POSITION SUMMARY
The Customer Service Representative is responsible for data entry and order processing for online products, journals, book content, and CME. This position serves as a back-up to the Call Center staff daily. The CSR has responsibility for financial and accounting duties including reconciliations, research, and data analysis. This position is a highly visible one, dealing with members, customers, and vendors and requires the use of several complex databases both for looking up information, analyzing and for updating. It requires a detailed and broad knowledge of both the membership and publishing activities of the American Psychiatric Association and the ability to impart information to customers in a highly skilled, accurate, and professional manner.
DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES
Enter orders and payments for APP book, online and journal products.
- Using Publishing System order system, identify customer account, book or journal product by code, description, author, or category to provide customer with proper item.
- Identify correct price and discount for item depending on category of customer: member, non-member, wholesaler, retailer, or special foreign discount terms.
- Follow department guidelines regarding credit, new customer set-up, and thresholds for approvals. Recognize special customers with specific discounts, pricing, or shipping requirements and bring to the attention of supervisory staff as required.
- Process orders, prepare invoices, and follow up with customer on price and shipping details as necessary.
- Proofread and verify order information prior to closing and posting.
- Receive and apply payments by credit card, check, lockbox, or wire to customer record.
- Work as a liaison with the warehouse with our international customer in preparing the international shipping.
- Process monthly orders for consignment customers.
- Train, QC, and assist new colleagues as needed.
- Provide support to Permissions and Licensing team.
Manage all calls and information requests from APA members, non-members, and publishing customers by answering inquiries directly or transferring to the appropriate APA department.
- Answer questions about membership status, dues / payment status, annual meetings, publications and other general inquiries.
- Analyze telephone inquiries to determine if call should be transferred and if so, assign it to the appropriate department or individual.
- Assist with inquiries about online courses, CME credits, and recertification.
- Assist members with APA online resources and Members Only information using Membernation.
- Update Membernation with member contact information.
- Enter payment plan information into Membernation. Email or mail invoices upon request.
- Attach emails to Contact Tracking to send or assign to Membership Coordinator.
- Answer inquiries on how to become an APA member by explaining membership categories and the process for application.
- Assist with inquiries about online courses, CME credits and recertification.
- Solve customer problems accessing and using APA and APP web sites: www.psychiatry.org, www.appi.org, www.apaeducation.org, and www.psychiatryonline.org.
- Determine whether access issue is related to subscription, payment, de-duplication, content provider, user software/hardware, or user error.
- Provide usernames and passwords; walk customers through accessing account. Create temporary access accounts if required.
- Assist customer with deleting cookies; logging on and off to complete access.
- Assist institutional customers with access issues including incorrect admin name, IP address, or platform host user information error.
- Coordinate institutional subscription and access issues with Operations Manager and Publishing Systems Manager if subscription or interface requires testing.
- Resolve username and email address conflicts between host, APA, and Naviga.
- Assist publishing customers with orders, price requests, online access and general questions.
Provide operations support for Customer Service department's daily and monthly work.
- Manage APP Distributors, Marketing CS, and the Orders email boxes.
- Provide back up to the Customer Service Representatives on the email boxes on months that are not assigned.
- Respond to customer inquiries about order status, shipping cost, proforma requests, and quotations.
- Assign order and payment batches.
- Receive, distribute, batch, QC and file incoming orders and mail.
- File maintain and archive department paperwork and reports.
- Process EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) for wholesalers and Amazon.
- Coordinate EDI and special orders with APP warehouse.
Accounts Receivable and Billing
- Manage payments process including checks, wires, and lockbox receipts.
- Reconcile wire payments to Publishing System cash at month-end.
- Reconcile daily cash receipts (checks and lockboxes) to daily cash postings in Publishing System.
- Remove unidentified payments to correct subaccount in general ledger.
- Run bi-monthly statements, analyze for accuracy and account status.
- Determine status for mailing based on debit or credit status.
- Identify adjustments and write-offs.
- Produce invoices and send as required.
- Research and resolve discrepancies.
- Run credit card reconciliation weekly and monthly to ensure the information matches our Finance department. Email the information weekly to the correct contacts.
- Coordinate statements and AR reporting with collections agency/collections staff.
Journal Claims
- Research and process journal claims from customers who did not receive journal copies.
- Analyze reason for non-receipt of journal.
- Correct subscription if required.
- Notify customer in writing of journal claim status.
- Resolve journal claims for de-duplicated accounts by determining correct parent account and locating other accounts to make subscription adjustments.
- Refer journal claim for processing to outside staff.
Journal and POL Subscriptions
- Research and resolve issues for customers with non-payment cancellations, reinstatement, or problems accessing online subscriptions to journals and books.
- Identify whether problem is Naviga subscription, platform host interface, user
- equipment or user error.
- Report problem to Publishing Systems Manager as needed.
- Research payment history to resolve cancellation.
Other duties as assigned.
COMPETENCIES
The Customer Service Representative's performance on these duties and responsibilities will be measured using the following competencies:
SCOPE & IMPACT
- Perform administrative or operational processes that support the Customer Service Department.
- Contributes suggestions for improvements in procedures regarding direct responsibilities.
- Requires the ability to understand oral and written instructions in order to process orders and communicate with our customers via email and on the phone.
- Presents a positive image of the Customer Service department and APA to others.
- Success is frequently measured by completing individual tasks and demonstrating well-defined individual work environment behaviors.
COMPLEXITY, PROBLEM SOLVING & DECISION-MAKING
- Work is mostly routine with well-defined rules and standards.
- Contributes to the operation of the Customer Service Department.
- Work output is often a predictable process that is used by others to perform larger portions of the end result.
- Identifies routine and predictable problems and recommends solutions to supervisor(s).
RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT & AUTHORITY
- Relationships primarily follow established protocol.
- Relationships may include significant interactions with customers, Members, and non-members via phone calls, emails, and other modes of communication.
- Uses tact and discretion to obtain cooperation and understanding on routine matters.
ORGANIZATIONAL KNOWLEDGE
- Demonstrates a limited understanding of Customer Services as a whole and responsibilities within the department.
- Demonstrates a limited knowledge of policies, procedures, and terminology.