Background:
Register.com and partners are planing to operate a new Internet Domain Name service [JV] under the auspices of ICANN.
The JV is considering outsourcing its Account Management and Billing Support functions. The JV will interface with a small number of Clients (50-150). These Clients will perform their own customer service and billing with their individual customers.
The first year transactions are projected at 1-3.5 million. All transactions and billing will be automated. It is anticipated that the major Account Management and Billing issues will be as follows:
Account Management:
Explanation of JV policies and procedures
Research transaction history and determine appropriate response from pre-defined solutions
Occasional manual correction of errors or omissions
Escalation of unusual situations to Technology
Follow-up and tracking of Client Inquiries
Reporting and Analysis of Client Inquiry patterns
Pro-active management of Clients to ensure the JV’s services are understood and utilized.
Billing
Explanation and clarification of monthly invoices if questioned by Clients
Research transaction history and determine appropriate response from pre-defined solutions
Billing adjustments and justification when required
Tracking of Client billing and account level
Invoicing.
The Account Management function will most often interface to the Client’s Marketing or Customer Service department. Problems and processing issues will be communicated by the Client’ss operation to the JV’s Account Management team. Generally, each Client will have an Account Representative assigned to service that account. Each Account Representative will have multiple Clients to manage.
The JV anticipates the following staffing requirements for the Account Management and Billing functions.
Manager Account Representative Billing Representative
Pre-Start-up (60 days) 1 1 1
Quarter 1 1 3 1
Quarter 2 1 5 2
Quarter 3 1 8 3
Quarter 4 1 8 3
Second Year growth is projected at 40-60%
The vendor will need to provide start-up services to assist in the definition of Account Management and Billing Support procedures for the new JV. Register.com will provide guidance but the vendor will be required to have defined a full function support operation before the launch of the JV service.
Personnel Qualifications will reflect the need for experienced and adaptive account management personnel who can function in a start-up operation.
Manager:
5+ years of leadership in Account Management
Experienced in the start-up and implementation of Account Management or Customer Service operations
College degree
Account Representative
2+ years in Account Management or Customer Service
Excellent correspondence skills
Familiarity with Internet Domain Name industry or uses
College Degree
Billing Representative
2+ years in Billing Support or Customer Service
Excellent correspondence skills
2+ years of College
Training and Retention;
The vendor will develop and deliver the training required to ensure that the staff is competent and can meet performance standards. It is expected that the turnover of staff will be less that 10% per year.
Hours of Operation;
It is anticipated that covergae will be 24x7 London time. The off hours and weekned coverage can be a Help Desk function that willrecord problems and if needed escalate emergencies.If the vendor can not support 24x7 coverage, please note that limitation.
Location:
An United Kingdom location for this operation is preferred.
Technology and Support:
The vendor will have access to the JV’s application via the Internet. The vendor will be required to deploy a Contact Management application that is capable of recording and organizing the inquiries handled by the Account Representatives and the Billing Representatives. The Contact Management application does not need to interface to the JV’s applications. The purpose is to track inquiries and their resolutions.
Future Expansion:
It is anticipated that the volume of transactions will grow substantially. However the number of Account Management and Billing personnel will grow at a much slower rate then the overall business. The volume will increase over time but the number of interface points or Clients will not increase substantially.
There may be future business opportunities to support additional JV’s and other work that will be developed by Register.com.
The vendor should provide pricing in the following format:
Start-up Expenses
The type of personnel required and the daily rates. An estimated amount of time required to define the procedures for account management and billing support.
On-going Expenses
The Monthly Rate for the project’s Manager
The Hourly Rate for the Account Representatives.
The Hourly Rate for the Billing Representatives
A performance incentive based on Client’s Satisfaction and Operational Productivity will be developed with the vendor and the JV service.