Delivering Effective Customer Service Final Report

First Interstate Bank (FIB) is a family-owned and -operated bank that strives to function as a community bank and to be the best service provider. It operates under three primary goals:

As part of this vision, FIB has created policies and procedures to deliver excellent customer service. The benefits they have reaped by pursuing this vision include market share increases, lower turnover, higher profits, and better communities.

Currently, FIB operates 59 branches in Wyoming and Montana, 14 of which are located in Wal-Mart stores. FIB is the largest bank in each of these States. The primary customer is described as middle-class, middle-aged, stable, and a homeowner. FIB also serves a large population of retired professionals. FIB serves an estimated 150,000 customers each month. The bank works with all customers as long as it is in the best interest of the bank and coincides with the customer’s needs.

A customer-focused sales and service culture was initiated 4 years ago, when the current Senior Vice President of Branch Administration was promoted to his position.

According to FIB management, resistance to change and toward a customer-focused culture should be expected. A customer-focused culture can be developed only when it is embraced and supported at the top. When supervisors and managers are sold on customer focus, their attitude, as well as policies and procedures, will flow down to the frontline. At FIB, one-on-one discussions worked well to ascertain and address reasons for hesitation and subsequently to gain buy-in at the executive level. Having secured top-level buy-in, management strives to operate as a team and model customer-oriented behavior. Accountability must be maintained from the top-down.

During the transition to a customer-focused culture, supervisors may feel as if they have lost some control and autonomy. Trust must be built at this level to reduce the fear of hidden agendas. In order to increase supervisor morale, managers and executives spend more time face-to-face with supervisors and line staff and maintain open communication. Upper management travels to the branches and conducts focus groups and conference calls to build the customer culture. With open communication and honesty, trust is built.

Managers are constantly working with their employees and looking for ways to improve services. Under the philosophy that management must "inspect what they expect," managers conduct check-ups with branches by 1) visiting with a checklist (e.g., asking open-ended questions), 2) performing formal audits, 3) conducting loan reviews, and 4) hiring mystery shoppers (an external company is hired to pose as customers and report back on the service received). Using these routine check-ups, managers offer fast and quick decisions concerning improvement and strive to provide feedback to the branches immediately.

FIB is striving to eliminate non-customer service functions from frontline employees’ roles. In so doing, they have centralized check processing and implemented timesaving technology.

FIB endeavors to consistently provide great customer service. Whether a customer calls on the telephone, approaches the teller line, or approaches a loan officer, standards of conduct and greeting have been created to guide the interaction. FIB employees are to properly greet all walk-in customers or customers who call on the telephone. FIB operates zero tolerance for "ducking and hiding" when employees see a customer. FIB believes that it is essential that interaction with customers is positive for continued payments and good customer service relationships. During in-person interactions, FIB staff are directed to smile, stand and greet the customer, shake hands, introduce themselves, learn the customer’s name, initiate non-business conversation, give the customer their full attention, and stand and thank the customer for his or her business upon concluding the interaction. Similarly, telephone calls are answered within three rings, and callers are thanked for contacting FIB. Call takers ascertain and use the customer’s name, strive to minimize holds to no more than 30 seconds, and always thank the customer at the conclusion of the call. Even voice mail greeting protocols follow these principles.

Frontline employees are given clearly defined discretion to satisfy customers. Tellers are provided with a dollar amount for discretionary use. Employees are encouraged to err on the side of a customer. However, if a customer becomes verbally abusive to an employee, this behavior is not tolerated. A senior employee will intervene, and in extreme cases, the customer may be asked to find a new financial institution.

Frontline personnel receive newsletters that inform them of FIB’s operations; the goal is to keep them informed, as well as to generate team spirit.

FIB hires on attitude first. Bank officers feel that with the right attitude, a person can be trained to deliver good banking service. The goal is to hire an individual because of his or her service philosophy and desire to help people, rather than hiring someone who is focused only on salary. FIB’s recruiting strategies sometimes even include soliciting employees from retail services when staff identify someone with a great service attitude.

Prospective managers are required to take personality tests. Internally, managers are mentored via a 2-year training program—even while serving in a frontline position.

FIB maintains a customer focus through continual training. All personnel are taught their roles and responsibilities within a customer-focused culture. During the last 4 years, FIB has spent $1.5 million on external training in customer service. Ongoing training costs approximately $350,000 annually. Cross training is used to provide staff with the "big picture."

