Toco Warranty - Customer Service Training or Coaching Program of the Year

Company: Toco Warranty, Los Angeles, CA
Company Description: Toco Warranty offers month-to-month breakdown protection against vehicle breakdowns. Toco’s easy, affordable, & stress-free solutions shield customers from unpredictable disruptions, protecting their assets, families, and budgets. Toco's emphasis on customer satisfaction, company culture, and community outreach create an industry-leading experience and legacy that goes beyond the point of sale.
Nomination Category: Customer Service & Call Center Awards Achievement Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Customer Service Training or Coaching Program of the Year - Business Services Industries

Nomination Title: Hiring is process: Great hiring is an experience

Tony Hsieh claims that bad hires cost Zappos “well over $100 Million”. What are they costing your company?
https://www.businessinsider.com/henry-blodget-tony-hsieh-zappos-2010-10

Toco set out in 2020-2021 to identify those costs and find ways to minimize them by creating a specific and detailed process for onboarding alongside intense training and coaching for our leaders. Combining a systematic approach with a humanistic touch, we evolved existing hiring methods to be more indicative of the standards we set and those we aspire to reach. PRIOR to the first interview performed or job ad placed,we re-imagined the process from start to finish, diving deep into every process, workflow, and touchpoint. We examined what we wanted our outcomes to look like 30/60/90 days after training and worked backwards.

The PRIOR method is focused on:

Profiling: Identifying the character traits and skill sets that we want to see in potential new team members.
Recruiting: Optimizing our ROI on recruiting costs and ensuring that our prospect targeting brings us the best candidates.
Interviewing: Increasing efficiency in the process and ensuring that new leaders are trained and coached towards success and compliance.
Onboarding: Executing a measured and strategized game plan that sets clear expectations, requires disciplined agent actions, and mutual accountability.
Re-engage: Review, revise, and reform new employees, monitoring behavior, addressing areas of concern, and encouraging areas of excellence.

"The hiring process at Toco has been constantly evolving since I joined the company more than two years ago. Over the last four months alone, the process has been meticulously overhauled to accommodate the new virtual world we find ourselves living in. No longer being in office means we had to transition the way we do things, and thanks to the tireless efforts of our leadership team, the change was as smooth and successful as I could have hoped for. This is just one example of how the combined efforts of employees at Toco make this the best company I have ever had the privilege to be a part of.” -Nader, Customer Experience Specialist

Toco is the proud recipient of the 2021 Gold Stevie award for Customer Service Training or Coaching Program of the Year based on our RoundTable initiative. This year we focused our efforts on growth andonboarding the right people. We've traditionally gauged candidates based on:

Can they do the Job?
Will they Do the Job?
Are they a Culture Fit?

Catchy phrases in our hiring process since 2012 were never defined and left open to interpretation, leaving themflat and directionless. We re-defined them as:

Ability:
Candidatesportray the skillset to excel in their given role, accurately and efficiently performing the basic job duties and tasks associated with their position, measured in past performance and a history of excellence.

Desire:
A need to be great and overachieving. Candidates must have a student mindset, be coachable, and have a start-up mentality. Ownership, work ethic and accountability are traits seen in these candidates as well as a desire to set and achieve goals and excel to greatness each day.

Culture:
The most important quality of the three, these candidates match our Ethos and portray our core values, exemplifyingan attitude that looks out for the customer, our colleagues, and our customers.

The Toco Hiring and Recruiting Best Practices outline the following process.
https://tocowarrantycom-my.sharepoint.com/:w:/g/personal/pmcgee_tocowarranty_com/EZhj5LnIghFJnBFpgZlamlsBZiI-iPUbN_gv1cYvUHhq-w?e=AElzic

Toco spent months prior to entering our hiring escalation to prepare our team leads and managers for the task at hand.Managers refined job descriptions and re-dedicated everyone in the interview process to familiarize and re-educate ourselves on all HR best practices for hiring, local and state hiring laws and research strategies to bring into each weekly meeting for discussion.

