Original Publication: Customer Management Insight - November/December 2008
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Few organizations have done more than Salt River Project’s Residential Customer Services center to ensure a stellar customer experience during each contact while fostering positive social change in their metropolitan area. Employees at this home-grown electric utility based in Tempe, Ariz., have become quite accustomed to providing excellent customer service on the phones, and excellent community service off of them.
Such a holistic and humanistic spirit is the reason for SRP’s continued success as a business, says Scott Trout, manager of Residential Customer Services. “After more than a century, the story of SRP remains inextricably linked to the history, progress and prosperity of the neighborhoods and communities we serve. The cornerstone of SRP’s culture of community service is SRP Volunteers, which connects employee interests and talents with specific needs. More than 85% of SRP’s employees participate in community programs. We employ educated, willing and friendly CSRs who possess the knowledge, skills and abilities to provide superior customer service.”
Reinvention Via REPS
With frontline staff doing so much to ensure SRP’s success, it’s no surprise that the company called its new contact center initiative REPS. The clever acronym stands for Rewarding, Easy, Pleasant Solutions, and represents SRPs total commitment to customer needs.
“REPS is a program that ensures that all of our CSRs are providing exceptional customer service on every contact,” explains Trout. “It is this attention to solutions that completes the customer experience. Great customer service is really asking ourselves what else can be done for the customer. It is seeing our customers as human beings, recognizing their right to be treated with respect, and viewing their call as the most important one we have had that day.”
It’s more than just a motto or a mission statement — this acronym has teeth. The REPS initiative entailed revamping the center’s quality assurance program, hiring practices and performance measurement tactics. Today, monitoring is much more than an afterthought and viewed by all as a way to exceed customer expectations; agent recruiting and assessment center around finding candidates who truly embody SRP’s culture of committed service; and traditional metrics like average handle time play second or third fiddle to more customer-centric metrics like first-contact resolution (FCR) and customer satisfaction, both of which are carefully and accurately measured via post-call surveys.
And the results of those surveys aren’t too shabby. SRP consistently achieves an FCR rate of around 90 percent or higher. As for customer satisfaction, 2007 marked the sixth straight year that SRP was recognized as the highest-ranked electric utility company in customer satisfaction in the Western United States. Further, SRP is the only electric utility that has been ranked among the Top 10 utilities in the nation by J.D. Power and Associates all nine years that the study has been conducted.
And in those rare instances when an SRP customer is not satisfied with the service they have received, the negative sentiment generally doesn’t last too long. Whenever a caller’s survey responses indicate dissatisfaction or frustration, the center’s managers are alerted immediately so that they (or a supervisor or lead agent) can take corrective action — usually in the form of an outbound call to the customer. This proactive approach works wonders in terms of recovery, says, Renée Castillo, Residential Call Center co-manager.
“We call them to let them know that we understand that their last interaction with us wasn’t what they expected, and we discuss what we might be able to do to make that better. Often, the customer is just so happy with the recovery process itself; the fact that we took the time to call them back and explained something to them or offered them some different options — that is a very valuable thing to them.”
SRP’s REPS initiative extends to the center’s technology, too; SRP has implemented several new applications, and is forever on the lookout for tools that are easier for both agents and customers to use, and that capture data that helps to create a more personalized customer experience.
In a nutshell, “We simply treat customers better today,” says Trout.
Empowerment, Service Go Beyond The Center’s Walls
SRP agents aren’t treated too badly, either. In addition to getting doted on and formally recognized during their very own Customer Services Week each year, agents are given numerous opportunities to get involved and make a difference — both inside the contact center and out. For instance, they are empowered to serve on one or more of the numerous action committees and task forces at SRP.
“Being involved in other projects as a customer service rep has had a hugely positive impact on my experience here at SRP,” says Derek Brechner, one of the center’s veteran agents. “You get to meet and sit alongside management, and they ask you your opinion about how to make things better. But more importantly, they value what you have to say, and actually implement what you say into the creation of a new program. It really makes you feel important to help make decisions that will best affect our customers as well as SRP.”
In addition to serving on task forces and committees, experienced agents assist with new-hire training as “transition coaches.” These coaches work closely with trainees in a nesting area after the new-hires complete several weeks of classroom training, helping them handle basic customer calls and providing tips and positive feedback. “Having the opportunity to serve as a leader or a supervisor to new-hires makes coming to work that much more enjoyable,” says Brechner.
It figures that being treated so well themselves would inspire agents to do the same with customers and members of the community in need. The aforementioned 85% of SRP employees who participate in community programs volunteer an average of 3.3 hours each week — donating their time to such organizations as Habitat for Humanity, Andre House (which fights homelessness in the greater Phoenix area), and the Arizona Special Olympics, as well as local Adopt-an-Angel and Adopt-a-Family programs.
Such caring and selflessness has earned SRP two awards for excellence in workplace volunteer programs from the prestigious Points of Light Foundation — one in 2000, and the other in 2007 — as well as plenty of recognition locally and regionally for its philanthropic efforts.
“I’ve been [with SRP] for 26 years, and community service has always been a big part of what we do here,” says Mike Udall, Residential Call Center co-manager at SRP. “We see ourselves as not only serving our customers, but our friends and neighbors, as well.”
Salt River Project at a Glance
LOCATION: Tempe, Ariz.
HOURS OF OPERATION: 7am to 7pm Monday-Friday for general calls; 24 x 7 for emergencies
NUMBER OF AGENTS: 192 full-time, 66 part-time
PRODUCTS/SERVICES PROVIDED/SUPPORTED: All customer service, support and billing issues for the utility’s customers
CHANNELS HANDLED: Phone, IVR, email, Web self-service
NOTABLE: Recently implemented a highly customer-centric contact center initiative that has resulted in stellar FCR and customer satisfaction rates. Heavy emphasis on agent empowerment and development has enhanced agent engagement and retention, as has the organization’s strong commitment to volunteering and community improvement.
Greg Levin is Creative Projects Coordinator for ICMI. glevin@icmi.com