Managers are taught how to supervise and mentor staff. For example, a recent coaches’ newsletter article offered tips for encouraging employees to implement skills and attitudes resulting from attending a training session These tips included: 1) allow the employee to implement a new idea or skill that came from the training; 2) ask the employee to present the training information at the next departmental meeting, 3) use informal conversations and praise to reinforce the skill development, and 4) role model the behavior). Frontline personnel are taught to ask open-ended questions to gather the most information from customers. Debt collection personnel are taught communication skills and proper telephone techniques, as well as skills in collecting money. As part of this training, staff are taught to ask questions as early in the delinquency process as possible, because as time passes and the delinquency becomes more serious, customers will no longer be receptive to freely providing information.

FIB incorporates creative training strategies to make learning enjoyable. One example implemented in one branch is the TUFS program (Teaming Up For Success), which utilizes employee teams to make presentations to all branch staff on customer-focused service issues. A recent presentation utilized the Jeopardy theme to create a skill drill competition. Still another team presented a role-play of improper customer service versus FIB customer service.

FIB employees are motivated by understanding their role within the customer-focused culture, through one-on-one coaching, accountability at all levels, performance evaluation and performance-based rewards, and employee and team incentive programs. Additionally, the bank strives to maintain high employee morale and retain employees by offering them flexible time for doctor visits, childcare, etc.

The most successful incentive program thus far has been non-monetary. Employees nominate a coworker who has gone out of his or her way to assist an internal or external customer. The nomination is posted on a banner in the break room. The winner or MVP of the week receives a traveling trophy. The trophy is a football with the executives’ signatures on it.

Another program, the "I" Team incentive program, involves service bucks. Service bucks are obtained by a point value system. The award is given in front of peers. An employee can receive service bucks in one or more of four categories:

Under a different initiative, employees/branches are awarded prizes for doing their best and for increasing deposits and checking accounts. Every employee has an opportunity to gain points and eventually select a prize from a catalog.

Each year, FIB employees are evaluated on their performance. FIB uses pay performance management guidelines. The emphasis of the performance evaluation has been on customer relationships. Performance evaluations incorporate statistical information contained in management reports, customer feedback, and management’s observations. Employees can also be awarded performance-based bonuses, which adhere to a scale so as to eliminate any appearance of favoritism.

FIB is automated—anyone within FIB can view an account. As information is entered, standard abbreviations are utilized so that anyone can understand the status and nuances of any account.

The system that tracks loans and collections automatically queues accounts for a loan officer’s attention, based on a pre-established prioritization protocol. Largest delinquency amounts are the top priority, followed by frequency of broken promises of payment, bounced checks for payment, highest limit past due, and number of days past due. The system is set up to accept notes, so that the substance of a loan officer’s conversation with the customer can be captured for review and follow-up. This system enhances productivity and the employee knowledge base of contracts when interacting with customers. The system is set to inform all employees of the status of each contract.

FIB has a number of automated forms and letters. In the debt collection department, the bank uses an automated system to produce uniform letters. This system includes merged fields that insert the name, address, and account number on the letter. Another bank employee, not the debt collector, stamps, signs, and mails the letter. This system frees up time for the debt collector and provides him/her increased opportunities for customer contact.

The marketing department responds to (and tries to predict) market trends, focusing on the financial needs of FIB. Marketing staff gather information through interviewing, trial and error, and customer surveys. They have found that particular marketing yields particular customers—not all products are needed/wanted by all customers. The marketing department focuses on how to better serve the community. The goal is to maintain customers for the long haul. FIB uses a number of mechanisms to share information about services with customers and prospective customers. Word of mouth has proved most effective. Additional media have included radio, television, trade show booths, Internet, I-Beetles (Volkswagen beetles that advertise FIB’s Internet site), and employees wearing FIB apparel while in the community.

The debt collection department uses a standard set of procedures for working with debtors and delinquent customers. The uniformity of implementation of these procedures is seen as critical to good customer service. By standardizing the process, FIB believes that all customers will be treated equitably. The department is organized so that one person handles all loans purchased in-house. Loans purchased from other lending institutions are handled by personnel with various levels of expertise and experience, depending on the level of complexity or level of delinquency. Early in the collection process, employees and customers are educated about customer responsibilities. Customers must expect that they are obligated to make the required payments. Debt collectors are trained in how to approach customers who are first-time delinquents versus repeat delinquents.

