PHOTO CREDIT : ADOLPHUS MAPLES , VIRGINIA ABC . that needed refining , but we worked hard to address them .”
Customer response to VAL has been overwhelmingly positive and the adoption rate continues to rise each month . Monahan expects to see tremendous growth over the next year .
IMPLEMENTING A DEDICATED CALL CENTER After moving into its new distribution center , Virginia ABC recognized the need for a dedicated call center . Until 2022 , a call center didn ’ t exist — people simply called the agency with questions and staff routed the call as best they could without a system for managing the process . An average of 700 calls were received each month , and only about 40 % of them were answered — much of the time , customers had to leave a message or simply hung up .
Optimizing this process was a priority for the agency , which wanted a new system in place prior to the launch of VAL . Virginia ABC began connecting with external vendors in early 2022 to identify a partner . Once a vendor was chosen , a prototype model was created within a few weeks , and the call center officially launched in April 2022 .
The new system gives callers a choice to select from different topics and offers a callback option among other features . Now Virginia ABC answers an average of 97 % of incoming calls . Call volume has also increased dramatically as people realize that customer service has improved ; the team now answers an average of 100 calls per business day and estimates it will field 33,000 calls this year .
“ The call center has been extremely beneficial for driving efficiencies and making the customer experience as seamless as possible ,” said Joe Sattelmaier , Customer and End User Support Manager . “ We are now equipped to manage an uptick in calls and have been able to do so using our existing staff , even though we currently spend about 165 hours on the customer support phone calls per month serving customers .”
Along with improving efficiencies , the call center also features data tracking and metrics that were not previously available . It tracks every call that comes in , highlights trends that illustrate peak call days and times , and generates daily reports that are shared with team members to keep them engaged .
Joe Sattelmaier , Customer and End User Support Manager , and Shelley Jones , Supervisor / Lead Production Support Analyst , review call center numbers for the previous month .
ENHANCING TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES Committed to offering informative and convenient training programs , Virginia ABC developed a new program for licensees and delivery drivers in 2022 . On July 1 of that year , Virginia state law changed to require successful completion of a training program for delivery drivers to qualify to deliver alcohol . Developed internally by the agency ’ s education and prevention team , the Responsible Alcohol Delivery Driver ( RADD ) training launched in June 2022 , giving people an opportunity to become compliant in advance of the new law taking effect .
The free online course takes about 45 minutes to complete and is designed to educate licensees and alcoholic beverage delivery drivers on delivery best practices , along with preparing drivers for situations they may encounter while making a delivery .
Additionally , the training encourages licensees and drivers to remain up to date on current state beverage delivery laws and reg-
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