David Latona: Welcome to Co-op Conversations with DEMCO, where we talk about the topics that impact your power,
your co-op, and your community. I'm your host, David Latona.
Joining me today is Galen Dunbar, DEMCO's Chief Member Services Officer.
Welcome to the podcast, Galen.
Galen Dunbar: Thank you, David, I'm excited to be here.
David Latona: So, Galen, tell me a little bit about you.
How long have you been at DEMCO?
Galen Dunbar: I've been with DEMCO for 14 years now.
I started out in our consumer accounting department, which is kind of like today's phone center or contact center,
and now I serve as the chief officer of the department.
David Latona: So always in that member services world at DEMCO.
Galen Dunbar: Absolutely.
David Latona: That's so great. So you are the expert in this field.
We can't wait to hear what you've got to say about the department and how your team is serving those folks.
Speaking of that, what is it that your team does every day, the day-to-day actions of the member services
team?
Galen Dunbar: I like to describe it as the member services team is responsible for the member facing operations of the business.
So we have a contact center that is staffed with member services representatives to assist our members that call in for
assistance. We also have district representatives that serve our members at the seven district offices across the parishes that we
serve. We also have our meter readers and our team that is responsible for ensuring that all bills that we send out to the
members are accurate. So a lot of responsibility, a lot of member touch,
but we're happy to provide that experience to our members.
Honestly, that's what keeps our team motivated.
David Latona: Wow, that is so many members. I know that your team is serving, you know,
thousands of interactions from those folks every month.
So all of your team members, are they all local to the DEMCO footprint?
Galen Dunbar: Yes, they're all local, and it's actually essential to the co-op business model.
Being a local business and providing local service is important to us.
We speak with members that want to speak with someone that's in the office closest to their home,
or just in Louisiana in general.
And they're often surprised to know that, hey, you may be speaking to someone that's right around the
corner from you. So local service is definitely important to our team and to our co-op.
David Latona: On a weekly basis, when are they in the offices?
Galen Dunbar: So our MSRs are in the office Monday through Friday, 8 to 4:30 p.m.
We also accept calls and chats during that time as well.
And the members can reach our member service representatives by calling 1-844-MY-DEMCO,
or by accessing their account on the mobile app or desktop.
David Latona: That's so great. There's so many ways that DEMCO members can reach your team members to help them solve their matter or
make their payment. All that's good to know.
I love that DEMCO focuses on that local service.
Galen Dunbar: Definitely. Member experience is at the heart of everything we do at DEMCO.
Whether it's online or in person or over the phone, every interaction is an opportunity for us to serve our members
well. To listen to them, to help them, to make each experience pleasant,
professional, valuable, and helpful.
David Latona: So it's your goal to get the help that our members need, to get that to them as quickly as
possible so they can get back to their day.
Galen Dunbar: That's right. We understand that calling about an account is not everybody's favorite thing to do.
But when you need to reach us, we want that process to be stress free.
We want it to be straightforward as possible, and we want our members to know that we are really invested in
making each experience they have with us a positive one.
David Latona: I hear you've got some exciting news to share about some updated technology that is specifically for
helping that member when they need to call us.
Tell me about that.
Galen Dunbar: Yes. So we are very excited about the launch of our new contact center platform.
This platform has been designed by our Member Services team, with the goal of making every interaction we have with our member
faster, smoother, and more personal.
One of the biggest improvements is that all interactions with our members,
whether they call us, email us, or send us a chat, they're all integrated into one system.
So if a member has to reach out to us a second time, our MSR that is assisting that member will have the full picture
of the member's interaction with us, whether they called yesterday,
today, or even five minutes ago.
David Latona: That's a big step forward, and I know our members will appreciate that also.
So let's talk about some of the new features that make calling DEMCO a better experience.
Galen Dunbar: So as I mentioned, member services is often the first point of contact for our members.
To make that experience even better, we've upgraded our contact center platform.
The phone number is still the same 844-MY-DEMCO.
We do have new features that we expect will transform how we connect with our members,
making service faster, more convenient and comprehensive.
David Latona: I think as a consumer of any business, right, the most frustrating thing about calling a business is
having to wait on hold. And I know that sometimes a hold time might just be for a couple of minutes,
but when you've got some issue that can seem like forever.
Galen Dunbar: Yes, David, which is why I'm so excited to share that one of my new favorite features of our phone system is the call back
option. If hold times are longer than we expect, our members will not have to wait on hold.
They'll just simply select the option for a callback which holds their place in line,
and the system will call them automatically when it's their turn.
So no waiting, no losing your place in the queue.
Just whatever's convenient for you, we're happy to help.
David Latona: Just not having to sit and wait on the phone is such a relief.
No losing your place in line. I mean, what a win.
What are some of the other features that you're excited about?
Galen Dunbar: We now offer a fully Spanish language phone menu, which makes it easier for our Spanish speaking members to
navigate from the start. It's really been a need in our community,
and this new system finally gives us the tools to serve our members in that way.
Then there's something members won't necessarily see, but they'll feel,
which is for the first time, all of our communications are unified calls:
calls, recording, chat, email, everything is all in one system.
So again, if a member has to contact us multiple times, the MSR will be presented with all of the information so the
member is not repeating themselves or anything of that nature.
David Latona: I mean, that's really powerful. I don't have to repeat myself to a new member service rep.
And as a member, it's great knowing that whoever answers my call,
they already have that context. They even maybe see those steps of what has been done already.
It just makes the whole experience smoother in my opinion.
What does it take to roll out something as large as a phone system like this?
Galen Dunbar: So we've actually been at this for a while.
Last year, as our leadership team of DEMCO was mapping out our strategic goals,
we wanted to place an emphasis on enhancing the member experience.
And member experience for us is really important when it comes to response times.
So what we knew at that point is that if we were ever going to make an improvement to how fast we respond to our members or what
information we give to our members, we needed the tools to do that.
So our team began reaching out to our network of other large co-ops that have the same makeup as us.
You know, a contact center, district offices kind of have the same responsibilities we have.
And we asked, "Hey, what tools are you using to increase member satisfaction as it relates to the response?" So the platform that
we selected, it was highly recommended.
And once we got that information.
Our member services team met with our information technology team,
and we began that journey of vetting the product to see if it would be a fit for DEMCO.
So the goal was always simple. We wanted members to notice the improvement,
but we didn't necessarily want them to notice any change.
And we've really tried hard to let that be our guide as we design this platform.
David Latona: What a great way to put that. Notice the improvement, but not necessarily the change.
I think members will really appreciate the care that went into making this work for them.
So Galen, does it still have that self-serve menu for the quick items I want,
like to pay my bill or check a balance when I don't need the extended services of your team?
Galen Dunbar: Of course, members can still call in and use self-service options to pay a bill to check their balance or to report an outage.
All of that without needing to speak with the member service representative.
David Latona: Wow, that is truly transformative.
Members may not see all the technology behind it, but they'll definitely feel the difference when they make that
call to DEMCO.
Galen Dunbar: Exactly. So our goal, like I said, has always been the same.
We want to enhance the experience of our members.
That is one of our organization's strategic goals, and that's a goal that this team is aggressively pursuing.
David Latona: Thank you so much, Galen. There's a lot to learn about how DEMCO serves its members,
and of course, through the member services department.
That is paramount. That wraps up this episode of Co-op Conversations with DEMCO.
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For Galen Dunbar, I'm David Latona.
Let's keep the conversation going.