Before interacting with a customer, the loan officer reviews the customer’s history. When a contract is 10–30 days late, the loan officer makes several telephone and mail contacts but retains a degree of flexibility with the customer. At this point, a loan officer may change a payment due date, extend the loan for up to 30 days, or accept partial payment (although this is discouraged) and restructure the loan. When two payments are outstanding and the customer is 30–45 days delinquent, the loan officer becomes sterner when communicating with the customer. Senior debt collectors handle these customers, and customers receive a certified form letter and a follow-up telephone call. At this point, the options are: 1) restructure the account, 2) terminate the credit line, and 3) collect the collateral.

Within debt collection, management utilizes a number of procedures to ensure that all customers are receiving high-quality service and that employees are held accountable for results. Two persons are required to be present when cash is tendered. Loan statistics and management reports are reviewed as a double check on delinquency amounts and numbers of delinquent customers. This information is used to review the seriousness of delinquent loans for each debt collector. If there are any problems within the debt collection department, the Central Collections Manager notifies everyone in the department during the staff meeting. Problems are addressed through training.

FIB recognizes that debt collection can be personally taxing for employees, and therefore, is proactive in preventing employee burnout or turnover in the debt collection department.

The benefit to FIB of providing great customer service is their continued reputation as a customer service-oriented organization. This reputation attracts more customers while retaining old ones, resulting in a larger local base of customers. Additional benefits of great customer service include high employee morale, resulting in a low turnover rate, gains in market share, increasing profits, lower unemployment, and better communities.

The costs of delivering great customer service are difficult to estimate, but they can be attributed to training, salaries of certain people, and incentives. FIB estimates spending over $3 million over the past 4 years to create a customer-focused service culture. There is a high level of commitment to provide good customer service through training.

Ford Motor Credit (FMC) operates as the flagship for Ford Financial by providing financing and leasing for Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury customers. Ford Financial focuses on providing value and service and continually seeks out new ways to increase customer satisfaction. Their first value is "Winning with Our Customers." This value is embraced, communicated, and rewarded.

Ford Financial serves more than 10 million customers in 40 countries. Primary customer interactions are through call centers, operating in Omaha (NE) and Nashville (TN) in the United States and in Ottawa (Ontario) and Edmonton (Alberta) in Canada. These call centers receive an estimated 1.5 million customer calls each month. Their customers want quick service, knowledgeable employees, written confirmation of action taken, and professional and courteous treatment.

FMC stresses the importance of creating a holistic customer service culture by beginning with upper-level management and actualizing this goal among all staff including frontline personnel. The framework for the customer service culture at FMC includes learning what the customers want; implementing steps to provide for those wants for which a business case can be made; equipping frontline employees with training, information, empowerment, and motivation; and monitoring success through customer and employee feedback mechanisms.

When the U.S. call centers were being developed, the director researched other call centers to find a model for their design. In favor of economies of scale (related to technology, resources, and personnel), FMC implemented call center access on a national scale at four sites. Even with this consolidated design, FMC is committed to providing personalized service.

Call center management utilizes customer telephone and mail survey results as well as focus group findings to guide implementation. Once analyzed, this information is provided to the areas within the call center for which it applies. (For example, customer feedback about loan rates goes to employees responsible for making policy decisions about rates. Customer input about experiences and interactions with personnel are provided to staff in training and human resources.)

Call center managers are expected to coach and mentor call takers, based on performance during quality control checks.

FMC management utilizes formal feedback initiatives to ensure that communication between the frontline and management remains open. One of these programs is the Voice of the Customer Committee. On this committee, frontline workers meet with management during a monthly meeting at which staff relay what customers want, based on their interactions with customers that month and over time. Another mechanism, the Ideas Program, offers an opportunity for frontline personnel to submit a proposal to management on how to improve customer service. Employees are rewarded for submitting proposals, and when ideas are implemented, a gift card is provided.

Frontline employees, especially through the Voice of the Customer Committee, have made important contributions to improving customer service at FMC. For example, frontline staff identified necessary changes in the voice menu wording, suggested options that should be added and some to omit from the phone tree menu, and identified customers’ information needs. Frontline personnel are encouraged not only to report to management any processes that are not working, but to offer potential solutions.

The key to hiring someone on the front line, according to FMC management, is to hire staff with a passion for customer service.

Training for FMC staff includes training on teams, as well as learning how to give and receive feedback, how to be a good team member, and how to improve telephone communication skills.

One important motivator for employees is the policy within the company that includes customer satisfaction as a determining factor in employee compensation. Quarterly, customer telephone survey results are tabulated, and employees receive bonuses that are tied directly to their scores. Also, prizes are offered for customer letters or phone calls of praise. Lunches are offered to teams who perform well in customer service.

