Rachael Barrow
Chattanooga,TN
Summary
Results-driven professional with a keen eye for detail and a strong commitment to delivering exceptional customer service. Over 25 years of experience in global centers of excellence, demonstrating a passion for problem-solving and data analysis to improve customer experiences. Renowned for high productivity and efficiency, consistently delivering results while minimizing risk and reducing costs. Adept at managing multiple projects and priorities through collaborative leadership, building high-caliber teams that foster a 'Great Places to Work' environment. Excellent communication skills and a proven track record of cultivating effective relationships both internally and externally, driving success. Extensive international experience across compliance and operational platforms supporting businesses in fast-paced and profitable growth.
Overview
21
21
years of professional experience
Work History
Director
Contact Center Compliance & Customer Experience
07.2017 - Current
- Responsible for the strategic leadership and management of the Office of the President and Quality Assurance teams
- Established and implemented appropriate tools and software for complaints management, quality assurance and customer insights, allowing for specific, meaningful reporting into customer experiences
- Accountable for the Voice of the Customer program for North America business, including regular outputs from survey feedback, quality assurance and complaints analysis
- Identifying thematic trends and systemic opportunities
- Implemented customer culture risk management framework that allows assessment and review of our Customer Promise
- Responsible for the Root Cause and Business Improvement framework, including facilitation of business-wide task forces, as well as regular dashboard creation and outputs to the business
- Ensures that North America’s frontline facing teams are compliant in accordance with the global group compliance framework, including regular outputs through Compliance Committees
- Ensures that business processes and scripts are documented and facilitate customers receiving consistently fair outcomes
- Works closely with Legal and Regulatory teams to ensure all high-level complaints and privacy requests are managed promptly and thoroughly, mitigating the business from any risk
- Key managerial point of contact for partner and internal customers
- Manages budget for operations c.$4-5mm to ensure departments operate within forecasted spend
- Responsible for creating actionable insights that drive performance, by gathering requirements, design and deployment of QA program deliverables (including individual, team, leader, vendor, and departmental scorecards, call & case audits, and leadership dashboards)
- Monitor the effectiveness of QA metrics as measures of performance, such as quality, satisfaction, and savings
- Lead in-house Quality Assurance team to meet evolving needs across multiple departments
- Establish procedures that produce high-quality customer satisfaction, experience, and loyalty that exceeds customer and industry standards
- Work with Legal and Compliance to ensure all activity and disputes resolution conforms with appropriate regulation and is in line with the compliance framework
- Identify best in class automation and AI technologies to continuously improve insights and recommendations in support of customer experience
- Organize periodic calibration sessions with contact center leadership and other areas of operations to ensure consistency in the evaluation process
- Use text analytics software to understand customer challenges, and calibration of quality monitoring results
- Lead the coordination, tracking and trending & drive closure of audit report responses
- Manage and continuously improve the complaint and remediation handling process through maintenance of requirements, processes, and procedures, including requirements for root cause and impact analysis, and investigations as applicable
- Develop corporate procedures for complaints handling, QA and compliance monitoring that provide an integrated approach among geographic locations and business units
- Support business and operational efforts, including ensuring Quality representation in service development and improvement efforts
- Design, compile, and analyze quality trends and issue QA & QC performance metrics reports to senior management
- Build functional excellence within the Quality & Training organization through excellence in hiring, ongoing professional development & performance management, and organizational design
- Partner with company compliance stakeholders to develop, implement, communicate and maintain legal and compliance policies and procedures with respect to privacy and document retention
- Assist with the company’s internal processes for promoting an organizational culture of ethics and ensuring the company’s compliance with laws, regulations, company policies and procedures
- Identify potential areas of compliance risk and vulnerability; oversee the development and implementation of action plans for the resolution of problematic issues; and provide general guidance on how to avoid or address similar situations in the future
- Oversee the development of internal communications and learning development professionals to draft employee communications and training materials related to policies and compliance matters
Contact Center Compliance Manager
HomeServe USA
01.2016 - 07.2017
