We love our Leaf team, especially the superheroes working behind the scenes to show a bit of love to customers. Recently, we had the opportunity to sit down with the corporate service and escalated service teams to discuss these integral pieces of the business. Representing each team are Emily Boetcher, National Director of Service Administration, and Christine Horvath, National Director of Customer Operations. Check it out:
LeafFilter: Thanks for chatting, Emily! Can you give a description of what your department does and how this work impacts the company?
Emily Boetcher: Our department handles inbound and outbound customer calls after the point of sale, answering their questions or getting the customer’s concern to the right party to address. Our Service Admins also review closed service to ensure reporting is accurate on a weekly basis, including proper labeling of issues, clear notes of service conducted, service costs and installer payroll. Our Service Administrative Team is the face of what most customer’s experience as corporate response to their concern, so it is important that we convey convenience, professionalism and expediency in resolution.
LeafFilter: That’s great! So, our company has grown quite a bit in recent years. How has that growth been reflected in your team?
Emily: Our department has evolved along with many other departments within the organization, including quickly expanding in 2020. As additional locations open, the more we are needed to communicate with the customers, as their experience is our top priority. Having a friendly service rep available immediately for customer calls contributes to a positive perception of company response. When Tashya and I first started at LeafFilter in Fall 2012, we were the only ones answering the service phones for all 17 offices. Now we have over 70 people in the department working multiple shifts 7-days a week, including our managers and support staff. We expect to grow in 2021 also, including with our new verticals (Leaf Home Enhancements and Leaf Home Water Solutions) and possibly adding staff to LHS – West in Vegas later in the year.
LeafFilter: Love to see it! Are there any exciting updates and/or projects you could tell us about?
Emily: Customer service is our top priority. We are always trying to improve the communication process between LHS and its customers. A major focus for 2021 is to partner with others outside Service in the LHS Family to continue to provide an improved customer experience, not only for the LeafFilter brand, but all LHS verticals current and future.
LeafFilter: Tell us about the roles that make up your department and their primary function.
Emily: The Service Department is made up of several teams with varied focus, but we work cohesively for customer resolution. We pride ourselves on coaching up and seeing those within our department grow through our leadership structure. Our approach to teamwork makes this department an excellent place for anyone seeking growth within the company.Our team includes these roles:
- i) Director, Enterprise Service Administration, Corporate Service Admin Manager, Corporate Service Support Manager, Regional Service Admin Managers, Regional Service Support Managers, Service Admins, Service Assistants, Service VM Assistants, Quality Assurance Manager, Quality Assurance Specialists, Service Social Media Supervisor, & Service Social Media Assistants
LeafFilter: Thanks for the insight, Emily! Switching gears to chat with Christine Horvath about the escalated team — Christine, tell us about your team.
Christine: When traditional Service-related matters exceed a series of thresholds, the Escalated Service team gets to work helping to satisfy the customer while protecting LeafFilter. The Escalated Service team reports to the National Director of Customer Operations. The biggest impact is our team’s ability to prevent contract losses when challenging customer disputes are received, by resolving the dispute and helping to satisfy the customer. Our team also provides constant support to the Field by strategizing on difficult cases, crazy scenarios, and unraveling tricky pitfalls that may otherwise result in legal action. Our timely resolution of customer grievances also contributes to consistently improving our fabulous online reputation as well.
LeafFilter: Have you seen a lot of growth on your team as well?
Christine: Yes! We have increased our team this year by adding two Dispute Administrators. We have worked strenuously as a Team to train and grow together remotely. Implementing a mini-team system, we provide a balanced approach and ensure all our bases are covered. While working from home, breakout sessions have been critical, and everyone contributes to growing a rock-solid team.
LeafFilter: Love that teamwork mentality! That’s so important to success. What else is going on in your department?
Christine: Exciting updates include streamlining many processes and Standard Operating Procedures by:
-Setting forth a new accidental property damage flow chart resulting in positive results for both LeafFilter and the customer
-Streamlining the process to resolve credit card disputes, BBB accreditations for existing and new offices
-Continually evolving our processes and procedure for all phases of case management from opening the case through final settlement. We have created a solid foundation for tracking and resolving our disputes, which in turn, results in various trending data.
Also worth noting, in 2020, the Escalated Service team resolved over 3,000 disputes, recovering a considerable amount of money for LeafFilter Gutter Protection! Our Team has been working diligently to ensure all new locations are opened with a BBB accreditation and minimize negative exposure. Continuing education is a quarterly benchmark for each team member to ensure our knowledge is up to date with industry standards. In the spirit of education and improvement, we also:
-Successfully implemented a new SOP for Property Damage Insurance Claims from notification to completion.
-Began offering weekly TEDTalks hosted by a team member on topics ranging from Achieving Work/Life Balance, Managing Difficult Customer situations, and How to Work Smarter, not Harder from home.
-Welcomed Monthly Guest Speakers from other Departments to continue education and awareness of products and services that will help improve our use of industry terminology and strengthen our negotiation skills!
-Launched Virtual Lunchroom on Wednesdays where anyone can pop in and have lunch together. This includes monthly Virtual birthday parties for those celebrating that month.
-Incorporated Random TNT Bracelet checks through the day. If you’re caught without your bracelet, drinks are on YOU! (Socially distanced, of course!)
LeafFilter: Cute! Keeping things busy, it seems. Tell me about your team.
Christine:We have five Customer Relationship Managers who are responsible for resolving claims in a timely manner with minimal loss. (that work on resolving various kinds of customer disputes on multiple platforms. A Litigation Manager that oversees bigger disputes and assists with negotiating dispute settlements. We also have three Third-Party Dispute team members who handle Wells Fargo Disputes, Better Business Bureau Complaints, Credit Card Disputes, & multiple other financial platforms.
We cherish team members that make our company strong, and we’re growing every day! Check out opportunities near you on our careers page.