In an effort to make the payment process as convenient as possible for customers, FMC piloted a phone pay system through Western Union. Currently, this program produces 350,000 transactions each month. Other pay options include direct electronic payments from a bank account or payroll deduction and Internet-based payment processing. Twenty-two percent of FMC payments are processed electronically. At the time of this report, they are also considering whether to permit credit card payments.

During a month when the customer simply cannot pay, FMC works with customers who struggle to make full and timely payments. For example, a customer may be permitted to skip a payment and add that payment to the end of the loan. Another option is reducing the amount of the monthly payment and extending the length of the loan. Accountability is enforced through late payment charges and reports made to the credit bureau.

Customer service is key to the day-to-day operation of Cherner Automotive Group (Cherner). This sentiment is echoed from the frontline employee to the upper-level executive. The Cherner philosophy of customer service delivery is customer satisfaction through continued friendly communication and interaction, coupled with accessibility and responsiveness. Cherner’s approach is very individualized, and they believe that customer service is relative to the customer being served. In no case did a Cherner employee claim to be in the business of selling vehicles; rather, employees view themselves as "in the people business." Building customer relationships is underscored. Cherner employees realize that exemplary customer service brings in new customers, as well as repeat customers. This is accomplished by reputation or referral.

Cherner operates two dealerships, both of which are located in the Northern Virginia technology corridor. Cherner has a wide customer base that includes retired persons, business professionals, members of Congress, and community residents. Many Cherner customers are repeat customers or referrals.

Cherner is a family-owned and -operated business. The corporate culture embraces change; strives to learn what customers want and gives it to them; and seeks both customer and employee loyalty. Cherner considers customers’ first impressions to be important and strives to create a warm and inviting environment. Cherner employees attempt to make customers feel welcome and to provide individualized attention. The only "formal" policies for making this occur include the "10-foot rule," whereby employees who are in the area should acknowledge customers within this range and ask to be of assistance, and a policy that all customers who enter the dealership are acknowledged within 30 seconds. Cherner employees understand the value of smiling and being pleasant to all customers.

According to Cherner staff at all levels of the company, customers deserve responsiveness. The ability to individualize service is, in their opinion, what sets them apart in customer service delivery. There are no written guidelines, but employees have a degree of autonomy in making decisions. For example, the service advisor has the latitude to refund money or to adjust a charge ticket. The core ideology is that each employee is encouraged to do whatever it takes within reason—based on the situation—to serve a customer immediately. Employees are discouraged from having a "this is my job or that is not my job" attitude. Rather, all employees work for the same company and every employee is responsible for serving customers and making them happy.

Integral to Cherner’s customer service delivery is the need to understand customer expectations. Cherner listens to their customers and provides convenient forums for customer feedback. The most widely used method is their customer satisfaction survey. Each customer who purchases an automobile receives a questionnaire from Ford Motor Company. The results are shared with the dealer. Also, Cherner hires an outside company to phone a sample of their service customers to collect data on customer satisfaction. These findings are presented in the monthly report "Viewpoint." The service area also has a customer feedback/suggestion box, posted beside the cash register.

Staff at all levels of the organization articulated their customer service orientation as:

Cherner’s owners and managers set the tone for the company. Managers are expected to "lead by example." The general manager adheres to a policy of "Management by Walking Around." In other words, he and other managers try to stay connected with employees throughout the organization by working side-by-side with them. Senior-level executives have an open-door policy and solicit employee input during staff meetings. Calls are not screened, so customers also can contact managers directly.

Managers attempt to empower employees by providing a supportive environment in which employees are encouraged to make decisions. Managers are expected to coach frontline staff. During interviews, frontline personnel indicated that if a frontline employee were experiencing difficulties, managers would speak with that individual and coach him/her. However, frontline staff felt that improvement would be expected and that the employee would be held accountable for improving, or the employee would be terminated. As an employee’s experience increases, so does the amount of discretion allotted to the employee.

Cherner frontline personnel perceive that they are supported by management in that whatever they feel they cannot handle can be turned over to management, with frontline staff confident that the situation will be addressed. Management also listens and responds to the needs of the employees. This is handled in different ways. For example, when employees in service determine that they need some training or equipment to do the job better, they can write the request on a white board designed for this purpose, and a member of management will address the request (and keep the notation on the board until the request is resolved). The white board is also an information-sharing tool for frontline employees. Employee meetings are an another forum for raising and addressing issues.

