ViaCord's Customer Service Team Brings a Whole New Meaning to "Delivery"
Some of the best delivery room doctors exhibit similar traits: while expecting parents are filled with a tangible mix of excitement and nerves, the doctor is relaxed and calm, exuding a confidence that no matter what the birthing process brings, he or she will handle the birth skillfully and expertly, providing an exceptional delivery experience for the parents and new baby alike.
It's no wonder, then, that the ViaCord customer service professional, who works so closely with expecting parents and their medical delivery team, exudes these same qualities. Even in the face of adversity, the customer service team skillfully ensures that a baby's precious cord blood is safely delivered to ViaCord's cryo-preservation lab.
Rob Gendron, Senior Manager of ViaCord customer service, knows all about exceptional experiences. He and his team of about 30 Customer Service Specialists provide support to ViaCord families 24/7, 365 days a year. They have many responsibilities, but the most exciting part of the Specialist's job comes when he or she receives the call that a customer is going to deliver. While expecting parents are preparing to meet their new baby, the Customer Service Specialist is busy securing transportation that "gets the baby's cord blood from the delivery room to our lab outside of Cincinnati, Ohio, in (on average), 18 hours or less," explains Rob.
Proactive and creative planning delivers your precious package
Logistics planning starts with ensuring that each family has ViaCord's unique cord blood collection kit with them at delivery. "If they don't," explains Rob, "we have collection kits stored at warehouses all over the country, so we almost always get a kit to a hospital in time for delivery." In the rare case a collection kit is not accessible, the Customer Service Specialist walks the medical team through a backup procedure that allows them to properly collect the cord blood.
Another key piece to logistics planning is ViaCord's network of couriers who have certification in transporting biologics and blood products. Customer Service spends a great deal of time training couriers on process and procedure. "Our network of couriers is an important extension of ViaCord, so they have to have the right experience and a top-notch reputation, and we invest a lot to ensure they are thoroughly trained."
The last piece of logistics is air transport. Usually it's a straightforward process, but when air travel is delayed, "that's when the Customer Service team really kicks into high gear."
Always finding a way to get it done
"There have been some memorable events," recalls Rob. "A couple of years ago, a fuel shortage in Florida severely impacted travel by air and road. To avoid having units held up, we chartered our own plane and sent it to Florida. The plane had to carry enough fuel for a turnaround since it wouldn't be able to refuel upon landing. The strategy worked and we got units in and out of Florida without hold up."
"There are always logistics challenges," explains Rob. "Whether weather related or man-made, the most important factors to our success are that we are proactive and creative. When we know about planes being grounded in a particular area, we work closely with the courier service to reroute the unit to a different airport."
Recently, a blizzard left Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport all but shut down, so the Customer Service team went into overdrive. "To keep our units moving," says Rob, "we rerouted all cord blood units onto planes traveling to Chicago O'Hare and arranged courier service to pick up in Chicago and drive units to our lab outside of Cincinnati. Our couriers worked in eight-hour sweeps, picking up and driving more than six hours to deliver. We checked in frequently with the couriers to ensure that driving conditions were OK and helped reroute them when necessary. In the end, we always find a way to get it done."
Rob is proud of his team. "If a Specialist has a customer's cord blood unit in transport during a storm or other holdup," explains Rob, "they don't think twice about seeing it through to delivery, even if it means staying at ViaCord all night to stay in contact with the courier."
Determined and dedicated, Customer Service always delivers on behalf of a ViaCord family!
Rob and his team are dedicated to their jobs because they believe in the potentially lifesaving benefits of cord blood stem cells. "I am as captivated about the promise of cord blood stem cells today as when I read about it seven years ago. When you hear that cord blood stem cell transplants have helped children with cerebral palsy improve motor and cognitive functions,* it just makes you wonder what's next on the horizon."
While Rob and his team can't predict the future, one thing is for sure: Through determination and dedication, nothing stands between a ViaCord customer and the safe and secure storage of their baby's cord blood unit.
*Although the potential use of umbilical cord blood is expanding rapidly, the odds that a family without a defined risk will need to use their child's umbilical cord blood are low. There is no guarantee that the umbilical cord blood will be a match for a family member or will provide a cure. As with any transplant therapy, therapeutic success depends upon many factors beyond the stem cells themselves, including patient condition, type of disease, recipient-donor relationship and matching, and other factors.