|
 Company: Credit Solutions, Dallas, TX
Company Description: Credit Solutions is the largest for-profit debt management company in the United States, managing over $1.74 billion of unsecured debt for its clients. Since 2003, the company has grown to over 700 employees, and was recognized by J.D. Power & Associates for Outstanding Customer Service Experience in a Call Center Environment. Credit Solutions is also a 2008 finalist in the Red Herring 100.
Nomination Category: Customer Service Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Best Customer Service Organization/Department
Nomination Title: Credit Solutions: Best Customer Service Department
- Tell the story about what this nominated organization/department achieved since January 1 2007 (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:
Continually striving for excellence in customer service, in June 2007
Credit Solutions became the only debt management company in the United States
to ever earn the prestigious J.D. Power & Associates award for "An Outstanding
Customer Service Experience".
Credit Solutions focuses on empowering clients and employees alike. By
providing expansive resources, employees are empowered to develop customer-
focused solutions. It's these innovations that have enabled Credit Solutions
to assist over 140,000 clients with their debt needs over the last 5 years.
Total "debt under management" is currently $1.73 billion. To date, the company
has eliminated over $565 million of debt for its clients.
Credit Solutions’ Client Services Department achieved its own major
milestones over the past 18 months, launching a client survey program to gauge
customer satisfaction; survey responses are used to guide continuing employee
education. The department’s “eTeam” unit set an all-time company record in
June 2007 for highest number of customer requests processed for the month:
26,506 items. Although the industry norm is a 24-hour processing time, Credit
Solutions’ average turn-around time for customer email processing is 2 hours—
and their current record to beat is an impressive 10 minutes.
These milestones have been achieved thanks to the organization's
relentless commitment to developing and implementing the best solutions
available. Credit Solutions constantly researches ways to better deliver its
services to the customers. Case in point: The company currently has a patent
pending for specific in-house technologies that enable the customer to sign
enrollment documents electronically, saving weeks of document processing time,
and enabling employees to begin managing new customers' accounts immediately.
By investing in comprehensive technology solutions such as the $2.8
million Cisco VoIP phone system recently implemented company-wide, Credit
Solutions is simultaneously investing in customer satisfaction. Additional
innovations include a million-dollar investment in a new, comprehensive
recording software solution, substantially enhancing the company's quality
assurance processes. The company is also currently implementing a new
proprietary CRM, allowing the company to pursue its "thin-client" initiative.
A major client-centric focus for the coming year will be modeling the "Ritz
Carlton experience", via employee education programs.
Prior to 2007, clients were unable to “see” how much work the company was
actually doing on their behalf prior to their first settlement transaction. To
overcome this obstacle, Credit Solutions’ software developers custom-built an
online client portal. This pioneering tool streamlines transactions, resulting
in a more profound experience for clients and creditors alike: both parties
are able to log in to the portal and view the current status of all enrolled
accounts, as well as all previous settlement offers on those accounts. Credit
Solutions' portal is a major first in the debt management industry, allowing
for "positive collections" to occur between clients and their creditors,
and encouraging creditors to build strong working relationships with Credit
Solutions. These relationships in turn directly benefit the customers.
These innovative approaches have led to staggering revenue growth: Last
year's total revenue of $77,354,088 was nearly double that of 2006 (which was
$40,333,517).
- 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://herringevents.com/northamerica08/redherring100.html#finalist
http://www.forbes.com/businesswire/feeds/businesswire/2008/04/07/businesswire2
0080407006344r1.html (Scroll down)
http://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/stories/2008/03/03/daily23.html
- Provide a brief (up to 100 words) biography about the leader(s) of the nominated organization/department:
Doug Van Arsdale founded Credit Solutions in 2003 with his own funds.
Establishing his start-up business in a newly-formed and fragmented industry, Van Arsdale dove
into uncharted waters, mapping his own path to success. His business approach
has recently been profiled in the best-selling book Results Rule!, by business
consultant Randy Pennington. Van Arsdale arms employees with the resources
they need, such as industry-specific training, state-of-the-art technology,
and specialized mentorship. This innovative approach gives employees the
freedom to develop individual skills and the accountability to apply them—and
produce results.
|
