Whistl magazine Issue 1 / 2024
Light work How Parcelhub is making life easier for Lighting Legends
PLUS… LEAFLETDROP - THE LATEST 100% SATISFACTION FOR POSTHUB
Customer profile – smol
NEW LOOK Leafletdrop launched
Wells Said
Whistl Mail joins Doordrop Media as JICMAIL Platinum Partner
Print-based media is undoubtedly enjoying a resurgence, with the IPA Bellwether Report showing successive increases in direct marketing budgets. Marketers have clearly been re-assessing physical channels, and this re-evaluation, together with the continued need for GDPR compliant data, has led to a surge in demand for door drops. The rise has also been fuelled by research from JICMAIL showing that door drops are amongst the most cost-efficient media channels, delivering a minute of consumer attention for just 7p compared to 19p for digital channels. With this upturn in demand, Whistl Doordrop Media has made it easier to instigate and implement campaigns with a major overhaul of its Leafletdrop platform. Launched in 2018, this self-service leaflet campaign booking tool has been used by over 1000 businesses to print and distribute more than 300 million leaflets. Organistations from pizza parlours to political parties, estate agents to entertainment venues have taken advantage of its sophisticated targeting to reach the right households locally and nationally. “With the latest Leafletdrop, we have made creating, targeting and booking campaigns easier than ever – and also easier than Google and Meta Ads. It’s a brilliant time for the new generation of marketers to give targeted leaflet advertising that delivers a go.” Mark Davies, MD of Whistl Doordrop Media
THE NEW VERSION OF LEAFLETDROP OFFERS A FASTER AND EASIER USER EXPERIENCE , WITH SIMPLER NAVIGATION AND FACELIFTED GRAPHICS. Online, in minutes you can: Design your leaflet Select your geographical area by postcode Target your audience Order the print Book distribution dates
Look hard enough, and there are some spring shoots in the economy that give reason for cautious optimism. Challenges remain though, notably disrupted global supply chains and, closer to home, the stubbornly high cost-of-living. I’ve always believed that one of the best strategies when times are tough is to emphasise what sets your business apart – to communicate what differentiates you from the competition, and most importantly, to walk that talk. Here at Whistl, our differentiator is the strength of our Account Management, reinforced by the personal touch that underpins all our customer relations. But don’t just take my word for it. On pages 4/5 and page 9 of this issue, you can read what two customers have to say. My thanks to them, for their kind words.
In our last issue, we reported that Whistl Doordrop Media had been validated as a JICMAIL Platinum Partner, and we can now reveal that Whistl Mail has achieved the same status. JICMAIL is the industry body that provides the same metrics for mail (addressed and unaddressed) that are available for other advertising channels like radio and television, used by media planners to help plan campaigns. Platinum status is only awarded to businesses who embed JICMAIL’s audience measurement data into mail campaign planning and reporting, with case study evidence that those metrics are systematically used to retain and grow business. “We’re delighted with the Platinum recognition from JICMAIL of our commitment to ensure that the value and effectiveness of advertising mail is understood with customers and within the industry as a whole. JICMAIL has transformed media buyer attitudes towards the advertising medium and continues to highlight its vital role as a marketing channel.” said Andrew Goddard, MD Mail, Whistl.
For further information visit: www.leafletdrop.co.uk
For all our Mail Services visit www.whistl.co.uk/mail
Nick Wells, Executive Chairman
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Whistl Magazine • Issue 1 / 2024
Whistl Magazine • Issue 1 / 2024
CUSTOMER PROFILE
Q I understand you were a smol customer before you joined the company. That says a lot! AE Yes, as a customer I loved how smol as the retailer took control, accurately predicting when I needed supplies and delivering them pitch perfect. And now that’s part of my responsibility as Supply Chain Director. I oversee both the supply side, managing stock levels of raw materials, packaging and finished product, and I also steer operations in our warehousing in Kent. That means making sure our fulfilment activity constantly underpins the level of customer experience that won me over.
Q So what does Whistl do for smol? AE What don’t they do! At ground level, we fill a Whistl truck full of orders every working day – two on a Monday, usually – ready to be sorted and handed over to Royal Mail or Yodel for ‘the final mile’. But over and above that, they make our life simpler with one point of contact, our Whistl Account Manager keeps track of everything and ensures we’re fully-informed, and the whole team is just great to work alongside.
