We recently conducted an interview with Aureon to discuss a very critical aspect of running a successful shared mobility venture: carsharing call center and customer service. Bobbie Jo Barry, the Director of Business Development at Aureon, stepped in to help us answer 5 questions related to the customer service experience of a car share operation, and how the call center can solve a variety of potential problems for the client.

Carsharing Call Center Interview: Bobbie Jo Barry, Director of Business Development a Aureon

Q1: How does language skills come into play for a call center? Is it common for carsharing companies to require call center agents to be fluent in multiple languages? 

Bobbie Jo: A key differentiator to creating a wonderful customer experience is having the ability to talk to members in a clear dialect with a caring tone in your voice. Staffing bilingual agents is very common for contact centers, and Aureon Contact Center has a location in Iowa with a very large diverse population who speak with clear dialects in both English and Spanish.

q2: How many hours does the company hire the call center for? 

Bobbie Jo: With the cars available 24/7, I would recommend support to be available 24/7 as well to provide a great member experience.

Q3: On your team, are there different roles in the call center? 

Bobbie Jo: Within the Aureon team, there are many roles defined to ensure success. We have agents, leads, trainers and supervisors who support the member and brand experience directly. Aureon has a Workforce Management team who monitors volumes for any anomolies, schedule updates including making adjustments on the fly with breaks and lunches, and manage the department quality assurance programs. Additional roles included in the success of the operation includes customer advocates, client account managers and director.

Q4: When someone is looking to hire your call center, is there any prep work you recommend they should do before reaching out?

Bobbie Jo: I recommend thinking about how they want their customer experience defined. Most of us have encountered some great experiences and some not so great. Using these as a baseline, how could these experiences have created a “WOW” moment. Aureon has lots of great solutions and ideas to create great experiences using our best practices.  With Aureon providing back office support, we want the client to focus on their core business and let us handle the customer experience, it’s what we do best. Also if possible, have contact volumes available, or if the company is a start up, have timelines defined with launch dates and member projections. And finally, how do you want your members to reach you? Aureon has an omnichannel platform that allows customers to reach us phone, email, sms, chat, video and social media channels. 

q5: We imagine there can sometimes be a disconnect between the client (company operating the carsharing service) and the call center, whether that’s getting information about a new promotion or a new feature is offered. Can you provide some good examples of how this disconnect is fixed?

Bobbie Jo: Scheduled communication between the client and the contact center is key. During the implementation process, Aureon establishes defined governance communication practices with the client.  Defining a weekly meeting with specific agenda items can eliminate any disconnects. Monthly and Quarterly Business reviews including the executive and management steering committees can eliminate surpises as well. Engaging our Client Account Manager also ensures service standards and communications are maintained daily.

These insights from the carsharing call center interview with business solutions company, Aureon, gives us a good idea of what is required in terms of customer services and availability for call centres to serve carsharing operations. Are you launching your car sharing service? Check out our Playbook, where you can gain access to a wide array of insights you’ll be sure to require.