Customer Service Manager

‘;

847-***-**** linkedin.com/in/kevinzahrte

Aurora, Illinois ******@***.***

Kevin W. Zahrte C.C.S.L.

Manager • Director • Certified Strategic Leader

Operations • Contact Centers • Customer Service/Relations • Recruiting and Development

Accomplished management professional with 18 year track record of successful team building; organizational

development, contact center design and workforce management. Sophisticated understanding and expertise of

customer/client service and call center environments involving complex customer engagements and conflict resolution.

Transformational leader with highly effective planning, process improvement and communication skills and a solutions

oriented approach to problem solving. Customer centric manager able to orchestrate positive relationships and

working environments that fuel world class service, quality and strong performance using superior management skills.

Areas of Expertise Includes:

Staff Recruiting, Coaching, Development Call Center Infrastructure Brand Integration, Loyalty, Growth

Performance and Quality Assessments Turnaround and Redesign Project/Sales/Vendor Management

Budget Management and Cost Controls Metrics/SLA Analysis W FM, HR, Employee Relations

Customer/Client Service Engagement CRM/CMS Platforms Strategic Partnerships/Negotiation

Selected Career Accomplishments:

Chief architect of 7 contact centers with 10-200 seats; 24x7x365 operations; ACD, Web, Dialer, Blended,

B2B, B2C and multi-shift/site platforms; implemented technology, SOP’s, best practices and service levels.

Successfully recruited, hired and trained over 700 associates from entry to executive level demonstrating

expertise in coaching, performance assessment and retention strategies including a 90% retention at ACC.

Directed key marketing, communication, technology, process improvement and training strategies that

enabled world class service to over 10 million customer contacts and 55,000 key broker/vendor accounts.

Delivered exceptional customer experiences by creating the mission behind the brand. Satisfaction ratings

include Simple Truths at 92% and ACC selected best servicing team with a 4.75 of 5 index by the NAMB.

"I hired Kevin to build our service team. Kevin made an immediate impact and transformed the department into a

world-class center. He understands the nuts and bolts of customer care, team building and leadership. I recommend

Dan Green, Executive Vice President - Simple Truths

Kevin to build and lead any customer service operation."

Professional Experience

XCHANGING, Chicago, Illinois 2009-present

Global leader in Business Process Outsourcing, Claims Management and Client Services

Manager – Contact Center Operations; RTA Travel Information Center

Direct customer service onsite in the 2nd busiest travel information center in the U.S. handling over 500,000 calls

monthly. Manage a staff of 135 agents and 7 direct reports within a 20x7x365 ACD service environment. Recruit staff,

develop WFM processes, build staff schedules and institute performance and coaching initiatives. Develop agent and

team metric reports, analyze call data and key trends. Develop executive summaries and implement quarterly business

review presentations to client. Manage a $20 million dollar operating budget ensuring profitability and stability.

Champion high agent productivity and improved scorecards through consistent feedback and staff development.

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Develop key metric performance initiatives and an enhanced coaching model to elevate customer satisfaction.

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Fuel a customer centric culture that has dramatically improved customer compliments and quality audit scores.

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W ork closely with RTA executives to ensure all contractual requirements are satisfied including SLA aspects.

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SIMPLETRUTHS.COM, Naperville, Illinois 2007-2009

Leading publisher and online distributor of personal and professional development publications

Director of Customer Care; Global Contact Center Operations

Turn-around of an under-developed customer service unit. Spearheaded web process improvements, systems

optimization, employee development and service levels. Systems administrator seamlessly implementing Salesforce

CRM, IT/telecom platforms and redesigned web user interfaces. Devised cost controls and business plans with CEO.

KEVIN ZAHRTE • 847-***-**** • ******@***.*** • PAGE 2

Directed service, support and product sales to 25,000 monthly ACD, web and email contacts.

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Championed Ambassador philosophy by fueling strategies, coaching and recognition to deliver “yes we can” service.

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Rebuilt servicing initiatives that produced a 92% satisfaction rating and improved customer retention by 50%.

