Verizon Business

The Experience

Marivel Baylor

University of the Incarnate Word

Abstract

        An employee’s experience is a journey that can be positive or negative.  I have chosen Verizon Business to write about some of the frustrations that are being looked at from an employee point of view.  First of many are that many see Verizon as one company when in actuality they are three. There is Verizon Legacy, Verizon Business and Verizon Wireless. The three are not combined in any way as far as billing or ordering of services.  However, the perception from a customer is that Verizon is one company.  Ordering of services is complex and can take an extended period of time to complete the order. The costs of services are expensive along with an installation time that is or can be lengthy.  Lastly, billing issues may often take a long period of time to be resolved.   I will walk you thru some experiences that are faced and how we can use system thinking to make change.

        Many of these items come in from a phone call to a customer service center.  A customer wants to be able to get what they want when they want it.  Verizon understands that they want to make the customer experience positive so that it will keep them coming back for more services.    It is important to provide ease and flexibility during any interaction, whether it is from sales, service or support.  An employee and customer want to feel that connection that you are making an effort to know who they are and understand their business needs.  It helps to create that personable experience.  If a customer starts to place an order on line, they want to know that they can also call into customer service and get assistance and not feel like they are starting the whole process of ordering all over again.  It seems simple but in many cases it is not.  Simple, Smart, Connected. (Verizon, 2014)  These three words are the building blocks of a new customer service model to help better engage and serve customers.  So you will want to redefine the customer experience by making the internal processes easier for the employees.  This will not only help speed up orders and customer satisfaction but help the internal employee be more self-sufficient and able to get things completed sooner with automation. This allows the employees to deliver services quickly from when a quote is open to contracts and then to billing completed.

        In continuing with customer service, First Call Resolution is a huge factor.  Make the call enjoyable for the customer.  Make it easier for them. And always meet their needs.  To make a call enjoyable for the customer it is important to let the customer know you are smiling by the tone in your voice. Always use their name and make that connection.

        To make it easier for them, customer service is the one with the training and tools to better serve. Use all tools, resources and own knowledge to make it as simple as possible. To always be clear and not to use internal jargon a customer will not understand. Team Learning comes into play within Customer Service, as I feel this is a group that gets the most classroom type training.         To meet their need, it is important to discover what the root of the customer issue is.  Provide the best solution that will resolve their issue. (Verizon, 2014)

        You want to be the reason the customer will stay. Connect by using genuine concern, use empathy and always reinforce we appreciate them and their loyalty to the company.  At the end of any call, did you really resolve the issue? You will want to confirm that the call was usefully and if you were not able to resolve make sure you set customer expectations of a call back or resolution time period.   There is nothing more frustrating then not knowing when your issue will be resolved.          

Now that we have gotten passed the first layer a company’s customer service and an order is truly placed and processed. What was given to the customer as an expectation of when services will be up and running.  A telecommunications company has many obstacles to make sure that what the customer has ordered is actually able to be provided for them. Capacity is a problem. It may be due to lack of information on space, power or support of equipment.  This often effects new customers and requires field visits.   Internally it is an issue a customer will not know at the time of ordering and this requires much time and delay of the order.  The solution is never an easy one and at times can be very extensive and requires site surveys and much more of the customer time.  But from a customer point of view, they can be upset and wonder why this was not foreseen and has only delayed what they need now.  From an employee’s point of view, we see this as an inconvenience and most of the times are out of our hands. But what can be done? There needs to be a better way to track a data base that houses the capacity power that is needed at installation.  This can also track cost for a company to stay ahead of the issue.  If  IT could develop this it could have a major outcome to reduce process and help cut delay in interval times. In a perfect would this could help with collaboration among Sales, Operations and IT.   It has been noted that a company needs to attack, defend, improve and enhance to continue to give the customer an experience that will not be negative as they are new clients to them. (Verizon, 2015)  System Thinking plays a huge part in these factors.  You have many parts of an order that are all behind the scenes and are not to be noticed by a customer.