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SquareTrade

  

SASCS11 How to Enter Bug

 

Company: SquareTrade Inc, San Francisco, CA
Company Description: In business since 1999, SquareTrade is the largest indepen- dent warranty provider and the only warranty consistently rated 5-stars by consumers.
Nomination Category: Customer Service & Call Center Awards Achievement Categories
Nomination Sub Category: e-Commerce Customer Service Award

Nomination Title: SquareTrade's Customer Service Excellence

    Tell the story about your e-commerce-based customer service initiatives 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:

SquareTrade, the fastest growing warranty provider in the country, offers the
first warranty designed to delight customers.  From SquareTrade’s low prices and
no-hassle purchase experience, to its intuitive online management and superior
claim service, SquareTrade is the only warranty company to receive
overwhelmingly positive ratings from customers.  With nearly 2 million happy
warranty customers, SquareTrade is changing the way that customers think about
warranty service.

SquareTrade’s amazing customer service has earned it plaudits from every corner
of the web.  SquareTrade has earned an A+ rating from the Better Business
Bureau, and in 2010 became the first warranty company to ever be awarded a
Bizrate Circle of Excellence Award, with customers giving SquareTrade an overall
rating of 9.6 / 10.  SquareTrade was also named one of the top 100 websites of
2010 by PC Magazine.

Most importantly, however, are the reviews from SquareTrade's customers who have
experienced a warranty claim.  From Amazon to the iPhone App Store, Google
ratings to ResellerRatings.com, NexTag to Epinions, SquareTrade has earned tens
of thousands of 5 star reviews from customers praising the customer service
experience. 

SquareTrade’s reviews are a reflection of its overall philosophy that great
warranty customer service requires more than just big call centers, it requires
customer tools and a product that is designed to delight the customer.  In the
past 5 years, SquareTrade has brought a number of service innovations never seen
before in the warranty industry, including:

-      Online claims filing and claim tracking.
-      The ability to cancel / transfer a warranty online
-      A 5-Day service guarantee
-      No-hassle warranty claims, with no paperwork required, and the ability to
store the receipt online

  Since 2009, SquareTrade’s has continued to deliver improved service in 3 key areas.

1)    Empowered customer reps: Each one of SquareTrade’s claims agents is fully
empowered to approve a claim on a customer’s behalf.   Our turnover rate for
reps is just  one-fifth of the industry average, which results in highly trained
reps, who are able to deliver service confidently and expertly.  SquareTrade has
no scripts for reps – which means customers feel they are speaking with an
actual empathetic person.

2)    Customer Service via social media:  SquareTrade has attracted 12,000 fans on
Facebook in the past year and continues to grow rapidly.  Social media
facilitates and encourages two-way conversation with consumers on their Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/squaretrade and Twitter Page
http://www.twitter.com/squaretrade , openly addressing problems and meeting
consumers on platforms they prefer to use.  Customers also have access to video
guides and tutorials to help them understand and use their online warranty accounts.

3)    Automated Claims Process: SquareTrade’s automated claims process allows
SquareTrade to scale without massive call centers, and delivering the service
that customers actually want – the ability to track their claim and ask
questions online.  This year, SquareTrade’s Net Promoter Score (NPS) for
warranty claim customers increased to 65% - with an NPS of 95% for customers
with an approved claim.   Even more impressively, SquareTrade’s NPS score is
above 30% for customers with rejected claims.

    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]:

-      Amazon reviews:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/seller/at-a-glance.html?ie=UTF8&seller=A1B45FIBP2TU2
-      iPhone App
Store:http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/warranty-this-device-squaretrade/id340816768?mt=8   

-      Reseller Ratings: http://www.resellerratings.com/store/SquareTrade  
-      NexTag reviews:
http://www.nextag.com/SquareTrade~3300135zzzreviewsz1zmainz17-htm
-      Epinions: http://www10.epinions.com/pr-Online_Stores_Services-SquareTrade_Inc
-      Google Product reviews http://www.google.com/products/seller?zmi=squaretrade.com

News Section
-      CBS3 http://www.youtube.com/user/SquareTradeInc#p/u/14/L5Rgg-G2Upo
-      Consumerist
http://consumerist.com/2010/04/squaretrade-replaces-item-out-of-warranty-almost-makes-extended-warranties-worthwhile.html

-      LifeHacker
http://lifehacker.com/5659223/why-former-best-buy-employee-recommends-squaretrade-warranties-over-geek-squads-black-tie-protection

-      SF Chronicle
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2010/10/04/urnidgns852573C400693880002577B200609D36.DTL#ixzz11hOSm8OG

-      NY Times
http://gadgetwise.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/21/panasonic-cameras-most-reliable-survey-finds/
-      InfoWorld
http://www.infoworld.com/d/adventures-in-it/stolen-laptop-warranty-refund-woes-185

Awards:
-      Bizrate: http://www.bizrate.com/ratings_guide/merchant_detail__mid--166807.html
-      PC Magazine: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2367732,00.asp   

 

Real Simple Magazine 10/1/2010
Mentions SquareTrade as one of the ways to 'Save on Computers'.
http://www.realsimple.com/work-life/money/saving/how-save-computers-00000000042606/index.html

Fox News 9/11/2010
On Your Side: iPhone Warranty
By Steve Noviello
http://www.myfoxdfw.com/dpp/news/fox_4_features/on_your_side/081110-on-your-side:-iphone-warranty

 

Reader’s Digest 1/11/10
5 Things Warranty Companies Don't Want You To Know
By Janice Lieberman
http://www.rd.com/blogs/the-lineup/5-things-warranty-companies-don-t-want-you-to-know/post12425.html

 

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

Steve Abernethy, CEO

Steve has been invited to speak on SquareTrade's experience by organizations
including: the Federal Trade Commission, the Department of Commerce, the
European Commission, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, the
American Bar Association, PC Forum, the Global Business Dialogue on E-commerce,
and National Public Radio. As SquareTrade's CEO, Steve was selected as one of
the World Economic Forum's 100 Technology Pioneers.

Prior to co-founding SquareTrade, Steve was a management consultant at McKinsey,
working with Fortune 100 financial institutions and media companies. Steve
earned his MBA from Harvard Business School and holds a BS in Architectural
Engineering from California Polytechnic University.