Q ‘Rinse & Return’ is a result of that close collaboration, isn’t it? AE Yes, the bottles we use for fabric conditioner and washing-up liquid
are made from 100% recycled plastic and are fully-recyclable. But they can be cleansed and reused many times over, and that’s the best option. So we set Whistl the task of
devising a way that customers could return empties to us, free of charge and with minimum fuss.
Alice Edwards Supply Chain Director of smol
Whistl came back with an innovative solution super quick, and customer uptake of Rinse & Return is running way ahead of expectations.
smol talk
OUR WHISTL ACCOUNT MANAGER KEEPS TRACK OF EVERYTHING AND ENSURES WE’RE FULLY - INFORMED, AND THE WHOLE TEAM IS JUST GREAT TO WORK ALONGSIDE.
Q Busy, busy, busy. How do you switch off away from smol? AE Running and pub-going. I worked for an independent brewery in Hackney prior to joining smol, and I still love to explore all that scene has to offer.
Laundry capsules through the letterbox? Doing things differently is behind the extraordinary success of smol – the planet-friendly home cleaning brand that powers over 3 million washes a day in the UK. We recently sat down for a chat with Alice Edwards, Supply Chain Director of smol.
Q smol is a remarkable success story. How did it all start? AE With insight and investment from our two founders, formerly colleagues at one of the global household brands – Paula, a chemistry graduate with marketing expertise, and Nick, whose background was in finance. Their insight was that whilst consumers wanted to buy products that would help the planet, two barriers were preventing them: they didn’t think they worked as well, and they didn’t want to pay a higher price. The investment was far more than financial – two years of pushing and prodding R&D formulation chemists, insisting that they try, try and try again until they developed a highly effective and economical formula, above all kind to the environment.
That happened in 2017 and smol launched the following year. All part of the plan was that products – initially laundry capsules and washing-up tablets – would be sold online on a subscription model, in compact eco-packaging delivered direct to the consumer easily, conveniently and at low cost. Q And how’s that plan working out? AE We’re on track, with a team of 113 wonderful people passionate about our range of super-effective, cost-competitive products that use less packaging, less plastic and
Cheers Alice!
fewer chemicals. We’ve recently launched a personal care range including toothpaste in aluminium tubes and an anti-perspirant stick in cardboard.
Find out more about smol at www.smolproducts.com
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Whistl Magazine • Issue 1 / 2024
Whistl Magazine • Issue 1 / 2024
FOCUS ON CROSS-BORDER SOLUTIONS
1 % for Posthub
Posthub is our group company filling the gap in the market for organisations looking for a more personalised service in mail delivery management. The team specialises in postal management of advertising mail and also magazine titles, providing hands-on support for customers across sectors including retail, travel, charity and publishing. Postal delivery management with the personal touch
The Bristol-based team secured a 100% satisfaction rate, with particular praise for the quality of its account management, Every Posthub customer is on first-name terms with their designated account manager, responsible for postal delivery management achieving outstanding performance at best prices. Other points highlighted included prompt resolution of issues, plus the ease of doing business with Posthub. “These results are a tribute to the team”, commented Neil Carter, Sales & Commercial Director of Posthub. “Our niche is to provide personalised service to customers who use the power of post to drive business, and I’m pleased that our customers are pleased”. ‘A passion for post’ best sums up the people at Posthub, and the latest Customer Survey results reflect that commitment and engagement.
Opening up the world for UK online retailers
Neil Carter Sales & Commercial Director, Posthub
‘It’s always Summer somewhere in the world’ is the upbeat mantra of Michael Boulton, MD of Whistl Cross-Border Solutions. And his aim is to help British online retailers beat seasonality and slow-downs, enabling them to grow revenues in new markets and territories by providing access to a broader selection of sustainable parcel-shipping solutions including express and economy options. Through its Cross-Border Solutions division, Whistl is replicating its successful UK delivery management model on a global basis. It has forged ‘final-mile’ partnerships with 14 leading delivery companies in key territories, with five further
partners about to come onstream to provide truly worldwide solutions. It’s reckoned that Ireland, France, Germany, Australia and the USA account for 80% of UK e-commerce international sales, and the Whistl offering is particularly strong in those lucrative markets.
