(Press Release)
RANCHO CORDOVA, CA — VSP Vision Care (VSP), a VSP Global company and the nation’s largest healthcare organization by membership, was recognized as 2015 Contact Center of the Year by Service Quality Measurement (SQM) Group, a specialist firm with an awards program for contact channels.
Each year SQM conducts surveys of customers and employees of more than 500 North American contact centers. Based on its findings, SQM presents awards to contact centers with the highest employee satisfaction rates and highest number customer inquiries that were resolved on the first call.
The Contact Center of the Year designation was awarded to VSP for having the highest combined customer first-call resolution and the highest employee satisfaction rating. Two core elements that Kathy Rodine, vice president of VSP Customer Care, says are a key focus for every customer service representative (CSR). VSP contact centers are located in Rancho Cordova, California and Columbus, Ohio.
“As the number of VSP members continues to grow, so has the volume of calls we receive. Since many customers are able to find answers to frequently asked questions online, the complexity of the calls have increased,” says Rodine. “Still, our customer service team has continued to perform at the highest level and we are honored to have those ongoing efforts recognized by our customers.”
In 2015, VSP Vision Care CSRs answered more than 7.5 million calls. In addition to being named Contact Center for the Year, VSP received the Contact Center World Class Certification, a designation that VSP has been awarded for the past 14 years. This year it shares that recognition with Marchon Eyewear Inc. Marchon, a VSP Global company and one of the world’s largest manufacturers and distributors of quality eyewear and sunwear.
To achieve World Class status, a contact center must perform at 80 percent “top box” satisfaction level or higher, among other criteria. In 2015, VSP Vision Care performed at 87 percent, compared to 71 percent at the average contact center.
A "world class" call is one where the customer indicates:
- Their call was resolved on the first call.
- They were very satisfied with the call center.
- They were very satisfied with the CSR.
Both businesses also received the following SQM awards:
- Highest Customer Service – Insurance Industry (VSP Vision Care)
- Highest Customer Service – Business to Business Sector (VSP Vision Care, Marchon)
- Most Improved Employee Satisfaction (VSP Vision Care)
- Highest Employee Satisfaction – Insurance Industry (VSP Vision Care)
- World Class Employee Satisfaction (VSP Vision Care)
- CSR Training Program Contact Center Best Practice (VSP Vision Care)
- Highest IVR Customer Service Award Best Practice (VSP Vision Care
Sarah Kennedy, senior vice president at SQM, recognized VSP for its commitment to performance, customer service and employee satisfaction.
“VSP has achieved many awards this year including our pinnacle award – Contact Center of the Year,” she says. “This award goes to the contact center that achieves the highest combination of FCR and also employee satisfaction. This is a huge achievement and represents the synergy between happy employees delivering a happy customer experience. Well done VSP.”
VSP and Marchon will be accepting the awards at SQM’s annual conference held in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, May 17-19.