Of all the calls Brian Murphy has received, this one was his favorite, he says, because it proves the customer service practices of First Communications LLC are unrivalled by competitors.
The call was from an astonished customer who received a free $50 calling card, accompanied by a personal letter from Murphy, First Communications’ chief operating officer. The customer was one of about 100 Murphy had written to apologize for long-distance dialing difficulties they experienced one afternoon.
“Although the problem was beyond our control because it was a technical difficulty in the industry, these are our valued customers and we owed them an explanation,” says Murphy.
This customer expressed her appreciation for the gesture, Murphy says, but she insisted the prepaid calling card was unnecessary, even extravagant. She explained that when she’d called First Communications to ask about the dialing difficulty, she was given a special 800 number to call that enabled her to reach her party — without charge.
“I was taken aback because here was a consumer saying, ‘Wow, this is too much!'” Murphy laughs. “But we believe the value-added provider must take that extra step.”
First Communications was created as a one-plus provider in 1998, focusing on affinity marketing. The company has since expanded to offer business products and services across the nation, with concentration in the Midwest. Headquartered in Akron at Cascade Plaza, the firm has a fiber optic network that spans the nation and a strong equity base that includes FirstEnergy Corp., the nation’s 10th largest investor-owned electric utility system.
Despite the impressive FirstEnergy connection, it’s crucial that First Communications satisfies customers in every possible way, says Jim Amber, First Communications’ vice president of service and delivery.
“That really is the only advantage we have against megabillion-dollar corporations. It goes from the front-line customer care agents who answer our phones to the executives who make decisions affecting customers,” says Amber. “For whatever reason, very few companies can provide the level of customer service we’re providing.”
A 1998 report by the Florida Public Utilities Commission rated First Communications ahead of AT&T, MCI and other multinational carriers in categories including call completion rates, transmission quality and billing accuracy. Amber says First Communications achieves high marks by stepping inside the customer’s shoes.
“If I call my auto dealer for service, I don’t want to be on hold for 10 minutes or get lost in voice mail. So we try to outdo the industry with a goal to answer 80 percent of all calls with a live voice within 30 seconds or less,” he says. “Then we make sure our employees are sensitive to customers and empowered to solve their issues, because they’re the front-line ambassadors that distinguish us from the Ameritechs and AT&Ts.”
Murphy says the firm also prides itself on being the single point of contact, despite the origin of technical problems in the industry.
“Recently, a customer was at the mercy of another provider when he experienced some outages that didn’t deal with our network. He asked me, ‘Who do I contact to resolve this?’ When I said, ‘We’ll manage that for you,’ he was very surprised.”
Murphy says the company’s name says it all.
“First Communications is committed to being first in reliable telecommunications services, first in unrivaled customer care, first in competitive prices and first in total telecommunications solutions,” he says. “So, I love it when customers call or send cards and letters, recognizing that we are going the distance.” How to reach: First Communications, (888) 347-7826; www.firstcomonline.com
