Company: Capital One ShareBuilder
Company Description: More than a decade has passed since ShareBuilder entered the fray of online brokerages, and our core values continue to separate us from the pack. We believe the world of investing is not just reserved for savvy, Wall Street investors – which is why we’re devoted to helping everyday Americans achieve their financial goals.
Nomination Category: Customer Service Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Customer Service Executive of the Year

Nomination Title: Bob Weintraub, Head of Customer Service

Tell the story about what this nominee achieved since January 1 2013 (up to 525 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:

While most companies view Customer Service as a necessary cost of doing business, Bob Weintraub makes providing an excellent Customer Experience a priority and leads his team to do the same. As Head of Customer Service for Capital One ShareBuilder, he challenges his team to not only address a Customer’s initial question, but to make a real difference by going above-and-beyond—identifying unstated needs and probing for questions the Customer never realized they had. Bob takes that philosophy a step further and challenges his leaders (Coaches as we call them) to look for new ways to better assist our Customers and engage our Associates.

Some big wins in 2013:

• Assisted IRA rollovers in a pilot program with a success rate 3 times higher than the business as usual process
• Created a new role that increased availability of securities licensed Associates by 70%
• Introduced a rotation program to increase engagement and provide additional resources to other teams
• Expanded Live Chat which reduced more costly channels by up to 40%

To expand on the last two wins, when the Customer Service team came out of their busy (tax) season with the service level goal in check, Bob viewed this as an opportunity to build Associate engagement and support other departments impacted by a short-term hiring freeze. In the summer of 2013, he created the Customer Service Rotation Program where Associates were given the opportunity to apply for rotations across all areas of the company – including website QA, Brokerage Operations, Product Development, Marketing, and Retirement Strategy. It was a huge win for both the Customer Service department and for the entire company. Many Associates (20% of the team) got unprecedented exposure to the inner workings of ShareBuilder while the other departments benefited from additional resources infused with the invaluable voice of the Customer.

Bob was also the driving force behind our Live Chat expansion. Live Chat carries a lower cost per contact since Associates can handle multiple Customers simultaneously. It’s 44% less expensive than a phone call and 14% less than an email. This led to one of the biggest wins for the Customer Service team in 2013, a significant volume reduction in our other contact channels:

• Phone calls were reduced by 12%
• Emails were reduced by a whopping 40%

Results

Bob’s team has the highest engagement results in the company, which is uncommon for Customer facing groups. The hard work of Bob and his team has also paid off with the most important audience – our Customers. In the Barron’s annual broker review, ShareBuilder earned 4.2 Stars out of 5 for Customer Service. But the best result was our 2014 StockBrokers.com 5 Stars “Best in Class” rating, the highest possible rating for Customer Service.

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Provide a brief (up to 125 words) biography about the nominee::

Biography of Bob Weintraub

With contagious enthusiasm, Bob encourages a challenging and rewarding work environment and has a direct hand in hiring and developing only the best people. He oversees day-to-day operations for our contact centers and maintains a down-to-earth demeanor while leading multiple groups including Sales Associates, Coaches, Systems/Workforce Management, Communications and Training. Bob is also known to dance on the desks of Associates who pass their licensing exams. His genuinely positive attitude has earned him the nickname “Good News Bob.”

Bob joined ShareBuilder in 2006 as the Director of 401(k) Sales and later began his Customer Service journey in January 2009. Bob holds an Executive MBA from the University of Washington and attended the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, VA.

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