Cengage Supports Colleges & Universities During Year of Pandemic Learning, Wins 'Top Customer Support Award' from Customer Relationship Management Institute

BOSTON, May 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- For the fourth consecutive year, Cengage has received the NorthFace ScoreBoard Award for excellence in customer support. Based on direct feedback from customers, this award is presented by the Customer Relationship Management Institute (CRMI), a recognized expert in developing and implementing customer and employee experience management strategy programs.

"In an unprecedented year where our workforce, workplace, and operational protocols were suddenly disrupted and reinvented, we are proud that our support experiences have again been recognized for excellence. Our customers faced incredibly challenging and very different situations over the past year due to COVID-19. Our agents were empathetic, caring, skillful, and went the extra mile for our students and faculty in delivering top-notch support. To know we exceeded their expectations is very fulfilling," said Jason Chin, SVP Service Experience and Digital Operations, Cengage. "As the education industry and students' needs continue to change, Cengage's Service Team will also continue to evolve; we're constantly working to improve our service experience and are committed to creating personalized experiences that help our customers to achieve their goals."

CRMI methodology measures customers' satisfaction with services on a five-point scale in categories including technical support, field service, customer service, account management and professional services. Cengage received a rating of 4.7 out of 5.0 (an equivalent of a 94 percent customer satisfaction rating).

When the pandemic began, Cengage quickly mobilized to understand and act on what customers needed so they could maintain learning continuity:

• In the past year, support volume increased 20 percent over the prior year; Cengage's commitment to being student-focused and 'meeting customers where they are' allowed the Service Experience team to support hundreds of thousands of learners, educators and administrators through the transition to digital and hybrid learning.
• During March and April 2020, Cengage migrated 44,000 instructor-led classes to digital courseware to help colleges' rapid shift to remote learning.
• At no cost to faculty, Cengage organized dozens of webinars, bootcamps, tip sheets, and peer-to-peer faculty mentorships to ensure faculty felt empowered and understood online and hybrid learning models prior to the return to school in the fall; nearly 30,000 instructors and administrators have leveraged these free training programs.
• To support students, Cengage instituted virtual office hours so that if students had questions or issues getting up-and-running with their digital course materials, they could hop on Zoom with a local Cengage representative for 1:1 live support. Cengage also added permanent tutorials directly within its digital products that help students understand how to be successful online learners.

The shift to remote learning also accelerated the use of chat as a primary interaction channel for support because both students and faculty had more screen time and could multitask while interacting with support agents. Having introduced chat support for all Higher Education products over two years ago, Cengage was well prepared for the increased volumes.

"The NorthFace ScoreBoard Service Award is widely recognized as the most prestigious award for customer service excellence due to its unique customer only vote criteria. The award recognizes organizations that not only offer exemplary customer service but those who have chosen to make their CX Strategy a key component of their company's DNA," said John Alexander Maraganis, President & CEO of CRMI.  

For more information on Cengage's support services, visit: https://www.cengage.com/services/.

For more information on awards and this year's winners, visit https://www.crmirewards.com/.

About Cengage

Cengage, a global education technology company serving millions of learners, provides quality digital products and services, equipping students with the skills and competencies needed to advance their careers and improve their lives. We serve the K-12, higher education, professional, library, English language teaching and workforce training markets worldwide. Our industry-leading products and services make education more accessible and affordable, including Cengage Unlimited, the first-of-its-kind all-access digital subscription service. Visit us at www.cengage.com or find us on LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter.

Media Contact:
Jessica Kravet, Cengage
857.329.5416, [email protected]

SOURCE Cengage

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