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Return to expert listDerek Bishop
Abeo Consulting
Managing director
91 Claverham Road, Woodleigh, Yatton, BS49 4LE
Contact: Derek Bishop
Company description
Abeo Consulting specialises in improving customer service, increasing retention and cutting costs. The company's impressive client list spans many sectors including financial services, charities, retail, travel, distribution, outsourcers and customer relationship service providers.
About the expert
Derek Bishop has nearly 20 years' experience in customer service management and a proven track record of delivering business results in high volume and complex environments, whilst leading individuals and teams through change, creating performance based cultures.
Formerly a head of customer service at AXA, Derek established his own management consultancy Abeo Consulting in 2005 and has worked with global organisations, assisting them in delivering sustainable improvements in customer service and leveraging greater value from their outsourced partnerships.
Derek is a resident columnist for Customer Strategy and has contributed to Money Market, CustomerFirst, Telegraph Business Club, IoD Hertfordshire, SpringFair, Mortgage Finance Gazette, Catalogue e-business and Start Your Business. He is also a keynote speaker and has been invited to speak at the Growing Your Own Business Exhibition and the CCF Round Table.
Derek can provide expert advice on a range of subjects including topics such as why customer service makes a difference to the bottom line, how to avoid failures in customer service, building new operations to ensure you deliver on your service promises, improving customer service and reducing costs at the same time, how to retain profitable customers, whether outsourcing is the right answer, selecting and managing the right outsource partner, measuring the impact of outsourcing on the customer experience and leveraging value from outsourcing.
Articles by this expert, by highest rating
How customer care can help your business grow
When faced with the challenges of dealing with increased customer demand, many businesses become internally focused as they work out ways of coping, but all too often in these situations, more attention is paid to push through new customer orders, and less attention on the quality or customer experience. It is easy to fall into the trap of your customer experience deteriorating and falling out of line with your brand, proposition and service commitments. This can be a false economy as a poor customer experience can lead to complaints and compensation payments, or worse still for customers to look elsewhere. Even when the pressure is on, maintaining your defined customer experience is critical…
The importance of exceeding customer expectations
Customer service has never been so important, yet many firms seem to have lost sight of their customers' needs, argues customer service consultant Derek Bishop…
Customer service lessons from the high street
It's tougher than ever on the high street. As consumers tighten their belts, they are cutting back on some things and looking for bargains everywhere else. Retailers need to respond to these changing customer needs if they are to survive, says customer service specialist Derek Bishop…
Keep profitable customers coming back for more
Many firms don't know who their most profitable customers are, let alone how to keep them coming back to their business. In difficult times, customer loyalty may be your greatest weapon. Customer service consultant Derek Bishop explains how to get it, keep it and make it work for you…
Customer service dos and don'ts
On many occasions I see management objectives not being aligned to the commitments being made to the customers, which is further exaggerated when it comes to the customer-facing staff. For example, if your customer service proposition is all around quality, ensure quality is the primary objective of the staff not speed of providing the service, as this can drive the wrong behavior - eg provide a quick service, but with mistakes…
Why listening to your customers matters
How often do you take the time to ask your customers what they think about your service? When they ask questions, how much effort do you make to answer them properly? Customer service expert Derek Bishop stresses the importance of listening to your customers…
Don’t make the sale hard
When you have a customer asking to buy from you, particularly when you haven't had to do any (or minimal) sales activity to attract that potential customer, the golden rule is to make it easy for them to complete the purchase. A customer who is ready to buy and needs no advertising or sales effort is surely a prize customer? Unfortunately not, as my recent experience illustrates…
Protect your customers from fraud
Data theft is a big business nowadays and no company is immune. From attacks by hackers attempting to steal customer information to abuse of customer information by staff - there are several key areas of risk you should consider to ensure you protect your customers' details. Derek Bishop, managing director of Abeo Consulting, considers the steps you can take to tighten up your data security…
The dos and don’ts of customer service
DO ensure that management objectives are aligned with service promises to customers…
How to turn good service into more sales
Cross-selling and upselling can make a huge difference to your sales figures. Derek Bishop, managing director of Abeo Consulting, explains how customer service plays an important role in making more sales…
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