“Communication is very good, you can always contact someone no matter how small the query is. Explanations are thorough and the team are very patient with my lack of understanding.” Buxton Press
“By putting in place robust, reliable, cost-effective solutions with market-leading local delivery partners, we’re taking the complexity out of cross-border transactions” explained Michael Boulton. “We’re unlocking the world for retailers and consumers alike, and plans are in place to further strengthen our international proposition throughout 2024 – watch this space!”
Michael Boulton, MD of Whistl Cross-Border Solutions.
Visit: www.whistl.co.uk/international-parcel-delivery
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Whistl Magazine • Issue 1 // 2024
Whistl Magazine • Winter 2023
FOCUS ON CUSTOMER SERVICE
CASE STUDY
Customer Service leaders front Whistl webinar
Switched-on delivery management The first meeting between Parcelhub and Lighting Legends took place in a garden shed, just weeks after the company was conceived in September 2020. It’s been sweetness and light ever since. A lightbulb moment
As a leading operator of contact centres, Whistl Contact Solutions recently brought together a panel of industry experts to discuss ‘What is the current state of Customer Service in the UK?’ Hosted by James Revell, our Director of Contact Solutions, the webinar highlighted the need for UK businesses to meet heightened expectations from consumers, with improved customer service levels. 1. Leigh Hopwood – CEO of the Call Centre Management Association 2. Ben Booth – CEO of MaxContact 3. Martin Teasdale – Founder of the Get out of Wrap podcast and the Team Leader Community 4. James Revell – Director of Contact Solutions at Whistl
The webinar was informed by findings from the mid-2023 UK Customer Satisfaction Index, produced by the Institute of Customer Service. The key finding was that UK customers, across all industries, are growing less satisfied... 76.6 That’s an eight-year low for the customer satisfaction score – down 1.8 points on July 2022.
as there were simply too many parcels for one or two to process. That prompted the meeting in the shed with Parcelhub. ‘They understood we were tiny and a start-up’, says Adam ‘but they got us. They gave us flexibility and the benefit of not being tied to just one specific carrier, and it was great having just one daily collection by a regular driver who really looked after our parcels’. Just three years on, Parcelhub collects over 700 consignments a week in peak summer season and Lighting Legends turns over more than £2.5 million. Orders over £25 are delivered on a free two-day tracked service, with a flat fee of £2.99 for those under £25. We couldn’t be happier with Parcelhub, they’re specialists who save us so much time .
It’s late summer 2020, mid-pandemic, the nights are drawing in but still warm enough to sit out. Something was bothering Jon Saeed, a landscape gardener from Nottingham. Why do we put up with throwaway outdoor lighting, good for one season of British weather if you’re lucky, then consigned to the bin or skip? There had to be a less wasteful, more sustainable solution. So he drew up a spec for outdoor stringed lighting, took it to manufacturers, and challenged them to meet his quality standards. Result: a range of innovative, energy-efficient, high quality lighting to transform outdoor spaces. That was the beginning of Lighting Legends, set up by Jon and Adam Wilkins, a friend since schooldays bringing relevant experience in the broader property market. The switch to Parcelhub As soon as the website went live, orders started flooding in. So many in fact, that Jon and Adam found themselves driving round numerous newsagents to dispatch deliveries
Complaints are taking longer to resolve – and more remain unresolved.
Each of the 13 industry sectors surveyed has lower customer satisfaction than a year ago. The biggest decline is in the Transport and Utilities sectors.
WATCH THE WEBINAR HERE
For more about Lighting Legends, visit: www.lightinglegends.co.uk
Improvements customers are looking for: Make it easy to contact the right person to help Improved employee behaviours and competence Better website navigation
Answering the DIY SOS for Children in Need Lighting Legends supplied and installed the string lighting and smart socket for the new children’s counselling and therapy space at Treetops Hospice in Derbyshire. Last year’s BBC Children in Need Big Build, the project involved the Lighting Legends volunteer team working tirelessly in pouring rain to complete the task alongside the BBC crew and other local businesses. Needless to say, Jon and Adam were delighted to meet Pudsey!
Source: UKCSI July 2023, The Institute of Customer Service.
