As of today(6/1) Account Services (aka 'Retention') will once again be a bit harder to get to... if only for a moment. As of 6/1, all the previously known direct toll-free inbound lines to Account Services will be disconnected, and a new number will be issued - however this one (according to the powers that be) won't be published. Now, we all know that it will only be about... oh, maybe 1 day, before someone locates the new toll-free number, and it's made public on the interwebs once again. Agents, however, won't have direct access to the new toll-free number; they will be required to use an internal 'speed dial' like number to complete the transfer or to reach Account Services. But those that know where to look, it will still be readily available internally, just takes a couple minutes of research to find it.
Sounds like no big deal? So what's the point? Why the change? To most customers it won't be a big deal... the goal is to stop the current influx of calls direct to Account Services for issues which *should* be handled by care - in fact, this is done several times a year. The idea is that care could (and should) be handling about 60% of the issues that are going to Account Services. The problem is that calling general care is a bit like a roulette wheel. We all know this, and this small bit of change attempts to put a bit more responsibility back on general care. The truth is, that care is likely to transfer someone to account services at the first chance they get, because they don't want the negative feedback from an upset customer, so they transfer the call. And as long as the compensation/employment system stays like it is in many of our centers (both internal and our outsourced partners) this will never change.
I could talk about this for hours, but I would rather hear your feedback, and respond to that, otherwise this post would be 5 pages long - lol... it's a subject I have strong opinions on.
So I'll ask the question - does this change matter to you? And here's the memo that went out regarding the change to reps:
Effective Date: 6/1/12
- On 6/1, we are changing the backend toll-free number to Account Services.
- We will not publish this number.
- Customers will receive a disconnect message if you attempt to transfer to this number, which will negatively impact the customer experience.
- Specialists should make every attempt to contain and resolve a customer’s call by exhausting all resources such as CST TINC and your internal escalation process.
- If a transfer is required, use your Softphone FCN List (sView)/Speed dial (iCare) to complete the transfer to Account Services.
- TeleWeb Ops: Use soft keys for transfer. OS Chat and Sales Chat, direct to Order Support for transfer to Account Services.
