The Stories That Matter – Best of Appletree 2011

Posted on January 10, 2012 by Sarah Wilson

Looking back on the past year, the days and moments quickly passed us by between a blur of projects, deadlines, tasks, and meetings but through the storm here are the moments that stuck in our mind. Throughout this past 12 months, our culture, ways of business, and relationships have evolved.  While change can be intimidating, we’ve faced this year’s challenges with determination and came through on top.

We can certainly report numbers and statistics for the year, but this post highlights the stories and moments that touched our hearts and made us proud to be an Apple.

Idea Flash

What started as an idea became a reality this year and generated 7,774 ideas on top of that. Idea Flash is a desktop application that gives every employee easy access, at any time, to submit an idea that could benefit our company, our customers, or our employees.  All ideas are reviewed by Appletree’s Idea Flash committee and then determined whether or not they will be implemented.  The goal of this application is to give every Appletree employee a voice. It is also a tool we use in our never-ending pursuit of building both employee and customer loyalty.

Our entire 3rd quarter theme was surrounded around our Idea flash application and several prizes were awarded (including a couple $1,000 prizes) based on randomly selected ideas submitted. We also created a humorous video to educate our employees on idea flash and how it will benefit the company, employees, and customers.

Watch our Idea Flash video here.

Appletree Proves that Dreams Really Do Come True

Appletree’s Dream On program has been around since 2008 and was started by our CEO, John Ratliff. Every employee at Appletree has the opportunity to submit one dream to the Dream On committee. There are no limitations or restrictions on what the dreams can be. The Dream On committee then meets and randomly grants dreams for our employees!

Appletree respects the desire for many of our employees to keep their dream private, however, a few opted to share their story with us and can be found in past blogs.
One particular dream that brought smiles to many was that of Luis Agosto, our operations manager in Puerto Rico. Luis’ dream was to go to game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals to cheer on his Bruins in Boston. Watch his reaction on video here as he learns that his dream is about to come true. Luis teaches all of us at Appletree to ‘DREAM BIG’.

Another story that touched the hearts of many was that of Araceli and her dream to have her entire family home for the holidays. Read her story here.

Santa’s Answering Service

Back by popular demand, Appletree took calls for Santa this year. Appletree’s experts served as Santa’s helpers throughout the month of December and answered calls from children (and a couple of adults) to deliver their holiday wish lists. Appletree topped records for the year and answered more than 22,000 calls for Santa.  Read all about our Santa’s answering service campaign here.

One particular caller had a very special wish for Santa this year and Appletree’s Dream On committee helped make her dream a reality.  Read all about her story and listen to her call here.

Appletree Gives Back

Appletree decided to donate $1 for every customer response received on our quarterly customer survey (net promoter).  As an added incentive for our customers to fill out this survey and email it back to us, we offered to donate $1 to the Ronald McDonald House (RMH) for every response received. To say the least, the response was uplifting and we were thrilled to receive the feedback.  To read more about our donation, and the Ronald McDonald House, read our post.

Pink Out Week

What started as a dare for one employee to dye their hair pink for Breast Cancer Awareness turned into 120 employees dying their hair pink for Appletree’s first ever PINK OUT WEEK.

See photos here.

Appletree Named a Top Workplace

Appletree was recognized by the Delaware News Journal as a Top Workplace.

Read press release here.

So as you can see, it’s been a big year for Appletree and we’re proud of what we’ve accomplished these past 12 months. There is never an idea too big or too small at Appletree and we work hard to make sure every voice is heard. We’ve been able to take a couple ideas and implement them to benefit our employees, customers, and company this year.

Does this mean we are going to sit back and enjoy the ride in 2012?  NO WAY! There are already BIG goals and plans underway for the coming year and we can’t wait to keep you updated on what’s to come through our blog.  So check back for updates.

Enough about us. Let us know what goals your business has for 2012 and how you are you planning to tackle these challenges?

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Appletree Customer Spotlight – Success Academy Charter Schools

Posted on January 4, 2012 by Nancy O'Connor

 Success Academy Charter Schools are free, public schools founded on the simple premise that every child deserves a high-quality, free public education.  They currently operate nine schools in New York City and will open three additional schools in August of 2012.  Their mission is to serve scholars by preparing them to succeed at a selective college and in life, as well as reform the public school system in ways that will help every child access a world-class education.

As the network of schools continues to expand and the number of applicants per year rises exponentially, call volume from prospective families increases drastically as well.  It became apparent during the Fall of 2010 that Success Academy would need to utilize external resources to assist in fielding questions to provide prospective families with quality service. 

