Read the article in French.
The customer service department is often seen as the heart of the company. Despite this, the employees are generally unknown; who are the agents that answer your calls or messages? Communauto suggests you get to know some of our customer service experts. These interviews with the ninjas that help you, day and night, will allow you to better grasp the importance of a tight-knit team in this essential department.
Kim
Title: Customer Service Manager Employed by Communauto since: 2013 What does the customer service agent training entail? It’s a comprehensive process: it takes 5 weeks to train an agent. After this period, the agent reaches the first level. If they are motivated, they can continue to grow and move up to the second level; they become content experts. It is important to keep our troops motivated and those who are most reach the third level and can become supervisors. Are there more difficult or critical moments? Billing days are the busiest for us; we can answer over 1000 calls on those occasions! We have approximately 30 agents in the department, so the days are pretty full. We implemented a system to better direct phone calls: each member can speak directly to the person that can help them with their questions or issue.
Bibiche
Title: Customer Service Supervisor
Employed by Communauto since: 2010
How do you encourage the agents to reach their objectives? Kim, the five other supervisors and I, help them to better manage each situation so they can take more calls, improve their written answers and their general ease. Concretely, the agents are subject to a close evaluation: every month we evaluate certain of their calls and every 2 months we “quiz” them to assess their knowledge but also to keep them up to date on certain information. My main role is to support them during their journey at Communauto. Some companies can lack adaptability. According to you, is it possible to maintain a certain level of flexibility in customer service? Indeed, Communauto tries to keep its “human side” and to handle calls on a case-by-case basis. Even though the company has expanded throughout the years, we kept an artisanal level; there isn’t a huge amount of procedures that never end to answer a members’ question.
Roger Joël
Title: Customer Service Agent (writing), Corporate Accounts Employed by Communauto since: 2009 What do you appreciate most from your work with the corporate accounts? We developed a relationship over time and it’s this rapport that I appreciate most. I’ve been taking care of them for 8 years, in addition to my other tasks; we call each other by our first names! You have been with Communauto for 10 years now. How do you think the company has evolved and has your personal perception changed? Honestly in the beginning I was not convinced of the value of car-sharing. I had never imagined that there could be too many cars on the road, but by working with Benoit (Robert), I understood the relevance of a car-sharing service like Communauto. Its fun to see how the company has transformed itself in 10 years. We now have branches in Halifax, Ottawa, Toronto and Paris, to name a few. I am happy to be part of this success and to have contributed to it. To see Benoît in the national media, like the Financial Post for example, only confirms his conviction and the confidence that drives him. It makes me proud!
Wendy
Title: Customer Service Agent
Employed by Communauto since: 2017
You are currently completing a bachelor’s degree; how do you find the work-study reconciliation? It’s going well! I’ve also been able to make some new friends at work; at school its not that easy, you are constantly switching classes so its difficult to create friendships. Do you think the Communauto customer service department differs from other call centers? Absolutely! Honestly, I didn’t want to apply to call centre jobs because I have friends who work there, and the mood is kind of heavy! You really feel the pressure when it comes to performance, but at Communauto its not like that. The team has similar values and we’re all working towards the same goal, so it really changes everything!