One of our core strengths at Foss is outstanding customer service, which consistently outperforms our competitors in speed, reliability and personalization. This blog will explain why we're so confident in stating this and give you an inside look behind the scenes at how we help our customers succeed.
We interviewed Lisa Norkus, Client Representative Supervisor at Foss, who leads our Customer Service team. We asked her a question: Why is Foss's customer service better than at other fleet companies? Her detailed response perfectly breaks things down.
Foss CSRs are real fleet experts with empathy and great decision-making autonomy.
What sets us apart is the freedom we give our customer service team to make decisions and meet client needs. If a client needs something urgently, we do whatever it takes to make them happy, even if it means a team member steps out to handle urgent requests. This flexibility is a key difference between us and other companies. Our team has the autonomy to act quickly and decisively.
This autonomy is based on trust in our team's skills. Each member undergoes three months of training before they pick up their first call. In these three months they become real fleet experts. We don't use scripts - our team is trained to handle various issues and has access to resources throughout the business to solve problems.
We also teach them to connect with clients and build relationships, rather than just answering questions. Foss CSRs might remember previous interactions and ask about personal details, like a client's son's hockey tournament. This personal touch ensures that our clients feel valued and understood when they reach out to us.
An example of this approach in action involved a client facing challenges with vehicle upfitting. One of our team members took the initiative to meet with the dealership and dive deeper into the issue. They recognized that their current vendors were unable to handle large upfitting volumes. Our customer service representative explored vendors capable of managing the project and developed a new process. This streamlined their operations, got vehicles on the road faster, saved money, reduced maintenance costs, and improved the overall client experience.
When you interact with our team, you won't feel like you're dealing with a large corporation. You're not just a number to us; you're a valued partner.
Lisa Norkus, Supervisor Customer Service
Our average call answer time is under 20 seconds, and our average email response time is under 4 hours.
You will always talk to a person. We pride ourselves on our quick response times. On average, we answer calls in under 20 seconds and respond to emails in under 4 hours. This surpasses industry standards and ensures we can meet our clients' needs promptly.
To achieve these fast response times, we have a specialized team dedicated to only answering calls. This First Call Resolution Team aims to resolve 80% of all incoming requests on the spot.
For cases that need more attention, we have a traditional customer service team composed of dedicated reps for specific accounts. They are familiar with their accounts and also support the full-time team on a rotating schedule. This structure guarantees that we always have multiple team members available to take on client requests, ensuring efficient and effective customer service.
Our service hours are from 8 AM to 7 PM Eastern Time. Voicemails left after hours are addressed promptly by our team the following morning. Additionally, we offer 24-hour emergency service for clients in need of roadside assistance or urgent services.
We use data to enhance customer service interactions.
We use a customer service dashboard that collects data from client requests, allowing me to monitor caseloads. I can identify trends and recurring issues, determine whether they are affecting all clients or just a few, and understand why these issues are happening so we can address them. I can also assess how much work each team member has and rearrange tasks to ensure everyone has time to respond to their clients.
Currently, 88% of our first call resolution requests are handled within our OLA (Operational Level Agreement). For our CSRs, 84% of cases are picked up within four hours, and 86% are closed within our OLA.
Foss National Leasing Customer Service Report Dashboard
We balance the use of technology with maintaining a personal touch in customer interactions.
For us, engaging with our clients is key. While it's great to have metrics, numbers, and reports, regularly reviewing that information with the client is what's most important. Each member of my team is responsible for making three proactive calls every month to their assigned group of clients.
During these proactive calls, they discuss any issues the clients might be having, any new projects they are starting, and review proactive reports. They look for anything unusual, and address these issues together. This proactive approach supports our strategic account management team by allowing CSRs to handle day-to-day concerns, enabling account managers to focus on more strategic projects.
For instance, if we notice that a client is experiencing a high number of accidents and is unsure how to deal with them, the customer service representative would bring this up during their proactive calls. They would then meet with the account manager, and together they would propose a solution to the client. This may include enrolling them in our Driver Safety Program or making other fundamental changes.
We actively seek customer feedback and incorporate it to improve our services.
During our proactive calls with clients, we also go back to basics by asking, "How are we doing? What can we do better?" Many of our long-term clients happily provide feedback and recommendations. For some of them, we conduct surveys, asking drivers to provide their experiences and rank our services.
We also conduct annual reviews with our clients. While the strategic account managers primarily handle these reviews, they work closely with CSRs, who interact with clients daily. This builds a strong relationship where clients feel comfortable saying, "This isn't working for me. Let's find a way to make it better."
We often take that feedback and implement it across our business if we think it will benefit everyone. Recently we had a client who wanted detailed information about their tire expenses. In collaboration with other departments we created a tire activity report and made it accessible to all clients.
We heavily invest in training our CSRs, who are our most valuable resource and our main competitive advantage.
For onboarding, we conduct a standard three-month training program we mentioned earlier. New hires get the opportunity to work with experienced CSRs to learn about clients and their unique processes. Since every company does things differently, this exposure is crucial.
We also provide annual refresher training, which is open to everyone on the team, whether they've been with us for 20 years or two months. This ensures they stay updated and don't forget important procedures over time.
We hold weekly customer service meetings to review policies and processes. Additionally, about once a month, we watch a video of a customer service experience—pulled from YouTube—and discuss what was done right, what was done wrong, and how we can improve. This activity is not only fun but also boosts team morale and encourages collaboration to find better solutions for our clients.
Our training approach is highly interactive, going beyond standard online videos and quizzes to ensure our CSRs are well-prepared to support their roles effectively.
We send staff off-site for training as well. For example, a few months ago, a group of newer CSRs visited an auction to learn about our Remarketing Program, which is utilized by almost all our clients. The feedback was fantastic, as it enhanced their knowledge of the fleet industry. We also invite dealerships and OEMs to provide training sessions.
Our team operates based on six core values: integrity, service excellence, positive attitude, relationships, results-driven, and continuous improvement. Everyone is empowered to make decisions and recommendations based on these values, fostering an open culture. During customer service meetings, we celebrate highlights and discuss challenging situations, empowering our team to live our values and continually improve our business.
Conclusion
We excel at providing outside-the-box solutions, offering a level of flexibility that other fleet management companies might not provide. Having worked with multiple fleet management companies, I can say that what sets Foss apart is our focus on relationships. We accommodate our clients, accept their feedback, and are willing to change parts of our system based on their suggestions. This willingness to adapt and personalize processes for specific clients is something I know wouldn't happen in other places.
Another thing we do very well is serving smaller businesses. While larger fleet companies tend to prioritize their big fleets, we understand that smaller clients have different needs. That's why we have a dedicated team to serve small accounts, whether they have one vehicle or one thousand. Every client is important to us, and our inclusive mindset sets us apart from the average FMC.
Despite our significant growth in recent years, our customer service model has remained unchanged. We continue to treat each client with the same personalized approach that we did when we were a smaller business, maintaining that family-oriented feel. When you interact with our team, you won't feel like you're dealing with a large corporation. You're not just a number to us; you're a valued partner.
