Leading customer experience company, Webhelp UK, has witnessed a dramatic increase in customer satisfaction less than a year after introducing its pioneering ‘Discovery Labs’ project.

The company, which employs more than 6,000 people across the UK, launched the labs with the concept of using science and experimentation to create thinking space for individuals and teams to develop better business practice.

The facilities are fitted with identical SMART screens, clinical white lab desks and walls as well as whiteboards, lab coats, behaviour beakers and “Periodic Process Tables” to create an authentic and fun lab environment, with team members encouraged to don the white coats and put their ideas to the test.

120 advisors have already taken part in the Discovery Lab sessions devising new systems and practises that have helped to create a predicted annual saving of £600,000.

Results directly attributable to the Discovery Lab process include an increase in ‘first time resolution’ calls, where customers have their problems resolved almost immediately, by 11.8%.

Meanwhile, customer satisfaction has increased by 9% and transferred calls have reduced by 39%. Furthermore, team members working on behalf of a retail client saw a 50% decrease in revenue lost due to returned products.

Webhelp UK Client Director, Anton Manley, said: “Our team conduct experiments in clinical conditions and from this we’re able to create reports to produce recommendations for business consideration. Results are tracked post session to gauge long term impacts on behaviours and key measures, so we know if an initiative is going to work.

“At Webhelp UK we’ve always been an aspirational business. We’re looking to come up with new ideas and add value to the work we do for our clients and their customers. The idea for the Discovery Labs came from a simple belief that to deliver the best customer experience for our company, every member of the team needed to feel inspired and play an important role in shaping the future direction of the company. The aim is to tell our clients something about their business that they don’t already know.

“We’re a customer solutions business. We want to ultimately get real insight into the minds of our customers so that we can deliver them the highest level of service.”