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Implemented CRM platform that improved email response times for all priority levels from 36 hours to 4 hours.

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Increased contacts per rep by 50%, reduced total contact volume by 40% and decreased total staff costs by 25%.

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ACC CAPITAL HOLDINGS, Rolling Meadows, Illinois 2004-2007

Former financial services enterprise specializing in wholesale and retail lending

Call Center Manager; Customer Relations – Office of the President

Chief project manager in developing a 200 seat, 24x7 contact center overseeing strategic planning, technology/telecom

implementation, resource management and enterprise call convergence. Recruited and trained staff and developed a

comprehensive career curriculum. Deployed key processes that instilled sustainable, consistent and repeatable

improvements – i.e. reporting, tracking and communication. Chief liaison for Office of the President/CEO contacts

working with H.U.D., F.B.I., Secret Service and States Attorney General to spur resolution and closure to legal affairs.

Developed contact center operations from concept to launch in under 60 days, 30 days ahead of schedule.

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Directed world class service and support to 50,000 monthly consumer, broker, vendor and associate contacts.

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Championed C.O.R.E. (Critical Operations Realignment and Engineering) that rebuilt critical workflows, cross

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trained teams on key service procedures and improved the overall quality of internal and external communications.

Maintained employee retention rate of 90% for 30 continuous months resulting in a $1,000,000 payroll reduction.

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(2005-2007)

Manager; Broker-Vendor Management

Managed a team of 75 in Broker Audit, Client Services and Vendor Services responsible for ensuring licenses and

accounts for 55,000 brokers were verified, updated and compliant with state and company guidelines. Identified, planned

and delivered key results related to process efficiencies and client satisfaction using specialized approaches crossing

teams. Cross trained associates on revised servicing programs and championed improved client communications.

Assisted in the improvement of the broker performance scorecard that held clients to strict standards for loan

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performance, adherence and quality. Subsequent default rates declined by 40% in 12 months.

Created new broker account workflow model that improved processing time from 5 days to a guaranteed 24 hours.

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Increased broker applications by 5,000 new accounts in 18 months resulting in $1 billion dollars in funded loans.

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“Kevin was hired to manage a very large call center containing different services. Kevin took an enormous amount of

pride in his job and it reflected from his staff. Kevin was always looking for ways to increase morale and was very

Tami Carnes, Vice President - ACC Capital Holdings

respected by his peers and staff.”

KEMPER MORTGAGE INC, Des Plaines, Illinois 1998-2004

Former Inc. 500 mortgage banker originating residential and commercial lending

Call Center Marketing Manager; Compliance Manager

Chief manager in launching 2 call centers responsible for site selection, recruiting and training, ACD and dialer

technology, database management, consumer-direct calling campaigns, performance benchmarks and HR directives.

Managed 100 customer service sales representatives in Illinois and Ohio units. Charged to direct and monitor all Illinois

account and loan file audits ensuring appropriate storage and loan compliance with the OBRE banking audit division.

Serviced and processed over 700,000 annual blended contacts and subsequent financial related documents.

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Produced 150,000 product applications resulting in over 2,200 consumer loans and $1.1 billion in new loan volume.

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Led the company through 5 annual state company audits resulting in 0 penalties and a 5 of 5 state rating.

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Certification and Education

Computer Information Systems / Business Management - DeVry University (enrolled), Chicago, Illinois

Workforce Management Bootcamp - International Customer Management Institute, Chicago, Illinois 2009

Call Center Leadership Certification - International Customer Management Institute, Chicago, Illinois 2006

Business Management / Administration- Argent University, Rancho Cucamonga, California 2004-2007

Technology

W indows OS (2K/XP/Vista); MS Office 2007, Advanced Excel and Word, Power Point, Access;

Sales Force CRM administrator; Sage CRM; Avaya ACD / CMS; Nortel ACD / Symposium; ESI E-Series ACD / VIP; Crystal

Reporting; Project Manager for IT/Telecom/ACD/Dialer system implementations; Computer and Web Savvy

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