Office Depot, Inc.
Company: Office Depot, Inc., Boca Raton, FL
Company Description: Office Depot, Inc. is a supplier of office products and services. In ‘09, we sold $12.1 billion of products and services to consumers and businesses of all sizes. Our business segments are: NA Retail Division, NA Business Solutions Division and International Division. Office Depot sells to customers in 53 countries.
Nomination Category: Customer Service & Call Center Awards Achievement Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Award for Innovation in Customer Service - All Other Industries
Nomination Title: Satisfying Customers through Improved Customer Service Representative Quality
Tell the story about your organization's innovations in customer service since the beginning of July 2012 (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:
Office Depot's Customer Service Organization dedicates time, energy and resources to proactively measure the Voice of the Customer (VOC) in order to help ensure that customers are served effectively and they are satisfied with their interactions with its customer service representatives (CSR's). SEE attached power point presentation.
Hourly, daily and weekly measurements are taken randomly from the thousands of customer interactions that occur throughout Office Depot's Service Delivery Network with the goal of gauging our customer's level of satisfaction with those CSR transactions. Results are gathered and shared with the involved management teams, so that CSR's can be recognized for outstanding performance and counseled for less than satisfactory performance. Every major customer touch point in the Service Delivery process is measured with these random Voice of the Customer Surveys. Statistically significant samples are taken, so that results at the vendor/ channel/ department can be utilized to gauge performance and act accordingly regarding process and CSR control.
The quality improvement strategy we've deployed allows our customers to be highly involved in helping Office Depot assess the quality of our operations and the representatives within it! Our VOC feedback provides the control mechanism for all processes, partners, and representatives within our Network. Decisions are based upon the data and information derived from these various studies. Customer "pain points" are determined, analyzed and addressed through these feedback loops. Customer service personnel are evaluated, recognized or removed based on VOC information. This "end to end" quality check has proven invaluable to our year over year improvement in quality at Office Depot. Continuous improvement is not only beneficial to retaining customers, but is critical to eliminating waste and reducing operational costs!
During 2013, Office Depot has added what has proven to be invaluable reporting that identifies the Top and Bottom performers within the Network. The "Green line" recognition program and the "Redline" quality control program have provided additional focus on our quality results and given us the ability to pin-point areas needing attention. The reports come out on a daily bases and allow our key support personnel identify where to put their attention in order to reward those CSR's performing exceptional, and assist lower performing CSR with constructive feedback.
Reporting tools are available to leaders that allow them to quickly analyze their area of responsibility, as well as deeper dives into data as necessary. Historical performance is available for CSR's, Team and Departments in order to understand overall trends. Further analysis is available by targeted call and contact analysis.
All the described efforts lead to a better quality experience for our customers no matter if they phone us, chat with us online, email us, or fax us. Office Depot is dedicated to giving a voice to our customers as they allow us opportunities to take care of their office supplies and service’s needs!
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Provide a brief (up to 125 words) biography about the leader(s) of the nominated customer service organization:
Brian Benge – Director of Quality Assurance and Process Improvement
•Graduate of Florida State University with a degree in Business Management.
•He has been associated with Office Depot for over 26 years.
•Held numerous positions throughout his tenure with Office Depot. Those positions include; Director of Quality Assurance and Process Improvement, Director of Customer Relations, Call Center Director, Manager of Call Center Training, Adjunct Trainer/ Facilitator at Office Depot University, Training Store Manager, Store Manager, and Assistant Store Manager.
•Hobbies include coaching, golfing, fishing, movies, observing nature, & travel