Why Service Matters Most

Too many companies these days view customer experience as a "necessary evil," a cost they must incur to meet minimum expectations. We see it differently. Outstanding service is not only instrumental to the success of our customers, it is also the added value Fusion Connect brings to the table when delivering business-critical communication services.

Unfortunately, we've all run into "reactive" account management when dealing with vendors – the kind of service that bounces you around between departments, trying to get you off the phone as quickly as possible, with minimally-trained reps walking you through scripted solutions.

Leading with Experience

At Fusion Connect, we think there's a better way. As someone deeply involved in shaping our customer experience strategy, I've seen firsthand how a proactive and holistic approach can make a huge difference in customer satisfaction and retention.

"Proactive and holistic" sound like buzzwords, but their meaning is simple. Fusion Connect's customer experience team is dedicated to going the extra mile to ensure our customers get what they need. This isn't just about addressing immediate concerns; it's about looking at the bigger picture and making sure that we build efficiencies to prevent recurring problems.

If you're used to the reactive, siloed approach to service, I guarantee that you will immediately notice the difference, and our customer satisfaction scores back that up.

Full-Spectrum Account Management

At Fusion Connect, customer calls are not a one-and-done motion but part of the complete, full-spectrum view that we take of every customer account.

We monitor and measure service delivery to ensure it meets our highest standards. We examine our internal processes to enhance the overall customer experience. Every aspect of customer interaction, from billing to support, is scrutinized to ensure we are working as a genuine partner in our customers' success.

Within Fusion Connect, the customer experience team represents the voice of the customer, providing feedback and an external point of view to other departments to improve services and reduce churn. Our customer experience team is the focal point for our customers, uniquely positioning us to identify trends and anomalies across all our customer accounts, spot underlying problems, and improve processes company-wide. We don't just resolve individual issues; we look at patterns so we can stay ahead of problems while they are small and keep them from impacting large numbers of customers.

Service Evolution

In the past, we followed the general practices of our industry, handling customer account issues by transferring them to the relevant department. Let's take the case of a customer with a billing question under this model. They call their vendor and a rep listens to their problem and hands them off to their billing team. That rep then marks the issue resolved and compliments themselves on handling the call quickly. But for the customer, was the issue really resolved? Clearly not.

You have probably experienced the frustration of being transferred between different representatives at a company, having to repeat your information and explain your issue multiple times before finally reaching the right person. These experiences highlight the shortcomings of the system from a customer satisfaction standpoint.

Today, our approach is different. We follow up until the problem is solved. Even if a customer has to interact with specific departments, your customer experience manager keeps on top of the situation. Most of the time, service issues can be resolved in a single interaction.

But, in cases where a problem is complex enough to require specialized support and multiple steps, we don't expect you to figure out what needs to happen: your customer experience manager plays a crucial role in facilitating these interactions. We open the tickets, check in with the relevant teams, and double-check that everything is resolved fully and properly.

Measuring the right things

Another place we break with our industry's broken service practices is in metrics. Companies that measure call time, the volume of calls handled, the number of tickets closed, or other granular processes miss the forest for the trees. Efficiency doesn't matter if you deliver a lousy service experience to your customers.

At Fusion Connect, we measure overall satisfaction through high-level metrics, including CSAT scores, NPS scores, churn metrics, and renewals. These indicators help us understand how well we are doing in terms of customer satisfaction and retention.

Since revamping our service processes, we've seen huge improvements in CSAT and NPS scores, showing that our investments are paying off. From our perspective, that's money well spent because happy customers stick around. In a business driven by lowering churn and increasing retention, that's music to our ears.

Scaling the Approach

You may have heard how we've moved our service delivery operation back to the United States to be closer to our customers and ensure we can deliver on our highest standards. Offshore resources may be cheaper on paper, but when you are looking at the big picture, the high turnover and training costs can negate these savings. By focusing on delivering a high-quality experience, we retain more clients, which offsets any increased costs.

We're never done

As we look back on our journey and the results we've achieved, we feel grateful for the successes we've experienced. However, we know we are not perfect and that there is always room for improvement. We truly value each interaction with our customers and understand that providing great service is an ongoing commitment. Every day presents new challenges, and we strive to learn from our experiences to serve you better. Your trust means everything to us, and we are dedicated to ensuring that we meet your expectations consistently, even as we navigate the path ahead.

Don't Settle for Less

Our customers tell us, through their scores and continued business, that our holistic and proactive approach to customer experience is a game-changer. If you are already a customer, thank you! If you're ready to see what you've been missing, Let's Connect! A brief qualifying call with one of our service reps will get you on the path to better communication and collaboration solutions from a provider who takes your satisfaction to heart.

About the Author

Sharma Montgomery

Senior Vice President of Customer Experience

In her role as Senior Vice President of Customer Experience at Fusion Connect, Sharma brings extensive expertise in managing client relationships. A veteran of the Air Force, she began her professional journey as a NOC technician and has also served as a sales technical consultant, a channel manager, and a sales director in direct sales at TCG, PAETEC, and Windstream. With over 20 years in the industry, she has primarily focused on Account Management and Customer Experience, where she has consistently proven her ability to lead, mentor, and engage her teams in fostering lasting, mutually beneficial partnerships with clients while providing innovative solutions to challenging business issues.