Visit: www.whistl.co.uk/contact-centres
For further information, visit: www.parcelhub.co.uk
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Whistl Magazine • Issue 1 / 2024
Whistl Magazine • Issue 1 / 2024
WHISTL NEWS
Whistl-owned product sampling agency Relish has seen a boom in experiential campaigns now that consumers are out-and-about and happy to engage. Experiential marketing revolves around creating real-life events that engage and entertain consumers, with the brand closely aligned to the audience and entertainment – central to the experience. Relish is one of the UK’s leading experiential marketing agencies, running campaigns from strategy through to promotional staffing. Experiential campaigns on the menu at Relish
Double triumph for Doordrop Media Whistl Doordrop Media ended 2023 with a double at the DMA Awards, winning Silver and Bronze in the Unaddressed Print & Door Drops category. Silver went to our campaign with Abel & Cole, the leading organic fruit and veg subscription brand.Our innovative targeting was combined with that of Herdify, who identified hotspot communities where the Abel & Cole brand was being discussed and recommended. These ‘brand communities’ drive response rates typically 120% higher
PARTNERING WITH ANDYSMANCLUB
than non-community areas , and the Abel & Cole doordrop duly exceeded target by 74%.
#ITSOKTOTALK
Visit: www.relishagency.com
ANDYSMANCLUB is a men’s suicide prevention charity, offering 130 support groups across the UK and online. Its aim is to end the stigma surrounding men’s mental health, providing a safe space where they feel comfortable to talk and open up about their experiences. As part of our partnership with the charity, ANDYSMANCLUB is being promoted on our vehicle fleet, reassuring men that IT’S OK TO TALK – a message also
conveyed to employees at our Bolton site (with others to follow), in an ANDYSMANCLUB session. “Male suicide is the biggest killer of men under 50,” commented Andy Underwood, Disability and Mental Health Sponsor at Whistl. “ANDYSMANCLUB is on a mission to help, and as well as raising awareness of their great work amongst our employees, our van and HGV fleet is being kitted out with stickers to spread the word externally.”
Silver Winner 2023
Wrigley’s Extra gum can aid concentration – better than chewing your pen top! Here, the Relish experiential team sets out its stall of engaging games to test shoppers’ powers of concentration.
Targeting also played a major part in our Bronze for Princess Cruises doordrop campaign. The cruise market is more competitive than ever, and pinpointing households with a high propensity of interest was crucial to the success
of the multipage creative doordrop campaign. The award recognised an impressive RoI of £20.10 for every £1 spent, with a noticeable increase in bookings from first-time cruisers.
For more information on ANDYSMANCLUB please visit www.andysmanclub.co.uk
HELPING THE HOMELESS IN NORTHERN IRELAND Congratulations to the Whistl team from Belfast on winning the Cultural Impact Award at the recent National Courier Awards in London. The Award recognises the support Whistl gives to the charity Homeless Connect, which exists to prevent and alleviate homelessness in Northern Ireland. Whistl volunteers dedicate over 250 hours annually to help put together Home Starter Packs, essential in helping those transitioning from homelessness to more settled accommodation.
Bronze Winner 2023
THESE AWARDS SHOWCASE JUST HOW EFFECTIVE DOORDROP CAMPAIGNS CAN BE, WHILST UNDERSCORING THE INNOVATION AND EXPERTISE THAT WHISTL
BRING TO THE CHANNEL Mark Davies, MD of Doordrop Media.
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Whistl Magazine • Issue 1 / 2024
Whistl Magazine • Issue 1 / 2024
Customer service frustration
meets
uncompromising customer care
• Bring empathy to every customer conversation. • Create exceptional customer experience across multiple channels. • Use state-of-the-art technology to increase
To learn more about how we can expertly handle your customer service, contact:
Go to www.page. whistl.co.uk/ experience Call 01628 884 087
customer service with ease. • Choose the most suitable cost-effective solution.
Scan the QR code
Live Chat Management
Social Media Handling
Call Handling Service
Customer Services
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WHISTL MAGAZINE
To find out more about Whistl services and products featured in this issue:
Existing customers contact your account manager New customers call 01628 702 413 email whistl.magazine@whistl.co.uk visit www.whistl.co.uk
We hope you enjoy reading Whistl Magazine. If you have any news or views that you’d like us to feature in future editions, just get in touch! email whistl.magazine@whistl.co.uk write Rina Maisuria, Whistl UK Ltd, Network House, Third Avenue, Marlow, Buckinghamshire, SL7 1EY
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