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Customer Service Focus Taking insurance beyond customers' expectations There's more to it than price By Lynne Grayson, CIC n the insurance business, our product is the service we provide to our customers. How do you make service worth noticing, exceptional, and remarkable? You do it by going beyond your clients' expectations. It is easy for customers to shop for price. The problem with selling price is once you start selling the lowest price, the customer will move the following year for another price. Low price is the way some agents have trained their clients and prospects to buy. A different approach is focusing on services that provide solutions. Going beyond customers' expectations starts with an intense desire to get to know the customers and their operations. Only through genuine consultation can you diagnose and treat the risk factors facing your client. A team approach is key to the process. Consider using outside consultants and experts in this process. It is also important to include senior service staff. Recently, I had the opportunity to be part of this process with a new prospect. The agent and I initially met with the owner and learned that his top priority was employee safety and reduction of workers compensation losses. As part of our diagnosis, we conducted interviews with key employees. It was very interesting to learn about their safety culture and hear different perspectives from the owner, safety manager, HR manager and processing staff. It helped us uncover some of the risk factors that could be addressed to improve safety within the organization. It is important to have several tools in your toolbox to help in the diagnostic process. Here are some examples of the tools our team has used to provide service beyond our clients' expectations. A middle market company that we had insured for years recently hired a new controller whose predecessor who had been there for several years. She was concerned that during the transition some of the HR responsibilities might fall through the cracks and she wanted to make sure she knew exactly where they were on a variety of different topics. We offered to provide a comprehensive human resource assessment that reviewed many different areas and gave them a report identifying compliance challenges and offering solutions to mitigate those risks. When the agent delivered the report, the new controller was so excited she literally gave him a "high-five" across the table and said, "That's exactly what I need!" On another occasion, we asked a client for a copy of their safety program. They handed us a four-page document. We transformed it into a fully compliant IIPP (Injury and Illness Protection Program) customized to address some of their unique exposures. Recently, when our team did a loss trend analysis for one of our clients, we noticed a significant spike in the frequency of workers compensation claims. After digging very deep, we discovered a change in health insurance plans was the cause for this increase. Prior to the spike in claims, the employer announced their annual enrollment—with a new health insurance carrier—and it did not go well; many of the employees did not get transferred from the old plan to the new plan. After we reviewed the data, it became evident that two-thirds of the workers compensation claims were filed by employees who no longer were enrolled in the health plan. It was a very unusual cause and was not obvious to the client. While these are examples of how service above and beyond can differentiate an agency from its competition, the day-to-day service of accounts is key to retaining customers. Based on my experience, here are some ways that agencies can support their customer service teams to provide excellent day-to-day service. Provide training and education. Servicing clients requires a strong knowledge of insurance coverages, various carriers and their products, state requirements, etc. One of the most important investments an agency can make is in the education and professional development of its service team. Employees who have a strong knowledge of insurance coverages are able to provide accurate information and more efficient service. Training and education have been an important element of my professional development. I earned my CIC (Certified Insurance Counselor) designation and I am working toward my CRM (Certified Risk Manager) and CRA (Certified Risk Architect) designations. I have also found that industry publications are an excellent source for knowledge and staying current with trends in our industry. My employer has been very supportive of my desire for education and making these resources available in our agency. It is professionally rewarding to be a trusted advisor to our customers, insurance companies, and within our agency team. Organize your service team to provide the most efficient, timely and accurate service. The responsibilities of a service team range from filing to helping customers solve complex problems. I have found that structuring a customer service team in two to three tiers is the most efficient way to provide accurate, high-quality service. The first tier of your team should be assigned tasks such as filing, scanning, file setup, routine correspondence, processing endorsements, issuing certificates, rating, and cancellation/reinstatement processing. These tasks account for a significant amount of time. The second and third tiers of the service team, account managers, can focus their time on helping customers solve problems, reviewing coverage forms, marketing renewals, helping customers with difficult claims, etc. This type of structure can be used as a platform to train and groom quality individuals who may not have insurance experience to be your future account managers. It also allows you to recognize and utilize your employees' unique abilities and strengths. Regularly ask customers for feedback that can be used to benchmark service. Customer feedback is a source of information that can help an organization refocus and adjust to meet the changing demands of customers. Encourage and welcome suggestions about how your organization can improve. What are your customers' expectations? What do they need? How do we excel? What can we do better? Encourage employees to ask open-ended questions in their everyday conversations with customers. This gives the customer the opportunity to express perceptions. Most important, listen carefully to what they say, analyze the information, and use it to improve customer service. Be sure to share this information with the entire agency so that everyone can benefit from the feedback. Excellent customer service is vital to the success of an insurance agency. No matter how good you think your customer service may be, there is always room for improvement. Providing service beyond client expectations is vital to differentiating you from your competition. The author Lynne Grayson, CIC, is a senior account manager for Vanorsdale Insurance Services in San Diego, California. She has more than 26 years of experience in the insurance industry. Lynne was named the 2012 Outstanding Customer Service Representative of the Year for the State of California.
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