After sales support should be an important consideration for consumers especially in purchasing electronic devices such as GPS navigators. The problem is assessing what the service might be like before purchase. TomTom obviously understand this and have recently achieved recognition for call center operation customer satisfaction excellence under the J.D. Power and Associates Certified Call Center Program. As the first portable navigation device manufacturer to achieve certification, TomTom is clearly committed to providing their customers with a positive call center experience, according to Jonathan Brookner the call center certification program director at J.D. Power and Associates.
Considering the certification requirements, the Call Center certification program is one which can give consumers a reliable performance benchmark. Certification requires call center operations to successfully pass a detailed audit of their recruiting, training, employee incentives, management roles and responsibilities, and quality assurance capabilities. A random survey call center customers is also completed. Evaluation criteria for customer support representatives include courtesy; knowledge; concern for the customer; usefulness of the information provided; convenience of operating hours; ease of reaching a representative; and timely resolution. To achieve certification a call center must perform within the top 20 percent of customer service, based on benchmarks based on quality and satisfaction measurements determined from responses from millions of consumers annually.
