Dean Evans & Associates

Tweet

Company: Dean Evans & Associates, Denver, CO
Company Description: Dean Evans & Associates is a leader in the development of sophisticated software systems for a wide variety of tasks including: meeting and event scheduling, resource management, academic scheduling, shared workspace management (office "hoteling"), web calendaring and online registration and surveys. More than 4,000 organizations use the company's products in over 100 countries.
Nomination Category: Customer Service Awards Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Customer Service Department of the Year

Nomination Title: Our Customers, Ourselves

    Tell the story about what this nominated organization/department achieved since January 1 2010 (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:

        Dean Evans & Associates believes that top-notch customer support is crucial to
ensuring the organizations that rely on our scheduling solutions get the most
out of EMS software. In part because our VP was one of our original customers,
we’ve always gone to great lengths to see our software’s functionality through
the customers’ eyes by providing comprehensive support for all of our products.

        Our attentive Support Team consistently garners glowing feedback from
customers, big and small, across all the industries we serve. While that might
put us on cloud nine, the stratosphere – not the sky – is the limit when it
comes to Customer Support. Last year we accelerated our proactive approach to
Customer Support by adding a new position to round out an already robust group
of customer resources.

        Quick facts:
•     Ninety percent of our calls are answered live. If customers find it
more convenient, we quickly respond to email inquiries.
•     We guarantee that voice mail messages are returned within two hours.
•     Across categories of “Courtesy,” “Helpfulness,” and “Issue support,”
our customers rated our service “Good” or “Excellent” 95+ percent of the time.
•     Over the last five years, 97 percent of EMS customers have renewed
their Annual Service Agreement.
•     In the categories of “Response Time,” “General Knowledge” and “Overall
Experience,” customers rated our service “Good” or “Excellent” 90+ percent of
the time.
•     We provide a comprehensive Online Support Center, offering customers a
wealth of detailed information and flexible resources.
•     When a "hands-on" approach is needed, the support team can "meet" the
customer online to experience the problem remotely through their eyes.
•     Ninety three percent of our customers gave our Support services a
positive rating, according to the latest Microsoft Customer Satisfaction Survey.

        In 2010, DEA created a new, permanent Product Specialist position within the
Customer Support team. The Product Specialist is a support point person
dedicated to assisting existing customers and consultants with advanced needs,
including: complex software synchronizations and integrations, advanced
troubleshooting, unconventional configurations and generation of custom
reports.  

        For this newly created position, DEA tapped a customer support veteran, Stacy
Shea, who has more than five years of experience assisting customers with
everything from software installation issues to “how to” questions. As DEA’s
first Product Specialist, Stacy has used her detailed product knowledge and
stellar trouble shooting skills to assist a number of large organizations from
start to finish, ensuring their successful launch of EMS. Stacy gives personal
attention to a wide variety of users from IT managers and application engineers
to security administrators and event schedulers.

        The role has also freed up time for our Software Development team, which was
sometimes hampered by troubleshooting highly technical issues. Now, they can
devote their time to advancing EMS software’s functionality, while Stacy
focuses on the customer’s more immediate needs and can pass along customers’
software enhancement requests.

        DEA was built from the ground up, for and with our customers. Customer Support
responds to every inquiry with this in mind: our customers are the backbone of
our business.

    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]:

        The EMS Customer Support web page details the many ways our Customer Support
team lends a helping hand to our valued customers:

        http://www.dea.com/ServiceAndSupport/CustomerSupport.aspx

        Testimonials from 2010:

        “Every inquiry or issue I have experienced and subsequently related to the
support team or otherwise has been expertly and professionally handled in the
most expedient and customer-friendly method possible. The EMS technical team is
like an extension of my Team; always within my reach, ready and able to assist
me in any endeavor.” – Scott Mitchell, EMS administrator for The Nielsen
Company, New York, New York.

        “Your support team is wonderful to work with. I am quite impressed and wish
that our other software vendors had help desk staff that proficient, patient,
and professional.” – Robert Spiker, Director of IT Services for Shepherd
University, Shepherdstown, WV.

        “I spoke to a live person immediately. She was very friendly, professional,
and knowledgeable.  I would highly recommend EMS technical support for any EMS
issue.” – Kevin Gamin, technical consultant for Church of the Open Door,
Elyria, OH

    Provide a brief (up to 100 words) biography about the leader(s) of the nominated organization/department:

        Stacy Shea joined DEA in 2005. Under her leadership, the Customer Support team
grew from three to seven members. Despite the challenges associated with
growth, the team maintained excellent customer satisfaction ratings and earned
enthusiastic customer comments. Stacy is both technically minded and customer
service-oriented, a perfect pairing for the wide spectrum of EMS users that
rely on DEA’s support when they have questions, face technical challenges or
simply want to better utilize all of our software’s features.