It’s time to stop worrying about all the issues that come with low customer engagement, and instead, transform your operations to become the leading utility company in your area.
Learn about the women at the helm of City of Provo’s Customer Service department, whose transformative approach led to a nomination for Utility2030’s Women Who SPARK Award in Business Transformation.
The silverblaze team sat down with our partners, the City of Provo 311 Customer Service department to discuss the transformative ways they overcome challenges to best serve their community. To do this, they use a non-governmental approach when delivering essential services and continuously upgrade their operations, such as integrating billing services for multiple departments, and offering their customers the ability to manage their accounts, by way of an interactive customer engagement portal. At the head of the Customer Service department sits Amanda Ercanbrack, Director of Customer Services, Britny Densley, Call Centre Manager, and Annalee Larsen, Billing Manager. Their department is key to the City of Provo’s “OneProvo” initiative, as they serve as the main point of contact for residents. By managing essential interactions efficiently, Provo 311 Customer Service supports various departments, streamlines processes, and boosts the overall efficiency of city operations, ensuring they provide exceptional care to their community.
To recognize the amazing contributions to their community and organization, the silverblaze team nominated Britny, Annalee, and Amanda for Utility2030’s Women Who SPARK Business Transformation Award. This nomination acknowledges them as leaders who steer holistic, transformative changes within their organization. Specifically, the Business Transformation Award recognizes female professionals—from utility and vendor companies—for their contributions to mentorship, innovative solutions, and business transformation, including bringing operations and customer-facing departments together.
Being nominated for the 2024 Women Who SPARK; Business Transformation Award is a tremendous honor for us. It recognizes our efforts to provide our residents with a non-governmental approach to customer service. In short, customer service should be customer driven. Impressions are driven by interactions, and as any favorite retail provider, we should strive for positive, effective interactions that will build loyalty. This nomination also reflects our dedication to innovation, mentorship, and improving collaboration between operations and customer-facing departments.
It’s a validation of the hard work and passion we bring to our roles, and it motivates us to keep pushing the boundaries in the utilities space, as well as governmental bureaucracy in general.
Being acknowledged alongside such inspiring female professionals is both humbling and energizing, and it strengthens our resolve to continue making a positive impact.
We love to have the opportunity to make a tangible impact on the daily lives of residents by ensuring they have reliable access to essential services. We enjoy the problem-solving aspect, where we come together to solve complex problems. Additionally, we appreciate the continuous learning and innovation in this field, which allows us to improve our services and adapt to new challenges. Most importantly, we value the sense of community and collaboration.
In our journey, we’ve faced several challenges, including:
Adapting to Rapid Changes: The fall of 2021 was challenging for Provo 311 Customer Service. The former director, who was long-term and extremely knowledgeable, retired after implementing entirely new billing systems, and much of the implementation and billing team followed their lead by retiring within weeks of one another. This forced the department into a great deal of change; with Amanda as the new director, she quickly appointed Britny and Annalee to their roles, and we all dove in to learn a brand-new billing system that some of us had never seen before. This took a tremendous amount of time, dedication, and commitment – not to mention a few tears shed along the way. But in the end, we are thriving and grateful for the experience that allowed us to learn the systems and integrations from the inside out.
It allowed us the opportunity to ask “why”, creating space to create new innovative workflows and eliminate unnecessary legacy procedures.
Integrating Departments: Our billing operation is unique because we provide this service for two different departments: power and public works. We had to find a way to bring the two very different and siloed departments into sync to allow for a seamless billing experience for our customers. Each department had selected their own, different, meter database management systems, with little consideration to how this impacted the billing process. We began a weekly coordination meeting with power, public works, and finance, to strategize best practices and form unifying policies. Eventually, these meetings were moved to monthly, but are still very relevant and purposeful.
With the help of silverblaze, we were able to provide customers with a single source for both power and water meter data.
Meeting Diverse Customer Needs: We are a uniquely young community, with Provo’s average resident being just 24 years old. While we are a thriving college town, we have a very traditional familial community at our core. The result is the challenging of providing meaningful billing data to a very diverse population. Despite having numerous electronic bill and payment options, nearly 40% of our population still chooses to pay by check. We want to be sure that customers can interact with us in a way that is most comfortable for them.
Driving Innovation: In a highly educated and technology focused community, we find ourselves constantly looking for the next opportunity to increase our service levels and provide customers with a top-notch experience. We pay attention to the details of our operation and know this makes a difference to the overall experience. While focusing on innovation through online convenience, we don’t lose sight of the personal touch. When you enter our building, you are promptly greeted by one of our highly trained customer service agents. This rotational ‘greeter shift’ allows agents to welcome residents to their city hall and then personally direct residents to their destination. Innovative, friendly, and efficient—three words not typically attributed to government, but exactly the experience we are creating in Provo.
Provo has been a long time silverblaze customer; even before silverblaze was acquired by Harris, Provo had great relationships with the silverblaze team.
Interestingly, much of the current silverblaze team was brought in at the same time as the drastic turnover Provo experienced. Together, we’ve built a new foundation and continuously work to constantly improve our system.
Greg McCarthy (Director of Sales and Marketing at silverblaze) and his team go out of their way to ensure we meet whenever we are attending the same conferences, and we look forward to our interactions.
The silverblaze portal gives us the ability to present our customers with meter data from two very different meter database solutions.
Our customers should never know the amount of work it takes to provide a single bill for services from two very different departments – and silverblaze helps us accomplish this.
We enthusiastically recommend silverblaze to our colleagues on a regular basis through in-person encounters and formal reference calls. If you are interested in elevating the utility billing process to the next level, silverblaze is the way to go.
For women entering the utilities and public works industry, it is important to seek mentors who can provide valuable guidance and support throughout your career.
Building a strong network through industry events and professional organizations can open many doors. Gaining practical experience through internships or entry-level positions is crucial – and how each of us got started.
Be confident in your skills and actively seek opportunities for growth and advancement. Additionally, support and advocate for diversity and inclusion within the industry.
Remember that your contributions are vital and valued. Continue to pursue your passions with confidence and determination. Seek out and support one another, fostering a community of mentorship and collaboration. Make the job what you want it to be – find joy in your team and celebrate your wins often.
At silverblaze, we take pride in both our employees & partners who strive to make a difference every day – the ability to nominate Provo 311 Customer Service is truly an honor. To Britny, Annalee, and Amanda, thank you for your time, commitment, and most importantly, for driving service forward in the utility and software sector!
Interested in learning more about how silverblaze can upgrade your customer service for your utility customers? Contact us today! We can help you explore a variety of customer engagement solutions and develop a strategy that meets your unique needs.
