Customer Service Manager

Perry B. Cook

**** ******* ******, ******* ** ***82

********@*****.***, 860-***-****

SUMMARY:

• Operations and business effectivness executive with 15+ years of leadership experience, including work for

Fortune 500 and 100 companies.

• Extensive experience in change management in matrixed environments; including reorganization and

restructuring, new leadership, mergers and acquisitions, and major industry changes.

• Skilled at balancing customer focus and strategic corporate goals to create significant and sustainable operations

improvements.

• Effective collaborator, skilled in persuasion; adept at building partnerships, consensus formation, and conflict

resolution across business lines and levels.

WORK EXPERIENCE:

MetLife (previously Travelers Life and Annuity/Citigroup), Bloomfield and Hartford, CT; 2002-2013.

Post Issue Operations Manager. Successfully led major corporate outsourcing initiative, working to transition

functions between multiple U.S. locations and India. In addition to outsourcing role, managed department tasked with

review, receipt, and execution of all post-issue transaction requests for annuities. Responsible for audit activity, as well

as compliance with State, Federal, and SEC guidelines. Results included:

• Led project to launch multi-million dollar financial processing division in Noida, India. Managed entire

life cycle of project from conception and planning, to implementation and ramp up, to evaluation and analysis.

o Developed comprehensive standards and documentation on all functions considered for outsourcing,

including standard procedures, job requirements, best practices, quality measures, and metrics.

o Designed and executed tactical project plan covering: schedule, milestones, budget, staffing, systems,

documentation, quality control, training, pilot, launch, and evaluation.

o Managed on-the-ground implementation of project including successfully adapting to major shifts in

project scope as corporate priorities evolved.

o Completed multi-year project ahead of schedule with a quality rating 10% above goal.

• Directed enterprise-wide team that created extensive new processes, documentation, and training due to

2009 changes in non-ERISA 403b regulations compliance.

• Managed multiple yearly compliance audits including Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) and SAS 70.

• Extensive work in change management during a time of unprecedented corporate upheaval.

• Led multiple software system needs assessments, working with IT to create new or streamlined systems.

Implemented company-wide, web-based image and workflow system, as well as multiple processing systems.

• Increased departmental quality from 95% to 99% and increased productivity by 20%.

Research and Resolution Manager. Managed a team of subject matter experts responsible for resolving escalated

service issues across the annuities division. Worked directly with large clients, agents, and third party administrators to

resolve high priority service issues. Results included:

• Strategically redesigned department to move from reactive crisis management to proactively identifying

and fixing potential problems before escalation.

• Developed extensive cross-departmental partnerships, trending, reporting, and continuous improvement

activities for preemptive problem resolution.

• Improved response time by 20%; reduced recurring service issues by 30%.

Training and Quality Assurance Manager. Managed all training and quality functions for the annuities division,

including developing and providing trainings (new products and procedures, new hires, employee advancement,

remedial needs), reviewing and trending division performance, and applying industry best practices. Results included:

• Increased both quality and productivity over 10%.

• Reduced average training time by 25%.

• Reduced department staff by 20%.

Danaher Corporation, Veeder-Root Division, Simsbury, CT; 2001–2002.

Operations Manager. Led the technical support and service department for a division of this Fortune 500, global

science and technology company. Had three direct reports, including a Training Manager and two Call Center

Managers. Results included:

• Reduced new hire training time by over 40%.

• Increased service level form 88% to 93% of calls answered within 20 seconds.

• Reduced abandonment rate from 5% to 1%.

• Increased adherence to standard work from 95% to 97.5%.

ESAPCO (Engineering Services and Products Company), South Windsor, CT; 2000–2001.

Sales and Customer Service Director. Responsible for the Customer Service and Sales functions of this international

building and industrial supply company. Direct reports included: Sales Manager, Call Center Manager, Customer

Service Manager, and two Training Managers. Results included:

• Increased sales by 12%, in under a year.

• Reduced headcount by 10%.

• Reduced customer service issues by over 20%, in under 6 months.

Rogal America, Watertown, MA; 1997–1999.

Director of Operations and Customer Service. Managed the Operations and Customer Service Departments for this

business services outsourcing company. Responsible for six direct reports, including Group Manager, Distribution

Center Lead, and four Customer Service Managers. Promoted after one year, from Director of Customer Service to

Director of Operations. Results included:

• Increased first call resolution of customer service by 19%.

• Increased agent productivity by 27%.

• Reduced training time for new hires by 50%.

American Power Conversion (APC), West Kingston, RI; 1994–1997.

Director of Customer Support and Special Projects. Promoted three times in three years; also held the positions of:

Customer Support Manager, Account Manager, and Technical Support Engineer.

Directed customer support division as well as company-wide major projects for this global computer peripheral

company through a period of extreme corporate change, as what had been a $250M start-up company grew to over

$1B in revenue in three years.

• Created corporate training department where none existed. Built eight week new-hire training program from

the ground up. Reduced new hire training time by 25%.

• Created the corporation’s first policies and procedures manual. Led other senior leadership team members to

document and formalize their own policies and procedures manuals.

• Restructured customer service department, resulting in 15% decrease in customer hold times.

• Led cross functional team of subject matter experts to do a root cause analysis of a struggling product line-

addressing everything from manuals, packaging, advertising, and hardware/software. Cut post-purchase calls

by 50%; increased sales by over 30%. Project served as a model replicated across all products company-wide.

EDUCATION & LICENSES:

• Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL.

• Series 6 License, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).

• Experience and training in quality management and continuous improvement systems including ISO 9001, Six

Sigma, and Total Quality Management.

ADDITIONAL INTERESTS & ACTIVITIES:

• CPR Certified.

• National Firefighting Certifications, Connecticut Fire Academy, Windsor Locks, CT:

Firefighter Instructor, Firefighter Levels I & II, Confined Space Rescue, Hazardous Materials Operational Level,

Cold Water Rescue, Trench Rescue.

• Volunteer Firefighter, Town of Enfield, CT; 2000–2008.

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