Karcher AG
Karcher AG, founded in 1968 by Horst Karcher, is a traditional and globally active trading company based in Birkenfeld. The company operates in the fields of consumer electronics, household goods and vehicles and offers a broad product portfolio. In 2012, the company was transformed into a public limited company in order to promote transparency and internationality. Karcher stands for quality, innovation and excellent service. The company attaches great importance to environmentally friendly production standards and offers comprehensive support through its own workshops and a customer hotline.
The introduction of EcholoN has achieved much more than expected!
"For a coffee" with Christoph Schwaab - Control Repair shop and Head of Service at KARCHER AG, reports on the practical use and benefits of the EcholoN service management platform for all customer service with after-sales service.
By implementing EcholoN, Karcher AG has achieved significant improvements in its customer service, customer support and after-sales service. A centralised solution has increased efficiency, improved customer satisfaction and optimised communication within the team. Of particular note are the faster ticket processing, seamless collaboration and cost savings.
EcholoN has helped Karcher to digitalise their service processes and make them more efficient, which has had a positive impact on the company's overall growth.
Experience with EcholoN
General experience with EcholoN
Our experience with EcholoN has been consistently positive and is reflected in every customer service conversation. The overall situation has improved significantly.
Areas of application
EcholoN supports us in classic customer service, customer support and customer service, including 1st and 2nd level support with service desk, B2B customer service, shop and logistics processes as well as in technical processing with warehouse, repair and maintenance.
Christoph Schwaab's areas of responsibility
As an EcholoN administrator and rolling out service manager, I handle escalation cases and answer internal queries about individual tickets. My central points of contact are queues and the service desk with reporting and KPI dashboards, where I have an overview of all customer processes.
Frequently used EcholoN features
I use the customer transfer functions with the EcholoN data workflow system, knowledge entries and text and process templates particularly frequently. The central scheduling with dispatching and the knowledge database are particularly helpful as they make life easier for new colleagues.
Benefits and advantages
Concrete advantages
Thanks to EcholoN, we have been able to achieve a significant increase in efficiency. Tickets are processed more quickly, which has a positive impact on customer satisfaction. The 360-degree view of all customer information significantly improves end-to-end communication with our customers.
Improved efficiency
One major advantage is the chronological progression of tickets, which allows agents to seamlessly follow up on processing. Previously, we had to search through numerous emails to find information. Now all the information is channelled into a single ticket, which significantly increases efficiency.
Improved team communication and collaboration
The text and process templates standardise our responses and explanations to customers, resulting in a more professional appearance. Delegation to 2nd level has reduced tensions within the team and ensures a balanced and traceable ticket distribution.
Cost savings and resource optimisation
By implementing EcholoN, we were able to better record and analyse the number of service requests. This has helped us to work more efficiently during day-to-day operations and save on additional staff that would otherwise have been required.
Implementation and training
Implementation process
As with many IT and software projects, there were some challenges at the beginning. The interaction between our system house and mIT solutions GmbH was not optimal at the beginning. Communication now runs smoothly via the EcholoN customer portal, which has made collaboration much easier.
Training and education
The introduction by the project management and the close involvement in the project have enabled me to carry out internal EcholoN training courses independently. The continuous dialogue with the project management is very valuable for us.
EcholoN customer support and updates
Satisfaction with customer support
EcholoN's customer support is excellent. Requests and requirements are implemented promptly. Co-operation is very good and often takes place over short distances - even early in the morning before official office hours. The customer portal prevents misunderstandings, creates transparency and makes communication much easier.
Evaluation of the updates
The last major update has noticeably improved the performance of the software. The recommendations and knowledge of the project management and technical team have helped a lot.
Forum use
The forum helped me a lot in critical situations, such as during the absence of our internal IT employee. I was also able to implement update instructions on my own, which shows how user-friendly and supportive EcholoN is.
Future prospects
The future of EcholoN
In the future, KARCHER plans to integrate a chat bot into the service portal in order to filter customer enquiries in advance and reduce the workload of the service team. The focus is on further expanding and optimising customer service.
Impact on company performance and growth
Thanks to EcholoN, our sales organisation is now able to hit the ground running again as the service is set up efficiently. This has released potential for sales growth.
Final thoughts and comments
I can only recommend every company to introduce a ticketing system like EcholoN. It helps to rethink your own processes and make them more efficient. For KARCHER, having EcholoN is worth its weight in gold: "They work more efficiently, the team and customers are more relaxed, the management is happier due to the increase in turnover."