Covid-19 stirred up businesses on a huge scale, and in order to carry on operating, these businesses needed to adapt in order to stay ahead of the competition. After facing the challenges brought on by the pandemic, the team at Fujifilm needed to simplify their payment solution to keep their customers happy. They reached out to us to find out if we could help, and the end result was picture perfect.
We spoke to Carolina from the Customer Services team at Fujifilm to learn more about their experience with a Virtual Terminal, and how this solution has drastically improved the customer journey.
Fujifilm
Fujifilm is an iconic and major distributor of photographic and printing supplies, including both consumer products and solutions as well as business and office supplies. They also manufacture and service medical gear, like x-ray equipment - so, the business is highly diverse, and has expanded significantly over the years.
Main objectives of the Customer Services department
The support team works hard to deliver the best customer service experience, and keeping their customers happy is a top priority. Another one of their main objectives is to be able to adapt to changes in their workflow, by diversifying their procedures with new technology and ways of doing business.
The team is unique in the way that each person has a number of roles, working with different technicians in many areas of the business - they receive orders and queries for repairs, as well as consignments in these areas, meaning the customer services team is involved in all aspects of the company. With Covid-19 affecting the way that the team would typically work, they had to consider new ways of operating in order to keep up with their customers in this new environment.
Challenges and Pain Points
“When we were confronted with Covid-19, we had to quickly figure out how we were going to do things while working remotely.”
When the team was faced with the pandemic, they had to quickly pivot their operations to seamlessly provide support to their customers under the new restrictions. This came with a few challenges, especially considering the team was working remotely, and this new work environment felt more isolated. This made learning new technology even more difficult, because it was no longer possible to simply turn around and tap a team member on the shoulder if you needed a helping hand.
The main challenge that led Fujifilm to look for an innovative solution was the customer service team's ability to collect payments. Bank transfers take a significant amount of time to process, and their current method of taking payments over the phone was also inefficient. Additionally, the team used a physical terminal on site, but not only was this difficult to use under the pandemic restrictions, it was barely used as an option anyway, as most customers would pay their account off monthly.
Using their previous payment process, once the order was placed, the support team would need to contact the customer to collect payment, then contact the warehouse to notify them that the payment has been received, the warehouse would then invoice and process the order, before shipping it out to the customer. Because of privacy measures, if the payment wasn’t successful, the process would need to start from the beginning, as customer credit card details can’t be saved.
The Decision-Making Process
With EFTPOS NZ being Fujifilm’s payment solution provider, they contacted us to find out if there was anything we could offer them that would simplify the process, and keep their customers happy. The team needed something quick and easy, and we put forward the perfect solution in Virtual Terminal.
The most important factor was that the solution was simple but effective because they no longer had the capacity to spend as much time handling queries. We spoke with the key decision-makers in the Fujifilm team and offered Virtual Terminal as a potential solution. After getting a thorough breakdown of Virtual Terminal, the team at Fujifilm were ready to hit the ground running.
The Solution
“We needed simple, quick, and easy - and that’s what we got.”
The Virtual Terminal solution allows merchants to efficiently take card-not-present, as well as mail-order and telephone order (MOTO) payments, where instead of swiping a card, the customer’s details are collected over the phone or via mail order, and details are entered into an online payment form within the merchant’s online portal. It takes all the fuss out of taking payments and makes transactions and refunds far simpler and secure.
Setting up the Virtual Terminal for the customer services team at Fujifilm was a breeze, and they tried the solution with one user, to begin with. Once they saw the benefits, they quickly added more users, and within a few days, the whole team was up and running.
The moment they started utilising the Virtual Terminal, they were able to collect payments over the phone before orders were even processed - meaning that as soon as the payment was successful, the warehouse would be automatically notified, and the order would be processed for delivery immediately. The team was ecstatic about how the solution positively impacted their workflow, especially because of how easy it was to learn how the system works.
The Results
“We’re so confident in it now, and we use it every single day.”
The Virtual Terminal allows the customer services team to do so much more, from anywhere they need to be. Not only has the customer experience improved significantly, but the logistical aspect of their service also saw an increase in productivity, thanks to the way Virtual Terminal streamlines their processes. The turnaround time for processing and delivery was much faster, which meant the logistics team had the capacity to process even more orders than before.
Another aspect of the Virtual Terminal that has been a game-changer for Fujifilm is the ability to generate reports. They can now see a full breakdown of all transactions, and collate them into a custom report, which is used by Accounts Receivable, as well as the Credit Control team to identify any trends and discrepancies.
Having everything working within one powerful but easy-to-use online portal has made a world of difference for the customer support team at Fujifilm. Not only has it streamlined their payment process to improve the customer experience, but they were also able to simplify the logistical procedure to make the most of their resources. They now also have detailed insights to inform other departments, which allows them to stay on top of their transactions through robust reporting.
Thinking about using Virtual Terminal for your business, but not sure where to start? Get in touch with the team today, and we'll get you up and running in no time.
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