Customer Service Rep (Applications)

Position Summary

The Customer Service Representative (CSR) in Applications provides excellent customer service to our customers by providing support in all areas concerning their utility accounts and performs a variety of complex administrative work within the customer service department. The individual should have excellent written and oral communication skills, a positive attitude, strong work ethic, extreme professionalism, the ability to work independently, and a passion to serve others. This includes the ability to multi-task and type while interacting face to face or on the phone without being distracted by others and the ability to manage emotions in stressful situations. The CSR in Applications must have the ability to apply critical thinking strategies to autonomously resolve customer grievances.

The representative is highly involved in interacting with external and internal customers via in person, telephone, fax, letter or email. The CSR in Applications will be familiar with the general duties and responsibilities of the New Construction, Conservation and Customer Solutions, Electric Engineering, Electric Operations, Water Engineering, Water Operations, Laboratory and Control Center teams to facilitate customer inquiries and direct to the appropriate department.

The CSR in Applications is responsible for the administration of complicated customer service-related issues, researching problems, making account adjustments or corrections, and performs other duties as assigned. This position requires independent judgment, interpretive ability related to technical knowledge of utility billing, customer service procedures and policies, and responsible for managing assigned workload, setting goals, prioritizing work, evaluating results and taking corrective action as needed. The CSR in Applications acts with a sense of urgency, is solution-oriented, approachable, professional and takes great pride in working with customers to deliver an experience that meets and, at times, exceeds their expectations.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT

Obtains account information from customers and explains charges on utility bill while maintaining confidentiality
Conducts account searches by utilizing the Customer Information System (CIS); Northstar
Process service requests: connect, disconnect and transfer of service
Investigates, researches and resolves problems in accordance with established policy and procedures
Researches refunds, reverses late fees, NSF fees, processing fees, and tampering fees, if applicable
Provides meter reading and data analysis on electric and water meters using MeterSense
Offers and explains the additional services and programs available such as; auto draft, auto pay, pick your due date, budget billing, ways to pay, senior citizen billing and critical care.
Provides information about utility bill assistance program and the contact information for the various agencies that aid with their particular need
Understanding of the necessity and value of accuracy and attention to detail; ability to process information with high levels of accuracy
Serves as a peer resource and may perform general administrative support

Provides proof of residency, customer account summaries for tax or financial assistance purposes and other requested customer account documentation
Familiar with Microsoft suite to draft emails, compose memos and construct spreadsheets to communicate with customers, internal and external.
Ability to manage multiple concurrent objectives, projects, groups, or activities, making effective judgments as to prioritizing and time allocation.
Offer solutions and solve problems that are sometimes unstructured and that may require reliance on conceptual thinking.
Record the details of every action taken in the CIS system; as well as the complaints, comments, and inquiries from the customers, and maintains confidentiality of information
Works effectively under pressure and with frequent interruptions
May be required to work in one or multiple queues/skill sets over various customer contact channels
Keep informed of NBU?s rate structure, Service Conditions Policy and City of New Braunfels Code of Ordnance, Chapter 130, to effectively educate customers on the governance of their accounts
Researches CIS system to confirm if applicant has any past account balances. If outstanding balance is found, sets up payment arrangement and forwards to Collections Representative
Schedules re-reads on electric and/or water meters, schedules energy or water assessments, compares electric and water usages, calculates and performs qualifiable billing adjustments, as needed

DATA ENTRY/PROCESSES

Applying cash/check deposit payments collected to the correct customer number
Transfer deposit payments daily when active account is established
Complete a Deposit Distribution journal daily to ensure the correct deposit amount is applied to the correct account
Create deposit payment arrangements
Manage and monitor Guarantor program, including monthly reporting and processes
Manage and monitor Critical Care program, including bi-annual reporting, all inquiries and account management on eligible accounts
Code eligible tax-exempt accounts in CIS system
Evaluate, process, and calculate refunds if needed by examining a tax-summary for a 4-year time period, per account
Apply credit card deposit transactions into the CIS system daily
Scanning, filing, organizing, printing, copying, other duties as assigned

INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL COMMUNICATION

Responsible for handling email requests, as needed
Participates in activities designed to improve customer satisfaction and business performance
Identify and improve service delivery with a goal of increasing customer satisfaction
Actively contribute and recommend continuous process improvement to increase department efficiencies
Thorough knowledge of city utility services and charges
Skill in active listening, taking time to understand, and asking questions as appropriate
Ability to deal effectively with the public in processing customer requests and complaints and coping with extreme cases of human behavior
Assists in training employees with similar tasks and new processes within and across departmental lines
Maintains calm composure and commitment to work during periods of heavy workload and stressful situations
Verifies caller?s identity via Online Utility Exchange for application or debt collection purposes when customer is applying by phone
Understands and can demonstrate how billings are calculated to successfully educate the customers
Advise, educate, and engage customers on a variety of technological tools and resources allowing them to explore solutions to achieve their goals
Becomes familiar and understand the duties and responsibilities of other key departments to accelerate resolution to customer requests

GENERAL RESPONSIBILITIES

Maintain regular attendance; leave schedule should be managed so as to not interfere with ability to accomplish tasks, including special projects and assignments with deadlines
Adhere to NBU safety guidelines and practices at all times and in all situations
Maintain a clean and safe work area, office, field site and vehicle as applicable
Develop & maintain effective customer service skills for communications with co-workers, customers and the public in general
Maintain strict confidentiality of business, employee and customer information in written and oral communications and safeguard sensitive documents
Adhere to NBU policies and procedures
Exemplifies NBU Core Values of Integrity, Stewardship, Team and Safety
Participate in and support initiatives to reach annual NBU Performance Measures

Formal Education and Work Experience Requirements

Degree/Diploma Obtained: High School Diploma/GED Field of Study: General Studies

Work Experience Time Frame: One Year or More

Other: - Bilingual in Spanish is a preferred

Other Minimum Qualifications

Three years of experience in customer service relations, preferably in utilities.
Utilize current versions of computer software and hardware provided by NBU to research customer accounts, perform data entry, and to create other documents that are clear, accurate and grammatically correct.
Other Software Knowledge

Harris NorthStar (CIS system) including mCare, eCare, Customer Connect, ADP ezLabor (payroll), High Cotton (outsourced bill mailer), Halogen (evaluations), OnBase (electronic document storage), Microsoft Office Suite.

Experience with Machines, Tools, Equipment and Other Work Aids

Personal Computer, Copier, Fax Machine, Scanner, Printer, Calculator, Telephone

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