Purpose
This document is intended to provide an overview of the general policies and expectations for Customer Support team members. This is to be used by all Customer Support Specialists working in the Contact Center. These policies and practices are intended to help ensure an efficient and professional work environment, and enable our Support Agents to deliver the highest level of customer service possible.
Support Goal
HydroPoint is the leader in smart water management solutions, helping companies to maximize water savings, reduce operating costs, minimize business risks, and achieve sustainability goals. Our mission is to make the best and most efficient use of our world's most important resource.
The goal of the Customer Support team is to always focus on keeping our customer’s systems functioning efficiently, minimizing any downtime, and providing swift and comprehensive response and resolution to address any outages or system failures. Our goal is to cultivate an environment that embraces education, problem-solving and teamwork in our engagements with customers so that we deliver successful customer outcomes and exceed their expectations.
General Support Contact Center Policies
Attendance Policy
All agents are expected to be on time, logged in, and ready to work at the beginning of their assigned shift. If for any reason you will be late or cannot work your assigned shift, you should notify your manager and/or supervisor as soon as possible. The smooth and efficient operation of the Contact Center is dependent upon having all resources available to meet scheduling and forecasting demands. Any changes to resource availability will impact workload and project assignments and must be communicated in advance so any necessary adjustments can be made. Additionally, all agents are expected to adhere to the employee policies set forth under the Company Handbook.
Phone Queue Policy
Incoming customer calls are considered our number one priority as they represent a live person with a real-time request for support. As a general rule, live inbound calls in the queue should always be given attention over any other request type as outlined in the Customer Support Service Level Definition document. Our SLA is based on response time and calls that exceed the designated waiting period will result in a missed SLA. As such, we need to make it our goal to answer every inbound call as quickly as possible. It is the responsibility of all Agents to be aware of current call volumes and monitor the assigned phone queues accordingly.
A. All Agents must be logged in to all assigned phone queues during working times
B. Follow the call handling policy guidelines
C. Be aware of the SLA/SLO definitions to prioritize workloads
D. Set status accordingly (default should always be “Available” if not on a call)
| Queue Status | When to Use |
|---|---|
| Available | Default status when logged into Talkdesk and not on a call; this should be your standard primary status unless otherwise approved by manager/supervisor; all other work should be done as much as possible in the background so you are always able to answer incoming calls |
| On A Call |
Automatically set when you answer a call and will remain in effect for the call duration |
| Call Wrap Up | Automatically set when your call ends to allow for finishing after call work; time spent in this status should be minimal (2 minutes or less) in order to return to Available status as soon as possible |
| Break | To be set during company designated break periods |
| Off Call Work | To be set when working manager/supervisor approved project assignments |
| Consult | To be set when involved in real time consultation or advice session with peers, senior team members, co-workers, manager/supervisor |
| Training | To be set when attending scheduled/approved training sessions as directed by manager/supervisor |
| In a Meeting | To be set when attending approved company/team meetings or as designated by manager/supervisor |
| Lunch | To be set during company designated lunch period |
| Offline | Default status when not logged into the system, or set when off-shift and closing down |
Best Practices
A. When talking to a customer you should be at your desk and focused on the issue at hand. If you need to step away from the call (i.e. to escalate the issue, get guidance, etc.) use your judgment as to whether you should place the call on hold or call back
B. Watch tone and volume of voice. Be respectful of callers and mindful of fellow co-workers who might also be on a call
C. Focus on the caller and try not to get distracted while speaking to a customer. Your full attention should be on the issue at hand. Any other distractions (i.e. other work, outside conversations, personal devices, etc.) should be put on hold unless you need to seek assistance or the call needs to be escalated.
D. If a call needs to be escalated, state that to the customer and place them on hold (be sure you have their correct phone number in case you get disconnected). If possible, find the necessary person and explain the situation then “warm transfer” the call (confirming the connection is made). If you cannot transfer quickly, tell the customer will call them back in an appropriate time frame. Send the information to the proper person AND CONTACT THEM PERSONALLY. You are responsible to confirm the escalation is properly transferred and responded to.
E. Be courteous and professional with customers. Only work-related topics should be discussed during a business call. Keep all idle or off-topic conversation to a minimum to ensure calls are addressed quickly and efficiently.
F. Under NO CIRCUMSTANCES are HPDS internal issues or problems to be discussed on a call. Do not make negative or derogatory comments about customers, employees, or the company. Do not engage in any conversation that may be considered slander or gossip, or otherwise disparaging to the reputation of the customers, employees, or the company.
G. Should any customer issues or complaints arise that require further attention, document them accordingly and address them with your manager/supervisor.
H. Use of personal devices and media should be limited as much as possible to break and lunch periods. If you have a personal emergency and must step away, be sure to notify your manager/supervisor and place yourself in the appropriate status until you return.
General Case Handling Policies
All case notes should be as complete and ACCURATE as possible. Be sure to note the caller’s contact information, all diagnostic steps performed and their results, and any pertinent information that is applicable. Often times case notes will be used as historical reference or investigation, sometimes related to escalations or customer complaints, so it is very important that each case represents a complete account of the interaction.
Technical details will vary based on the specific issue, but the troubleshooting documentation should always be used as a template for case notes. In general, refer to the following:
- Always note contact information and who you spoke with
- Include any related historical information or associated details of importance
- Note any related sales order or RMA numbers
- Document ALL email correspondence with customers
- If other HPDS employees are to be copied always use BCC (NOT CC)
- Document ALL phone correspondence with customers (including attempted calls with no answer, voicemail, etc.)
- Maintain ownership and follow up as necessary to ensure completed action. Until an issue is completely resolved YOU are responsible to update as appropriate in SalesForce. Cases should not be closed until the customer’s issue is COMPLETELY resolved
- Always escalate internally yourself and coordinate follow up personally – do not tell customer to call another HPDS person