Two employees were named Customer Champion Award winners for the first quarter of 2020. Read more about how Chuck Cave and Anne Payne recently demonstrated the best practices of owning the customer experience.
Chuck Cave
Chuck Cave, Operations Equipment Operator, received positive feedback from Citizens’ customers for going above and beyond his normal job duties. As the canal patrolman, Chuck is responsible for making sure water can flow from the White River into the Central Canal, and then to the White River Water Treatment Plant.
During his daily inspection, one of the things he looks for is trees that could fall into the canal and stop the flow of water.
Customers contacted Citizens with concerns about invasive vines growing around the base of several trees that would eventually damage the trees. With hundreds of trees along the Central Canal, Chuck would not typically look at the base of trees during his normal inspections.
Chuck made it personal and acted with urgency by taking the initiative to spend one day a week removing the vines from the base of the trees to address customer concerns. He also challenged the process, as this was outside his everyday duties. His actions saved the company money, as this would normally be work done by a contractor.
One of the customers who had expressed concern witnessed Chuck, who she referred to as her and her neighbors’ “new hero,” removing the vines. She noted that his truck bed was nearly full after only clearing the vines from a few of the affected trees. In an email, she wrote, “Thanks for this positive response to help our community.”
Anne Payne
Anne Payne, Gas Supply Analyst, discovered that an account for a local church was overbilled.
She acted with urgency to ensure the customer was contacted and that the account was billed properly. Anne made it personal by checking the account the following month and found the same issue. She again made sure the customer was contacted and that a corrected bill was issued.
Anne collaborated with Marketing, Meter Reading, and Customer Billing Services to find and correct the root cause. She closed the loop with the customer, making sure they received a corrected bill and a refund for charges that were already paid. She followed up with the customer to make sure they were satisfied.
“This story is an example of how Anne demonstrates her commitment to customer satisfaction every day,” said her supervisor Michelle Bennington, Manager, Gas Control.
