Company: Empire Today, Northlake, IL Company Description: Empire Today is one of North America's largest home improvement and home furnishing companies. In business for over 45 years, Empire Today has grown from a family owned Chicago based business to a company servicing over 40 major metropolitan areas in the US and Canada. Nomination Category: Customer Service Categories Nomination Sub Category: Best Customer Service Organization/Department
Nomination Title: Empire Today - Best Customer Service Organization
- Tell the story about what this nominated organization/department achieved since January 1 2007 (up to 500 words). Focus on specific accomplishments, and relate these accomplishments to past performance or industry norms. Be sure to mention obstacles overcome, innovations or discoveries made, and outcomes:
Empire Today was founded in 1959 as a Chicago-based family owned business. Forty-eight years later, Empire Today has grown to servicing over 50 metropolitan areas in the United States and Canada. In 2007 Empire Today was named among the “Top 200 Brands in the USA” and ranked “#1 Specialty Flooring Retailer in the United States.” Empire Today prides itself on being the only retailer able to offer installation of carpet, flooring, window treatments, ceramic tile and bath liners next day.
With more than one million satisfied customers, Empire Today prides itself on providing world class customer service. In 2007, Empire Today implemented several customer focused initiatives that drove increasing company-wide customer satisfaction to record high levels including:
• Opening a new state-of-the-art contact center, staffed 24 hours a day by well-trained, empowered employees authorized to resolve customer concerns.
• The launch of a new interactive website with the overall result intended to specifically meet the needs of Home Improvement and Home Furnishing customers while retaining a level of simplicity, clarity, and ease- of-navigation that is a priority for web users. The popular www.empiretoday.com URL, allows customers to set their own sales appointments and contact a customer service representative directly from their computer.
• Companywide focus and dedication to improving Empire Today’s Net Promoter Score, an indicator of how likely a customer is to recommend us to their friends and family.
• Distribution of a “Welcome Letter” at the close of each sale detailing what a customer can expect during their installation experience.
• Instituting a post-installation courtesy call policy to ensure that all customers are completely satisfied with their product, installation, and customer service support.
• Establishing a “Thank You” post card program, wherein personalized thanks are sent to every customer. Customer feedback is then utilized to improve Empire’s customer service initiatives and programs for even greater customer satisfaction.
• Nationwide celebration of National Customer Service Week, with a daily focus on how every department plays a role in providing excellent service.
• Site visits to local Empire Today offices by Regional Customer Service Managers trained to implement proactive, award-level customer service standards nationwide.
The results of Empire Today’s efforts were evident in the awards the company received. Empire Today has been awarded six 2007 Angie’s List Super Service Award for our Dallas, Detroit, Orlando, Indianapolis and Los Angeles locations. Angie’s List is a consumer watch organization with over 500,000 members who grade the companies with whom they do business. Companies must meet Angie’s List’s standards and maintain a grade of “A”. Less than five percent of the companies rated on Angie’s List receive this award.
With over one million satisfied customers, Empire Today is recognized as a leader and preferred provider of Home Improvements and Home Furnishings. Empire’s company-wide mission statement “We are passionate about building customers for life!” is focused on the company’s underlying goal to be one of the most admired customer service organizations in the world; in 2007 Empire Today moved closer to that goal.
- List hyperlinks to any online news stories, press releases, or other documents that support the claims made in the section above. IMPORTANT: Begin each link with http://, and enclose each link in square brackets; for example, [http://www.youraddress.com]:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_Today
http://www.floorcoveringweekly.com/ME2/dirmod.asp? sid=&nm=&type=news&mod=News&mid=9A02E3B96F2A415ABC72CB5F516B4C10&tier=3&nid=EBB E00DE182C48B58C8973D73522CB2B
http://www.floorbiz.com/BizNews/NPViewArticle.asp?cmd=view&articleid=2346
http://www.weatherforddemocrat.com/business/local_story_199205349.html
http://www.nbc5.com/video/9211417/index.html
http://www.seenon.com/search/jessica/product/clean-house-empire-today-wood- laminate-flooring
http://www.empiretoday.com/Press-Room.aspx
http://carpetstories.empiretoday.com/
http://flooringstories.empiretoday.com/
- Provide a brief (up to 100 words) biography about the leader(s) of the nominated organization/department:
Bridget Moscatello, Vice President of Customer Care, has spent a career in the service industry. Focusing on driving customer service by leveraging people, processes and technology Moscatello ensures that customers always receive the right associate at the right time. With Empire since 2005, Moscatello brings over 23 years experience in the customer care industry. Her commitment to providing excellent service is evident through her philosophy of treating every customer “like they are our only customer.”
Moscatello has acted as Executive Consultant for and partnered with Fortune 500 CEOs and COOs on redefining organizational customer service models while improving business efficiencies.
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