Most of the dealership’s employees have longevity with the company. During each discussion with Cherner employees, regardless of organizational level, the interviewee acknowledged that to deliver great customer service, a company must hire and retain the right people. Managers added that "the right person" is one who can get along with others, possesses good judgment, can work on a team, is motivated, and possesses the desire to grow and learn. Cherner wants to hire sales personnel who are motivated not by money, but rather by the desire to help people.

Cherner offers multifaceted, ongoing training for employees. In order to continually provide effective customer service, employees are trained both in-house and by the manufacturers. Ford Star Satellite training, Ford’s training facility in Centreville (VA) and printed training materials from KIA and ISUZU are designed to keep employees current on various features and aspects of the products being sold and serviced. Other training offered is designed to enhance selling techniques and customer service and to update technicians on vehicle and repair technology. In the past, employees received gender sensitivity training that was offered to improve customer service for female customers.

Among the most creative training strategies is Cherner’s frontline mentoring system, whereby a senior salesperson mentors a new salesperson for 90 days. The senior salesperson is responsible for teaching sales basics, orienting the new employee to Cherner culture and attitude, describing Cherner products, and detailing processes. One frontline employee stated that this type of mentoring is a key component to great customer service that is transferable to other organizations.

At all levels of the organization, employees reported being very self-motivated—driven by personal pride and the desire to do a great job. This may be a result of Cherner’s hiring policies as well as employees’ positive perceptions of their work environment. Most of those that were interviewed commented that separate and distinct from the actual family ownership of the dealership, the working environment feels like a family environment. Employees know and talk with one another, even across departments; employees support one another; employee picnics and gatherings allow families to get to know each other; and employees simply "get along." This family environment proves to be a strong motivator for Cherner employees at all levels.

Another motivator that was mentioned comes directly from individual customers. Employees reported receiving Christmas cards, gifts, notes, and personal appreciation and friendship from satisfied customers.

Cherner, as well as the vehicle manufacturers, offers incentives to foster and sustain employee motivation. Cherner sponsors contests, and the winners are given free tickets to sporting events or dinner coupons, monetary awards, and other "per’s" (e.g., use of a vehicle, recognition, etc.) Rewards are also offered based on customer survey scores, reported by Ford. At times, there are luncheons or dinners.

Rather than a point-in-time formalized evaluation process, employees are continuously recognized for good service. Similarly, management addresses negative behavior as it is observed or identified via customer surveys or complaints and seeks to correct this behavior through mentoring and coaching.

Technology is a resource primarily used for training and in the service area. Service employees are linked to each of the manufacturer’s databases and have access to sophisticated on-line reference manuals. They are connected to nationwide databases that have background information on the history of the car, as well as customer history. This allows for a more detailed, efficient, and expedient service call and better customer service.

Ford Star is a satellite training initiative that allows employees to remain at the dealership while receiving training. Employees can even take the required tests and receive their scores via the Internet. This lends convenience for employees being trained.

The attitude of customer responsiveness holds true for complaints. Employees echoed the same sentiment: "If you receive it, handle it. If you can’t handle it, find someone who can until the problem is solved." Employees explained that complaints are an information resource for them, and that they utilize the information to improve services.

Cherner boasts a low turnover rate, estimated at approximately 10 percent. In fact, an average employee will remain with Cherner for 10 years. The General Manager has been with Cherner for 29 years. This low turnover is attributed to the family-oriented atmosphere, competitive wages, and knowledge that the jobs at Cherner are secure (as Cherner does not have a history of layoffs).

One challenge to this positive environment has been a recent decision to respond to customer and manufacturer desires to operate on Saturdays. As such, employees who used to be off each weekend now find themselves working on some Saturdays. In an effort to reduce employee burnout or turnover that such a change may produce, Cherner offers special incentives to these employees. For example, an employee who works on Saturday may choose to take the following Monday off (service advisors can take Friday) or to be paid for an extra day of work at overtime rates. Management also provides lunch for employees who work on Saturday.

Cherner focuses on outcomes rather than the process. Cherner offers its vehicle repair customers a shuttle back to work, within a reasonable distance, or to the transit station. However, Cherner recognizes that because of local traffic conditions, offering this service during evening rush hour is counterproductive. Therefore, customers are reimbursed for cab fare back to Cherner when traveling from the transit station to Cherner to pick up a vehicle during evening rush hour. While Cherner could have told customers that the shuttle does not run during rush hour and that transportation would have to be arranged on their own or during non-rush hours, Cherner went the extra mile with customers and found a mutually beneficial way of providing this service.

