Customer Service & Community Relations Flashcards
7 cards from real UMC practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Customer Service & Community Relations flashcards as text
A utility's community outreach program should prioritize which of the following to build long-term public trust?
Answer: Consistent two-way communication including listening sessions and public meetings
Two-way communication demonstrates transparency and allows the utility to address community concerns proactively.
When a utility experiences a water main break affecting 500 customers, the communications priority order should be:
Answer: Internal notification, then emergency responders, then affected customers, then media
Crisis communication protocols require internal coordination and emergency responder notification before public-facing communications.
What does the term 'service level agreement' (SLA) mean in the context of utility customer service?
Answer: A documented commitment specifying response times and service quality standards for customers
SLAs define measurable service quality commitments such as call answer times, complaint resolution timelines, and outage response targets.
A utility customer service representative receives a call from a customer threatening to contact the local news about a billing error. The representative should:
Answer: Remain calm, apologize for the inconvenience, and escalate to a supervisor if needed to resolve the issue
Remaining professional and working to resolve the issue is the appropriate response regardless of media threats.
Which metric is MOST useful for tracking the effectiveness of a utility's customer complaint resolution process?
Answer: First Contact Resolution (FCR) rate
FCR rate measures how often complaints are resolved on the first interaction, directly indicating the quality of the customer service process.
A utility is considering shutting off service to a customer with a medical condition who has an overdue balance. The utility must FIRST:
Answer: Review its medical protection policy and verify the customer's medical certification
Most state regulations and utility policies prohibit or delay disconnection of customers with documented medical conditions requiring utility service.
What is the PRIMARY benefit of a utility implementing an online self-service customer portal?
Answer: Providing customers 24/7 access to billing, usage data, and service requests while reducing call center volume
Self-service portals improve customer convenience and efficiency while freeing customer service staff to handle more complex issues.