- Responsible for the operational leadership of the Quality Assurance team, Customer Advocacy team, Real Time Insights team and Customer Loyalty teams (c.65FTE) handling 20,000 complaints and monitoring over 20,000 interactions annually
- Working with operational areas on quality and complaints insights to drive excellence in customer experiences and identify areas of compliance opportunities
- Leading calibration and monthly/quarterly business review meetings for the quality programs, including vendors and outsourcers
- Providing quarterly review and analysis into operational trends for the Compliance Committee
- Overseeing the Mystery Shopper program, which included the areas of vendor management, data gathering, analysis, and providing managerial input to senior leadership to enhance the customer experience
- Managing and overseeing the quality of written and verbal complaints handled by the Customer Advocacy team
- Providing weekly and monthly reporting and feedback on complaints and quality for senior management review
- Serving as the final managerial point of escalation for complaints if the Customer Advocacy team is unable to resolve the issue at hand
Senior Business Improvement Manager
HomeServe UK
03.2013 - 12.2015
- Use all available information to design and document compliant complaint handling processes
- Completing internal audits and action plans against process to ensure standards and regulatory requirements are being met
- Monitoring adjudications by the Financial Ombudsman Service and receives insights into root causes of complaints and emerging trends
- Progressing corrective action and recommendations for improvement across the business
- Key business owner of the complaints management system, including all frontline complaint handling, ensuring benefits are maximized and outputs drive continuous improvements in efficiencies, quality and productivity
- Manages Customer Relations’ operational risks and control workbooks, ensuring protective and preventative controls are in place
- Management of Remediation and Process Improvement Team
Customer Service Manager
11.2011 - 03.2013
- Managing and delivering Customer Relations Advocate performance in line with FCA regulations, ensuring fair customer outcomes to complaints as well as timely responses
- Ensuring Customer Advocate team members maintain competence in their roles by adhering and meeting the requirements in the Training and Competency Policy
- Drive improvements in customer satisfaction and internal processes, to improve handling of customer contact in line with legal, regulatory and business policies
- Undertake disciplinary and capability activity in line with business procedures
- Strong people management skills have dealing with personal and work related issues
- Create a ‘can-do’ culture, ensuring problem solving skills are utilized to embrace new challenges and therefore minimize the impact on external or internal customers
Quality Monitoring Manager
11.2003 - 11.2011
- Manage quality team activities, business processes and procedures, and service attitude skills in order to support operational areas
- Ensure that FTE across Sales and Service, Outsource and Complaint Centers receive monthly quality performance checks in line with Quality KPI’s
- Conduct monthly stakeholder meetings with operational areas to drive quality improvements
- Performance managing an auditing team of 19 direct reports through T&C, coaching, training, bi-annual personal development reviews, succession planning and 1-2-1 sessions
- Leading teams to provide quality results and a feedback process to the Membership operational channels and feed data into the data capture systems
- To liaise and work closely with own team and internal / external groups at all levels so that quality deliverables are fully understood and supported by those they impact directly or indirectly
- Establishing and maintaining high communication channels within the network business, raising the profile of Quality throughout operational areas
- Establish, investigate, and record any notifiable and non-notifiable business incidents identified through internal processes
- Focus on improvement to enable quantification of cost savings on an ongoing basis
Education
A Level - Business Studies, German, English Language
Walsall College of Arts & Technology
United KingdomSkills
- Quality Assurance
- Process Improvement
- Budget Management
- Risk Assessment and Mitigation
- Data Analysis
- Automation & AI Advocate
- Team Leadership and Development
- Disputes Resolution
- Cross-Departmental Collaboration
- Change and Growth Management
- Legal and Regulatory Complaints
- DEI Co-Chair Ambassador
- Procedural Creation
- Forecast Planning
- Root Cause Analysis
- Remediation
- Compliance Assurance
- Strategic Thinker
- Microsoft Office Suite
- Google Meets
- Salesforce
- Visio
- PowerBI
- Tableau
- Miro
- Aptean
- ServiceBench
- UltiPro
Hobbies and Interests
- Travel
- Cooking
- Listening to music
- Visiting live music venues
- Spending time with family and friends
- Arts and crafts
Timeline
Director
Contact Center Compliance & Customer Experience
07.2017 - Current
Contact Center Compliance Manager
HomeServe USA
01.2016 - 07.2017
Senior Business Improvement Manager
HomeServe UK
03.2013 - 12.2015
Customer Service Manager
11.2011 - 03.2013
Quality Monitoring Manager
11.2003 - 11.2011
A Level - Business Studies, German, English Language
Walsall College of Arts & Technology
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