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Annual Report 2011 - Watercare

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<strong>Watercare</strong> Services Limited<br />

<strong>2011</strong> ANNUAL REPORT<br />

<strong>Watercare</strong><br />

at work<br />

Customer centre fields 300,000th call<br />

<strong>Watercare</strong>’s customer centre passed a major milestone in June<br />

<strong>2011</strong>, fielding its 300,000th call since it was established eight<br />

months earlier.<br />

“We had the basics in place, but could still do more to improve<br />

staff knowledge and skills to ensure we are providing services<br />

to customers more effectively.”<br />

The customer centre was created to manage both inbound and<br />

outbound calls plus customer-related correspondence items<br />

for around 430,000 households.<br />

Setting up the customer centre posed several challenges, not the<br />

least of which was educating new customer advisors on the six<br />

different charging mechanisms and service level agreements in<br />

place in the former local and district council areas – all of which<br />

had to be maintained as part of a seamless customer transition<br />

to <strong>Watercare</strong>.<br />

In its first two months of operation, the customer centre failed to<br />

meet its performance targets as large volumes of calls were received<br />

and systems were refined. However, performance has improved<br />

continuously since January and the centre is now consistently<br />

meeting or exceeding its targets.<br />

Chief Services Officer Trish Langridge attributes the improvement<br />

to initiatives focused on individual staff performance and policy<br />

changes, including the development of templated responses,<br />

the introduction of a single water tariff and the development<br />

of an online knowledge centre.<br />

Trish says that with the integration phase now behind them and<br />

performance tracking at consistently high levels, the customer<br />

centre is working on initiatives that will help deliver the best<br />

possible customer experience.<br />

“These improvement opportunities include participation in<br />

the development of a new hardship strategy to assist those<br />

customers who have difficulty paying for the services they<br />

receive from <strong>Watercare</strong>. This involves the establishment of<br />

an independent trust that will offer budgeting advice and<br />

assistance to these customers,” Trish says.<br />

The customer centre is working on initiatives<br />

that will help deliver the best possible<br />

customer experience.<br />

Customer satisfaction<br />

Customer Advisor Margaret Puni in the new customer centre in East Tamaki.<br />

PAGE 39<br />

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