Customer Contact Specialist I

Position Summary

This position has primary responsibility for all District customer inquiries and satisfaction of contacts made through the Centralized Customer Care Center or reporting office location by providing quick identification of customer needs, resolution to inquiries, requests, and complaints based on knowledge of the organization. This includes support of all District Retail, Corporate, and after-hours answering partner customers. Incumbent provides outsource call answering and emergency monitoring services to multiple partnering utilities. Incumbents are responsible for significant system monitoring and emergency management of information where detailed processes and procedures must be accurately followed to ensure efficient handling of situations. Detailed reporting and financial review of the customer billing system is completed daily, along with extensive collection management and account reviews.

Assignment to this position and a condition of continued employment will be the ability to arrive from your residence to the Centralized Customer Care Center or office reporting location within 30 minutes of notification of a call-out.

Education, Training and Experience

Requires a High school diploma/GED plus two years of experience in customer service or operational support is required. Excellent keyboarding skills (minimum of 35 words per minute), completion of written and grammar skills test, and the ability to present oneself in a professional manner is required.

Must successfully pass the Specialist progression program requirements, as outlined in the program.

Prior Related Experience
Experience working with customers through operational support, retail business, sales, or a utility-specific company is required. Experience in Windows-based software including but not limited to, Excel, Word, Outlook, PowerPoint, and Teams applications is required. Experience in public speaking is desired.

Licenses and/or Certifications

Not Applicable

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

Provide excellent customer service to Retail, Corporate, and after-hours answering partner customers by providing knowledge-based solutions through Corporate and business unit policies and procedures to ensure the customer's and the District's best interests are met. This may include, but is not limited to, service order requests, new services, billing/payment/rate inquiries, maintaining/updating customer account information and a variety of service-related issues, including outage reporting, new products and services, account review of meter exceptions, account deposit, and a variety of miscellaneous services and information for the District. Following District guidelines in ensuring confidentiality of customer‘s private data and customer education to prevent scams and fraud related to their accounts.

Responsible for identifying gaps in customer's orders or accounts where balances are questionable based on normal monthly billing totals and ensuring complete correspondence and follow-up with customers. Maintain collection process from the time customer becomes delinquent until payment is received or disconnect order has been generated. This includes, but is not limited to, Accounts Receivable review, contacting delinquent customers, generating disconnect for non-payment service orders, processing requests for reconnect, and must have a working knowledge of different types of metering equipment across the state. Responsible for analyzing multiple technical reports which ensure the integrity of the billing system and various other systems. Ensure the integrity of financial transactions by following daily payment handling processes and completing necessary daily reporting of financial processes. Complete daily reporting to after-hours utilities on the contact load handled for each utility.

Respond to internal and external customer requests using written and oral communications. Customer inquiries include, but are not limited to, emergency 911 calls for utilities, District-wide billings, after-hours utility customers, Cooper Nuclear Station rumor control and testing, Corporate District emergency service notification protocols, Corporate project inquiries, after-hours call answering for Corporate departments, discount and rebate programs, monetary aid programs for end-use customers, District interpreter services, preplanned outage communications to customers, seasonal responsibility for contact with retail irrigation customers for load control synchronization and point of contact for other District departments.

Provide proficient use and extensive knowledge of District systems to record, identify, and generate necessary documentation and tickets for District Retail, Corporate, and after-hours answering service partner customers.  Responsible for monitoring, answering, filing, and forwarding customer contacts received through  various online communication channels. Responsible for administering and maintaining emergency customer data, including life support, disconnect for non-payment, load management, and key accounts. Responsible for creating and maintaining the electronic resource tool used to house all procedures that must be followed within the business units. Monitor, review, and document information for District compliance in accordance with established criteria.
 

Accountable for other duties as assigned.

Core Competencies