What’s different about Bridgestone’s new call center? Dave Kolasinsky, manager, truck tire marketing: "To begin with, we don’t call it a ‘call center.’ That term, unfortunately, carries with it a lot of baggage. "In the past, call centers tended to be low-tech, generic, sometimes even ‘mom and pop’ operations, that concentrated on generating revenue from processing singular transactions. "In other words, they focused on what was best for them, rather than on what was best for the customer. Our objective is customer service, delivered through what we call our ‘Fleet Support Center.’ "

What are some ways in which Bridgestone’s Fleet Support Center is different?
"We emphasize the importance of skilled, experienced people answering the phones. There’s nothing worse than needing help and finding your only contact is ignorant, uncaring, or both.

"Eagle Tele-Services has recruited and trained a staff of top-notch people, who not only understand trucking, but who are committed to providing the best service possible."

Where do you find people like that? Terio Comerose, president, Eagle Tele-Services, Inc.: We’ve recruited our staff from the Richmond, Virginia area. "It’s a stable, well-educated community. In fact, 72 percent of our people either have college degrees or are in school working to get them. "A local community college even offers a curriculum in customer service. And, we supplement all that with special training tailored to each of our customers."

How does that work?
"Our objective is to do a better job of providing customer service than our customers could do themselves. And we recognize that as far as end-user perception is concerned, customers are dealing with Bridgestone.

"So, we constantly upgrade our knowledge of Bridgestone’s products and the kinds of services truckers need.

"We meet frequently with Bridgestone and with Bridgestone customers, to learn how to improve our people’s knowledge and competence."

Sounds like you’re very dependent on people.
"We are in the customer service business, not the technology business or the fulfillment business. Our work involves people interacting with other people. Success, for us and for Bridgestone depends on how well we do that.

"In this business, people are the business. That’s why we place such emphasis on getting the right ones and giving them the right training."

Is your background in this area?
"Prior to establishing Eagle Tele-Services, I spent 13 years working in emergency road service for Overnite Transportation, and before that was director of maintenance for Midland Delivery Service.

"I also spent several years with Volvo in contract maintenance, and have been involved in several commercial call centers for the automotive and trucking industry.

What’s special about the technology you’re using?
Dave Kolasinsky: "First, our Fleet Support Center services are fully integrated with all of our programs. When a call comes in, the staff can provide support for both our National Fleet and our National Preferred program, as well as our other services, including Breakdown Manager."

How is that done?
"Eagle Tele-Services has access to our computer systems. That means they can search our latest database of emergency road service providers, and don’t have to rely on printed lists that may be outdated the minute they’re issued.

"It also means they have access to customer fleet requirements, so they can be sure any service provided is fully in compliance with your needs.

"If you’re using our Breakdown Manager Internet application to track and report on road service events, Eagle can input data directly into your Breakdown Manager secure site, saving you time and keystrokes."

What about non-tire needs?
"If you have a non-tire breakdown, Eagle can access a separate database of over 35,000 mechanical service providers, across the country.

"Tire service can be billed through your Bridgestone account, and mechanical work through Eagle Tele-Services, simplifying the process and making it consistent and cost-effective wherever breakdowns occur."

Does high technology play a role in the new Fleet Support Center?
Terio Comerose: "We’re not in the business of selling technology, but we are using some pretty sophisticated technologies to help us deliver better, more economical customer service. And we have established effective partnerships with several telecom system partners.

"For example, we employ what is called a ‘voice over Internet protocol,’ ‘VOIP,’ to take phone calls over the Internet, rather than over phone lines. It’s considerably less expensive, and results in a direct connection between our computers and our phones."

What’s the advantage of that?
"Consider what might happen if we had a power failure. Because we’re doing almost everything over the Internet, we could set up our employees anywhere we could get computers and Internet access, conceivably, even in employees’ homes.

"Since what we do is via Internet applications, we can be almost instantly mobile."