Cherner aims to exceed customer expectations. When customers have their vehicles at Cherner to be serviced, they are provided with complementary car washes.

Cherner proclaims that the benefits of customer service delivery are happier customers, high employee morale, employee and customer loyalty, free advertising (word of mouth), and sales generation. "If you do it right the first time, you won’t have to do it again." This is the premise from which they operate. Satisfaction the first time results in not having to spend more labor hours rectifying a situation. This, in turn, makes daily business operations more fluid and service more efficient. Satisfaction the first time also enhances the dealership’s community reputation as that of a professional, people-oriented business. This business stance generates a larger customer base. High employee morale is also a benefit of good customer service. Employees take pride in their work.

The costs to Cherner for delivering great customer service include employee incentive costs, salaries, and bonuses; training costs; car wash expenses; shuttle service expenses; and write-off costs for services performed but not charged to the customer.

As part of its external customer service strategy, the Child Support Division in Texas has developed a program called Compact with Texans, which outlines the vision, guiding principles, and goals of the division and explains how external customers can continue to provide feedback on child support. The guiding principles are:

These principles are designed as the framework for action at the agency and individual levels when serving both internal and external customers. Everyone in the division is provided with a copy of these principles to hang on their office walls, and these principles are also posted in conference rooms and hallways throughout the office. To advance these principles, the customer service action plan addresses:

The Child Support Division of the Texas OAG works with mothers, fathers, and legal guardians of children to locate absent parents; establish paternity; establish, enforce, and adjust child and medical support orders; and collect and distribute the money associated with these orders. They have over 1 million active cases.

In 1997, the Texas legislature mandated the Sunset Advisory Commission to review the OAG Child Support Division to determine whether the OAG should continue to administer the State’s child support program. Legislators were receiving too many complaints about the Division from constituents. The Sunset Commission conducted its review in 1998 and recommended that the OAG continue to administer the program for a 2-year probationary period. The Commission made a number of recommendations for improving the program. The highest priority was improving customer service and, in particular, accessibility. Too often, customers needing information about their cases could not get through to staff for information. Of the 1.5 million calls a month that child support received, only 14 percent of those who wished to speak with staff could do so. Thousands of calls each day were abandoned. A customer service survey revealed that 48 percent of customers were dissatisfied.

Shortly after the Commission issued its report, a new Attorney General took office. He hired a new Deputy Assistant Attorney General for child support, and they both made customer service a top priority, with answering the phones as the number one objective. A full-time staff person was hired to develop the customer service strategy and action plan. The process included focus groups with internal and external customers, a customer satisfaction survey, and an employee satisfaction survey, as well as and soliciting input from various special interest groups. Customers said that they were most concerned with obtaining timely and accurate information, preserving their personal dignity, and being respected. Employees wanted empowerment and discretion.

To make the plan "stick," the administration realized that they needed to communicate, improve staff development, measure performance, and increase employee accountability and recognition. Quarterly, the regions report on their progress through action plans. In the quarter from March through May 2001, regional progress reports revealed that regions:

Overall, after the first year of implementation, a general customer satisfaction survey revealed a statewide increase in customer satisfaction to 63 percent (up from 52 percent in 1999). Furthermore, in Spring 2001, a survey of custodial parents who had recently had an establishment performed reported an 82 percent satisfaction rate. Intuitively, management claims that staff stress levels are down and that morale and job satisfaction are on the rise.

Efforts to improve customer service are continuing through the undertaking of the "e-degree" project (in which employees use educational leave and agency computers to take up to 3 hours of online college-level courses per semester) and the WorkSMART model office-reengineering project. The WorkSMART project is in the planning stages. WorkSMART embodies an ideal for service in which customers gain empowerment over their cases through increased access to online information online. Customers will be able to electronically enter their case into the child support system via a streamlined application process, use a graphical roadmap to know the status of their case, and review frequently asked questions and answers while experiencing shorter processing times.

Much of the detailed development of these action plans has been pushed down to the regional level (e.g., training strategies, measurement strategies, reward systems, and customer input mechanisms). Texas is working on maintaining consistency in these procedures while allowing each region some discretion. This strategy was designed to increase buy-in and ownership at the regional level. As a result of this autonomy, different offices may vary in their customer service strategies and levels of success. While executive management has found this autonomic setup effective, the downside is that its varied measurement strategies do not lend themselves to easy statewide assessment.