“After researching various agencies, we chose Appletree based on cost, experience and excellent client service,” says Traci Freeman, Enrollment Manager for Success Academy Charter Schools.

About one year ago Appletree partnered with Success Academy and has been integral in helping manage calls from parents of prospective scholars during the application and enrollment seasons.

Appletree is often trusted to be the first point of contact for prospective families who have simple questions regarding the application process.  Since Success Academy’s staff is no longer inundated with basic calls, they have been able to maximize their productivity by dedicating time to other projects and tasks. Appletree has also helped identify any technical difficulties with the application and enrollment website through fielding callers’ questions. 

In addition to Appletree’s inbound call center services, Success Academy uses Appletree’s reporting system, Appletree Insights.  They primarily use the reporting system to listen to recordings of call center experts’ responses to inquiries.  This feature enables them to determine if they have provided the necessary scripting for the experts to adequately address questions. Appletree Insights is also helpful in tracking call center volume during various points of the recruitment and enrollment seasons and monitoring the actual number of monthly calls and minutes used versus projections.

Success Academy Charter Schools have made improvements based on Appletree’s inbound call center and detailed reporting services. Appletree’s services allow Success Academy to focus on serving their scholars the best education possible while Appletree Insights help quantify parent feedback and respond to parent concerns nimbly and efficiently.   

For more info on Success Academy Charter Schools:

E: enrollment@successacademies.org

T: 646.472.1911

www.successacademies.org

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Santa’s Answering Service Makes Young Girl’s Dream Come True

Posted on December 30, 2011 by Nancy O'Connor

Appletree Answering Service held their 2nd annual Santa’s Answering Service campaign this holiday season.  With a goal to provide a fun experience for children all over the world, Santa’s Answering Service exceeded all expectations on many occasions.

The campaign drew in a 1200% increase of calls this year,  listening to over  22,000 wish lists.  The popular toys such as American Girl dolls, video games, and Barbie were big hits, but one little girl’s wish really made Appletree realize what the holidays are all about.

On December 14th, Jessica the Elf answered a call from a little girl who was asking for a few gifts on her list, but also shared a very heartfelt wish for Santa which stood out among most.

The elementary aged girl wanted Santa to make her friend’s Christmas extra special because he had been battling cancer since birth.  This sparked a domino effect of Christmas joy throughout many lives on that Wednesday afternoon.  After Jessica the Elf promised the young girl that her message would make it to Santa, she immediately knew she needed to do something special for both Jackie and her friend.

“It was a great reminder that if a child could say that she wanted this and that, but wanted her friend in need to have more, then why can’t I take a step back and see that,” said Jessica the Elf.

Jessica demonstrated her own selflessness by submitting a dream through the Appletree Answers employee Dream On program for Jackie and her friend to have a spectacular Christmas. Read more at http://www.santasansweringservice.com to see how Santa’s Answering Service turned these dreams into a reality.

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Appletree’s Net Promoter Results in Donation to Ronald McDonald House

Posted on December 21, 2011 by Nancy O'Connor

Appletree Answering Service surveys their customers once per quarter using Net Promoter.  A Net Promoter originated from the book “The Ultimate Question” by Fred Reichheld and is a tool for measuring success through customer feedback.  Essentially, Appletree asks their customers one question based on the services they are provided, “Based on your experience in the last 90 days, how likely would you be to recommend Appletree?”

After seeing a 5% increase in responses in their 3rd quarter survey reminders, Appletree Answering Service decided to give incentive starting from their initial 4th quarter Net Promoter survey.  For every response, Appletree agreed to donate $1 to the Ronald McDonald House.  The incentive paid off, literally.

When the final results were tallied, Appletree Answering Service recorded an all time high with a 35% increase in responses.  Though Appletree was pleased with their number of responses, they were even more excited about the donation they were able to make.  On Monday December 19th, a few Appletree employees delivered the check in person to the Ronald McDonald House of Delaware, as seen below.

The Net Promoter survey is not only benefiting Appletree and it’s customers, but a different charity each quarter as well.  The Ronald McDonald House is one of Appletree’s favorite charities, and will continue to make donations beyond the Net Promoter survey.

Stay tuned to see where Appletree will donate to for the first quarter of 2012!

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Spirited Fun at Appletree

Posted on December 19, 2011 by Sarah Wilson

No doubt a pie in the face brings laughs, especially when that person is your boss. At a recent holiday party, Adam Azoulay, operations director, shows his team just how committed he is to making sure each message is 100 percent accurate. A message accuracy contest was held in our Wilmington, Delaware office and the winner of the contest got to shove a pie in the face of his or her director. Watch as our contest winner takes full advantage of her prize. Just another way Appletree employees show some spirited fun this year!

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