By: LeAnn Talbot, Senior Vice President, Comcast Freedom Region
As a regional leader, I am lucky to get a firsthand look everyday at what an amazing group of dedicated Comcast employees we have in Philadelphia and across our region. They are proud of our hometown and heritage here, passionate about our products and services, and truly committed to delivering a high-quality experience for every customer.
After all, we are a local company that has been part of this region for more than 50 years. We live in the communities we serve, and our friends and neighbors freely share their feedback. We have been listening, and we’re well underway with the work required to achieve our goal and number one priority: to be known for a great customer experience.
I’m very excited about the significant announcements we made at the INTX expo in Chicago today and I’m ready to join with our 6,000-plus region employees to continue the hard work that will make these new commitments a reality.
This is a journey that will take some time, but as we prepare for what’s next, I’m proud to share that we have already made more than 20 improvements that hopefully our customers recognize. Some highlights of our progress:
Valuing Customers’ Time
We’ve hired additional technicians, customer care and service center employees, shortened our phone wait times and narrowed our service windows to two hours or less. We’re even testing new technology that will allow customers to track when their technicians will arrive for an appointment.
Through our XFinity My Account app, Comcast customers don’t have to hear call waiting music ever again. They can schedule a time for a representative to call them, or even use the interactive troubleshooting guide to fix issues themselves. Customers can also find support from our recently-expanded Social Care team on Twitter, Facebook and other social platforms. These employees are equipped to work with customers to support them in real time, on any platform.
Making Things Simple
Returning unneeded equipment doesn’t get much simpler than our partnership with The UPS Store. Customers can drop off their equipment to be shipped back to us for free. Walk in, drop off, that’s it. To date, about 90 percent of UPS Store locations across Comcast’s footprint have processed customer equipment. In Philadelphia alone, there are eight UPS Store locations available to help our customers.
We’ve developed simpler, more informative customer bills that clearly show account activity, charges, pending charges and promotions. We’re also working with a company to create short, personalized videos that customers will receive via e-mail to explain each bill.
Transforming Our Customer Service Centers
We’re continuing to invest in and expand our retail presence to transform it to a more customer-centric and service-oriented experience that emphasizes choice and control. We’ve opened five new Xfinity Stores in the Philadelphia market, including Cottman Avenue and Aramingo Avenue, with plans to introduce up to 10 more in 2015. Customers can satisfy a wide range of their needs in these locations, from picking up equipment and paying bills to experiencing new Xfinity products. Conveniences like digital queuing monitors have also been added to give customers a better sense of when they’ll be served during busy times.
Empowering Our Employees
Earlier this year, we outfitted our technicians with iPhones, which helps to streamline all the information they need to manage their schedules and get to our customers. They also use the devices to perform “whole home checks” to make sure all equipment is working correctly, and they’re able to demonstrate apps for customers – right in the palms of their hands.
Another way we’ve empowered our employees is taking the opportunity to learn from them. We’re engaging our customer care leaders – the folks who handle our most complex service calls – in identifying our greatest opportunities for improvement moving forward. We’re constantly in communication with our service staff to find out what customers need and how we can make it easier for them to deliver the kind of experience our customers want.
We’re excited about what’s next: the journey to reinvent the customer experience and create a culture of exceeding expectations. We hope you’ll feel our enthusiasm and begin to look at us in a whole new way. For our part, we’ll continue to commit to work of change and share more exciting announcements in coming months. Please stay tuned!
