Hilton’s “Call Center Excellence” Aids Loyalty

Behind every successful customer loyalty program, there’s an equally successful customer service center.

Hilton HHonors was recently recognized for “Call Center Customer Service Excellence” under the J.D. Power and Associates Certified Call Center Program. This distinction acknowledges the Hilton HHonors call center operation’s commitment to provide “An Outstanding Customer Service Experience.”

“Most of our loyalty program members call the customer service center because they need a resolution, whether it’s for a reservation or to check on benefits,” said Cindy Baker, VP-Hilton HHonors Customer Service Operations. “If you don’t have a strong experience there, the trust between the consumer and the program starts to erode.”

The certification is the culmination of the entire Carrolton, TX-based call center team’s efforts throughout the last 24 months to evolve its infrastructure in order to reflect the emphasis the Hilton Family of Hotels places on customer service. During that time, the call center became completely paperless, and all 325 employees were trained to use the new electronic databases. This allowed customer service representatives (CSRs) to have more information about its 18 million customers, and the program, at their fingertips, allowing problems to be resolved in, most cases, with one call.

“If you get to the heart of any customer loyalty program, it comes from good value and good experience,” Baker said. “We’re in the business of loyalty, and it should start with the employees in the call center.”

Hilton HHonors employed four tools at its call center that have been instrumental in the evolution: the Train Station and the HHonors Search Central (both designed and developed internally), a case management tool and a satisfaction survey tool.

Train Station electronically delivers updated program and promotional information directly to the desktops of the CSRs, ensuring they always have the most up-to-date information. HHonors Search Central serves as a single repository of program, promotional and hotel information, and was designed to reduce the margin for error when information is pulled from multiple sources that may be at different stages of being updated.

The call center’s case management tool streamlines resolution processing and allows work-load sharing across service locations to ensure the most expeditious and appropriate service recovery, and the contact center’s “Voice of the Customer” satisfaction survey tool enables more sophisticated identification and tracking of specific member service issues and concerns for follow-up resolution.

In 2004, the Hilton HHonors Call Center Operation handled nearly 7 million telephone, e-mail and fax interactions from its call center. The operation successfully passed a detailed audit of its recruiting, training, employee incentives, management roles and responsibilities, and quality assurance capabilities. In addition, J.D. Power and Associates conducted a random survey of Hilton HHonors members who recently contacted its call center. For certification status, a call center must perform within the top 20 percentile of J.D. Power and Associates’ cross-industry customer satisfaction research.

J.D. Power and Associates evaluated a number of brands based on courtesy of the CSR; knowledge of the CSR; the CSR’s concern for the customer questions and/or problem; usefulness of the information provided; convenience of customer service operating hours; ease of getting through to a CSR; and the timely resolution of the customer’s problem, question or request. Certification is valid for one year.

Baker said that call quotas do not exist. Instead, CSRs are encouraged to take as much time as needed to solve problems and make members feel comfortable.

“We are not selling anything, so a quota does not exist,” Baker said. “We want to be a contact center, and truly a loyalty support center.”

Steve Kirkeby, senior director of the telecommunications practice for J.D. Power and Associates, said that Hilton HHonors understands the importance of building customer loyalty and stresses the need to serve customers at every touch point.

“Hilton HHonors has created a highly customer-focused culture driven by specific and well-defined customer priorities and expectations,” Kirkeby said. “These priorities and expectations are aligned throughout the various practices in the call center organization.”

Hilton HHonors is a guest reward program that allows members to earn points and airline miles for the same stay, at nearly any rate, at more than 2,700 participating Hilton, Conrad, Coral by Hilton, Doubletree, Embassy Suites Hotels, Hampton Inn, Hampton Inn & Suites, Hilton Garden Inn, Hilton Grand Vacations Club, Homewood Suites by Hilton and Scandic hotels around the world.

Westlake Village, CA-based J.D. Power and Associates is a global marketing information services firm operating in key business sectors including market research, forecasting, consulting, training and customer satisfaction.