Empowering Heineken's Customer and Employee Satisfaction through Polly.Help

Anja: “The customer service department manages all interactions with consumers. Consumers can get in touch with us via phone, contact forms on the website, email, and occasionally through written letters.”

“In addition to this, the team serves as the first line of response for private messages on social media channels. Our primary focus lies in addressing product-related queries and complaints, and we have cultivated expertise in this area. Our objective is to stay out of the headlines and resolve issues efficiently. We achieve this with an experienced team, many of whom have long tenures with the organization, resulting in a high level of customer satisfaction, which we take immense pride in.”

Yvette: “The inquiries we receive range from complaints about our products, such as taste or glass breakage, to inquiries about events like ‘De Vrienden van Amstel Live.’ Large-scale Heineken promotions that have a nationwide presence also generate questions that our team handles.”

Both Anja and Yvette have extensive experience working at Heineken. They shared insights into how knowledge was accessed in the past.

Yvette: “Previously, Heineken outsourced its customer service, and I was employed by the outsourcing provider. During that period, each employee had a folder containing printed knowledge documents with instructions, phone numbers, website links, and related information. When Heineken decided to bring the customer service function back in-house, I literally walked in with that folder of printed documents, which I humorously referred to as my ‘bible.'”

“At the initial presentation of Polly.Help, I immediately recognized that Polly.Help’s knowledge base was a missing piece of the puzzle within my team.”

Anja: “The desire to enhance the digital experience for both Heineken employees and customers had been a longstanding objective, but I was unsure about how to accomplish it. In 2018, a consultant from Polly.Help, in collaboration with our telephony supplier KPN, conducted a demonstration at Zoeterwoude. Heineken was already utilizing Genesys’ omnichannel platform, which Polly.Help’s knowledge management platform could integrate with.”
“At that juncture, knowledge primarily resided in employees’ minds or was documented in Microsoft Word files. During the presentation, I immediately grasped that Polly.Help’s knowledge base was a critical missing link within my team. Subsequently, in conjunction with KPN and Polly.Help, we developed a business case, and the project commenced.”

Anja: “During the project, a consultant from Polly.Help spent several days at our office. During this time, he assessed our requirements and offered guidance on configuring our knowledge base. Interestingly, the project coincided with preparations for ‘De Vrienden van Amstel Live’ that year, which provided us with a solid starting point by employing Polly.Help’s knowledge base.”

“We initiated the project by configuring the internal knowledge base. Subsequently, we established connections between the knowledge base and various websites. Finally, we integrated the chatbot from our ‘Out of Home’ department with Polly.Help’s knowledge base. Once the chatbot ran successfully in that capacity, we extended its usage to other websites within the Heineken Group.”

Anja: “Internally, the knowledge base has significantly enhanced our operations by making knowledge items more easily and swiftly accessible to our employees. This integration, coupled with Polly.Help’s presence on our website, has proved to be an invaluable combination.”

“Our telephone call volume has notably decreased as customers can now independently locate the information they seek on our website.”

Yvette: “This has made the job more enjoyable for our employees. We now have more time and bandwidth to focus on specific product-related complaints from our customers. Presently, our employees concentrate fully on this aspect, allowing them to take the time, when needed, to collaborate with colleagues and devise the most appropriate responses.”

“Another notable advantage of Polly.Help’s knowledge base is our continuous expansion of knowledge items. Whenever we encounter a question that hasn’t been previously addressed, we promptly add both the question and its answer to the knowledge base. This empowers all employees to respond to the same question more expeditiously in the future.”

“It’s particularly advantageous that all information and knowledge remain consistently up-to-date since we maintain control. We no longer require the intervention of an IT department, eliminating the waiting time associated with information updates.”

Anja: “During customer interactions, our agents can directly access Polly.Help’s knowledge base from the Genesys omnichannel platform. This streamlined process eliminates the need for agents to open additional windows, enhancing the efficiency and intuitiveness of our solution.”

Anja: “Polly.Help dedicated substantial time to assist us in making the right configuration choices. This support was highly beneficial given our lack of prior experience in this domain.”

Yvette: “Polly.Help eased our transition by assisting us in creating new articles. Existing Microsoft Word articles were seamlessly imported into the knowledge base. Additionally, the consultant aided in configuring decision trees, which guide employees and customers to appropriate answers.”

Yvette: “Whenever we had inquiries regarding the platform or new requirements, Polly.Help remained easily accessible and promptly addressed our needs.”

Anja: “Our collaboration with Polly.Help can be aptly characterized as good and flexible, marked by a genuine willingness to provide assistance. I feel like a valued customer!”

“Polly.Help has translated into a 60% reduction in standard queries. This significant reduction occurred immediately after implementation, which is quite remarkable.”

Anja: “During the pandemic, all employees were compelled to work from home. Remote work makes it less convenient to consult colleagues, underscoring the importance of employees being able to independently access the right answers quickly.”

“Polly.Help has also led to a remarkable 60% reduction in standard queries immediately post-implementation. Prior to implementing knowledge management, these standard questions were largely handled by hired students. The deployment of Polly.Help allowed us to reduce the number of student hires from 4 to 1.”

“With regards to customer satisfaction, a few years ago, we set the goal of raising our customer satisfaction rating from a modest 8 to a steady 8. In 2023, thanks in part to the knowledge base, we are almost at 9!”

Anja: “In 2023, we plan to roll out the chatbot for all our brands. As we intensify the usage of the chatbot, we also aim to enhance the interaction between the knowledge base and the chatbot. We see substantial room for optimization in refining this interaction.”

Anja: “No, the concept of operating without knowledge management is inconceivable for us, as it would essentially be a regression of 50 years.”