At the beginning of the customer service implementation, the Director closed the central call center and created regional call centers. At the regional level, managers focus on getting the phones answered and supporting employees—through training and cross-training, by clearly outlining expectations, through consistent management, by serving as role models, by rewarding good work and good customer service, and by encouraging open communication. A regional call center manager stressed the importance of his own attitude (attitude filters from the top down, according to this manager) as a means of setting the tone of the office and keeping employees productive and willing to provide the best services possible. In support of this belief, every day he walks around the office and greets each employee, offers assistance, provides answers to questions, and maintains an open-door policy. He emphasizes results and delivering a consistent message. As long as the center’s goals are being met, he offers flexibility (e.g., in scheduling lunch breaks and requests for time off). He has instituted strategies to cope with the unit when it is not fully staffed, by flexing lunch schedules and by having management serve as backup. He tries to handle most problems by talking with all of the staff instead of isolating an individual. However, individual accountability does play an important part in the management strategy. This particular call center succeeds both in meeting its telephone answering goals (staff and managers answer 96 percent of all incoming calls) and in maintaining low employee turnover (approximately 22 percent in the region, but of those who have left, every person still works within the Texas Child Support Division via transfer or promotion).

Call center management has trained employees that their role is to accurately handle as many incoming phone calls as possible. The purpose is to free up time child support officers (CSOs) to be able to process cases. Brief interviews with frontline call center staff suggested that call center employees and managers share a rapport and can rely on one another for help or answers to questions. Two people said that the best part of their job is the feeling of helping someone. Another person took pride in thoroughly addressing all of the callers’ issues so as to deflect calls for CSOs. One call taker even assigns "ticklers" on his calendar so that he knows to check the system to make certain that appropriate action has been taken on a call he has received.

Call takers reported some challenges, including balancing the target talk time (about 4 minutes) with providing thorough information to the caller, dealing with callers who are not truthful, and handling concerns that caseworkers may not be able to perform requested follow-up. However, the call center statistics show that 95 percent of calls are answered, the average wait time since inception of the regional call centers is approximately 30 seconds, and that call takers spend an average of 3 minutes of talk time per call.

Management places the same emphasis on hiring call center staff as they do in hiring CSOs. Call center staff are paid at the CSO level. Some call center staff were hired from field offices, as well as from county child support offices, and others were hired with customer service backgrounds but with no child support experience. Management for the six call centers includes personnel from the central office, some of whom had worked in field offices and others from general hiring pools.

All child support staff receive 2 days of basic training in customer service, even those personnel serving internal customers only. New staff also receive this training. During this training, instructors stress that the Division’s guiding principles apply to both internal and external customer service. Managers receive advanced customer service training on how to support staff to deliver great customer service. Training is offered regionally, and therefore staff from all levels train together. In addition to customer service training, staff are trained in how to deal with hostile customers. The next initiative is to design and implement a follow-up course in customer service.

Motivation is addressed on a number of levels:

According to Texas Child Support Division executives, one of the keys to the improvement of customer service in Texas child support is technology. In particular, six regional call centers were established and were equipped with technology and systems to improve efficiency, information availability, and information exchange. The call centers handle approximately 25 percent of all customer service contacts.

First, a model— the Erlang C Formula—was used to understand the relationship between the amount of incoming calls, time taken to handle those calls, wait time for callers, and number of call center staff. With this formula, executive personnel determined the number of staff needed given call volume, target maximum wait times, and handling times for calls. Initially, the number of required staff calculated by this method was higher than that of actual staff available for the effort. As a result, Texas had to address another factor in the formula—handle time. Efficiencies in call handling have been gained through a number of innovations:

The database of cases (TXCSES) includes a diary function that permits staff members, whether in a call center or field office, to make a notation on the case so that anyone who opens the case will be current on action taken or contact made on the case. It also allows staff to e-mail one another directly. Another useful feature allows call center staff to mark the correspondence or case so that the call taker receives a reminder notice to perform follow-up.

Still other call center technology allows call center staff to be acutely aware of the number of calls coming in and the length of wait time. First, a digital light board posted in the office provides this real-time information. Additionally, a computer tracking system provides aggregate statistics on the calls and is located in the break room.

Intellicenter software is used by call center managers to provide quality control by periodically screening calls and coaching staff, as appropriate.

At the call center, everyone agreed that technology has made their jobs easier.

