How to Provide Excellent Customer Service in Insurance Contact Centers
“I’ve been in a car accident.”
“My home was destroyed in a fire.”
“We’ve been robbed.”
Insurance contact center representatives do more than just provide support – helping people deal with complex and oftentimes emotional situations. Today’s customers also expect quick, efficient, and knowledgeable service; they want answers to their questions on the first call, and their fingers are always only one click away from your competitor’s website. In response, insurers are looking to their CSRs to offer exceptional customer service that differentiates their business and demonstrates values to drive profitability.
With contact center representatives at the center of the customer relationship, insurers are realizing the importance of providing reps with as much information as possible and arming them with the right tools to deal with customer requests and questions. Technologies such as CRM, document management and knowledge management systems are becoming obvious and necessary components for contact center strategies.
Ironically, while these technologies are intended to deliver efficiencies and improve quality and customer service, they are commonly dreaded by the representatives who are expected to use them. It also means more time, money and effort to be invested in training programs as well as employee onboarding to prepare representatives for this new level of support.
Related Reading: 3 Reasons Your Call Center Technology Makes Your Agents Cry
To help CSRs succeed, many companies are turning to performance support technologies which are designed to support the representatives in real-time, while they are on the call. Performance support streamlines or automates the representative’s interaction with the increasingly complex and large number of systems and processes so he/she can focus on the customer. Companies using performance support technologies typically see lower Average Handling Time (AHT), increased First Call Resolution (FCR), and an overall improved customer experience.
Let’s take a look at some basic things customers are looking for from their insurance CSRs and how performance support can provide your customer service with this knowledge at the moment of need:
1. Fast service… and please HOLD OFF on putting them ON HOLD
Put yourself in their shoes. How often have you phoned a service provider only to be put on hold forever – annoying right? When dealing with new technologies, CSRs can end up spending a lot of wasteful time tinkering and searching for information buried deep in the application or knowledge base instead of focusing on the quality of customer service they are providing. Performance Support makes information quickly accessible, by displaying overlaid tooltips on top of the application itself, at the moment of need. This goes a long way to alleviate customer frustration and allows the representative to turn his/her attention back to the customer.
2. Handle inquiries more efficiently
Recent research suggests that no single metric has a bigger impact on customer satisfaction than First Call Resolution (FCR). Performance Support improves FCR by constantly monitoring the CSR’s desktop activities and suggesting support processes that are relevant to the user’s current open and active application and window. More sophisticted platforms such as Leo Performance Support also provide desktop automation to automatically perform the action to complete the desired task.
3. Guidance on selecting the policies that best match their needs
Both insurance policies and the needs of policy holders are constantly changing and customers turn to CSRs for guidance on selecting the right policies to care for their families, their homes, and their belongings. Performance support works on a simple and effective principle – delivering the right information, to the right people, at the right time. The system identifies new opportunities by analyzing the data on the customer and the customer’s eligibility for new or upgraded policies. Making this information available at the time of the call results in more personalized service and more sales opportunities – a win-win scenario!
Today’s insurance contact centers are seen as a far more strategic asset then ever before. They are a key instrument in creating a great customer experience, changing the public’s perception of the company and executing on the business goals of the organization as a whole.
For a quick introduction to performance support, watch this short video:
Kryon Systems helps organizations around the world to improve their business results by shortening or eliminating training, reducing users’ mistakes, increasing productivity and facilitating compliance with corporate policies and procedures. Kryon’s flagship solution, Leo, provides performance support to organizations. When using Leo, business managers can rest assured that their workforce performs at the level they expect, from the first time, every time.
Interested in learning more about Nintex Kryon RPA and what it can do for your organization? Click here to request a demo.
