CLOSING THE GAP BETWEEN
TECHNOLOGY AND CUSTOMER SERVICE

Maintaining a balance is vital

By Marc McNulty, CIC, CRM

Our agencies and the insurance companies we represent wouldn’t be in existence without customers. This tenet should be held in the highest regard any time decisions are being made that affect your agency’s customer service offerings.

Quality customer service is becoming a dated  concept and we are now surprised whenever we receive it in situations where it was once commonplace.

In some cases, advances in technology are replacing tasks previously performed by humans. Fast food team members and dine-in restaurant servers have been replaced by kiosks and mobile apps. Bank tellers are being replaced by ATMs and—you guessed it—mobile apps. Automated attendants are accomplishing what receptionists once did while chatbots have taken over minor customer service roles.

But there are also plenty of customer service situations where humans haven’t been replaced. Rather, they have taken on different priorities or have been replaced by people in other locations.

Some companies offer customer support via email and chat only as opposed to a toll-free number. Others offer live customer support via an 800 number, but their availability is no longer 24/7 and their native language may not be the same as yours.

What does this all mean? Typically, more responsibility is placed on the individual to get things right—or discover the appropriate solution—as the dedicated personal assistance that was once so prevalent in society isn’t always available or effective.

This is true in almost every aspect of our daily lives, including the insurance industry. Our agencies and the insurance companies we represent wouldn’t be in existence without customers. This tenet should be held in the highest regard any time decisions are being made that affect your agency’s customer service offerings.

Our agencies and the insurance companies we represent wouldn’t be in existence without customers. This tenet should be held in the highest regard any time decisions are being made that affect your agency’s customer service offerings.

The Golden Rule

While it’s easy to be overwhelmed with the various offerings that promise to enhance your customer service, keep two important things in mind as you explore your options: your customers and your employees.

This may seem redundant, but if new technology or procedures overwhelm your employees, then their performance—and the customer service that goes along with it—will suffer.

I was once approached by a firm promising to modernize our technology and our customer service via the utilization of chatbot technology. Of course, the tasks the chatbots could perform were quite limited in scope, so a live person needed to be available to take over a chat session that required human interaction.

I explained to my contact that adding another layer of communication to my service team would most likely hinder customer service rather than improve it, as my team was already receiving client communications via emails, phone calls, text messages, faxes, and in-person meetings. Adding chat to the mix would simply delay replying to the client via the other methods we already employ.

Not every agency is the same, though. The key is to put yourself in your customers’ shoes and imagine the process they would encounter to request a policy change, ask a billing question, obtain an auto insurance ID card or certificate of liability insurance, and/or file a claim. If the process seems cumbersome to you, then improvements should be made.

Equally as important, understand how your staff responds to such requests and streamline their processes as much as possible.

For example, if your management system offers self-service capabilities for straightforward day-to-day requests, consider activating that feature and promoting it to your customers. Some will use it and some won’t, and that’s okay. The ones who do will be happy with the option for self-service, and your employees will be happy that they are saving some time as a result. The ones who don’t will be happy that they aren’t forced into using a system that makes them uncomfortable.

Similarly, if you aren’t utilizing a comparative rater for new business and remarketing purposes, your employees are spending too much time on duplicate entry, which also opens the door for mistakes when the same information is required to be keyed in multiple times. Duplicate entry drains your team of valuable time to respond to other customer requests, complete account reviews, or undertake proactive outreach.

Too much of a good thing

There needs to be a balance whenever multiple channels of communication are employed. Employees run the risk of spending too much time on the phone when a short email with an attachment can suffice. Similarly, lengthy emails can overwhelm customers when a relatively short phone call could address questions or concerns.

I’ve personally experienced frustration with a software vendor in which email was the exclusive remedy until the situation reached a boiling point. What ended up taking weeks to resolve due to their email-only policy combined with time zone differences should have been resolved in days using phone and/or a video-conferencing option.

When there are too many back-and-forth emails, key details can easily get lost in the thread. In addition, the tone of an email can be mistaken if the verbiage isn’t worded carefully enough. A phone call can potentially help to alleviate these issues.

On the flip side, not everyone prefers to communicate by phone, so if someone isn’t returning phone calls, try reaching out via email or text message.

Consider employing guidelines that keep a high level of customer service by cutting back on too much back-and-forth of any one communication method. For example, if a customer has multiple questions and more than two or three email replies have taken place, a procedure stating that a scheduled phone call or in-person meeting should be offered in such situations may help to expedite a resolution.

In any case, offering several communication channels and ways to conduct business—including potential avenues to escalate customer service requests—will most likely enhance your customer service, as everyone likes options.

Take advantage

While most insurance agencies claim that customer service is one of their hallmarks, many fail to properly deliver on that promise. If your retention rate and customer feedback (via surveys, net promoter scores, or otherwise) reflect that your customer service is superb, use this to your advantage and market it accordingly.

We are inundated with insurance company commercials focusing on price or silly topics that have nothing to do with insurance, but seldom do insurance companies or agencies focus on what really matters at the end of the day, which is quality insurance offerings combined with excellent customer service.

The author

Marc McNulty, CIC, CRM, is a principal at The Uhl Agency in Dayton, Ohio, and has been with the agency since 2001. He divides his time among sales, marketing, technology and operational duties. You can reach Marc via email at marcmcnulty@uhlagency.com