Summary
Overview
Work History
Education
Skills
Timeline
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STEPHEN M. KUESTER

Maryville,TN

Summary

Call Center Manager and Leader with deep experience in consulting and managing various industries including Health Care, Financial, Wireless Service, Tier 1 Technical, and Learning. Energetic, pro-active leader with success in process improvement and quality within the changing call center environment. Strengths include communication, interpersonal skills, creative problem solving, and ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment. Extensive experience managing at home agents including offshore. Licensed to sell Healthcare insurance including Medicare and Medicaid. AHIP certified. Core Strengths include Team Lead Development, Strategic Management, Financial Services, Managing Remote Workers, Net Promoter Score, Human Resources Quality Assurance, and Team Building. Collaborative leader with dedication to partnering with coworkers to promote engaged, empowering work culture. Documented strengths in building and maintaining relationships with diverse range of stakeholders in dynamic, fast-paced settings.

Overview

28
28
years of professional experience

Work History

Call Center Service Delivery Manager

TTEC
08.2017 - Current
  • Most recent managed temporary FEMA Hurricane support project with extremely fast ramp up to over 600 agents and 30 Team Leads
  • Managed very fast-growing call center supporting a benefits and payroll company.
  • Grew from zero employees to over 180 in 3 months to support healthcare annual enrollment for a number of large companies.
  • Managed transition of employees at end of annual enrollment to supporting leave management, payroll, and life events benefits management than back to annual enrollment as part of annual cycle of areas of focus
  • Managed short-term Security Breach programs with rapid ramp up and ramp down cycles.
  • Performance Highlight
  • Met extremely aggressive staffing targets.
  • Kudos from client's biggest customer (The State of Georgia) with satisfaction ratings above 97%
  • Managed remote teams since before pandemic.

Call Center Manager

GreenSky Financial
01.2015 - 01.2016
  • Managed a fast-growing call center providing financial services to Merchants and Home Owners throughout U.S
  • Through handling inbound and outbound calls
  • Managed department growth of 60 new agents in two months in early 2016 including hiring, training, and transition to production, controlling servicing and origination costs, and meeting regulatory requirements.
  • Performance Highlight:
  • Led team that met Service Level goals every month while inbound call volume increased by 52% over 6 months and driving occupancy higher through outbound calling and assisting other groups.

Call Center Manager

Kumon
01.2012 - 01.2014
  • Managed a growing call center in support of student enrollment at local Kumon centers in the U.S
  • And Canada
  • Designed and implemented call quality process and trained Team Leads and Associates
  • Hired and developed Associates and Team Leads
  • Created and implemented escalated call process
  • Performance Highlight:
  • Transitioned a team of Back Office Support employees into Customer Service Agents taking inbound calls from potential customers.

General Manager of Operations

IQor
01.2009 - 01.2011
  • Managed wireless project named #1 among 12 centers supporting client based on scorecard factors including: quality, service level, and customer satisfaction.
  • Responsible for all aspects of P&L and profit margin
  • Center awarded #1 quality among 12 centers for 2nd quarter 2010.
  • Performance Highlight:
  • Raised quality scores from low 80% to mid-90%
  • Managed complete realignment of scheduling rising service levels from 70% to 90% and generating performance bonuses from client.

General Manager

ACS, Center of Excellence, Houston
01.2008 - 01.2009
    • Portland, Nashville, Provided analysis, improvement planning, development and follow-through for underperforming projects
    • Consulted with site leadership to address challenges in areas including staffing, scheduling, transition from training to production, and floor management
    • Improved financials including bill-to-pay ratios resulting in record revenues in Houston
    • Performance Highlight:
    • Raised quality scores from low 80% to mid-90%
    • Managed complete realignment of scheduling rising service levels from 70% to 90% and generating performance bonuses from client.

Senior Operations Manager

Convergys
01.2007
  • Drove results for 2 large projects for financial services client.
  • Restructured Line Adherence team through transition to floor coordinator model, improving schedule adherence.
  • Created and managed agent schedule bid process to tie agent schedules to performance
  • Performance Highlight:
  • Improved Agent Productivity scores by average of 5%; Improved billing yield.

Operations Manager

Convergys
01.2005 - 01.2007
  • Launched new contact center for wireless phone service client and high speed internet provider
  • Managed customer service team recognized with “Best Overall Call Center” award for first quarter of 2006 for Sprint/Nextel
  • Hired, developed, and managed new Team Leads and new Operations Managers
  • Performance Highlight:
  • Drove results in service level, occupancy, quality, schedule adherence, productivity, profitability, attrition, and transfer rate.

Operations Manager

Convergys
01.1999 - 01.2005
  • Managed new project launch for, Wireless
  • Coached new Team Leads and new Operations Managers
  • Managed Cingular and AT&T wireless projects: Customer Care, Electronic Ordering, Retention, and Data Entry
  • Managed multiple projects and sub- projects simultaneously
  • Met and exceeded revenue targets through focus on areas such as attendance, attrition, and productivity
  • Leader on a multi-site team to standardize and improve Team Supervisor training in multiple Convergys sites
  • Created on-line skills assessment tool for use by Operations Managers
  • Drove results in service level, occupancy, quality, schedule adherence, productivity, profitability, attrition, and transfer rate.

Training Manager

Convergys
01.1996 - 01.1999
  • Hired and Trained Trainers
  • Consulted with Clients and Managers to Develop Training and Manage Schedules.

Education

MA – Master of Arts - Human Resources Development

Webster University
St. Louis, MO

BA – Bachelor of Arts - Organizational Administration

St. Louis University
St. Louis, MO

Skills

  • Constructive Feedback
  • Finance and Accounting Oversight
  • Strategize Business Plans
  • High-volume call centers

Timeline

Call Center Service Delivery Manager

TTEC
08.2017 - Current

Call Center Manager

GreenSky Financial
01.2015 - 01.2016

Call Center Manager

Kumon
01.2012 - 01.2014

General Manager of Operations

IQor
01.2009 - 01.2011

General Manager

ACS, Center of Excellence, Houston
01.2008 - 01.2009

Senior Operations Manager

Convergys
01.2007

Operations Manager

Convergys
01.2005 - 01.2007

Operations Manager

Convergys
01.1999 - 01.2005

Training Manager

Convergys
01.1996 - 01.1999

MA – Master of Arts - Human Resources Development

Webster University

BA – Bachelor of Arts - Organizational Administration

St. Louis University

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STEPHEN M. KUESTER