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June 28, 2023Beyond the Call of Duty: Opportunities on Intelcom’s Customer Experience Centre Team
"Thank you for calling Intelcom; how can I help you?"
Perhaps you've heard the phrase before, as you check in on the ETA of a package or change the delivery address that you accidentally misspelled on your favourite store's online ordering form.
Who are the individuals behind this friendly greeting? What does a day in the life of a Customer Experience Centre (CEC) teammate look like? Let's step beyond the call and learn more about the role of a Customer Service Agent and how a career in Intelcom's CEC can lead to opportunities throughout the organization.
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A vital cog in the Intelcom machine
Service Agents play an instrumental role in Intelcom's daily operations. Positive interactions set a great customer experience apart from a poor one.
“We help optimize the delivery experience for the driver and the customer. Whether it's as simple as leaving instructions for where to leave the package, or updating the stations to make sure that it will arrive on time. We are the messengers between operations (stations, drivers) and the customer service.” Says Maude Piche Richer, Customer Experience Center Trainer
Without their dedicated work, Intelcom would not be able to accurately live its value of customer-centricity. It's not all glitz and glamour, but it is a vital cog in the engine of our operations and crucial to our success.
“There are a lot of things that machines can do, like replacing a cashier [in a store].” shares Maude, “[but] most of the time when the people are calling us, it's because they need our help - it's not necessarily just a box that you can check. They need to be reassured as well. Packages are important to people, and they need to know that their message is being heard and passed to the right people.”
The value of a human interaction is irreplaceable. Not only do the Service Agents provide reassurance and support; they also help customers who don’t feel confident navigating the technology by showing them how to interact with the platform so they can feel empowered during their purchasing experience.
“With the pandemic, people who are not used to ordering online have started to do it. These people aren’t familiar with the process, so we teach a lot of customers about the process, how to follow their package online, etc.” Maude adds.
What type of calls to expect
Like any business, the amount of calls received in a day ebbs and flows with business cycles.
"Volume honestly depends…we have peak seasons like [Amazon] Prime [Days] or Christmas so of course it is a lot busier then - during that time it's literally like back-to-back calls which can be overwhelming sometimes but you also really don't see your day go by."
Intelcom’s CEC team receives around 2,000 calls per day, with calls rising up to 12,000 per day during peak season.
Most folks assume that calling customer service means that you're upset with something, and while this is certainly sometimes the case, Intelcom's CEC team believes more often than not, queries are pleasant.
"We have a lot [of customers] that call for an ETA. There are some that call to change their address or their delivery date right now." Shares Melanie Pepin, Customer Service Team Leader.
Of course, things aren’t always as straightforward as that.
"It always depends on the situation, and I guess depending on the customer. I would say when I was an Agent, the majority of my calls were good calls." she says.
My agents are like my little family.
Melanie Pepin
Customer service team leader
Melanie Pepin
Customer service team leader
No agent left behind: a mentality easily attributed to the work in the CEC. As a Team Lead, Melanie shares how Agents are supported during their shifts.
"I make sure that all my agents are there in the morning when I start. If they need help; if they have any questions; if they're stuck on a call and they're not quite sure how to handle it or what to do they will send me a message. And if I'm not in a meeting, then they call me, and I walk them through it and help them."
But the support isn't only in the moment. Intelcom Team Leads provide continuous assistance to their team members by proactively identifying opportunities to share tips, tricks or tools to manage challenging calls.
"I listen to previous calls, and I listen to their live calls [to] see the areas that they need help in." Melanie shares, "That's when coaching gets scheduled. I go through everything with them step by step."
"You're working with the same people all the time. So my agents are like my little family… We're always looking to better our customer service."
To the CEC…and beyond
Intelcom offers plenty of growth opportunities to its employees. In the CEC, roles are 100% remote, meaning staff from all over the country can become a Service Agent from home.
Many team members have started as Agents and have become Team Leads, or even gone into other departments depending on their interests.
Take Melanie, for example, "I started as a Customer Service Agent [in] April of last year. I worked the call center, and I also did rescheduling for returns… five months later I got asked to be a team lead."
Her story is not a standalone. She shared her thoughts on growth opportunities for anyone starting on the CEC team.
"There's always the opportunity to join the team who does emails [within the CEC], or you can become a Team Leader. There are other departments like the claims department, B2B department, media department…The way I look at it is if you're willing to do the work, then yes, there is room for growth."
So the question becomes, are you interested in growth? Are you energized by taking on more responsibility?
"If you're willing to do the work and willing to learn, and I guess basically just up for the adventure, then yes, most definitely."