Answering the Call

By Angela Johnson

Providing exceptional customer service has always been a top priority at Cambria. One of the most critical ways we deliver on that commitment is through Cambria Customer Care (CCC). This is our team of specially trained contact center professionals who are truly the frontline ambassadors of our brand.

CCC manages thousands of calls per year with the white-glove concierge service expected from the leader in quartz countertops.

Like much of Cambria, CCC has experienced tremendous growth and change over the years. In the early 2000s, Brian Braun, who is now a General Sales Manager, was one of only two people answering phones at Cambria. “I didn’t have any customer service background outside of sales,” says Braun. “We were a small group, truly a startup, more like receptionists than customer service because [Cambria] was so new. The calls were mostly from consumers, dealers, and people interested in fabricating Cambria. They asked, ‘How do we find Cambria?’ Or ‘Where do we purchase it?’”

That original team quickly grew and began to develop specific structure and expertise, along with an official title—Cambria Customer Care. Then in 2005, a nationwide promotion by renowned radio broadcaster Paul Harvey hit the radio waves and just like that, this little group was inundated with calls from people curious about Cambria.

Fast-forward 20 years, and not only is CCC three times larger, it’s equipped with technology and training to aid in handling all types of calls. Today, CCC takes or makes 100,000 calls per year. Inquiries range from consumer questions about our beautiful designs, to questions from pros that need to track orders or to get help navigating The CambriaExchange. Internally, CCC supports Cambria employees with many needs. All the while, each CCC team member navigates four distinct business system platforms using three separate computer screens—their efforts seamlessly interconnected by an overhead digital wallboard that allows the ability to monitor call volume and manage workflow. If calls are in queue and the whole team is busy, a light on the wallboard begins to blink red and a “ding,” barely audible to anyone else, is heard by these service pros who take immediate action to prioritize those calls.

The team’s goal is to answer every call in under 60 seconds. Typically, CCC answers calls in under 17 seconds—there is no automated voice response asking callers to press numbers to get answers. Each call is routed to a person. Senior Services Manager Chris Donaldson has been with Cambria for eight years and oversees CCC. He says, “In the world of contact centers, answering calls that quickly is absolutely Herculean. When I tell other contact center managers our metrics, they don’t think it’s real.”

Cambria’s level of service after installation is unmatched and it’s a big part of what sets the company apart. A while ago, Ohio Senior Residential A&D Representative Marni Cercone began incorporating a call to CCC into her product presentation. “I like to demo this for my kitchen and bath dealers, interior designers, and architects,” says Cercone who dials 1-866-CAMBRIA on speakerphone while with a customer. “It’s a fun countdown that really engages my customers. They get to see that there’s no hold time and no automated response. And the CCC reps are always polite, happy to talk to people, and happy to help. That interaction puts a smile on my customers’ faces. They appreciate having the confidence of knowing that if they cannot reach me with a question, there is a group of people who are available to answer their call.”

Although CCC answers calls quickly, they never rush to get anyone off the phone. “You’ll never hear our team say, ‘oooh, that’s not me, let me transfer you,’” says Donaldson. They will professionally, patiently, and politely handle any call that comes in. That said, Donaldson also notes that only around six percent of incoming calls are from “heated” people. He says, “We do at times get escalated calls from homeowners and business partners, but we truly are a contact and support center. That’s most of what we do.”

Kendra Carbert is CCC’s team lead for training. She says getting a call from a distraught customer is often defused by the team’s reassurance that Cambria will make every effort to address their issue. She says it’s notable and satisfying to sense someone’s agitation melt into relief when they call. “Calling CCC reminds them how happy they are with their purchase of Cambria,” says Carbert.

How do Cambria’s Customer Care representatives become subject matter experts on so many topics?Through three months of training and a request for a two-year minimum commitment to the team— the first year to learn the ropes and the second year to provide the team with some return on that training investment. “I have to have veteran players in the role to support our fabulous customer service,” says Donaldson, who looks for detailoriented, coachable people able to thrive in a high-pressure environment. “It’s not for everybody,” he says. But for those who make the cut, there are real advancement opportunities, noting that half of his hires over the past eight years have been promoted within Cambria.

Proof of the in-demand skill set of CCC reps is someone like April Lemmer, who’s also worked in Quality Assurance for Cambria and is now a Digital Asset Manager in the Marketing department. She began her career in CCC seven years ago. “It was rewarding,” Lemmer says about taking customer calls, “because I could use my empathy skills to listen and provide assurance to callers that there would be resolution to their concerns. I still view everyone I interact with as a customer. I want to make life easier for people and I take a lot of pride in what I do.”✦