Five Questions with Anna Kuruc
As the Customer Service Team Lead for the Central Sales Zone in the US, Anna Kuruc enjoys the daily personal interactions with customers and sales representatives. She takes a lot of pride and satisfaction in helping people and delivering a positive customer experience. She also likes that our products are used in so many industries, like aerospace, automotive and oil and gas, and that she gets to be a part of that in some way every day. We caught up with Anna and asked her about her role in Customer Service, the difference between Tech Support and Customer Service and why she likes working in a team environment. This is what she had to say…
Sandvik Coromant: Your job title is Customer Service Team Lead – what does that mean and what are your responsibilities?
Anna Kuruc: It means I manage, mentor, support, train and develop members of the Central US sales zone Customer Service team while overseeing the team's daily workflow. Workflow means how we process and handle any requests, questions, concerns or complaints that come in through our many sources. It starts with listening and understanding the problem then we go to work to solve the problem. It's my job to ensure superior levels of support are consistently provided to our customers and sales force.
SC:How do customers reach our Customer Service teams? And what if someone needs help in the off hours like late at night or early in the morning?
AK: Customers can reach us via phone, chat or email and we are available from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm (EST), Monday through Friday. So, that means if you are calling 1-800-SANDVIK from the middle of the country, you are automatically routed to someone on my team. The US is divided up into the east, central and west zones so that we always have sufficient coverage.
Sandvik Coromant Webshop
chat option
If a customer needs support after hours, we offer an extensive list of self-service tools on our , including everything from order entry, price and availability to expected delivery dates on backorders and process returns. The is part of our Webshop and is another way of contacting Customer Service or Technical Support. And it's very easy to use.
SC: People may not know that we also offer Technical Support. What's the difference between Customer Service and Technical Support?
AK: Our Technical Support team is amazing - they are extremely knowledgeable. They offer troubleshooting advice, recommendations and technical data about our tools and how to apply them, such as what speeds and feeds to use. Customer Service, on the other hand, offers assistance for things like processed orders, product deliveries and expedited orders. Both teams can be reached by calling 1-800-SANDVIK and both teams work hard to deliver a positive customer experience.
SC: Sandvik Coromant is in the process of modernizing its internal business systems and will soon roll out a new platform. How does this affect your work in Customer Service and what does that mean for customers?
AK: We are all very excited about this new technology and how it will improve the way we work! Internally, we have been training for a new Enterprise Business Platform (EBP) for some time. This new system will modernize and streamline our internal business processes which will help the members of Customer Service do their jobs better because it will be easier and faster to receive and process information. While preparing for the rollout has been a lot of hard work, I feel the team is very well prepared. We took the time to dot every “i" and cross every “t" and make sure we thought everything through in regard to our processes. Externally, the rollout of the new platform will be seamless and not affect our customers. We will still provide the same excellent level of support and service for customers.
Another way we use technology to help our customers is by utilizing our customer relationship management (CRM ) tool. Our CRM tool helps us be more data-driven and gives us the ability to see a 360 view of a customer's account, so we instantly know more about them when they contact us. This allows us to provide the ultimate customer service experience.
SC: Being in Customer Service means that you are part of a team. What do you enjoy most about working in this environment?
AK: I enjoy working in a team environment because we all have different strengths and our combined skills make one awesome group. My crew is great and is always very supportive. I like that we have these quick daily meetings to go over new topics and share new ideas. The Sandvik Coromant Customer Service team always has a positive attitude and they will go out of their way to help any customer. I'm proud to be part of this team.
Bonus question: What is your favorite Sandvik Coromant tooland why?
I don’t use our tools but if I had to select a favorite tool,I would say our solid carbide end mills. They are very popular items that I seebeing ordered frequently and I’m very interested in the many ways that ouraerospace customers use these tools. When I travel and get on an airplane, I alwayswonder if our end mills were used to build that particular aircraft.