Another technological improvement for customer service has been the interactive Web site (www.oag.state.tx.us/). On the site, customers can provide information, obtain payment information, and make complaints. Customers are using the site for all of these things. The Web site was designed to reduce the number of phone calls, while increasing information access for customers. Web site use has been increasing since inception. In August 2001, there were 196,403 transactions from individuals who had entered their pin number and were actually accessing case information. On average, the site receives 3,967 hits daily. Ten percent of all customer service contacts are over the Web site. The Web site won an award from Computer World Magazine.

An intranet Web site provides internal customer service information for staff.

Texas also utilizes an automated telephone system that addresses 65 percent of all customer service contacts.

Marketing the new regional telephone numbers to child support customers is critical to the success of the call centers. The information campaign has included public service announcements; news service announcements; fliers inserted into the mail for paying cases; coordination with courts, probation, volunteer coordinators, child support field offices, and special investigators to distribute the new regional numbers; providing the number to arrestees during a large "round up" operation; and by word of mouth.

One of Texas’s principle debt collection tools is the Special Collections Unit (SCU). The SCU works with both financial institutions and non-custodial parents (NCPs) to collect past-due child support from the financial accounts of the NCPs. Prior to taking legal action, an SCU employee contacts the financial institution’s legal staff to develop a rapport on a staff-to-staff level. During the initial conversation, the SCU employee explains the lien/levy process used by child support and provides a telephone number for use in the event of questions or problems during future transactions. SCU staff also work with the NCPs, listen to concerns, and explain applicable laws supporting the collections efforts. At this time, SCU staff also explain to NCPs the financial and moral advantages of paying child support debt in full. Many times the NCP will not have calculated the impact of the compounding interest rates on his/her debt or the problems associated with being reported to the various credit bureaus. Throughout the process, SCU closely monitors the liens/levies. If an error is made by the SCU or financial institution during the lien/levy process, staff of the SCU act promptly to release the lien/levy and explain the error to the NCP. Staff of the SCU have received numerous comments from NCPs praising their professionalism and personal concern, even after the NCPs have paid substantial sums toward their child support debts.

The costs easily identified with the shift toward customer service have been training costs, the expense of 210 new call center staff salaries, and the performance incentives (e.g., merit increases, promotions, donated food, gift certificates, tickets, and special events). Conversely, however, collections have increased, and paternity establishment has improved. Nontangible benefits have included improved employee morale, decreased legislative inquiries, and improvements in customer satisfaction ratings. Since the effort began, a survey^[3] of custodial parents has shown considerable increases in:

Texas is continuing to explore opportunities for quantifying the benefits of improved customer service.

In child support, agencies cannot select to whom services will be provided. To complicate matters, custodial parents and NCPs may seem to have competing or at least different needs. This same phenomenon is experienced by Home Depot, which serves contractors as well as "do it yourselfers." In Home Depot’s case, the company has been able to cope because it found that contractors and "do it yourselfers" require services and materials at different times of the day and so the stores tailor staffing and store hours to be able to provide good service to both.

For child support, one option may be to direct most efforts or the most-appropriate efforts toward the best return. If most customers are parties to complying cases, instituting low-cost efforts to reward or reinforce this behavior in an effort to maintain it (e.g., certificates to fathers who have not missed a payment over a 1-year period; instituting a policy of thanking the custodial parent when that parent calls and has made the payment for that month, or sending confirmations of payments received with a statement about the significance of that parent as a responsible parent) is appropriate and could be cost-effective.

Similarly, a fairly low-cost response for educating uninformed parents (e.g., explaining the process upon entry into the system, via a video, a class, or written materials) may be cost-effective as well. However, the agency could take a banking approach toward those customers who become delinquent (those unable, reluctant, or evasive). First Interstate Bank stresses the importance of early identification of those customers who have missed payments and of prioritizing among these customers in an effort to organize the workload. Speaking with customers who have missed payments by up to 15 days accomplishes a number of things; the customer is more open to providing information and may have more options available. The philosophy behind this process is that working with someone soon after the missed payment is likely to be less costly than allowing the debt to build before making contact. Prioritizing customers by the amount of the payment missed or number of children to whom the payment is applied or any other possible mechanisms will allow those frontline personnel who make contact with parents to begin gaining control over the workload and will help to reduce the "squeaky wheel phenomenon." A different tone and set of possibilities are extended to customers who are 30–45 days late because there is a point of diminishing returns. Collecting payment from customers who have missed two payments is probably going to require more effort on the part of child support, so the best offense is to try to prevent two payments from being missed.