“Zendesk is a true partner in that we have a very collaborative relationship. Together we come up with new features and ways of doing things to ensure we are constantly improving the CX. From being reactive to customers in the past, we are now proactive.”
Viktor Svennberg
Customer Success Lead at Dustin
“Ultimately, we are inspired by all the endless possibilities that we see in Zendesk and how we can use these to keep improving what we offer our customers.”
Sabina Wallenborg
Group Head of Customer Service at Dustin
Years of Zendesk experience
3+
Zendesk users:
500
35%
Increased ticket efficiency
5%
Reduction in wait time
41%
Improvement in cost per ticket
IT company Dustin
Dustin finds a proactive approach to customer service with Zendesk
The 1980s were a big decade for the IT industry as it saw the birth and proliferation of the first personal computers. Realising that this industry was on a serious upward trajectory, two Stockholm-based entrepreneurs, Bo and Ulla Lundevall, set up IT company Dustin in 1984 to sell computer accessories via mail order.
From these pioneering days, when its best-selling product was the multi-coloured floppy disk, Dustin has not only grown its product portfolio but over the years has also expanded out of Sweden into the rest of the Nordic region as well as Benelux.
One of the company’s core values is to constantly improve. As its business is defined by changing customer needs and behaviours, adapting to these needs and improving the customer experience is a key focus for Dustin.
“Customer experience is at the top of every business strategy we have. We have evolved into becoming a customer-centric business,” says Sabina Wallenborg, Group Head of Customer Service.
Zendesk has played a vital role in this transition with Dustin now relying on Zendesk Support, Guide, Explore as well as many API customisations.
Embarking on a CX journey with Zendesk
While customer experience is now a top priority for Dustin, it hasn’t always been. As Wallenborg says, “While CX is core for us now, several years ago it was not to the same extent.”
If customers wanted to get in touch they could do so either by phone or email with all customer communication handled via the contact centre. “This wasn’t a straightforward journey for the customer. With lists on our website of phone numbers and email addresses, it often took quite some effort for the customer to reach the right department. There was no unified way of contacting Dustin,” says Viktor Svennberg, Customer Success Lead.
In 2020 Dustin started looking for a CX solution that could provide an omnichannel approach with all interactions unified in a single customer view.
“For us, the ticketing system is key as many of our customers contact us through email. As there aren't any competitors that can do ticketing better than Zendesk we decided to build Zendesk into the omnichannel system we already had to give us a customised solution,” says Wallenborg.
A partner to grow with
But more than just a software solution, Dustin wanted a partner it could grow and evolve with. As Svennberg says, “Zendesk is a true partner in that we have a very collaborative relationship. Together we come up with new features and ways of doing things to ensure we are constantly improving the CX. From being reactive to customers in the past, we are now proactive.”
Following the implementation of Zendesk, over 500 users in Dustin now use the tool. These include everyone involved in the handling of emails from the front-line support teams to finance and back-office teams. While the ticketing system is key, Dustin is also able to create many integrations with Zendesk including API customisations.
“As we now have a 360-degree view of our customers, which is connected through APIs to our other systems, our agents can use this customer data to really be proactive and improve the CX. We’ve even set up a Customer Experience Innovation team within operations to be close to our customers to help us to keep driving improvements,” says Joakim Påhlman, Product Owner, Customer Experience Innovation.
Even though Dustin prides itself on being customer-centric, another key to excelling at CX is also focusing on the agent delivering that service. Rather than switching between different systems, agents now have a single system providing a complete overview of the customer.
“Before it took time to work in the different systems, but now our agents can use that time instead to really focus on being present with the customer. At Dustin, we say that if we have happy employees we will have happy customers,” says Wallenborg.
Increased efficiency reaps results
To ensure its customers are indeed happy, Dustin measures success using various metrics. Whereas before response times and ticket handling times were key measurements, today the KPIs are tracked according to how efficiently customers have their queries resolved. As Wallenborg says, the focus with Zendesk is more on the quality of the response rather than just the quantity and speed of the response.
“With our KPI reports, we focus on requests in real-time and how long it takes to solve a ticket, for example. Since using Zendesk, we have achieved a 5% reduction in wait time. Other key measures include a 41% improvement in cost per ticket and a 35% increase in ticket efficiency. These are all very positive results,” she adds.
The next step is AI
Dustin has big plans for the future when it comes to improving CX. For one, it is keen to embrace Artificial Intelligence (AI) through utilising Zendesk’s Generative AI (GenAI) capabilities.
“GenAI offers us so many exciting possibilities; both in how our agents use it internally as well as how the technology can provide a smoother and more straightforward journey for our customers,” says Wallenborg.
“We really want to be at the forefront, and make use of the opportunities AI gives. We see the potential of the technology and together with Zendesk we are learning how we can use it to give our customers an even better experience,” she adds.
Dustin is also taking steps to expand the use of Zendesk Guide and Knowledge Base as well as using Zendesk beyond just as a communication tool with customers.
“We have big plans to use Zendesk more as an administrative tool where it will be the main system of work that integrates all the other systems in one interface. As Dustin has grown and acquired different businesses we, as a result, have a variety of systems. We are embarking on a project to harmonise everything in one system and Zendesk is key to that,” says Svennberg.
As Wallenborg adds, “Ultimately, we are inspired by all the endless possibilities that we see in Zendesk and how we can use these to keep improving what we offer our customers.”
