Optima Tax Relief-Customer Service Department of the Year-Financial Services

Optima Tax Relief is the leading nationwide tax resolution firm helping people solve their IRS tax problems and is the largest of its kind in America. We work to build relationships with our thousands of clients and the IRS alike so that we can offer representation to taxpayers with a variety of tax issues. We are committed to delivering an industry-leading experience to our employees and clients.

Briefly describe the nominated department: history and past performance (up to 1,250 characters):

Our Customer Service department plays a pivotal role in making Optima Tax Relief the largest tax resolution company in the country. Since our founding, we've helped Americans navigate the complexities of the U.S. tax system and its financial consequences.

In the tax relief industry, the stakes are high, and providing the right level of care is essential to reducing anxiety and preventing difficult interactions. Over time, the team has evolved beyond a traditional service model into a fully integrated approach to member care. In 2025, this transformation included a shift from referring to the individuals we serve as clients to calling them members.

The Clients-to-Members Initiative is built on three core cornerstones: Thrive Together, Beyond Service, and Creating Community. These principles ensure members feel supported every step of the way. This evolution is ongoing, but its early impact is evident in the way our employees engage with our 50,000+ members-guided by new training programs, scripts, and quality metrics focused on delivering relief.

At Optima, exceptional service starts with a positive employee experience. This is why we uphold our core values: UNITED (Uplift, Nurture, Inclusive, Trailblazer, Ethical, Driven). Staying true to these values has earned us local, regional, and national recognition for ethical business practices, including: The Civic 50 for community impact (past 8 years), Accounting Today: Top 100 Firms in 2024, Forbes Best of 2024, and BBB International Torch Award 2023.

Outline the department's achievements since July 1, 2023 that you wish to bring to the judges' attention (up to 1,500 characters):

In 2023, we introduced a new CS level IV role to handle specialized calls such as welcome and graduation calls. This created new career paths for our CS agents, allowing them to handle more complex calls and inquiries. Since its introduction, queue transfers dropped by 54.6% from 2024 to 2025. Having subject matter experts handle calls has increased one-call resolution rates and improved the client experience by reducing the need for repeat calls.

We later expanded welcome calls to our tax preparation department in 2025. This additional customer touchpoint enabled our members to complete their tax preparation service more efficiently, resulting in a 16.67% increase in processed tax returns when comparing 2024 and 2025. With the introduction of Call Simulator in 2024, our CS team has been able to practice various call types with a client avatar that replicates real-life scenarios. We have built a library of 80 training scenarios for onboarding and skill reinforcement. To date, our CS team has completed 993 simulated practice sessions, which has led to cutting the training time in half while improving consistency across the front-line. An internal survey revealed that 93% of our CS Agents felt more confident on calls after utilizing the Call Simulator tool.

In 2024, we implemented a progressive dialing system to automate outbound calls, reducing the time agents spent manually dialing and waiting for calls to be answered. Since introducing the system, we have seen a 26.6% increase in service touchpoints between 2024 and 2025. In 2025, our CS team assisted over 14,000 members in resolving payment issues, helped approximately 15,000 members with final resolution options, conducted more than 10,000 introduction calls, and completed more than 15,000 graduation calls.

Explain why the achievements you have highlighted are unique or significant. If possible compare the achievements to the performance of other players in your industry and/or to the organization's past performance (up to 1,500 characters):

Each year, millions of taxpayers contact the IRS with questions about their tax situation. Callers often face long wait times or are unable to reach a representative. That is why we are committed to delivering exceptional service levels. In 2025, we received approximately 306,000 calls from taxpayers seeking assistance.

While rapid growth can create service inconsistencies for many organizations, our CS team has focused on learning and development while leveraging advanced technologies to maintain high performance and quality. In 2025, our team maintained an average answer rate of 86% and handled approximately 3,000,000 calls between July 2023 and December 2025. Additionally, we increased tax returns processed by 16.6%, helping more members achieve and maintain tax compliance.

Our internal KPIs demonstrate sustained excellence at scale, but external and third-party metrics truly reflect our progress. We have seen a 42% increase in positive client reviews between 2024 and 2025. Our "A" rating with the BBB, 4.5 stars on Trustpilot, and a "strongly recommended" rating on Supermoney.com are indicators of our ethical and exceptional service. Additionally, the Business Consumer Alliance (BCA) has awarded us an A rating, with approximately 90% of 1018 reviews rating Optima's service at 5 stars, reinforcing our commitment to excellence.

Our performance gains have been driven by the continued investment in our people and commitment to our UNITED core values. Since July 2023, team members have shared a total of 33,399 peer shoutouts, celebrating colleagues who exemplify these principles. We understand that customer satisfaction is closely tied to employee satisfaction, and this program has been a cornerstone of our success as a Top Workplace for 10 consecutive years.

Reference any attachments of supporting materials throughout this nomination and how they provide evidence of the claims you have made in this nomination (up to 1,500 characters):

Attached Materials:

• Short Video Summary of our CS Team and Culture
• Clients to Member Initiative Poster
• Optima Core Values Wall
• Nectar Peer-to-Peer Shoutouts

Additionally, you will find graphs supporting the data mentioned in the submission:

• Service Touchpoints: The introduction of a progressive dialing system enabled our customer service team to increase the number of service touchpoints they had with our members. As shown in the chart, service touchpoints totaled 31,920 in 2024 and increased to 40,423 in 2025, a 26.6% year-over-year increase. Examples of service touchpoint calls include introduction/welcome, graduation, and present option calls.
• Tax Returns Processed: This chart shows the 16.67% year-over-year increase in processed tax returns. With 35,000 tax returns processed in 2025 compared to 30,000 in 2024. This shows how additional touchpoints like the tax preparation welcome call conducted by our CS team can help move our members through their tax prep process faster.
• Queue Transfers: This chart illustrates the 54.6% reduction in queue transfers with our CS team obtaining additional knowledge and uptraining into our new senior CS role (CSIV). With more subject matter experts available to handle complex calls, we reduced our queue transfers from 57,763 in 2024 to 26,211 in 2025.
• Call Simulator Scenario Distribution: This pie chart shows the 993 simulations completed by our CS team broken down into 7 different scenario themes, with the top three simulation themes centered around Pending Documents, Effective Transfers, and Tools Utilization and Resources.

Lastly, website links showcasing our awards and accreditations received from 2023-2025, along with a JPG attachment featuring the various award badges for each year. Our team's commitment to ethics and excellence, which is essential to earning these accolades, truly sets us apart in the industry.