Search past winners/finalists


  • MESA logo

SolarCity

How to EnterCompany: SolarCity
Company Description: SolarCity® has disrupted the century-old energy industry by providing renewable electricity directly to homeowners, businesses and government organizations for less than they spend on utility bills. The company makes clean energy easy by taking care of everything from design and installation to monitoring and maintenance. SolarCity currently serves 14 states and signs a new customer up every 5 min.
Nomination Category: Customer Service & Call Center Awards Team Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Contact Center of the Year (Over 100 Seats) - Other Service Industries

Nomination Title: SolarCity Las Vegas Call Center

Tell the story about what this nominated contact center achieved since the beginning of July 2012 (up to 525 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:      TEXT REDACTED FOR PUBLICATION

SolarCity’s customer account management team in our Las Vegas Call Center works tirelessly for our customers. Their ability to maintain and improve the customer experience with our massive growth is nothing less than spectacular.

SolarCity’s employee base has grown more than 100 percent annually since its founding in 2006. In 2013 alone we hired over 150 employees in the customer account management team to support the 16 new warehouses we opened across the country. Throughout our immense growth we have maintained a high level of customer satisfaction (average 4.53 out of 5 in Q3 2013) which is seen in the customer satisfaction survey our customers fill out after their system is installed.

We undertook an extensive collaborative solution in 2013 by consolidating our account management team in Las Vegas, Nevada. We have been operational in Las Vegas since June 2013 and we have almost 300 employees in the call center now. SolarCity makes clean energy easy by taking care of everything from design, permitting and installing to monitoring and maintenance. Our customers rely on us to perform all of the necessary tasks to go solar and they rely on us to do this quickly and efficiently. The collaboration in Las Vegas has helped to decrease average installation timelines by more than 25% from July 2013 to January 2014, which has significantly improved the customer experience. In addition to speedy service we provide our customers with an online account that they can track the progress of their installation, view commonly asked questions, provide feedback and view the production of their solar system as well.

We allow many customers to pay less for solar electricity than they previously paid for utility power. In order to continue to offer this we must continue to lower our cost of doing business. Combining our customer account management teams in the Las Vegas call center has lowered our call center costs by close to 40%. The cost reductions have been primarily driven by resource sharing among shifts, the lower cost of living and cost to operate in Las Vegas and access to a vibrant workforce.

Not only are our customers satisfied our employees are as well. In December 2013 SolarCity was honored with the Glassdoor Employees’ Choice Award as one of the Top 20 Best Places to Work in 2014. The award, which honors 50 companies overall, relies solely on the input of employees who provide feedback on their jobs and work environments via Glassdoor’s anonymous online company review surveys.

Our customer satisfaction rating is a direct reflection of how much each representative cares about our company’s mission and about wowing the customer. We are so proud of our customer service because it inspires our customers and the entire energy industry to be better.

 

Provide a brief (up to 125 words) biography about the leader(s) of the nominated contact center:

Jo Ferriter, VP of customer account management, led the transition to Las Vegas. Her leadership allowed us to implement a range of new processes, bonus structures, hiring and training programs and her energy sets the tone for the entire office. She has over 13 years of experience managing sales and customer service call centers in the US and Europe. She and her team consistently deliver quota and excel in providing an outstanding customer experience.