Agfa Consumer Imaging Takes the Lead in Customer Care in the Retail Digital Photofinishing Industry New Customer Care Center provides mass and independent retailers with comprehensive array of sales, technical support, training, and other services RIDGEFIELD PARK, N.J., Sept. 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Bucking the outsourcing trend, Agfa Consumer Imaging, a leader in digital photofinishing products and services for mass, independent and specialty retailers and professional photo labs, today announced the launch of a full-service Customer Care Center providing comprehensive sales, technical support, training, and other services for the company's fast-growing base of customers in the U.S. and Canada. The new Customer Care Center, located in the Minneapolis suburb of Plymouth, Minnesota, provides a convenient, single point of contact for retailers leveraging the Agfa suite of in-store processing products and services to capture a lucrative share of the expanding digital photofinishing market. Implementing state-of-the-art call processing technology, the Customer Care Center responsively serves Agfa's customers in all interactions they have with the company after purchase of their Agfa solutions. Customer Service Representatives (CSRs) quickly and accurately take orders for consumable materials; including film, paper and chemicals, as well as replacement parts, and they knowledgeably arrange credit opportunities with customers. Technical support representatives use remote diagnostics to provide Agfa equipment operators at customer sites with expert guidance in resolving issues and, when necessary, they escalate issues to a field service technician and schedule the service call. The Customer Care Center is also responsible for coordinating equipment installation, preventive maintenance, and conducts equipment operator training. "Customer care is our top priority, and with our new Customer Care Center we are taking this critical initiative to the next level," said Bing Liem, President of Agfa Consumer Imaging North America, and Sr. Vice President, Agfa Corporation. "By enabling us to engage with customers in an ongoing relationship, our new Customer Care Center is at the center of our efforts to achieve customer satisfaction and build loyalty." "We are raising the bar in customer satisfaction by providing an end-to- end, 'one voice' customer interface for order entry, technical hotline support, and a variety of business-critical account maintenance functions," said Joe Borgstrom, Director of Operations, Agfa Consumer Imaging. "The result: a strong boost to our professional, mass and independent retailer customers in their efforts to deliver the highest possible quality with quick turnaround, while keeping overhead low and margins healthy." Borgstrom recently joined Agfa North America from Agfa's Consumer Imaging Global Operations group based in Europe, in order to head up the expanding North American operations. Borgstrom noted that the Customer Care Center is implementing a number of innovative processes and an advanced infrastructure geared to maximize customer satisfaction. These include: * Creation of distinct teams of CSRs and tech support personnel dedicated to serving professional labs, independent and mass retailers. * Implementation of a customized call allocation system that enables customers to remain in contact with the same Agfa representative throughout the process. * Siting of CSRs and tech support under one roof to facilitate close communication between the two groups, making it easy to transfer a customer from one to the other during a call, when appropriate. * Resolution of issues using remote diagnostics, allowing a technical support representative to examine and manipulate a customer's Agfa equipment. * A full complement of Agfa d-labs on site, enabling a tech support representative to follow a customer's description of an issue with an actual machine, and thus to be able to respond more effectively. The Customer Care Center is headed by Jeff Binder, North American Customer Care Manager, who joined Agfa in February. More than 30 of Binder's 35 years of experience in managing customer service and technical support operations in call center environments was gained as manager of customer care for 3M's Imaging Systems Division. "Coming to Agfa represents a tremendous opportunity in creating a comprehensive, top-flight customer care operation," Binder said. "In our new full-service Customer Care Center, Agfa has clearly pulled out the stops in its initiative to stay competitive by putting customers first." "Jeff Binder is an experienced professional with expertise in managing technical as well as customer service organizations," said Borgstrom. "He brings a wealth of knowledge in these areas, and has a solid performance record in managing a large customer care operation providing a multiplicity of services." Retailers applaud Customer Care Center performance The Customer Care Center is already winning kudos from retail customers who are leveraging Agfa offerings to provide the public with exciting new digital services. "The technical support we have received is first-rate," said Gina Dery, president of TNT Color Lab, Inc., Ringwood, N.J. "The Customer Care Center staff is extremely well-versed in the operation of our d-lab.1 equipment, and they are able to walk us through the few issues we've had, enabling us to stay up and running without any serious hitches." Said Gennaro Raimo, President, Bernardsville One-Hour Photo LLC, Millburn, N.J., "Our experience with the Agfa Customer Care Center has been tremendous. We dial one toll-free number for everything -- for tech support, ordering, credit, and contract-related service. We place orders about once a week for our two locations, and it's been very convenient and useful in helping us to keep our business running smoothly." About Agfa The Agfa-Gevaert Group is one of the world's leading imaging companies. Agfa develops, manufactures and markets analog and digital systems, intended for the photography industry, healthcare, micrographics, motion picture and graphics markets. Agfa's headquarters are in Mortsel, Belgium. The company is active in 40 countries and has 120 agents throughout the world. Together they achieved a turnover of 5,100 million Euros in 2003. Product and company information can be found on Agfa's home page on the World Wide Web at: http://www.agfa.com/. DATASOURCE: Agfa Consumer Imaging CONTACT: Wynne Ahern, Communication Strategies, LLC, +1-510-663-3213, ; or Dan Unger, Agfa Consumer Imaging, +1-201-373-4293, Web site: http://www.agfanet.com/

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