Agfa Consumer Imaging Takes the Lead in Customer Care in the Retail Digital Photofinishing Industry

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, [phone],

; or Dan Unger, Agfa Consumer Imaging, [phone],

 



Web site:  http://www.agfanet.com/ 

Copyright