look-up to Postcode Anywhere after "enormous price-hike" from existing supplier.
- (1888PressRelease) September 15, 2011 - Worcester, UK - Kent-based financial claims specialist has avoided substantial costs within its own business by switching its call centre address look-up software to Postcode Anywhere.
After testing the service extensively, it reports this week that Postcode Anywhere is "quicker and easier," and that making the switch was "a no-brainer."
Portal Claims, part of the Portal Group of specialist financial services companies, was established in 2004, initially focussing on helping people who had been mis-sold endowment mortgage policies. However, the company recently had to make a difficult financial decision of its own after deciding to increase usage of a call centre technology that auto-completes addresses. When their existing software supplier presented them with an "enormous price hike," Portal Claims began to look for alternatives.
Robert Allen, Group Operations Manager of The Portal Group, said: "On the claims side, we help people recover their money when they have been mis-sold a financial product. The company offers a friendly and efficient 'no-win-no-fee' service and since its inception in 2004 has secured millions of pounds of compensation for its clients. We have several FSA-authorised businesses within the Portal Group and absolutely believe in treating customers fairly at all times - and can quickly spot when others do not have their customers' best interests at heart.
"With a telesales team of 40, we needed an address finder and validation service which we could deploy group-wide to improve the accuracy of our data, while reducing keystrokes and costs. We deal with very sensitive personal financial information and it's critical that any written communications get to the right recipient. Address validation alleviates the risk of errors and helps fulfil data protection obligations, which we take very seriously.
"Initially we used a competitor product which we had integrated into one of our applications. When we decided to increase usage, we were presented with an enormous price-hike making the service twice as expensive as Postcode Anywhere. The vendor eventually reduced its costs, but for us, the business relationship had already been damaged.
"I have developed a number of Access databases across the group and find Postcode Anywhere quicker and easier to integrate, without the need for any additional programming. The 'cloud'-based set-up also means we have access to the very latest PAF® customer address details each day. Our telesales teams work to set targets, and by using Postcode Anywhere we can cut a ten minute call to eight minutes. Reducing call time by 20% enables our staff to be more productive. If you multiply this by 40 the time saved per call over a seven-hour day is significant.
"I personally like the fact that I can log in and track our usage to make sure we're using the service fully. This enables me to calculate overheads for forecasts and other budgetary information. Postcode Anywhere's technical support team have always been really helpful. Customers benefit from reduced call times, and any written communications land on the right doorstep. We are ruled by a strict data protection code of conduct and it's critical that up-to-date information doesn't fall into the wrong hands.
"As an Access visual basic developer, Postcode Anywhere provides me with a quick and easy way of integrating what is, after all, an excellent address finder into my applications. The application is easy enough to configure, looks professional, and enhances the user experience while delivering some quantifiable savings in time and costs: something that obviously sits well with the business partners. It's a 'no-brainer' really."
Postcode Anywhere's managing director Guy Mucklow said: "In any market it's imperative to ensure the tools your business has brought on board to make things faster and improve efficiency don't end up costing you too much money. At Postcode Anywhere we simply don't feel there should be any compromise on price, ease of integration or the customer service you receive when it comes to procuring enterprise-level address look-up software. We believe the success of this approach is reflected in Postcode Anywhere's majority market share in address look-up for websites, and in the fact we continue to make inroads into the market for desktop, call centre and other office-based address capture.
"We're thrilled Portal Claims has made the switch to Postcode Anywhere. It's another testament to the fact that enterprise-level businesses are responding to what we're trying to achieve, and can only improve the industry as a whole."
For more information about Portal Claims, please visit www.portalclaims.co.uk. To find out more about Postcode Anywhere's address management and business efficiency software and services, please visit www.postcodeanywhere.com.
Media contact for Postcode Anywhere
Jim Williams - PR Manager
jim ( @ ) postcodeanywhere dot com
+44 (0) 1905 888 562
Press centre at: http://www.postcodeanywhere.com/press
Press Pack download: http://www.postcodeanywhere.com/assets/PDFs/press-pack-2010.pdf
Notes for editors
About Portal Claims (part of Portal Group)
Portal Claims has grown to be a market-leading specialist financial services company. It is currently taking the fight to the banks over the mis-selling of PPI insurance policies - something that ultimately led to the banks losing a judicial review against the financial ombudsman, and paving the way for millions of affected people to get their money back.
About Postcode Anywhere
Postcode Anywhere supplies software and services which improve the day-to-day operations of over 8,000 organisations worldwide. Best known as a provider of address auto-fill and verification software, the company offers a range of data-driven services, including route planning, customer profiling and bank account validation. It is now the fastest-growing reseller of Royal Mail's Postcode Address File (PAF®) and the market leader for online address auto-fill. A multi-award-winning organisation, it has also appeared in Deloitte's European fast-growth technology company list for three years running. For more information about Postcode Anywhere, please visit www.postcodeanywhere.com.
Recent Awards and Recognition for Postcode Anywhere
• Deloitte Technology Fast 500 EMEA 2008/9, 2009/10 & 2010/11
• Red Herring Top 100 Europe - 2010
• Best Small IT Supplier of the Year - UK IT Industry Awards (finalist) - 2009
• Dell Small Business Excellence Award (UK finalist) - 2009
• Small-Medium Sized Business of the Year (regional finalist) - National Business Awards 2009
• Orange Best Use of Technology (Midlands) - 2008 National Business Awards
• Growth Business of the Year - Chamber Awards 2008
• Small Business of the Year - Chamber Awards 2008
• Customer Service Team of the Year (finalist) - National Customer Services Awards 2008
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