Blackhawk Network, Pleasanton, California, United States: Andres Recinos, Manager, Call Center

Written answers to the questions

Total 170 words used.

Andres Recinos has been a pivotal figure at BHN since April 2014, starting as a trilingual agent for B2B operations in Canada and Europe and quickly showcasing his leadership and work ethic. Throughout his decade-long journey, Andres has embodied the essence of a successful contact center manager, excelling in roles from trilingual quality and QA supervisor to Sr Business and Process Analyst, and now, as the Contact Center Manager. His tenure is marked by a commitment to continuous improvement, high-quality standards, and successful project implementations, significantly impacting the organization's culture and operational success.

In his current role, Andres has notably enhanced the Disputes operations by managing complex processes, meeting deadlines, and leading his team to excellent performance. He is recognized for his mentorship and active involvement in daily operations, always seeking improvement and collaborating on transformative projects. Andres' dedication and innovative approach over the past ten years have not only earned him accolades but have also contributed significantly to BHN's success, demonstrating his invaluable role and leadership in the organization.

Total 237 words used.

1. Managed over 300K disputed transactions with a resolution ETA of 60 days (from a 90-day expected resolution) with the industry best 98% recovery rates.
    
2. Maintained high performance SLAs for our Voice and Backoffice workloads, ensuring that consumers receive top-notch responses for dispute resolution within 60 days (from 90 days standard).
    
3. Led the overhaul of our CSAT program, which was introduced in March 2024. Andres played a key role in developing the consumer questionnaire, designing the dashboard to monitor feedback and scores, gathering consumer sentiment, implementing changes to existing processes, and developing initiatives based on customer sentiment. As a result, our CSAT score improved from 3.79 to 4.30.
    
4. Oversaw the deployment of SNOW Advanced Work Assignment (AWA), an enhanced case prioritization engine that reduced manual effort and ensured the team's productivity aligned with expected through automated case routing.
    
5. Developed dashboards to monitor consumer responses and prioritize workstreams for resolution, improving consumer experience.
    
6. Enhanced consumer contact forms to reduce empty or incomplete cases, leading to a reduction in case workload and improved consumer efficiency.
    
7. Conducted product-specific research, identifying opportunities to improve the in-store activation process, which resulted in improved consumer experience and reduced contact volumes.
    
8. Created an Escalation Prevention Process to identify consumer sentiment and prioritize resolution, reducing the risk of non-compliance with resolution timeframes and negative consumer experiences.
    
9. Developed enhancements for pending transaction periodization to proactively monitor transactions, introduce consumer notifications, and ease consumer dispute resolution.

Total 247 words used.

Has consistently demonstrated a kaizen-oriented mindset, strong analytical and problem-solving skills, and a commitment to operational efficiency. Has successfully reduced/eliminated the dispute case backlog for two consecutive years, positively impacting our overall business and maintaining consumer trust in our resolution efforts. Additionally, Andres has supported key enhancements in our business, introducing innovative solutions to meet consumer demand and finding defects to present tangible solutions beneficial to our organization.

Effectively managed resources to meet consumer expectations and ensure synchrony between our Voice and Backoffice processes, consistently meeting our contractual SLAs. Andres has provided dedicated operational support by introducing several engagement initiatives to keep our staff informed, motivated, and involved in our transformational process, thereby improving our CSAT experience. His cross-functional strategies have resulted in the submission of numerous IDEAS to our process improvement and technology teams, yielding timely and impactful results.

Since 2022, the Backoffice & Disputes team has maintained a 0 backlog due to various initiatives aimed at revamping manual processes and implementing the automated case assignment Advanced Work Assignment (AWA). Furthermore, other CSAT improvement actions have led to astonishing results in our dispute scores MOM. Andres has also taken proactive measures to resolve extended timeframes and ensure faster fund recovery based on fraud type. He has introduced proactive callback management for multiple contacts/customer negative sentiment, providing concierge-type service for the remaining dispute process. Additionally, he has implemented card replacement notification and process enhancements to anticipate the time in the mail, reducing consumer confusion and eliminating delays.

Total 134 words used.

Andres Recinos has played a crucial role in leading our dispute operations with resilience. Under his leadership, he has consistently introduced new methodologies and infused the drive for change into many of his peers. The results speak for themselves and demonstrate why he deserves such prestigious recognition. The nomination also presents an opportunity to celebrate the milestones we have achieved, all thanks to his unwavering belief in making things better.

The Dispute CSAT survey has been crucial in helping BHN understand customer satisfaction when addressing fraud scenarios impacting our consumers and distribution partners. It shows BHN's commitment to addressing any claim with urgency and providing excellence in service while introducing solutions to minimize the exposure and customer effort, which in turn contributes to customer loyalty and brand partnership.

See the documents attached, thank you!