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Sundance Vacations, Wilkes-Barre, PA

How to EnterCompany: Sundance Vacations, Wilkes-Barre, PA
Company Description: Sundance Vacations is a national travel company that specializes in discount vacation accommodations at destination golf, beach, ski and mountain resorts throughout North America and the Caribbean.
Nomination Category: Customer Service & Call Center Awards Team Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Customer Service Team of the Year - Recovery Situation

Nomination Title: Sundance Vacations Client Resolution Team

Tell the story about what this nominated team achieved 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:

In Q3, 2011 we created a brand new Customer Service division called Client Resolution. This department is separate from our front-line customer service team in that it was created specifically to resolve the problems of our severely delinquent accounts. This team’s performance in 2013 was astonishing, a success that was born of our more proactive approach. Historically, the finance company used the tools that are typically available for collections in an attempt to rehabilitate these accounts. Unfortunately, the threat of bad credit didn’t solve the customer’s underlying financial or product issues. The Client Resolution team provided the missing piece. Now, when the loan servicing company identifies an account as severely delinquent (at least 150 days) the account is forwarded to the Client Resolution department.

In 2012, the team was able to save $1.1 million in loan balances from being written off as uncollectable by addressing the underlying product and financial problems, answering customer questions about how our service works and ultimately “reselling” the client on the benefits of traveling with us. In 2013, this small team of just five associates saved $1.45 million, a 20% increase over the previous year. Their 2013 goal was a move to one-call resolutions as they sought to uncover the customer’s real issue, resolve it immediately, reassure the customer, and get a commitment during the call. This process is clean and doesn’t allow issues to linger, fester or fall through the cracks.

The Client Resolution team also embraced the launch of a new customer satisfaction measurement tool in 2013. The Net Promoter System (NPS) kept them focused on creating brand promoters and improving the customer experience while simultaneously recovering customers from delinquency. A large measure of the department’s success is to save business - but not at the expense of an unhappy customer. Managers use the NPS survey results to compare employees by their customer satisfaction rates - not just loan balances saved. Complaints were down 34% in 2013 as a result of several initiatives, including the focus on NPS and the proactive approach from the Client Resolutions team.

Through great communication and procedures this team worked hand-in-hand with our front-line Customer Service staff when problems were related to the sales process, as well as the Reservations and Fulfillment staff when the issue related to a specific vacation or vacation request, and the collections company when the only resolution was a modification of the outstanding note. The team was so successful in preserving and recovering business that in Q3 of 2013 we decided to expand its responsibilities and forward all cancellation requests to our Client Resolution team without regard to the client’s delinquency status.

Our front-line Customer Service team continues to handle queries from customers after the initial sale (within the first 30 days). After that period any customer who expresses a desire to cancel is handled by the new and very successful Client Resolution team. We are projecting a very successful year in 2014 as a result of this additional tweak, as the department was responsible for rewriting $1.4 million in contracts that were seeking cancellation in Q4 alone.

 

Provide a brief (up to 125 words) biography about the leader(s) of the nominated team:

Ed Coppinger started with Sundance Vacations 17 years ago as a sales person. Ed’s career has been filled with frequent promotions and new responsibilities every year. He left his sales management position in 2010 to help the company grow in other divisions, including both marketing and customer service. He is currently the manager of the Client Resolution department where he very successfully combines his sales skills with his wealth of company experience and knowledge to drive customer satisfaction while recovering customers. Ed is a team player who also volunteers as the editor of our newsletter and frequently participates as a trainer for new hires.