By Brendan B. Read, Senior Contributing Editor of TMCnet.com
Strong partnerships based on excellent, caring, service pays off. Just ask the American Red Cross (ARC) of the Delmarva Peninsula — which serves over 1 million people in Delaware and six counties on Maryland’s Eastern Shore — and teleservices firm Appletree Answering Service. The ARC has renewed its customer care partnership with Appletree Answers: a relationship that began back in 2000, whose longevity, observers say, is rare in teleservices.
The ARC offers assistance 7/24 to local families when disaster strikes. In 2007-2008 it provided emergency disaster relief after 198 fires, floods and other disasters and offered comfort and emergency needs to 295 families in crisis. The organization teaches lifesaving skills such as first aid, CPR and water safety and disaster preparation training. Over 20,000 people were trained on lifesaving while over 10,000 received disaster education in 2007-2008.
The Red Cross Lifeline program is another invaluable service the local chapter provides. Lifeline, which is a personal emergency response system, offers independence to seniors and other vulnerable people while giving peace of mind to their family and friends. More than 450 seniors and other vulnerable citizens became subscribers between 2007 and 2008.
In addition the ARC chapter helps local military families communicate during emergencies, such as when a family member needs to reach their relative in the military such as a death in the family, severe accident, or illness. In 2007-2008 it delivered 1,000 emergency communications messages and other direct services to/for active duty, Reservist and National Guard personnel and their families. The Delmarva Peninsula is home to Dover AFB in Dover, Del. the state capital. This air force base is home to the 436th and 512th Airlift Wings which carries personnel, materiel, cargo, and sadly, the remains of those who died in the service of their country.
Appletree Answering Service provides ARC with customer care for all of these services and more, including card activation calls (when a victim is need of funds, the ARC gives them a card for use and it handles the activation) and media inquiries. It has 49 call center agents who handle their calls. Each agent assigned to them is individually trained on the account by a manager or supervisor.
The firm says its value to the ARC is the ability to demonstrate empathy with very difficult calls: people who have lost their homes in a fire or parents calling for their children in the military to report a death. The call center agents accurately take the necessary information needed and efficiently provide it to the on-call caseworker for the American Red Cross.
“The reputation of the American Red Cross of the Delmarva Peninsula has been built over the past 100 years through caring and concern for those individuals in crisis,” states Daniel Valle, CEO, American Red Cross of the Delmarva Peninsula. “Many people don’t realize the multitude of services we offer until they are in need. To ensure the highest quality customer support for our community after-hours we rely on our dedicated partners at Appletree Answers to be the friendly, helpful, and empathetic voice available 24/7.”
“Our work with the American Red Cross is more than a business to business arrangement,” added John Ratliff, founder and CEO of Appletree Answers. “We consider the Red Cross a strategic partner and are honored to be trusted by an organization where every call is critical.”
Brendan B. Read is TMCnet’s Senior Contributing Editor.