We recently wrote an article on Call Centre response times and found that Marshalls World of Sport had some of the fastest and most efficient service that we encountered during our testing. So we got in touch with them to ask them a few questions as to how they have such a well oiled machine, Vikash Budhai, the Sports Manager was kind enough to answer our questions :
Beginning of Q&A:
We’d like to get this started by saying how impressed we are with your Sports Call Centre and Customer care.
Of the number of bookmakers we tested you guys came out on top with your agent answering the call in under a second and our query in less than 30 seconds, we were so impressed we requested this Q&A just to give our readers a bit more details of what is happening on the other side of the line.
Let’s kick things off by asking what it is that you do at Marshalls?
I am the National Trading Manager for Horse racing and Sports and I have been with Marshall’s World of Sport for the past 16 years. Some of my duties also include risk management and over seeing the call centre , Internet and Mobile Betting Departments.
In order to have things run so smoothly you must have had a quiet day or a very well-oiled operation at Marshalls? (referring to the day we called)
I believe we have a well oiled operation having been in business for many years and we have grown substantially.
When a punter calls in they are always looking to speak to someone who knows a bit about sports and betting, do you train all your call centre staff on this or do you select ones with a good knowledge already?
All staff are given the same training and some are more experienced than others however our agent that took your call had just completed her training and has been only employed for three months.
How big is your call centre operation and during the peak hours are you guys just as efficient as when we called also, how busy do you guys sometimes get?
We have fifteen call centre agents and three supervisors and a call centre manager and more staff are on duty during the peak hours.
What do you think sets you apart from other bookmakers who have big operations like yours but are a nightmare to deal with?
Definitely the product training and tests that staff have to do throughout the year as well as external training for all employees in regards to customer care and telephone etiquette. We also have a telephone reporting system that provides data on calls received and agents performance as well as overall performance of the call centre.
Having once been a call centre agent we know about the frustrations where the customer is not always right but puts up a big fight, any funny stories you can relate from your call centre staff?
There is obviously many funny stories but the most recent one was a communication error whereby a client asked for a bet to loose and our agent didn’t realise immediately that he actually wanted a bet on Toulouse in a soccer match.
Customer service has seen a massive shift in the last the few years with more and more companies placing more resources and emphasis on it, how much have you guys changed to get where you are today?
We definitely have more training programs than we did in the past and our products have also increased over the years and its definitely more challenging to be a call centre agent now than previously so training is always a priority. Technology is also important and we have certain program’s that provide us with important call centre and agent stats.
Thanks for your time Vikash, and for providing some behind the curtain info on how a good call centre operation is run and we’d like to congratulate you and your staff and wish you all the best for the future!
End of Q&A.
We hope this Q&A gave you some insight into how things work in the background at bookmaker call centres and we’d like to thank Vikash for taking the time to answer all our questions. You can check out our full Marshalls World of Sport here : https://www.bestsportsbetting.co.za/marshalls-world-sport-review/
Gooday I have tried to open an account without success but I think sometime ago I also open an account but had problems to login now I am being told there is an account with my phone number but can’t remember my password when I try to reset pw nothing happens please help then I can play from home is their any what’s up number please thx.
When are u going to upgrade ur bar at Marshall celtis in centurion they forever lasting don’t have stockand don’t have glasses when we speak to the manageress Shirley she says must speak to head office ur service at the bar is pathetic and if that’s the case we will use another tote office