KANYON
Company: KANYON, Istanbul, Turkey
Entry Submitted by: Hooper Consulting International
Company Description: Hooper Consulting International is the representative of the Stevie Awards in Turkey.
Nomination Category: Customer Service Awards Department Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Customer Service Department of the Year - Retail
Nomination Title: KANYON
Tell the story about what this nominated department achieved since the beginning of July 2010 (up to 500 words). Focus on specific accomplishments, and relate these accomplishments to past performance or industry norms. Be sure to mention obstacles overcome, innovations or discoveries made, and outcomes:
How did a luxury retail shopping complex in Istanbul achieve excellence during
the ongoing global recession? Kanyon’s Customer Service Department rose to the
fore by surpassing Turkish hospitality standards…and spurred growth in virtually
all areas of the complex.
Luxury is alive and well in Turkey’s financial district, where a lavish retail
complex was born in 2006. Kanyon had its work cut out to satisfy its diverse
customer base of high society shoppers and affluent residents, all with varying
wants and needs. Kanyon’s award-winning canyon shaped design duplicates its name.
Kanyon had an immense challenge during the global economic crisis to preserve…if
not increase…the numbers of quality shoppers when lower cost alternatives were
actively pursuing the same markets.
While Turkish hospitality is legendary, the art and science of customer service
remains at primitive levels. So how did Kanyon’s Turkish management achieve
excellence? They set it up like a relay. A well known concept, relays allow for
individual excellence with a team to win. Bottom line, like its long and winding
corridors, Kanyon’s Customer Service Department geared up to go the extra mile:
a novelty in the Turkish workplace.
Like a relay team, all 350+ employees stepped up to provide excellence in
customer service. Each Monday, all employees – salaried and outsourced alike -
participated in Customer Service Department meetings where Customer Experience
reports were summarized, discussed and actions planned. Here is the kind of
extra service Kanyon’s CS Department was willing to provide in order to stand
out from the rest: • Everyone acted as the eyes and ears of Customer Service,
quietly listening to customer comments – good and bad – about the complex and
its services, and recorded customer comments in writing for daily submission to
management…and • Customer-generated comment forms were gathered daily; in turn,
management combined these sources and created Excel reports by category and
reported back to the entire team each Friday. • Customer complaints were handled
immediately – from repairing a squeaky door within minutes, and reporting it
back to the happily surprised customer who had no idea his comment had been
heard – to raising the level of coat hooks in the bathrooms, upon observing
customer frowns when their coats were dragging on the floor. • Parking garage
staff contacted an auto dealership to help a customer open a jammed coded
cyberlock car door, without being asked. • A diamond engagement ring was located
and returned by a maintenance worker who observed a young boy who found it and
took it home, not realizing its value.
With these kinds of customer interactions, Kanyon’s people were willing to treat
everyone like they would treat their dearest friends. As a result, from mid 2010
to mid 2011, visitor levels increased by 30% and complaints were down by a full
40%. When it comes to success, the people at Kanyon who were willing to go the
extra mile got there much faster during the global recession.
List hyperlinks to any online news stories, press releases, or other documents that support the claims made in the section above. IMPORTANT: Begin each link with http://, and enclose each link in square brackets; for example, [http://www.youraddress.com]:
Provide a brief (up to 100 words) biography about the leader(s) of the nominated customer service organization:
Cem Eric, General Manager
With a university degree in Economics, Cem Erci completed his graduate studies
at Turkey’s Marmara University, in the International Banking and Finance faculty.
Cem’s career began at Pamukbank’s Corporate Finance department in 1990. He moved
on to work for a number of textile group of companies in senior executive roles.
He joined Unitim Group in 2002 to manage and restructure Imteks, the group’s
manufacturing and export company. He advanced to manage the group’s retail
activities in Turkey and later launched retail operations in Russia, CIS and
Romania.
Since 2010, Cem Eric has managed Kanyon.