We identified 30 profile traits of the perfect agent, staying true to our three search criteria and profiling the character traits and skillset we would ideally find in a candidate. We based interview questions and answer-driven statements around these traits and created a scorecard to base them upon.

Onboarding became a checklist to ensure that steps were not missed and an outlined and executed training schedule is maintained, involving multiple agents and leaders throughout foundation training. Goal- setting workshops guide agents to think about personal and professional goals, creating an atmosphere centered around the person, not just the company.
https://tocowarrantycom-my.sharepoint.com/:w:/g/personal/pmcgee_tocowarranty_com/ESYrk06JF4RKuFOctym2Ea8BxOX7YhPxpz7-fQBF2GNgfg?e=42Qo3f

Specific, measured, attainable KPIs are set with the agent to assure that they can answer the question “How do I Know I’m Doing A Good Job?”. 14/30/60/90-day surveys are given to the agent, manager, and trainer to assess performance and optimize production. Additional training and coaching are applied for all agents, reviewing the “game film” of past calls, seeking areas of improvement, and setting aggressive and attainable goals.

We believe that a great customer experience begins with a great employee experience. That begins with bringing in the right people and setting them up for success early. Toco doesn't stop after foundation training, providing continuous education andresources to employees includingUdemy, Audible, and Harvard Business Review, encouraging employees to grow personally and professionally. Toco provides weekly leadership training, encompassing activities such as book clubs, coaching sessions, and philanthropic events.

Toco isthe highest overall rated provider in our space, toppingall competitors on platforms such as BBB, Trustpilot, Affairs, and more. Responding to every review, positive or negative, Toco seeks out resolutions to customers with complications in their situation.

“I have the most amazing experience calling talking to my Toco Warranty customer service agent. Miss Shannon is such an amazing asset to this company. She's very descriptive and everything and anything that you need to know she's knowledgeable about all products and make you feel at ease to what you're doing is the right thing. There should be more customer service agents such as she. Thank you so much Miss Shannon.” Thomas V of Las Vegas

Toco saw the following improvements:

-98% satisfaction ratio from new hire surveys (no previous data to compare since they did not exist)
-61.58% reduction in recruiting costs
-30% increase in successful hires within a 1-week timespan vs previously it took 10-days to complete all stages of the interview process (see attachment for process)

Toco Hiring and Recruiting Best Practices: This guide outlines the Sales and Customer Care training process, including the elements of basic HR requirements, the PRIOR method, Job Descriptions, Core Values, and Onboarding process.

Goal Setting Workshop: Outlines the session dedicated to agent personal and professional growth. This process includes a basic roadmap of setting a journey of success, breaking goals down into milestones and timelines.

Customer Care Scorecard: Outlines the requirements for customer care agents to receive a bonus for superior performance including optimal attendance, customer survey feedback, call QA scores, and six-sigma performance that is error-free.

Toco’s 2021 Gold award winning roundtable process: A call reviewing platform that revolutionized agent performance allowing agents to coach each other in a safe space environment. This process has been modified to every aspect of new operational procedures.

Competitor’s Comparison: A look at how Toco compares with those in our marketspace, providing the highest overall rating on platforms such as the BBB, Trustpilot, Consumer Affairs, and more.

Training KPIs:Outlines the requirements foragents to receive a bonus for superior performance including optimal attendance, Customer Conversion, call QA scores, and six-sigma performance that is error-free.

Review Sites:

Highest Rated provider in the VSC Marketspace (Competitor Comparison attached)

Toco BBB: A+ Rating, Accredited, 4.5 Stars, 103 Customer Reviews
https://www.bbb.org/us/ca/west-hills/profile/auto-warranty-services/toco-warranty-corp-1216-1015707
Toco Trustpilot: 4.5 Stars, over 300 Customer Reviews https://www.trustpilot.com/review/tocowarranty.com

Toco Consumer Affairs: 5-stars https://www.consumeraffairs.com/automotive/toco-warranty.html