Specialist, Groups Resolutions

Royal Groups Resolutions Specialists deliver exceptional customer service to both internal and external customers verbally and in written communication. They primarily receive inbound phone calls, from internal and external customers, and provide support regarding company procedures and guidelines. They serve as subject matter experts regarding Trade Support and Service systems, policies, and procedures, with a specialization on Groups/STAR. They handle escalated calls, provide resolution, and document all interactions into appropriate company systems and applications. They will also assist with escalated issues directed to them from the executive teams, other leadership team members, Sales, other internal departments, and written communication channels.  Team members will make decisions regarding policy, offer flexibility within management guidelines, and provide complete ownership of the customer relationship throughout the resolution. They also assist these team members with Groups/STAR functions requiring additional empowerment levels. They support calls regarding specialty products, redeployments, and incidents. Resolutions Team members must maintain productive, professional, and helpful relationships with all parties, and will be a mentor and resource for all Reservations and STAR/Groups Agents. 

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Provides exceptional customer service using professional communication skills via telephone and written correspondence.
• Resolves Group Reservations and STAR issues including, but not limited to, group accounting, pricing, discounts, group amenities, dining, group events, commissions, and special programs. Prepares workflows and AFCs as needed and ensures completion.
• Manages escalated customer situations with the highest levels of skill. Uses effective communication techniques to de-escalate callers. Recognizes high value travel agencies and utilizes service history and situational factors in decision making. Resolves guest and travel partner complaints directly or by coordinating with other internal departments. Owns the relationship with the customer throughout the resolution of the issue. Serves as the subject matter expert for Groups and STAR policies, processes, and systems. Assists callers on specialized skills and programs including those supporting STAR Accounts, incentives, manual reviews, redeployments, and incidents. Makes recommendations on recurring service failures, process improvements and training opportunities.
• Provides guidance to frontline team members on communication techniques and resources to promote self-sufficiency. Assists frontline team members with all aspects of restricted inventory, including maxing family staterooms, following QMS procedures at the Resolutions level, and policy overrides.
• Applies and actions group situations requiring authorized manual overrides including inventory changes, stateroom adjustments, group overpayments, promotion applications. Makes decisions on special faring pricing; approves/denies exceptions to company guidelines and makes determinations on compensation within established guidance to ensure guest satisfaction. Supports other Trade Support and Service resolutions-level functions as needed.
• Reports system issues to IT utilizing Remedy tickets. Appropriately escalates critical issues.
• Consults with other departments, including but not limited to: Revenue Management, Sales, Dining, Corporate Guest Relations, Guest Port Services, Air/Sea and Ticketing, Accounting, Loyalty, Cruise Tours, Consumer Outreach, Coupon Redemption, Knowledge Desk Support, Supervisors, and Shipboard Staff.
• Attends required training classes, completes required on-line training courses and satisfies completion standards.  May be assigned to special projects and may serve on employee committees.
• Performs other duties as required.  This job description in no way states or implies that these are the only duties to be performed by the employee occupying this position.  Employees will be required to perform any other job-related duties assigned by their supervisor or management.

Qualifications, Knowledge, and Skills

• High School Diploma or GED required. Associate’s degree (AA) or Bachelor’s degree (BA) preferred or equivalent combination of education and experience/training in customer service.
• Six months Royal Caribbean experience required.
• Three months Royal Caribbean Groups experience required.
• Customer-facing written communication experience preferred.
• Resolutions or STAR experience preferred.
• Exceptional customer service skills with the ability to use active listening and diplomacy.
• Excellent spoken and written communication skills and the ability to communicate with individuals in a broad assortment of organizational roles and levels. 
• Ability to use de-escalation techniques to diffuse difficult customer situations. Ability to modify communication style as needed for optimal customer experience. ¿    Ability to relay communication techniques to front-line team members in order to strengthen their abilities to work with callers. Ability to communicate technical information to a non-technical audience.
• Sound judgment and decision making. Ability to apply logic, organizational priorities, and existing guidelines to find solutions for situations that may fall outside of documented instructions.
• Strong problem solving, research, and analytical skills. Attention to detail. Ability to define problems, conduct relevant research and interpret data. Ability to translate findings into practical business conclusions.
• High level of Trade Support and Service, Groups and Royal Caribbean product knowledge and willingness to go above and beyond to find information for our internal and external customers.
• Proficiency with Groups, Trade Support and Service, and company specific software. Experience with Microsoft Office applications.
• Ability to add, subtract, multiply and divide in all units of measure, using whole numbers, common fractions, and decimals. Ability to calculate figures and amounts such as discounts, commissions, and percentages, and to evaluate complex accounting for large groups.