Company: SquareTrade
Company Description: Founded in 1999, SquareTrade offers warranties that make sense, with fair prices, no-pressure sales, and no-hassle service. It offers consumers an alternative to other overpriced and under-serviced warranties at a price point that is 40% less on average. SquareTrade was named one of PC Magazine's Top 100 Websites of 2010, and is the winner of the 2011 Stevie Award for Sales & Customer Service.
Nomination Category: Customer Service Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Customer Service Department of the Year

Nomination Title: SquareTrade's Customer Service Department

Tell the story about what this nominated organization/department achieved since January 1 2011 (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 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 3 million happy warranty customers, SquareTrade is changing the way that customers think about warranty service.

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 won the 2012 Stevie Award for Best Customer Service and the2012 People's Choice Stevie Award for Favorite Customer Service. Previously wonGolden Bridge Award 2011 for Best Customer Service.

Most important 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 thousands of 5 star reviews from customers.

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. 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 100,000 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.

3) Automated Claims Process: SquareTrade’s automated claims process allows SquareTrade to scale without massive call centers, and delivering the service that customers 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.

As a result of our exemplary customer service, Retailer have recognized the importance of the need to provide better warranty services and have partnered with SquareTrade. Some of the retailers that SquareTrade provides warranty services for are Costco, Tiger Direct and Sam’s Club.

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

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.