Public Power - September/October 2007 - (Page 61)

other goals that measure customer satisfaction with regard to our response to outages, or for the most recent contact with the utility or for contact with a specific call center rep,” Ciecior said. This information is tracked and reported three times a year. Managers are ranked and held accountable, and pay rates are based partially on customer service performance reports. The utility constantly measures customer satisfaction, examines the results and reviews the utility’s responses. “We live customer service. When we make decisions, the impact on the customer is the first thing talked about. If a decision must be made that will have a negative impact on how our customers perceive us, a plan is developed to communicate with the customer about that issue. The customer may not like what is being done, but they have at least heard the reasons their utility has made the decision.” Ciecior has a few tips based on the positive experience at OPPD: 1. Measure your customer’s perception of your service and communicate those thoughts to your employees—and not just once or twice. This must become part of your culture. 2. Train and empower employees to provide excellent customer service so they have the skills to answer questions and provide solutions. You also need to teach them how to build relationships with customers. 3. Repeat programs, since there is always turnover in call centers. It is difficult to maintain the same energy level you had when you first initiate a program because new employwww.APPAnet.org ees are constantly added. They need to understand your call center culture and goals and work as a team. 4. Communicate directly with employee. If your call center is a union environment, talking with the leadership of the union is not enough. Communicate directly with each employee. 5. Recognize employees for doing a great job. On-the-spot recognition is critical in a call center where the working environment can be stressful. Complacency is often the biggest enemy of good customer relations. “Winning the J.D. Powers award for six years for customer satisfaction, along with other positive surveys from customers, helps us measure how well we are doing,” he said. “We cannot assume we will always receive high marks. We are always raising the bar internally because we know our customers are constantly increasing their expectations of us.” s SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2007 61 http://www.APPAnet.org

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Public Power - September/October 2007

Contents Washington Focus 10 Questions Public Power (Every) Week Training Tomorrow’s Work Force What’s in Your Wallet? U.S. Lags in Broadband Deployment Now What? For Engineers Safety Community Broadband For Governing Boards Human Resources Hometown Connections Customer Service DEED Index to Advertisers Advertisers by Category Parting Shot

Public Power - September/October 2007

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