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Archipelago Learning

  

SASCS11 How to Enter Bug

 

Company: Archipelago Learning, Dallas, TX
Company Description: Study Island, founded in 2000, is a leading provider of online, standards-based assessment and test prep for the K-12 educational market. Winner of Learning magazine’s 16th Annual Teachers’ Choice Award, and winner of Tech and Learning magazine’s Award of Excellence, our products are used by over 10 million students in over 23,000 schools.
Nomination Category: Customer Service Awards Department Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Customer Service Department of the Year - Public Services & Education

Nomination Title: Archipelago Learning

    Tell the story about what this nominated department achieved since the beginning of July last year (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:

From our very first customer to our 23,000th, Archipelago Learning, a leading
subscription-based online education company, has had a goal of providing
unmatched customer service.  As winner of Learning magazine’s 16th Annual
Teachers’ Choice Award, and winner of Tech and Learning magazine’s Award of
Excellence, as of November 30, 2010, Study Island products were utilized by
approximately 10 million students in over 23,000 schools in 50 states.  During
the 2009-2010 school year, students answered over 3.2 billion of our practice
questions.  Our Customer Relations department is comprised of former teachers
and experienced customer service professionals, as well as representatives
coming from IT backgrounds.  Because Archipelago Learning’s primary callers
are teachers, they feel a sense of solidarity when speaking with a fellow
teacher, plus our representatives are familiar with the environment of our
users.  With a 67% word-of-mouth referral rate, we take care to treat all
customers to the same level of care whether they are a $20 or a $7000 client. 
There are never any fees for contacting us; customers enjoy unlimited free
support. 

Users may contact us via phone, live chat (essential since most of our users
are in a classroom setting without phones), or through an email ticketing
system.  Our team currently maintains a chat satisfaction rate of over 99.5%
with five out of five stars, and a support call hold time of 20 seconds or
less.  In addition to our three main avenues of contact, users can comment on
our questions to send immediate feedback to our writers, complete a customer
survey, and join our online teacher forums.  We regularly review all
suggestions received and implement many of them in an effort to provide the
best possible product.  Over the years, our product has developed and grown
based upon our customer’s wants and needs. 

        Study Island offers training through online webinars or onsite sessions as
well as free customized implementation assistance to provide schools with
solutions and motivation (both student and teacher). A free informative
newsletter with ideas and suggestions is provided as well.  Upon purchase,
schools receive both administrative and teacher manuals which include Parent
Letters to send home to all students’ parents.  New employees are subjected to
rigorous, ongoing training to impart the information necessary to help our
customers in the quickest, friendliest, most knowledgeable manner possible. 

In an effort to maximize our customers’ service experience even more, we have
added a number of service-related features, including  offering grant/bid
writing assistance  to schools to aid in obtaining funding,  an updated help
feature, and video tutorials which provide detailed instruction on an
immediate basis, 24 hours a day.  In October 2010, we surveyed 8000 customers
to obtain feedback on how to better serve them, plus help us design our next
generation of features.   In addition we offer username and password support
24 hours/7 days a week.  Our attention to customer service has helped lead to
a 78% renewal rate, which in turn has been instrumental in helping Archipelago
Learning grow.

    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]:

http://www.studyisland.com/salessheets/Study%20Island%20Wins%20Tech%20&%20Learning%20Award%20of%20Excellence.pdf
http://www.studyisland.com/salessheets/DAReadersChoice.pdf
http://www.inc.com/inc5000/2008/company-profile.html?id=2006048
http://www.studyisland.com/demoAsk.cfm?action=GGT&myState=TX#assist   
http://www.studyisland.com/salessheets/Teachers%20Choice%20Winner%202009%2010.pdf
http://www.studyisland.com/salessheets/Study%20Island's%20SAT%20and%20ACT%20programs%20receive%20'outstanding'%20ratings3.pdf

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

Greg Smith is Vice President, Customer Retention for Archipelago Learning, and
has been with the company since 2008.  He truly knows what it means to serve
our customers, having spent over 20 years in the education field, the past 15
as a school administrator.  As a teacher, he was honored with Teacher of the
Year in 1991.  Greg holds a Bachelors of Science in Education from Southwest
Texas State and a Masters and MidManagement Certification from Texas A&M
Commerce.