Rich Grayson, vice president for customer support at software company Bruce-Alfred Technologies (BAT), was preparing to meet with the firm's CEO and other senior executives to discuss how improving call center performance while controlling costs. BAT's support call center had experienced a significant increase in call volume over the past several quarters, and customer service had declined; waiting times were long, and call abandonment rates were high. Outside consultants had proposed a program called Fast Track, which would give customers the option of paying a fee to access tech support with a very short wait. The idea had the potential to solve some of the problems affecting customer relationships–and also to benefit the bottom line–but it violated one of BAT's key points of marketplace differentiation: offering free technical support for all BAT products.
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Case Study|
March 11 2022
The BAT Case: Putting Tech Support on the Fast Track Available to Purchase
This case was prepared by Professor Martin A. Lariviere.
Publisher: Emerald Publishing
Received:
April 28 2025
Accepted:
April 28 2025
© The Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University
2022
Northwestern University
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Article history
Received:
April 28 2025
Accepted:
April 28 2025
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Citation
Lariviere MA (2022;), "The BAT Case: Putting Tech Support on the Fast Track". Kellogg School of Management, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/case.kellogg.2025.000050
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