Search past winners/finalists


  • MESA logo

CenterBeam, Inc.

How to EnterCompany: CenterBeam, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA
Company Description: CenterBeam is a managed services provider that delivers enterprise- class remote infrastructure services. Having created the world’s first multi- tenant hosted exchange solution in conjunction with Microsoft more than a decade ago, CenterBeam has continued to build on this legacy of innovation with a focus on providing mid-sized businesses with IT management, services and support via a 24x7 live hel
Nomination Category: Customer Service Awards Department Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Customer Service Department of the Year – Computer Services

Nomination Title: CenterBeam, Inc.

Tell the story about what this nominated department achieved since the beginning of July 2010 (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:

To trained observers, CenterBeam’s customer satisfaction process and industry
leading results achieve what many could only dream of. With overall customer
satisfaction in 2010 at 96.1%; of which 88.2% were very satisfied, one might
ask “where’s the problem?”

Deeper inspection of the data didn’t so much uncover an issue, but revealed an
opportunity. Management techniques and processes were in place to effectively
remediate issues once identified. But this was a highly reactive position that
focused on mistakes and shortcomings. The data revealed an opportunity to
recognize employees for their excellence – in order to continue improving
customer satisfaction – rather than only acknowledging the lower frequency of
dissatisfaction. As such, the team invested in a new set of processes and
resources that would systematically and proactively recognize, reward and
train for the behavior and knowledge needed to consistently drive an
exceptional support experience.

With a goal of inspiring greater excellence, CenterBeam’s new approach
emphasizes and promotes aspects of the job that its helpdesk specialists do
right. This, in turn, helps employees embrace customer satisfaction not only
as part of their duties and to perform more consistently, but it makes their
job personally important and satisfying. This strategy was implemented to
encourage “heart and head” change, not behavior adjustment. Elements included:

Immediate recognition:
o “Kudos” alert: for specialists receiving a score of 7, 8 or 9 (“very
satisfied”) on the “overall satisfaction of handling this case,” an email copy
of the customer survey is sent to the specialist with a congratulatory note
from management. This acknowledges their effort, provides valuable customer
feedback on the experience and reinforces positive behavior. For 2011 YTD, 9
out of 10 surveys have received this score.

Longer term promotion and recognition:
oMonthly individual- and team-based contests for those who have earned
kudos alerts.
oRegularly scheduled award and recognition events to celebrate successes

Integration of newly identified opportunities:
oWeekly team meetings to share new procedures and processes that aim to
drive a more personal user experience and result in incremental satisfaction
across the user base.

Results: For the 10 month period, January 1, 2011 – November 14, 2011: The
web-based surveys are managed by an independent third party and use a 1-9
scale for each question, examining overall satisfaction as well as specific
attributes. For 2011 YTD, “overall customer satisfaction” is 96.6%, with “very
satisfied” increasing 2.2% to 90.4%. Individual categories within the survey
experienced significant increases from 2010 in the percentage of end users
awarding a perfect “9”, including:
•2.5% increase in the overall satisfaction with the service;
•5% increase - timely resolution of the case;
•6% increase - professionalism of specialist;
•7% increase - specialist’s ability to meet commitments;
•8% increase - specialist’s technical knowledge;
•9% increase - specialist’s knowledge of (the client’s) business
environment;
•8% increase - specialist’s knowledge of (the client’s) technical
environment;
•7% increase - specialist’s ability to understand (the client’s) needs.

Additionally, the team realized a 10% reduction in cases that require
escalation to the customer’s internal IT staff.

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]:

 

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

As CenterBeam’s EVP and Chief Customer Officer, Anthony Hardt is responsible
for leading and managing CenterBeam's customer care strategy, operations and
overall customer satisfaction. His organization is responsible for providing
live, 24x7 Level-2 desktop engineering support to clients across 33 vertical
markets with 19,600 end users in 49 countries.

Hardt has held senior technical operations positions for a variety of
enterprise-class IT and call center operations including Spiegel, MITI
Information Technology and JD Irving, Limited.

With a keen nose for analysis and intellectual curiosity, Hardt is adept at
identifying the next challenges for his team to undertake, constantly raising
the bar.